The Use Of Free Operating Programs Windows, Apple and Linux.

[mahesh2k 0]

This is a good point but it neglects the fact that many programs on Windows require you to download others before they can be run, whereas on *nix if you are missing a dependent program it is automatically installed. That has nothing to do with commercial vs. free. It has to do with usability.

It is not usability issue. It is more of license and distribution and platform issue. .NET framework has weird license that restrict many developers from packaging their content with the environment. UNIX/Linux are completely free in that regard when they release software for their own platform. But when it comes to commercial software on even those platforms they expect us to have libraries before installation. That is the reason some commercial codecs/apps even on linux wants us to have things set before installation.

[rvalkass 5]

This dialogue nags user irrespective of their privileges and it appears everywhere. Some programs in ubuntu require sudo to run, adept/synaptic is just one example.

 

With windows, you don't see this screen if you are power user or admin. It only comes during network connection and add/remove programs.

No, you've got that the wrong way round. On Linux the only programs that require root privileges are those which affect major system settings or install new software. The dialogue therefore appears very rarely - installing software is the only place I see it. And that's good. I want some warning that software is being installed - if that dialogue pops up without me trying to do a task requiring root access, I know something is wrong.

 

On Windows that screen pops up constantly. On my sister's Vista laptop, for example, the pre-installed HP software that started on login required administrator privileges to run (for no good reason). As did the anti-virus software. And the firewall. And loads of other stuff. In fact, so much stuff requires it that my sister now pays no attention to what the dialogue actually says and just types her password regardless. That has made security and usability worse! If you are a power user or administrator then you are running with constant privileges allowing all sorts of changes to your machine, by any software, without your knowledge. Good luck with that.

 

.NET and DirectX doesn't require constant up-gradation like linux packages. You can go without upgrading them for years. I managed to keep .NET and directx updates for 2 years. G++, gcc requires update every time you update your ubuntu or say whatever your distribution is and that cycle is 4-6 month and twice a year.

.NET and DirectX have constant updates and bugfixes from Microsoft - look at the history of Windows Update if you want proof.

 

Two distribution definitely clash when it comes to package management. Try getting .deb working on mandriva or redhat and you will see package management issues. You will be forced to use alien for that.

 

I know what dependency issue is, you are mixing it with package management clash.

Confusing DEB and RPM files should never really happen as the package management software does everything automatically. Dependency hell, for the record is: "I need to install package X. To install package X I need package Y. But to install Y I need X..." and getting stuck in an infinite loop. That doesn't happen on modern distributions any more.

 

I've got to go off to uni now but I'll be back

[mahesh2k 0]

No, you've got that the wrong way round. On Linux the only programs that require root privileges are those which affect major system settings or install new software. The dialogue therefore appears very rarely - installing software is the only place I see it. And that's good. I want some warning that software is being installed - if that dialogue pops up without me trying to do a task requiring root access, I know something is wrong.

If it's for software installation then i can understand it perfectly but it also open for some programs even for execution. Which is not at all right.

On Windows that screen pops up constantly.

Not true. I only get it when there is any need for installation/uninstallation and network tampering(ipconfig and other settings).

On my sister's Vista laptop, for example, the pre-installed HP software that started on login required administrator privileges to run (for no good reason). As did the anti-virus software. And the firewall. And loads of other stuff. In fact, so much stuff requires it that my sister now pays no attention to what the dialogue actually says and just types her password regardless. That has made security and usability worse!

I own HP laptop 2007 make and i have this issue with it and all the HP software is installed in it with open nag screens and it is not letting users to modify it.This is issue of OEM edition modification,this type of issue even appears with linux that is why some restriction in canonical is not exist in erd hat or mandriva. You can install plain windows and set the power user to settings that prevents un-necessary nags.

If you are a power user or administrator then you are running with constant privileges allowing all sorts of changes to your machine, by any software, without your knowledge. Good luck with that.

Not true. Power users still have to use password when they enter critical area other wise there is no issue as well.

.NET and DirectX have constant updates and bugfixes from Microsoft - look at the history of Windows Update if you want proof.

Security updates are frequent and i don't deny this. .NET and directx doesnt affect the OS installation when new is upgraded and they have no issue even if we don't install updates for 1-2 years. You can work with them without having to worry about upgrading them. New softwares work fine unless there is driver issue with the version of .NET and directx.

Confusing DEB and RPM files should never really happen as the package management software does everything automatically. Dependency hell, for the record is: "I need to install package X. To install package X I need package Y. But to install Y I need X..." and getting stuck in an infinite loop. That doesn't happen on modern distributions any more.

Mandriva still has this issue of dealing with package from debian and so package management software doesn't always take care of it. So with multiple distros this problem is not addressed.

[DrakeSnow 0]

In my opinion, Linux is far better, but that is my own thought. I vehemently refuse to impose my beliefs on another member of my own species. Only my cat deserves that kind of treatment.Then again the only thing my cat cares about in terms of computers in the mouse, either that which used to be sitting next to the system before I switched over to using touchpads or the Xfce mouse that appears on the screen... but he can't see that one!Mouse yummy.But I digress.Computer OS is one thing. I don't really care what OS the new computers I buy (every few years or when I break one) come with, I always find ways to go commando on my OS maker (which usually turns out to be Microsoft) and over-boot and over-write the OS to either Linux or some other UNIX derivative.Personally, I think OS softwares are all just plain fine. I think that MS will head in a more open direction one day. It might take eternity, but infinity does have varying sizes and eventually MS will open source windows. Even if I have to live a million lifetimes to see the day. I'm patient enough to wait.Change is constant (Peter Drucker and a few others).Anyone who does not like change, I hope they are our grandparents. After all, they fought and won the two great wars, they brought our parents and now us into existence. Why should we force change on them? Except no one forces change on another. Change happens. It's constant. And it always will happen. Adaptation and resilience are traits which natural selection (and any creator gods out there) would always favor and approve of.Regardless of whether you believe in evolution, revolution, creationism, or government overthrow, I think change will happen eventually. This world is headed in a direction of global convergence. Let's all set sail for earth united. It's our penultimate destiny.Well, that's my opinion. Like to hear yours.Blessed be.

[mahesh2k 0]

In my opinion, Linux is far better, but that is my own thought. I vehemently refuse to impose my beliefs on another member of my own species. Only my cat deserves that kind of treatment.
Then again the only thing my cat cares about in terms of computers in the mouse, either that which used to be sitting next to the system before I switched over to using touchpads or the Xfce mouse that appears on the screen... but he can't see that one!

Ha ha! Hats off to your sense of humor. I literally LOLd at this. Especially on that 'Only my cat deserves that kind of treatment' part in your reply.
Welcome to KS Drake. Have nice time.

[Twitch6000 0]

Let's face it, linux still force us to use CLI. Linux has huge dependency issue with libraries and multiple distribution makes offline software installation and distribution difficult.

I am not a linux fanboy, but I have used Linux for years along with many oses. If you are using the right Linux distro you will only see the cli when you want to.

Now if you used something crappy like lets say ubuntu, debain or arch then yes you will probably face the cli alot.

When it somes to free operating systems most are pure crap in some form or another.

Linux for instance is horrible for desktop use. Yet great for servers.

FreeBSD is great for servers,but also horrible in the desktop field.

Windows is great desktop use,but horrible server.
Edited January 8, 2011 by Twitch6000 (see edit history)

[PhoenixGFX 1]

Open Source Operating systems will never die but won't be any use for an average user. With the giants like Microsoft and Apple, it is hard and will continue to hinder the development and popularity of Open Source Operating Systems.Now, when you speak about Open Source Software, that is a whole new ball game. I use Joomla which is the best CMS there is. There are alot of other programs that people use that can do almost the same work as the Paid Software out there. One example is Firefox which is the best darn Browser I've ever come across.On that note, it comes down to the user and his preference...Open Source Operating NO, Open Source Software YES.

[Iniyila 2]

Open source software and free software are two different things, sometimes you get an open source software but not for free, some other time you get a free software but not open source so we should not mistake these two approaches. Red Hat is an open source software but it is not free, and its aim is not to be used on desktop pcs however you can use it on a desktop, so here we have an opensource but not free software, but as it is open source so you can get the source code. there are many other free software which are not open source an example for it can be the Yahoo Messenger.

 

Now for operating system just consider the free web host you are using it right now, if you see in cpanel server is based on linux operating system, i can say many servers in the world are based on open source operating system so saying no to an open source operating sytem because microsoft is existing is not a nice thing to do. i don't talk about mac because who is using that ? really if i have to go for not opensource i will go for windows, who installs mac on a PC or notebook that apple doesn't produced it ? and how do you want install when most of the times they only sell the update.

 

So here is what i think : if i'm going to my university they i need some software to use, one of them is Matlab and another is AutoCad , i have to use them and i have to give my projects in their specific formats. Autodesk is not producing AutoCad for linux but Matlab has a linux version, if i want to use linux i can do two things: 1.i have to buy those two (Matlab & AutoCad) and i run them in linux through Wine with so much decreased performance and many other problems 2.i can use alternative softwares like Octave as an alternative for Matlab and QCad as an alternative for AutoCad, i should say that none of these alternative have the abilities of the main software (not half of it even).

 

Which one of those two ways i've mentioned i choose, i will face real problems, so i prefer to spend a little much and get a windows seven (or any other version) to enjoy my life without suffering of inadequate abilities or performance of using alternatives or windows softwares in linux. i have shown you sometimes even with you being interested in open source you can not insist on using it because when it comes to open source many people start to thinking about it being free, this type of thinking will make developers a little not interested in producing a software because the developers are human too and they need to make money for their daily life so they have to do open source things (those that are free) beside their daily work and life and this is the difference between commercial software developers and free open source software developers.

 

In the end i admit using free operating systems like ubuntu or many other distributions is really enjoyable but sometimes you really cant use then and you have to accept that, but if everything goes into cloud computing then i think windows will not have any advantage over linux and then you will see how linux users grow. now i'm having both windows and linux in my PC and as linux is more secure for surfing web i always use it but for doing my university projects i have to use windows.

[joycerimes 0]

I use windows because of its easy interface. a newbie can easily adapt to the environment that windows has.

[soniat 0]

it is easy to use ans also its very popular.......... but i use linux

[yordan 10]

On 05/10/2010 at 6:17 AM, rpgsearcherz said:

 whereas on *nix if you are missing a dependent program it is automatically installed. That has nothing to do with commercial vs. free. It has to do with usability.

Not so sure that it is automatically installed. Very often, when installing a linux program, I received "cannot be installed because prerequisite blahblahblah has to be installed first", or "conflicting with installed blahblahxxxx".

Of course, this depends from the installed Linux distro and the skills of the guy who installed the needed addons, but I feel it often painful when I want to install something for gaming or working purposes on a Linux computer.