My Problems

[brento73]

I'm having trouble of late with a conflict between theory and reality. The theory is that linux is a great OS, with most everything the average user could need, which is poised to make major inroads into Win territory in the near future. The reality is that a good third of the apps that came with my distro don't work. Some do nothing at all, others load up, but don't work. Some crash often, some work for a while after I install, and then stop, or develop errors. As an example: with a standard Mandrake 7.2 install, I have 5 instant messagers to choose from, three of which are ICQ based. Since ICQ is one of the chief ways I keep in touch with many friends and even family, I would love to get any one of them working, but to no avail. LICQ won't even run, even though it did at first(even then it could never connect), GnomeICU crashes, and Everybuddy won't send, even though it says I'm connected. This may seem like a small issue when compared to the greater security and stability of linux over win in general, but these are the things that Joe End-user looks for.

I'm basicly wanting to know if I'm just a moron, or are there a lot of apps that don't work? Specificly, if anyone has any ICQ tips, that would be great.

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Brent O'Dell
MCP and Linux Newbie

[Beowulf_Ghost]

My biggest problem with Linux is the forking. We have several different distros, and all of them are a little different. Add to this, the various problems of making an inherently sever based OS into a desktop based OS. On top of what ever distro we're working with, we add Xfree86. On top of that, we add one of a hundered window managers. And then with that, we add Gnome or KDE, with their own seperate libraries.

What this all amounts to;
An app written for Red Hat with KDE might not work on a machine running Debian with Gnome. Add to this the complexities of using other libraries, and the whole thing becomes a mess.

There is something to be said for as OS that comes from one source. When getting software for BeOS, all I have to look for is what version of BeOS it was designed to run on. With Linux, it's a crap shoot. As it is, to run every bit of Linux software out there, I have to be running Gnome and KDE. Sometimes both at the same time. Not only that, but I have to make sure I have the right libraries installed, or make sure they come with the software. And even then, it may not work. I have about 1.5 gigs of crappy Linux software. I guess alot of people interperate the GPL to mean, "Go ahead and write crappy software. As long as you publish the source code, some one else will fix the bugs". But maybe this isn't the case. Maybe the software works perfectly well on the developers machine. The problem lies in my machine, which uses a different distro.

Linux offers great security and stability. But these aren't what the average joe wants. Average joe wants ease of use. Running two different desktops is not easy, nor should the average user have to endure that sort off rat race. And since when has security and stability been important to any one, other then a network administrator? Why should average joe care if his computer can run for months at a time, when he shuts it off every night before he goes to bed. Why would he care about security when he's only on the internet for an hour a day, and he has a different IP every time. Not to mention that a default Linux install runs every service it has. With windows, you have to make an effort to open up your box to intruders (by turning on file sharing). With Linux, you have to make an effort to secure your box (by editing /etc/inetd.conf).

The solution to your problem;
Don't use Linux as a desktop OS. It sucks. It makes a great server. You can configure it to any thing, and then stick it in a corner, and forget about it. My choice for desktop OS; BeOS. It's easy to use, and fast as hell.