Not happy with Linux

Warner Onstine — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:26:00 -0700

So at work I’ve been using Ubuntu on my desktop as my primary computer. I have primarily been a Windows user at work (because I have been forced to) and an OS X user at home because I prefer it. At first I kinda liked it, at least a little better than Windows. Then I began to hate it for the following reasons:

It works just like Windows (and looks almost like Windows)
Except when it doesn’t - then it sucks because it doesn’t work in a predictable manner

Here are some key problems I’ve had with Ubuntu:

It can never quite remember my monitor settings properly - every time I remove a monitor or want to switch a display it loses everything or goes extremely flakey
We play Unreal here afterhours and the audio just “disappears” - if I futz with the monitor settings then I lose Audio, hunh? Reboot required to get audio back
No common UI - dialog boxes behave differently, things just feel “off” depending on which program I’m using
Katapult is a poor replacement for LaunchBar or QuickSilver (which started crashing repeatedly on me on the last update so switched to LaunchBar)
Installing an application takes command-line work - blech

The are a few good things, but not enough for me to love it:

Wow, a real terminal - but I have this in OS X
Updates are painless - again I already have this on OS X
It’s stable - again I already have this on OS X
That’s about it - otherwise, eh

This isn’t to say I don’t use Linux, I use it for my server, but I can’t see using it as a desktop replacement, not by a long shot. In order to win me over they have to really be thinking out of the box and not just duplicating what Windows or OS X has done - which they really haven’t yet (yes I know about things like Compiz Fusion - but that isn’t the whole user experience that’s just one small part - yes I said small).

So, I’m using a G4 machine right now to VNC into my work machine for specific apps I can’t install (or don’t want to) and will be upgrading the laptop to either a MacBook or MacBook Pro in the next few months. Then I’ll be really happy.

BlackBox : Tag linux

Not happy with Linux