Interesting article

[Ralph Mack]

On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 10:41 AM, Alan Johnson<alan at datdec.com>  wrote:

>>>> >>>  >  Well, except MacOSX has specific hardware.
>>>>          
>>> >>>
>>> >>>    Indeed, that's a big part of Apple's strategy.  Design the hardware
>>> >>>  and the software together, and they'll work well together.  And there
>>> >>>  is something to be said for that.
>>>        
>> >>
>> >>  And that's one of Apple's prime advantages.
>>      
> >
> >  Advantage?  Well, for Apple, it is an advantages over MS, but certainly not
> >  for the users.
>    
Those of us on this list are passionate about computers. But let's face it,
unless you're a geek, a computer is about as interesting as a telephone or
a toaster oven or a DVD player. In the real world, a computer is a convenient
appliance for interpersonal communication and entertainment. It shouldn't be
something you have to spend time on.

If you want to make Linux work for the world, you need to provide an out-of-
the-box experience where you install the OS and it JUST WORKS with all the
obvious tools close at hand. Apple and at least the better Windows box vendors
have managed to do a decent job at this. Linux hasn't until recently.

Ubuntu seems to provide a good basic level of first-boot usability in most
things. I've had no problem with sound or wireless on my HP laptop running
Ubuntu 9.04, common areas of difficulty on some distros I've tried. I have
had some odd issues with repaints after the system has been idle for a while,
though. (I'm not sure if this is an issue with the NVidia drivers.) That kind
of thing wouldn't be appropriate in an appliance.

Not one Linux distro I've seen does a convincing job with consumer media, an
absolutely basic requirement, and something we ought to be able to get right.
I should be able to use my computer to do anything that the gear in my living
room can do without having to expend effort to make it work - play DVDs using
the menus, use webcams like vidcams, record television like a DVR. If a
friend sends you a movie or sound file, you should be able to just click it and
play it without it turning into a research project. We'll get there but we aren't
there yet. Once you can do that on Linux, you have a potential consumer market -
those who don't play computer games. :)

The one piece of living room gear that may prove an intractable challenge for
Linux to match is the game console. I have always had to keep a Windows system
around for games and some Windows-only applications. I haven't yet found a package
on Linux that actually emulates Windows well enough to play games without
endless experimentation. I haven't found one useful Windows XP program for which
Wine works and during the period I subscribed to Cedega, somebody had made just
about every game work, it seemed, except the few I made time to play. Go figure.
No surprises there, though. Being Windows reliably is an intractable problem.
Even Microsoft has a hard time pulling it off. :)

However, if Linux were an attractive entertainment platform in all other ways,
I suspect people would put it on their computers for that - can't beat the price -
and then companies would start writing games for the platform. Until you can
at least play a DVD after first boot, forget it. Too much trouble. Not even close.

Lupestro