[LUAU] Intel Doubles Down on Linux

[Jimen Ching]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2005, Jim Thompson wrote:
>I remember the delight when I left X behind, with its ugliness.  I
>don't want to configure every last aspect of the UI so that I can
>work hard to make it look even uglier than the apparently color-blind
>author of the program chose.  I just want to be able to print.  Or
>pick a font.  Or have two programs work the same way.  Cut buffer,
>clipboard, WTF?!
>
>Now, I'm so very happy to be on an OSX box, where it all seems to
>mostly Just Work without the agony of twiddling with everything to
>make the system be barely functional.
>
>Die, X, die.  Now.  BitBlt on wheels is so last century.  I don't
>want fully generalized mediocrity.  Just have it not suck.

Spoken like a true Mac user.

I noticed this pattern in all of the complaints from users of X and Linux
(or Unix like OS's).  The complaint isn't as much about X and Linux (the
kernel), as it is about the X and Linux _applications_.

The reason why you and other Mac users prefer Mac's is because it provides
a single interface.  Steve Jobs is anal enough to force all Mac software
vendors to follow a single UI guide.  Unfortunately for X and Linux, these
systems aren't as anal about UI guides.  As a result, every application
has a different interface.  Sure environments like KDE and Gnome try to
enforce a standard.  But Unix/X developers aren't as anal as Steve Jobs.

Don't get me wrong.  I agree with you.  I couldn't care less about the 101
different 'themes' that Gnome provides.  But the fact remains.  There are
enough people who _do_ care about variety that there ARE 101 themes in
Gnome.  Thus, this variety is not likely to go away, unless you also want
these theme developers to go away as well.  Variety is the main driving
feature of Linux and X.  Complaining about it won't change that.

Since I'm on my soap box, let me just vent one more issue.

<soap box>

I don't understand why people need to point out that Unix and X are 30
year old technology.  Do these people realize that cars still use
combustion engines that were developped almost a century ago?  Why aren't
they complaining that we aren't using anti-matter or something?  This just
shows the gap in the CS world between those who understand and those who
don't.  In this day and age, you'd think the gap is narrowing.  But it
seems to be widening...

</soap box>

--jc
-- 
Jimen Ching (WH6BRR)      jching at flex.com     wh6brr at uhm.ampr.org