[CS-FSLUG] Blog: Forgot Linux?

[Don Parris]

On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 01:28:09 -0600, Nathan T. <celerate at gmail.com> wrote:
> This is something from my blog, I think its important but it won't
> reach my intended audience there. I was hoping if I made enough noise
> maybe someone who has the ability to make a difference in the present
> would read it; however, if I were simply to e-mail it to Micheal
> Robertson, Guael Duval, or Joseph Cheek I probably wouldn't get far.
> I'm hoping that its good enough to get mention on other sites as well
> in order to let the people in charge of decision making behind all the
> desktop distributions know what I think has become a very important
> and neglected issue with modern distributions.
> 
<SNIP>
> 
> With that problem resolved, I was faced with the decision of which
> distribution to use, and that is when I was struck with a major
> realization: I wanted to have good multimedia support as well as good
> encrypted DVD playback support installed straight out of the box, but
> no distribution that I know of offers that.
> 
> I have not yet re-installed any Linux distribution at all, I am faced
> with a very undesirable task of installing a distribution and then
> spending half a day seeking out the necesary software to get the
> multimedia and hardware support I want. When I think about it, many
> expensive distributions don't include good multimedia support at all,
> why pay for a distribution that won't play movie DVDs as well as many
> common video formats used on the Internet?
> 
This has been discussed, both on this list and in other lists.  Most
GNU/Linux distributions are prohibited from distributing the necessary
codecs with their software by legal/license issues.  The problem is
not the GNU/Linux vendors - it's the hardware vendors and publishing
houses that create this problem.  A young co-worker is using SUSE
Linux 9.2 to watch t.v. - and it does better than his Windows software
did.  He only boots Windows to play multi-user games.

> I can only hope that soon some distributors will catch on, and figure
> out that they need to make some serious changes to the software they
> bundle. Its obvious that most of them still only care about making a
> workstation operating system since some of the most polished software
> is the office suite and development tools and the least polished
> software is the multimedia software and games. I don't think anyone is
> going to break that cycle any time soon unfortunately.
> 
> I hate to make Windows sound better, but as far as getting multimedia
> support goes all you have to do is download one of the many popular
> media players such as Quicktime or RealOne Player and then all thats
> left is encrypted DVD playback support which is handled by the
> software that comes bundled with your DVD drive. In Linux I have to
> hunt around for an hour or more to get this, and then 6 months down
> the road when a new release comes out it all starts over again because
> I want to, or sometimes need to keep my software up to date.
> 
Why you have to hunt for an hour or more is beyond me, especially if
you know how to use Google to pull up the appropriate web sites for
the same software you use in Windows.

> I don't know why I should have to go to the trouble of looking around
> the Internet for an hour or more every 6 months just to get sub-par
> multimedia support compared to what Windows has, commercial Linux
> distribution certainly cost enough that multimedia support should be
> much better. One of the biggest factors that is preventing widescale
> adoption of Linux in the desktop market in my opinion is this poor
> multimedia support since currently most home users have a computer for
> just that: multimedia and games. Work and Internet are important too,
> but they are already well taken care of on Linux.
> 
Again, you need to consider that several related industries have
failed to offer support for GNU/Linux.  I have a great interest in
lobbying these industries for Linux support.  However, such an
interest must be backed by individuals who are willing to commit to a
long-term process to bring about change.  It would be difficult for me
to begin a letter-writing campaign to various companies and industry
leaders if my peers are bantering about the lack of support.

<SNIP>
> 
> I do not like some of the business models for home desktop
> distributions, such as having an online software gallery which one has
> to pay for. I do not always have Internet access and there is no
> guarantee that I will in the future, I also do not want to have to
> send a check in the mail every month or every few months since that
> inconveniences me more than just walking to a store and picking up the
> software I want. I don't mind paying for the distribution itself, I
> also don't mind paying for the software if I get it in a tangible form
> that I can either burn to CD or get on CD; however, when it comes to
> the current subscription services I've seen, I am far out of the
> comfort zone I developed with the traditional method of purchasing a
> boxed product at a store and having it work with several future
> versions of the operating system its for.
> 
If I understand correctly, your a college student (i.e., little money
in the pocket).  You must bear in mind that Freedom is not free.  Our
spiritual freedom cost something.  The freedom Americans enjoy today
cost something.  If software freedom costs a dollar or two, it's still
generally less expensive than the proprietary stuff out there (other
than freeware).  If I had to pay the same price for OpenOffice.org
that I have to pay for MS Office, I still have a superior distribution
because I have freedom.

<SNIP>
> 
> Some distributions have been comming closer to becomming a good
> desktop system, Lycoris comes to mind. While many people critisize
> Lycoris for being a lot like Windows; one really needs to take the
> time to look past the visual theme and realize how simple the
> distribution really is to use. There is a centralized control panel,
> software installation is a simple as finding what you want in the iris
> software gallery, and I've never had to do any manual configuration
> with that distribution. Lycoris is still far from perfect in my
> opinion though, as far as I can tell its multimedia support is no
> better than its competitors, one of the first and most necessary steps
> for Lycoris and Lindows to take would be adding in support for playing
> back encrypted DVD; however since I've only used their evaluation
> versions so far I do not know how much is different in an actual
> purchased copy.
> 

I installed SUSE 9.2 back in November.  With the exception of adding
or removing software, I really haven't had much to do admin-wise. 
Mind you, it's not a home entertainment system on which I watch DVDs -
I have a DVD player for that.  Still, I am a highly satisfied desktop
user who deleted Windows from my hard drive.  I have been scratching
my head, trying to figure out why people whine about Linux not being
ready for the desktop when I have been using it as a desktop system
since 2000!

I was a slave to my Windows box, having to revamp it every so often. 
I found that, when I needed to make changes, I was hampered in my
efforts by "time-bomb-ware" and Registry issues that neither I nor MS'
tech support folks could resolve.  I question whether you will be any
happier with Windows in the long run.  Speaking from "listening" to
your past grumblings, I really think you should simply "pick a distro"
and stick with it for a while.  Give it, and yourself, time to mature.

It takes a bit of maturity to know what you believe and to commit to
that belief.  If you believe in Christ, follow Him.  If you believe in
the underlying principles of FOSS, use it.  If  you're only concerned
with convenience, be aware that you will never be happy with any
distribution - free or proprietary.  I hope this helps

Blessings,
Don
-- 
DC Parris GNU Evangelist
http://matheteuo.org/
gnumathetes at gmail.com
Free software is like God's love - 
you can share it with anyone anywhere anytime!