ProteusQ's Journal: Linux Evangelists

Annoying buggers, aren't they?

As if pointing out the genuine flaws of a GNU/Linux system makes you a Linux detractor and not one of the team. Excuse me... when did pointing out reality become a problem for hackers? I thought it was just big business or governments that shot the messenger. Hackers are supposed to work problems, not point fingers.

Case in point: mplayer didn't play the latest Quicktime files without recompiling, and the necessary code wasn't included in the mplayer download. While there's no problem for the power-user market on up, that's bad application management for a desktop system (defined as an OS for casual users, newbies, etc.). Pointing out this evidence that Linux isn't ready for the desktop to a Linux Evangelist, I find he's on his feet ready to hit me.

Uh-huh.

Didn't say Linux didn't work, didn't say mplayer was unusable, didn't say I wanted to tuck Bill Gates into bed that night -- I said this was evidence that Linux wasn't ready for the desktop. Casual users shouldn't have to download multiple files, let alone compile, just to get a simple movie viewing program to run.

Not that this problem is unsolvable. Mplayer fixed this issue less than a week later. An RPM was available right after that. Good moves on everyone's part. One step closer to making the desktop workable.

But that criticism was unacceptable. I'd crossed the line. I was implying that Microsoft was superior!

Well, pardon me, at that moment, it was!

Get over it.

GNU/Linux is perhaps the ultimate low-end server material. It may someday overtake all of its competitors. But right now, FreeBSD is more stable. OpenBSD is more secure out of the box. Solaris kicks Linux's behind on the high-end market. Yes, the developing edge belongs to Linux, but for those who just want to noodle around on the Internet and send some mail, Windows 'just works'!

Want to hit me for that? Fine. I hit back. >:)

But I'm not wrong. I'm stating fact.

Now, any logical person will know that this doesn't imply that I want Linux to fail, or that I'm implying that Linux can't succeed. Of course it can. The day it takes over the high-end market, I'll have a Cheshire Cat smile all over my face. The day it takes over the desktop, I'll be numb with shock. (I suspect Microsoft will pull and Apple and create a BSD-based MS before it allows a GNU/Linux to take over that market. The odds of MS losing the desktop are slim at best.) But the truth is: most of the desktop market need their hand held just to install RedHat 9, a great desktop Linux. They want to stay with Microsoft because Windows is still regarded as "safe". Oy.

So, back to the Evangelists. They aren't a solution; they are a problem. They need to get off their soapboxes and go home & build a better desktop. That's what hackers do. Last I checked, ranting and raving with religious fervor wasn't the main behavior of hackers; coding is. Find something positive to do instead of wasting everyone else's time.