E-Dribble

I happened across an incredibly entertaining Dell support page designed to help the consumer that can’t decide between Windows and Ubuntu.  Basically, you choose Windows if you have any Windows software and you are to use Ubuntu if you don’t want to use Windows.

Although there’s an incredible number of symptoms of Linux’s lack of popularity, I think it mostly comes down to a single main cause; it’s very hard to take Linux seriously.  Self-appointed spokepersons that wear robes, act like the world’s largest emo and have an incredible God complex, companies that mock more than promote Linux(use this if you don’t want to use Windows???  Really?) and rabid fans that ostracise the whole community in the process of telling the world how great their OS are all things that combine to make one big pot of laughing stock.

To be honest, I don’t have a very good relationship with Linux myself, in part because of the community tasked with promoting it.  I grow tired of the blind allegiance that many harbour and I find it very hard to ignore the actions of people like Richard Stallman.  I just want an operating system that works and while Linux is a pretty great operating system, to act like it doesn’t have any shortcomings is akin to acting like Mr. Stallman is a sane person. Just like any other operating system in the world, it has plenty it can improve upon.

As for Mr. Stallman, if he gets any more emo, then we won’t have to worry about him at all.

The house parties have fizzled out and the paid advertisements in the form of reviews has come and gone. That’s right, Windows 7 has been released.  So what does everyone think? Well, if you’re looking for a calm and unbiased response, don’t ask these guys.

A growing number of people are getting locked into an endless reboot loop during upgrade, destroying their Vista installs and leaving them with no OS.

Woops.

Microsoft must be working day and night to try to resolve this issue, right? From TFA:

According to Microsoft’s head of support, however, the endless reboot problem isn’t on the company’s top list of concerns. “It’s very early in the process,” said Ben Bennett, the director of Microsoft’s Windows consumer global support group, in an interview Monday afternoon. “In terms of the top issues of customers who choose to upgrade, the XP-to-Windows 7 [upgrade] is up there on the list for lots of reasons. The netbook upgrade scenario — how do I upgrade my netbook to Windows 7 — is also a big one. And another is, ‘Where are my applications?’ after people have upgraded. They wonder what happened to e-mail and photo editing, for example. Those are the top issues so far.”

So, they’re more concerned with those upgrading from XP to 7.  Well, that makes sense.  I’m sure that was their plan all along.

At least I got to keep the paper hats and confetti.

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has decided that he has figured out how to save the internet from DDoS attacks and other nefarious actions happening inside the various tubes of the intardnet.  His proposal?  Kick Windows off of the web.  His reasoning is along the lines that Windows is terribly insecure and linux is impervious to bad people.

After his attention grabbing headline, used to ensure that he’s gotten you all riled up, he completely dismisses his proposal and waters it down to “patch your OS before being allowed on the web”.

Regardless, his points concerning the inferiority of Windows made me smile.  People being completely wrong tend to elicit that reaction from me.

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From ComputerworldUK: Linux will trounce Windows 7

From Datamation: Google Chrome OS: Desktop linux’ last chance

A dichotomy, you presume? Well, not really.  What can be gained by combining the two posts is very simple:  Before linux becomes extinct, it will trounce Windows 7.

I guess there’s some comfort to be had in that.

I just read an incredibly interesting article on Gadgetell, titled “Microsoft Office comes to Linux – MS begrudgingly bends”.

The implications are huge!

Well, if it weren’t really about Office becoming web based, allowing anything with a popular browser to use it, it would be big news.  When you know what’s actually happening here, it seems they might have stretched the artistic license a little too thin.

Ryan over at Linuxphilia wanted to help the members of the Windows community that are contemplating moving to linux by posting the 7 most common complaints Windows users have with linux and then explaining to them why it’s their own damned fault and thus of no concern to the people promoting linux.

You guys know me.  I could give two shits less what you use as an operating system, however I never cease to get a kick out of the linux zealot that can’t figure out why linux isn’t the global OS of choice.

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The release date of Windows 7 was leaked; Oct 23, 2009 is the date they begin telling you that it’s the best selling operating system they’ve ever designed, regardless of whether it actually is or not.  If pressed, they’ll be able to give you numbers to show this. That’s because they’ll threaten to ruin any hardware vendor that dares to ship a box with anything but 7 on it.  Regardless of whether that serial number is used or not, it is a sale and thus counts towards their impressive sales numbers.

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No, I’m not talking about our government.  It’s era will never end. I’m talking about my incompetence in regards to using linux as my desktop OS.

Last week, I began upgrading my work computer.  Still using Fedora 7, I was longing for app upgrades that were no longer coming.  I had tried F9, but found it such a step backwards, I kept the F7 install for another dev cycle.  I figured F10 was going to be my saving grace.

After over a week and over 50 support posts, I’ve got a working computer again.  Unfortunately, it’s running XP.  My head is still spinning from the whole process, but in the end, my desire to feed my family won out over open source zealotry.  Grub’s inability to work with my mainboard, X’s inability to create two independent desktops, PulseAudio’s crackling every time a window was minimized or maximized, and my continued 4 year attempt to get Samba to mount my network drives finally pissed me off enough to take such a drastic measure.

I have to admit, I’m fairly pissed about the whole affair, but comparing the two OS installs, I can’t really fault myself:

I’m so bummed about this, as there’s so many things I dislike about Windows XP. Linux had to work very hard to do it, but they finally succeeded in making the experience less pleasurable than Windows.

That’s no easy feat.