I can access my blog again! Looks like the Government has finally lifted the block they had put on blogspot (and other major blog sites?). So did the Government finally learn that the terrorists they are trying to catch are a too smart to depend only on blogspot for communication?
Friday, July 21, 2006
Year of Linux on the desktop?
Every year, I see articles on various Linux related websites that this year is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop, the year when Linux desktop will start gaining significantly on MS Windows. This claim is then supplemented by various comparisons between Windows and a recent Linux distro (often debian or gentoo), feature to feature, proving that Linux can now do all that Windows can. You get to hear that you can use Evolution in place of Outlook, Firefox in place of IE, f-spot in place Picasa, this is my favorite: gimp in place of Photoshop. That is not all, article usually claims that Linux now supports most of the digicams, display cards, etc out of the box, installation is extremely easy and everyone, his mom and grandmom can now use Linux on the desktop. Later, it mentions a couple of applications or a couple of features that are available on Linux, but not on Windows, to claim that Linux is already ahead of Windows. Examples are command-line image manipulation utilities, richness of bash shell as compared to Windows terminal.
However, every year, we realize that the share of Linux on the desktop is just the same as last year. The number of Linux-only desktop boxes will be so few, nobody wants to mention that.
Once upon a time, people said it was because of hardware support. Then they said availability of applications. However, Linux now supports almost all normal hardware and it has applications to serve any average computer user. (No, Photoshop is not a 'normal' software, hardly anybody needs it). So why is Linux not gaining on Windows on the desktop?
The main reason, as I can see it, is the ease of use. Windows is still infinitely more easy to use than Linux. Let me give an example. I consider myself a 'power user', not an 'average' user of Linux. The wireless card and bluetooth hardware is supported by the Linux distro I run. However, I have not been able to configure them correctly till today. I agree that I have not done a great deal of research, I have not spent a great number of hours googling for solutions. But all these got configured without asking me a single question on Windows. Most people don't care and don't want to know whether they should use WEP or WPA-PSK or whatever for their wireless card uses. Most people don't want to edit configuration options for everything they do. If Windows can self-discover all these things, why can't Linux?
The reason, to some extent, seems to be the 'Linux attitude'. Linux no doubt benefits from having some of the brightest people on the earth developing it. However, the same people cannot think for the common user. They tend to call the Windows way of doing things 'dumb', because it does not let them configure all the options by hand. They tend to despise any UI, advocating that command line is the only right way of doing things. This is true in some cases, but it definitely is wrong in case of most average 'dumb' users. For example, nobody outside the Linux fanatic club would want to understand the command line options of 'cdrecord'. The other reason is infinite choice you get with everything on Linux. There is no doubt choice is good, but all choice, no standardization is not good either.
The distros are doing a reasonable job of making desktop Linux a viable option. However, they too suffer from the same dificiency. Also, they spend more time polishing their fonts or creating new eye-catching 3-d icons than making apps easy to use. yum and apt are a good step towards installing software, but they bring Linux nowhere close to Windows in this area. To some extent, the Linux model, where there is no central authority, is the cause of this. Most of my thoughts agree with this article
So what do I think should be done? Portland project , which aims to provide common set of interfaces for Linux desktop, is a right way ahead. It may finally end the war between gnome and kde. I also think the community should become more sensitive to the needs of common man. I don't how how this can happen, though. I think the Linux distros should put more thought in making desktop versions of their OS. I installed SuSE Linux 10.1 last week and found that it is pretty well integrated desktop. (Until you try to install some software you found on the web). Some say the Linspire way is correct, but it is clear that they will never be able to garner support of the community for this, which means it will never take off in a big way. Last but not the least, until we have really made Linux on desktop comparable to Windows, let us not go around claiming that we are already better or that Windows is dumb.
However, every year, we realize that the share of Linux on the desktop is just the same as last year. The number of Linux-only desktop boxes will be so few, nobody wants to mention that.
Once upon a time, people said it was because of hardware support. Then they said availability of applications. However, Linux now supports almost all normal hardware and it has applications to serve any average computer user. (No, Photoshop is not a 'normal' software, hardly anybody needs it). So why is Linux not gaining on Windows on the desktop?
The main reason, as I can see it, is the ease of use. Windows is still infinitely more easy to use than Linux. Let me give an example. I consider myself a 'power user', not an 'average' user of Linux. The wireless card and bluetooth hardware is supported by the Linux distro I run. However, I have not been able to configure them correctly till today. I agree that I have not done a great deal of research, I have not spent a great number of hours googling for solutions. But all these got configured without asking me a single question on Windows. Most people don't care and don't want to know whether they should use WEP or WPA-PSK or whatever for their wireless card uses. Most people don't want to edit configuration options for everything they do. If Windows can self-discover all these things, why can't Linux?
The reason, to some extent, seems to be the 'Linux attitude'. Linux no doubt benefits from having some of the brightest people on the earth developing it. However, the same people cannot think for the common user. They tend to call the Windows way of doing things 'dumb', because it does not let them configure all the options by hand. They tend to despise any UI, advocating that command line is the only right way of doing things. This is true in some cases, but it definitely is wrong in case of most average 'dumb' users. For example, nobody outside the Linux fanatic club would want to understand the command line options of 'cdrecord'. The other reason is infinite choice you get with everything on Linux. There is no doubt choice is good, but all choice, no standardization is not good either.
The distros are doing a reasonable job of making desktop Linux a viable option. However, they too suffer from the same dificiency. Also, they spend more time polishing their fonts or creating new eye-catching 3-d icons than making apps easy to use. yum and apt are a good step towards installing software, but they bring Linux nowhere close to Windows in this area. To some extent, the Linux model, where there is no central authority, is the cause of this. Most of my thoughts agree with this article
So what do I think should be done? Portland project , which aims to provide common set of interfaces for Linux desktop, is a right way ahead. It may finally end the war between gnome and kde. I also think the community should become more sensitive to the needs of common man. I don't how how this can happen, though. I think the Linux distros should put more thought in making desktop versions of their OS. I installed SuSE Linux 10.1 last week and found that it is pretty well integrated desktop. (Until you try to install some software you found on the web). Some say the Linspire way is correct, but it is clear that they will never be able to garner support of the community for this, which means it will never take off in a big way. Last but not the least, until we have really made Linux on desktop comparable to Windows, let us not go around claiming that we are already better or that Windows is dumb.
Monday, July 10, 2006
State of affairs/ affairs of the State.
I am appalled by the level of politics being played out in Karnataka. I have not written much about politics in this blog so far. In fact I had planned to keep politics out of this completely. But I can't really hold myself, looking at what is happening.
Today I saw on TV our elected representatives physically fighting with each other in Vidhana Soudha because of personal rivalry. BMIC project was the first major controversy hit by Kumaraswamy, who started out as a very promising chief minister. The way BMIC is being handled is a HUGE discouragement to anyone planning to invest in Karnataka. Even if I were an invester, i would wisely choose other states. The new controversy about illegal mining too started out as a way to put Congress MLAs, who had mines in Kanakapura, in discomfort. However, the grandson of soil never thought it would snowball into such a big controversy. Our MLAs, spending crores of our money, are not even having meaningful discussions on the floor of the house. The concept that the elected body should concentrate on making legislations, leaving implementation to IAS officers has been completely forgotten. Corruption is not a hush-hush word to be kept away from media anymore. People of the state are too short sighted to realize where all this is headed. Like a saying goes, "people get a Government they deserve, not a Government they desire".
With nobody in any of the three major political parties to show a better way, I am saddened when I think what the future of this state will be like.
Today I saw on TV our elected representatives physically fighting with each other in Vidhana Soudha because of personal rivalry. BMIC project was the first major controversy hit by Kumaraswamy, who started out as a very promising chief minister. The way BMIC is being handled is a HUGE discouragement to anyone planning to invest in Karnataka. Even if I were an invester, i would wisely choose other states. The new controversy about illegal mining too started out as a way to put Congress MLAs, who had mines in Kanakapura, in discomfort. However, the grandson of soil never thought it would snowball into such a big controversy. Our MLAs, spending crores of our money, are not even having meaningful discussions on the floor of the house. The concept that the elected body should concentrate on making legislations, leaving implementation to IAS officers has been completely forgotten. Corruption is not a hush-hush word to be kept away from media anymore. People of the state are too short sighted to realize where all this is headed. Like a saying goes, "people get a Government they deserve, not a Government they desire".
With nobody in any of the three major political parties to show a better way, I am saddened when I think what the future of this state will be like.
End of sports season
Cricket got over a week back. With the FIFA world cup and the Wimbledon coming to an end this week, it suddenly feels like the sport season on television is over. Men can now return to informative(!) channels like AXN (programs like Fear Factor) and women can return to their entertaining(!) programs like saas-bahu soaps.
I lost most of the interest in football world cup during quarter final stages, when Argentina, Brazil and England went out. It was like a cricket world cup without Australia. My interest in Wimbledon was limited to Federer's finals and at some points in time during the finals, it looked like he too would lose, making it miserable. Luckily he held on. Federer reminds me of Sampras because of the way he keeps his composure in any situation of the match. I hope he wins many more grand slams.
I lost most of the interest in football world cup during quarter final stages, when Argentina, Brazil and England went out. It was like a cricket world cup without Australia. My interest in Wimbledon was limited to Federer's finals and at some points in time during the finals, it looked like he too would lose, making it miserable. Luckily he held on. Federer reminds me of Sampras because of the way he keeps his composure in any situation of the match. I hope he wins many more grand slams.
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