KDE4 - rant!

Inf0Byt3 · Post by **Inf0Byt3** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:26 am

.....and here's dah smiley forya:

thanks.

@r_hyde
Usability... Meh. Whatta heck are they thinking?

For linux I will stick with PCLinuxOS with KDE3.5 (a little bulky, but fast enough & supremely configurable), and I will keep my copies of Windows XP & Win2K until Microsoft does something truly innovative and makes an OS that is both secure and *not* completely obnoxious.

I liked KDE more at the beginning because QT seems faster than GTK at rendering... With proper adjustments, KDE *almost* felt like XP.

Still there is a thing between Win and Lin, at least how I see it: Why the heck would I get a free but limited copy of a commercial OS when I can give away a few bucks and get the original crap and compatibility with millions of games and software? This is why linux is being pinned down and many don't bother with it imho.

the.weavster · Post by **the.weavster** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:23 pm

Inf0Byt3 wrote:Still there is a thing between Win and Lin, at least how I see it: Why the heck would I get a free but limited copy of a commercial OS when I can give away a few bucks and get the original crap

I had paid a 'few' bucks for the 'original crap' but dumped it in favour of a 'free but limited' OS and I can sum up why in one word: VIRUS

What are the limitations of Linux you are referring to?

bembulak · Post by **bembulak** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:59 pm

What are the limitations of Linux you are referring to?

For me at the moment:
- some hardware does not work. Had it before I switched OS.
- Games, games, games...

(Wine and so on are no real options...)
- Hibernate on my PC (I'm a laptop user...)
- Some serious Touchpad-Issues, since X.org reached 7.x, I can't get fixed.

Although I'm using it, because of an other word: freedom

the.weavster · Post by **the.weavster** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:54 pm

bembulak wrote:For me at the moment:
- some hardware does not work. Had it before I switched OS.

I first tried Linux (Suse) three or four years ago but then virtually none of my hardware was supported so I quickly gave up. In fact it seemed at the time if it wasn't a SCSI device you could forget it.

This time (Ubuntu) the only thing I really had to tweak was the USB broadband modem - everything else was auto detected and set up by the installer. It even knows when I plug in my USB card reader.

bembulak wrote:- Games, games, games... (Wine and so on are no real options...)

Is there an inherent deficiency that means Linux isn't good at games or is it just that there's a lack of games available? I'm not a gamer so this wont be an issue for me but I'm interested to know it's flaws as well as it's strengths.

I've found Ubuntu multi tasks better than XP on my hardware - no merged or unresponsive windows so far. I also regularly had problems on XP were it would just hang when I tried to shut it down and then next time I started it I would get the 'System Has Recovered From A Serious Error' message - I don't miss that at all.

I also like the discipline Linux imposes on you - like the fact you have to give programs permission to run.

bembulak wrote:Although I'm using it, because of an other word: freedom

Ubuntu, Postgres, Firebird, it's amazing how much top quality software is just there for the taking...

I can't think of any other market that functions like the software market.

pdwyer · Post by **pdwyer** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:53 am

(disclaimer: I'm not much of a linux user)

Isn't there some package that lets you run DX based windows games on linux, apparently even stuff like battlefield works according to their web site. I don't think it's free though, there was some subscription cost

r_hyde · Post by **r_hyde** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:36 am

@pdwyer: you're probably referring to Cedega, which is a commercialized version of wine that puts emphasis on game support. It's still a pain in the neck to configure and mostly a waste of time (although I will say that once you get some games actually running under wine/cedega they feel faster than in Windows!). Yep, if you're a hardcore gamer, Linux is probably NOT the answer to your prayers. Can't please everybody, I guess.

As far as hardware support goes, I think major strides have been made in the last 5 years, to the point of getting some hardware vendors to actually write Linux drivers AND keep them somewhat updated. It's far from the level of compatibility of Windows, but that should not be surprising since Microsoft has inroads to (and influence with, and a dominant user base for) hardware vendors, that the open source community simply doesn't have. If you run 2- or 3-year-old hardware, you've got a shot at getting it running in linux, but if you like to keep your hardware current Linux will almost always be a frustrating experience.

The thing is, a 3-year-old computer will often run the latest & greatest Linux desktop as well as (or even better than) the hottest new hardware will run the latest version of Windows. Switch to Linux on your older hardware and it might feel like you got a free upgrade (again, unless you're into games)!

pdwyer · Post by **pdwyer** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:26 am

Thats the one!

http://www.transgaming.com/imgs/transga ... dega03.jpg

I wonder what the performance is like for 3d games...

How good is wine these days as windows emulation? I haven't looked at it for years but it used to be pretty hit and miss and performance wasn't good.

the.weavster · Post by **the.weavster** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:45 am

pdwyer wrote:How good is wine these days as windows emulation? I haven't looked at it for years but it used to be pretty hit and miss and performance wasn't good.

I understand by installing Wine you are introducing some of Windows security vulnerabilities.

There are other options like Win4Lin that let you run XP as an app within Linux. It runs in a sandbox the stop it screwing up your system but I think it relies on Linux for the hardware support so I guess you may still have issues with gaming.

My six year old daughter loves art and often draws freehand in paint using a mouse (something I really can't do). I've just bought an nVidia GeForce graphics card so she can have a go with DAZ 3D.

At this moment my computer is dual booting Ubuntu/XP but I'd really like to go the other route and have XP running within Linux but I don't have enough Linux background knowledge to take the plunge yet. I don't know what my chances are of getting DAZ 3D and the graphics card running that way.

I've also got music composition software like Orion Pro and Making Waves that could prove challenging.