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Groups > comp.os.linux.advocacy > #351415

A short take on my view of Linux / OSS

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OK, so many in COLA have repeatedly claimed I am anti-Linux or against OSS
or trolling for the purpose of pushing Windows or OS X or some such
nonsense. Complete rubbish. So, hey, while I have made my views clear
before, why not put them in a single "essay" form. It will not, of course,
answer all questions - but for those who want to have a reasoned discussion
on Linux and OSS it is an opening for that. Hopefully (though I doubt it,
sadly), it will reduce the name calling and spewing of insults.

OK first, Linux: it is excellent. It is an amazing piece of work with
contributors from all over the place - from individuals to small companies
to multi-billion dollar conglomerates. It even includes code from Microsoft
- code Microsoft added and has been accepted. But Linux is not, overall,
Microsoft code, it is open source code. And it works amazingly well. It has
earned its place in the server room, in embedded devices, and even in
portable computing devices. It does not, however, do this alone - it really
only has value when tied to other code, and mostly that code is open source
(though not 100%).

So this extends the conversation to open source in general. And the same
that I said for Linux holds true here - it is, in general, amazing. Sure,
some open source projects are better than others, but the amount of code
that exists in open source format is amazing and the fact that it can be had
for free and altered for free is excellent. It is, perhaps, one of the
greatest examples of people from so many walks of life coming together to
make tools which anyone can use. It is, in many ways, similar to the sharing
done in science. Its value is hard to over estimate. The whole concept of
open source software and the people and companies who contribute to it have
done the world as a whole an amazing service.

Linux and OSS have earned a place on servers and embedded devices and more.
They have earned respect. OSS is something that anyone who considers
themselves technologically knowledgeable should have knowledge of - it is
simply something that cannot be ignored if you wish to call yourself
technologically competent.

Now this does not mean it is the be-all and end-all of computing. While OSS
solutions are *often* the best solution, they are not *always* the best
solution. In the areas I listed above, and more, Linux / OSS is very often
an excellent solution... though even in those places there is competition
between OSS projects (as their should be!). So just to select open source
would not give you just one answer.

But open source is not always the best solution. One significant area where
it struggles to compete with the competition is on the desktop. And even
there it is not always a bad choice. With the growth of the desktop as a Web
/ 'net portal, desktop Linux can work fine. It can also work fine for people
whose needs are largely tied to the command line - in fact in that case it
often is the best solution. Even in the corporate world, where the number of
applications required are limited and often the applications which are used
are used for limited purposes or are custom made, it can be a great solution
- even the best (at least for some users in those companies).

And while there are surely other cases where it may be the best solution on
the desktop, in general it is not. Yes, it has grown to the point where it
is easy to acquire and install (at least for a moderately technical person)
and you can fairly easily buy it pre-installed on a system. That is great.
And it has many of the basics covered in that you *can* accomplish the
common tasks people do: email, web surfing, image organizing, financial
software, basic games, etc. All of these things (and many, many more) can be
done on any one of a number of desktop Linux distros. And done relatively
well. There are times that just the fact these things can be done for *free*
make it the best solution - for in the real world cost matters and one
cannot look just at the intrinsic nature of the tools.

But there is a problem. While this has become less-so over the years, the
tools required to accomplish such tasks are made by different teams with
different ideas of what makes a great program. Right now most developers
focus on one of two general ideas of how to make software: using the KDE or
the Gnome guidelines. But even then the guidelines are not followed as well
as they should be (while the guidelines are often excellent and professional
quality, this does not mean the software that is created follows those
guidelines as they should). Yes, there are times to break the guidelines -
that is true of any such set of "rules", but the way they are "broken" is
often done in a rather haphazard way on desktop Linux (though, as noted,
this is getting better with time).

Still, with the mix of KDE and Gnome and other paradigms, the systems do not
feel like coherent systems. They fail to have the unified feel of even
Windows, no less OS X (which, with its many flaws in this area, really is
the gold standard *in this area*). And because developers cannot assume what
OS tools will be available, they tend to write to the lowest common
denominator. This is why you do not see things such as the productivity
tools you see on, say, OS X: proxy icons, integration with any form of media
browser, easy methods to use the title bar to get to the path of a program,
a visual versioning system, saved status indicators, QuickLook, PDF
Services, etc. I have listed many of those things before. These are
productivity enhancers / error-reduction features that benefit both novice
and advanced users. But with the current ecosystem of desktop Linux, these
types of things do not exist.

And such things matter: that is why people are willing to buy Macs at, on
average, about 2x the cost of what they buy Windows machines for. Even
though, I suspect, 90+% of the people who use a Mac cannot say why it
"feels" better than to use Windows, they know it does (to them). With
desktop Linux you get the opposite view: people sometimes find it hard to
say *why*, but I often hear comments about how it feels "duct taped"
together or how it is incoherent.

I have used the example of the Quit / Exit dichotomy. This has been just an
example of something that should be trivial to get right that is not gotten
right. Same with Save and Print and Open dialogs. Same with where menu items
are and what they are called (say Edit > Options or File > Preferences).
These are easy to see and show examples - but they are not the "all" of the
problem. But they are indicative of a weakness of desktop Linux - not that
things cannot be done (though not all things can), but that the *how*
matters. Even if users cannot easily verbalize why these things matter or
even recognize what it is that is "missing", they feel it. And I have shown
evidence of the importance of such UI work from sources such as peer reviews
studies, expert opinions, quotes from prominent people in the OSS world,
etc. And, really, essentially anyone who has worked with users on different
systems, if they have paid attention, has seen this.

One example I have used was showing a task which is, on systems which make
it so, commonly done - the rotating of images in word processing documents.
I see this done often on fliers from businesses to weekly newsletters from
schools, to magazines. From high end use to low end use this is common. But
on LibreOffice, while possible, it is cumbersome enough where it is,
essentially, not done. The process is not visual enough and not easy enough.
I have provided other examples as well.

This is true for word processing, email, image organizing, etc. In general,
open source systems simply do not handle these things as well. And this
makes it less likely that people will use such products. The reality is,
people are often reluctant to change - and if you are looking to have them
change to something that works *less* well, even if it is free, you will
have (relatively) few takers. So usability factors matter... they matter a
lot. And this is true even when people have a hard time really understanding
why one system "feels" wrong to them. It is not just about it being
different - there are real differences in quality.

But the story is worse than that on the desktop for Linux: there are also
many things where the solutions are not just not as good, they essentially
do not exist. Examples of this include a good screencasting tool (such as
ScreenFlow or Camtasia) to quilting software (such as Electric Quilt) to
tools to make it easier to read text on screen (Tofu), etc. Also there are
games and many, many industry specific tools for dentists and chiropractors
and schools and on and on and on. The answer for desktop Linux users is,
basically, to use another OS or a tool designed for another OS in WINE or
something of that nature. This is simply not good enough.

So while the use cases where desktop Linux is a top-of-the-line solution
might be growing (and I think they are), there are still too many places
where desktop Linux simply is far behind the competition and is not as good
of a solution or is not worthy of being seen as a solution at all (not
without significant work-arounds).

Moving issues a little: there are lots of desktop Linux distros - but the
OSS ecosystem is such that all of them will suffer from these problems (with
the usability / consistency issues being more or less on different distros,
but the overall challenges being the same). So the idea that there are lots
of distros does not really help with this problem (though it does allow
people to find something that might fit their preferences in ways that
neither OS X nor Windows does, it also will be riddled with the usability
and lack-of-tool issues discussed). But the number of distros is not a bad
thing - it allows for all sorts of different ideas and is just how the OSS
world works. Like it or not, if you think it is overall a good thing or bad,
that does not matter - it *is*. And to change it would be impossible without
changing the very idea of what it means to be open source. So there is good
and bad to it, but so be it - it *is* and it *will be*.

What I would like to see, though, and Shuttleworth and others in the open
source community have made similar comments, is greater cooperation from the
big names in the OSS world, such as KDE and Gnome. With enough cooperation,
they could make it so it was not hard to make software that would run well
on KDE or Gnome (not just in function, but in consistency with the system).
This would allow systems to reduce their "duct taped" feel... and allow
distros to differentiate themselves even more (and this offer more and
greater choice). Ubuntu could have a simple set of Open and Save dialogs
where PCLOS could have more robust and complex options. And, of course, the
end user could alter things if they wished. I am under no illusion that this
can happen easily or perfectly (after all, even on a single-GUI system such
as OS X this is far from perfect), but it could be made to be much better.
And I think this will eventually happen with the OSS world - at least to
some extent. As others have noted, to some extent it already has, and folks
such as Shuttleworth are pushing to have it happen even more.

So that is a summary of the main technical challenges for desktop Linux. But
there is another challenge: some of the people in the community. All
communities have their extremists and "whackos"... those who think their way
of doing things is the only way. With OSS, the main big voice of this view
is Stallman. While he has done a lot of good for the open source community,
his "Free" movement, which is contrary to real freedom in many ways, and his
cult-like followers, have lead to a large number of people seeing Linux
users, esp. desktop Linux users, as being more politically motivated and
irrational than how the ecosystem should be seen. Unfortunately, such a
cult-like group drowns out the voices of those such as Linus Torvalds, Mark
Shuttleworth, Jim Zemlin, and the many others of Linux / OSS advocates who
are far more reasonable and rational and pragmatic. We see this in COLA on a
daily basis. There are those whose hatred for all things not open source
leads them to act in a herd-like way, damning all others who do not, at
least for the most part, walk their party line. And while some have blamed
me for saying all Linux advocates are a part of this group, that is not at
all the case. While it is not strictly a COLA phenomena, I know of no other
example as extreme or as irrational. But such views do exist in people
outside of COLA - Stallman's cult of personality (or whatever) appeals to
many. There is simply no similar figure in the Apple or MS worlds (though
there were a small number of Mac users who saw Jobs in a minor form of this
same view, he was more about ease of use and pragmatic issues than any
political posturing, at least in his public life).

So with desktop Linux you have two problems: the technical and the
ideological of the "Free" group, a group that does not represent the views
of open source advocates but is fanatical enough to make their voices heard
above the more reasoned voices in the community (a side note on that - the
term "community" is used very loosely here).

And there you have it... my general views on Linux and OSS - written down
quickly and without proof-reading, so I am sure there are errors. But
hopefully it will lead to a greater focus on the technology and the problems
of adoption of desktop Linux and less on the name calling and other BS we
see in COLA. Seriously, I hope *both* sides can tone that down... it serves
nobody well.




-- 
* OS X / Linux: What is a file?     <http://youtu.be/_dMbXGLW9PI>
* Mint MATE Trash, Panel, Menu:     <http://youtu.be/C0y74FIf7uE>
* Mint KDE working with folders:    <http://youtu.be/7C9nvniOoE0>
* Mint KDE creating files:          <http://youtu.be/N7-fZJaJUv8>
* Mint KDE help:                    <http://youtu.be/3ikizUd3sa8>
* Mint KDE general navigation:      <http://youtu.be/t9y14yZtQuI>
* Mint KDE bugs or Easter eggs?     <http://youtu.be/CU-whJQvtfA>
* Easy on OS X / Hard on Linux:     <http://youtu.be/D3BPWANQoIk>
* OS / Word Processor Comparison:   <http://youtu.be/w6Qcl-w7s5c>

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A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-22 23:02 -0700
  WPF? 7 <7@enemygadgets.com> - 2016-04-23 07:58 +0000
  Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Peter Köhlmann <peter-koehlmann@t-online.de> - 2016-04-23 12:33 +0200
    Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-23 08:07 -0700
  Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-23 13:05 +0000
  Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? John Gohde <john.h.gohde@gmail.com> - 2016-04-23 07:50 -0700
    Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? Richard King <kingsley651@webby.org> - 2016-04-23 10:52 -0400
      Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? Melzzzzz <mel@zzzzz.com> - 2016-04-23 16:53 +0200
        Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-23 08:08 -0700
        Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? Marek Novotny <marek.novotny@marspolar.com> - 2016-04-23 08:14 -0700
          Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-24 08:10 -0700
        Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? chrisv <chrisv@nospam.invalid> - 2016-04-25 07:57 -0500
          Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-25 10:14 -0700
            Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? Steve Carroll <fretwizzer@gmail.com> - 2016-04-25 10:53 -0700
            Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? Peter Köhlmann <peter-koehlmann@t-online.de> - 2016-04-25 22:28 +0200
              Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? chrisv <chrisv@nospam.invalid> - 2016-04-26 07:31 -0500
                Re: Who needs a roomful of monkeys banging on a keyboard, when you have Snit? Marek Novotny <marek.novotny@marspolar.com> - 2016-04-26 07:09 -0700
  Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-24 15:10 +0000
    Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-24 09:24 -0700
      Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-24 20:37 +0000
        Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-24 14:00 -0700
          Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-24 23:01 +0000
            Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS owl <owl@rooftop.invalid> - 2016-04-24 23:10 +0000
              Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Lloyd Parsons <lloydp211@gmail.com> - 2016-04-24 23:34 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS owl <owl@rooftop.invalid> - 2016-04-25 00:50 +0000
              Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-25 01:54 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS owl <owl@rooftop.invalid> - 2016-04-25 04:17 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-24 21:33 -0700
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-25 09:01 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-25 10:18 -0700
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-25 22:29 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-25 16:28 -0700
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2016-04-25 21:27 -0400
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-25 18:34 -0700
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-26 09:20 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Marek Novotny <marek.novotny@marspolar.com> - 2016-04-26 07:05 -0700
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-26 11:54 -0700
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2016-04-26 13:24 -0400
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-26 22:30 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-26 22:45 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2016-04-26 20:53 -0400
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Marek Novotny <marek.novotny@marspolar.com> - 2016-04-26 18:06 -0700
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Melzzzzz <mel@zzzzz.com> - 2016-04-27 03:21 +0200
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-27 10:44 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Peter Köhlmann <peter-koehlmann@t-online.de> - 2016-04-27 12:49 +0200
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-27 22:14 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Peter Köhlmann <peter-koehlmann@t-online.de> - 2016-04-28 00:27 +0200
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-26 11:52 -0700
            Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-24 18:00 -0700
              Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-25 01:41 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-24 19:18 -0700
              Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-25 10:32 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-25 10:49 -0700
          Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-25 10:26 +0000
            Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2016-04-25 09:07 -0400
              Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Fabian Russell <fb@zen.info> - 2016-04-25 22:31 +0000
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2016-04-25 21:41 -0400
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-26 11:54 -0700
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Peter Köhlmann <peter-koehlmann@t-online.de> - 2016-04-27 00:39 +0200
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-26 18:15 -0700
                Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS vallor <vallor@cultnix.org> - 2016-04-27 02:42 +0000
            Re: A short take on my view of Linux / OSS Snit <usenet@gallopinginsanity.com> - 2016-04-25 10:21 -0700

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