[djpharoah]

This list was not compiled by me but I do feel it has some merit. If you find something wrong with it - deal with it.

Btw - this guy is using debian/ubuntu but most of the stuff works for any linux distro.

1. Upgrade to the newest version legally and without paying money
2. Have the latest version of the operating system run faster than the previous version on the same hardware
3. Easily install and run different graphical interfaces if I don't like the default setup
4. Install twenty programs with one command
5. Have the system automatically update all my installed programs for me.
6. Install the same copy of my OS (Ubuntu) on multiple computers without worrying about license restrictions or activation keys
7. Give away copies of the operating system and other programs that run on it without breaking any laws, governmental or ethical or moral, because it was all intended to be used this way
8. Have full control over my computer hardware and know that there are no secret back doors in my software, put there by malicious software companies or governments
9. Run without using a virus scanner, adware/spyware protection, and not reboot my computer for months, even when I do keep up with all of the latest security updates
10. Run my computer without needing to defragment my hard drive, ever
11. Try out software, decide I don't like it, uninstall it, and know that it didn't leave little bits of stuff in a registry that can build up and slow down my machine
12. Make a major mistake that requires a complete reinstallation and be able to do it in less than an hour, because I put all of my data on a separate partition from the operating system and program files
13. Boot into a desktop with flash and effects as cool as Windows Vista on a three year old computer...in less than 40 seconds, including the time it takes me to type my username and password to login
14. Customize anything I want, legally, including my favorite programs. I can even track down the software developers to ask them questions, contribute ideas, and get involved in the actual design/software writing process if I want to
15. Have 4+ word processor windows open working on papers, listen to music, play with flashy desktop effects, have contact with a largely happy community and have firefox, instant messaging, and email clients all open at the same time, without ever having had to beg someone for a code to make my os work, and without the system running so slow it is useless
16. Use the command "dpkg --get-selections > pkg.list" to make a full, detailed list of all software I have installed, backup my /etc and /home directories on a separate partition, and you are able to recover your system any time, easily
17. Run multiple desktops simultaneously, or even allow multiple users to log in and use the computer simultaneously
18. Resize a hard disk partition without having to delete it and without losing the data on it
19. Use the same hardware for more than 5 years before it really needs to be replaced...I have some hardware that is nearly 10 years old, running Linux, and still useful
20. Browse the web while the OS is being installed!
21. Use almost any hardware and have a driver for it included with the operating system...eliminating the need to scour the internet to find the hardware manufacturer's website to locate one
22. Get the source code for almost anything, including the OS kernel and most of my applications

[asmegin_slayer]

[Jeff]

Here's the problem with that list.

1. Can't run a lot of useful apps, such as any commercial recording app, MS Office, Adobe products, AutoCAD, countless industry-specific apps.
2. If the hardware is not automatically supported, have fun getting it to work (Creative X-Fi, anyone?)

This is what's preventing "The Year of the Linux Desktop"

The average person doesn't give two squirts about being able to modify the source code. they just want to run their apps.

That being said, a lot of OSS already covers the main stuff. It's the niche crap that makes widespread Linux adoption tough.

I use Ubuntu 64-bit at work, and it's fantastic.

[Chris]

This is why I run linux on everything that matters:

$ ssh pakrat
cquigley@pakrat's password:
[cquigley@pakrat cquigley]$ uptime
13:10:09 up 1479 days, 22:48, 3 users, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
[cquigley@pakrat cquigley]$

His list is a bit optimistic though.

4. Install twenty programs with one command

You can do that in windows as well, the dependencies are usually just bundled in.

5. Have the system automatically update all my installed programs for me.

Not really. Windowsupdate might be just for Windows, but resources like yum/apt aren't perfect either. There is no magic repository that updates everything you have on your machine.

8. Have full control over my computer hardware and know that there are no secret back doors in my software, put there by malicious software companies or governments

This guy sounds like a newbie, to be honest. And there are plenty of backdoor/trojans out there for linux, all of which I'm 99% sure this guy wouldn't know how to find them anyway. Wearing a tin foil hat and running the latest flavor of the month distro doesn't make your system secure.

11. Try out software, decide I don't like it, uninstall it, and know that it didn't leave little bits of stuff in a registry that can build up and slow down my machine

Sort of true. If you compile shit into the kernel, it can get sloppy, but there are plenty of utilities out there to clean the Windows registry.

12. Make a major mistake that requires a complete reinstallation and be able to do it in less than an hour, because I put all of my data on a separate partition from the operating system and program files

System Restore, anyone? It's certainly faster than fixing a kernel panic.

14. Customize anything I want, legally, including my favorite programs. I can even track down the software developers to ask them questions, contribute ideas, and get involved in the actual design/software writing process if I want to

Now he's really reaching. Try getting support on most of the commonly used linux utils/apps. For example, libGD. The majority of what you get on linux "support" forums are snobbish retorts from open-source elitists who think you're less than them because you don't want to read the 12,000 line man-page written in half klingon to find a simple switch.

18. Resize a hard disk partition without having to delete it and without losing the data on it

Plenty of Windows apps that can do this.

21. Use almost any hardware and have a driver for it included with the operating system...eliminating the need to scour the internet to find the hardware manufacturer's website to locate one

This guy obviously installed Linux once, on one machine, and got lucky. Try installing Fedora on an old laptop sometime, and then enjoy spending 12 hours of X11 hell, hunting down refresh and vsync numbers for your LCD screen.

22. Get the source code for almost anything, including the OS kernel and most of my applications

Perfect example of this moron trying to feel smart because "I HAS T3H SOuRC3!1".

Don't get me wrong, I love Linux and I use the hell out of it. This guy is just a dumbass trying to seem smarter than he actually is because he runs an open source platform and knows a few basic terms.

[Metal Ken]

Compiz. \m/

I love my desk cube.

[eleven59]

Linux sounds awesome, except for everything Jeff said.

If someone made a Linux based OS that would work on either Mac or PC, solved problems inherent in both OSX and Windows, and made it compatible with all software and hardware, included the user-friendly/fun features of both, and all without having to do any custom programming, while still leaving the option for it open, I'd be interested.

[D-EJ915]

Originally Posted by Chris

This:

hot damn

thing that prevents my uptime from being high is I compile a new kernel when it's released then restart into it...

[eleven59]

You know, if half of the computer geeks out there sitting at home programming viruses/filesharing software/hacks/whatever and reconfiguring their own OSs actually put in the time and effort to start their own software company and develop a product based on all their bitches and gripes with the current major offerings, and marketed it well, they'd be pretty successful.

Shame most of them just want to bitch and make others lives miserable.

[Metal Ken]

Originally Posted by eleven59

Linux sounds awesome, except for everything Jeff said.

If someone made a Linux based OS that would work on either Mac or PC, solved problems inherent in both OSX and Windows, and made it compatible with all software and hardware, included the user-friendly/fun features of both, and all without having to do any custom programming, while still leaving the option for it open, I'd be interested.

There's a version of linux for EVERYTHING dude

[eleven59]

Originally Posted by Metal Ken

There's a version of linux for EVERYTHING dude

Alright, then see my above statements about marketing

Is there something that'll run on a Mac, work like Mac OSX with some obvious improvements to performance, and still run all my programs (especially Pro Tools LE and Reason) and hardware (MBox) without compatibility issues if I brought my sessions to someone else's studio?