Tag: Rant

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Linux sucks – especially Ubuntu

Now that I have your attention, let me explain. I like to play with Linux periodically just to keep current (actually, I like to play with almost all technologies, but there is just never enough time). I have also done quite a bit of development on Linux for server applications, though I must admit it has been a number of years.

This past weekend, it was time to rebuild my laptop, which I do every few months because I have a tendency to install a lot of trials and betas and other stuff that just generally polutes my system. Since I was reinstalling anyway, I decided it would be fun to use Ubuntu as my main OS, and do all my other stuff (i.e. Windows) through virtual machines. So, I downloaded Ubuntu Desktop 7.04, burned it out to a CD, booted up and away I went. For about 30 seconds. Then the installer from the disk crashed and burned. I tried it several different times, playing with suggestions I got from forums and stuff. No luck – it appears the installer did not like the X1400 video card in my Dell laptop (all pretty standard stuff). I could probably continue to play with this, and I am pretty sure I would find some way to get it installed. Or, i could use a different Linux distribution. That would defeat the point, however, as what I was really trying to check out was whether the current hype about Linux being ready to make the move to the desktop is real.

This brings me to the title of this post. Do I think Linux sucks? No, I think Linux is great. Do I think Ubuntu especially sucks? Not at all, though I did not really get a chance to find out.

As I read various blogs (Linux blogs, Microsoft blogs with comments from Linux zealots, Open Source blogs, etc.), I frequently see comments of the type “Microsoft sucks, and everything they build is crap, because I tried to install “product X” on “machine Y” and it didn’t work.” This type of broad generalization seems to be endemic in the open source and Linux communities, primarily when talking about anything Microsoft. Sure, I have run into problems installing and using stuff from Microsoft. I have also run into problems installing and using products from pretty much every software vendor I have run into in the last 20 years. It is an unfortunate fact of life (though I do not believe it has to be this way).

As much as I love open source software, including Linux, fanatics in the open source community have really been getting on my nerves lately (it is much the same way I feel about golf – I love golf, but golfers annoy the heck out of me).

So, by the logic of the open source world, am I justified in saying “Linux sucks – especially Ubuntu”?

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Second Life: What’s the Big Deal?

Ok, so I have been thinking about this post for a long time. There is a constant stream of hype around Second Life and the opportunities which abound in that world. It is very hard to look anywhere on the web without someone raving about Second Life. Am I the only person in the world who just does not get it? I understand the concept – I mean I have spent time over the years in various online collaborative environments, ranging from IRC, text-based MUDs, web-based chat rooms, IM (hey, I had a 5-digit ICQ number), helped build a voice over IP conferencing system, and wasted ridiculous amounts of time in online games like Ultima Online and World of Warcraft. I have often thought about the integration of collaborative goals with the immersive environments like WoW. I think there are definitely possibilities, and the success of Second Life seems to be proof of that.

My problem with Second Life is with the implementation, not the idea. I have been on Second Life quite a bit in different spurts over the last year, having spent I think enough time there to get a good feeling for how it works. To be really blunt, I found the graphics in it to be really clunky and laggy, and not visually compelling at all (as one of my kids said, “so last millennium”). The interaction with the virtual world is very frustrating (largely due to the lag, I would guess). I wonder how much of the draw of users to this world is driven from the hype OUTSIDE of Second Life, and not by anything inside, because I saw nothing inside to bring me back.

Maybe if someone were to create a better implementation, with the graphics most people have come to expect, without the lag, I might come to believe in the model. Until then, all I see is hype driving yet another wave with little behind it.

I have a lesser problem with the idea of trying to replicate the real world in a virtual environment in order to improve collaboration. I think it is a far better idea to create immersive environment which does not imitate reality, and which takes advantage of this to enable collaboration.

Am I the only person who thinks that the emperor has no clothes?

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Things that should just work – my smart phone

Ok – so I got a new toy this week: a Palm Treo 700wx smart phone. I have never been a really big fan of the whole smart phone/blackberry kind of thing, mostly because I am rarely away from a computer long enough to need another eMail device. But, the company was upgrading our cell phones, and since I do not really use a phone much (I think I get about 4 calls/year), I decided to go for something that could do something other than talk. I also figured it would give me a chance to do some Windows Mobile development experiments. I have had the device for 3 days now, and I really like the form factor/engineering of it. Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to do much else with it, other than look at it.

Our provider has not yet figured out how to hook it in to either their voice or data network (even though they supplied the phone).

So, while I was waiting for that to work, I decided to play with it from the local side, by hooking it up to my PC. That is when I hit another problem. The install kit for the phone does not recognize Windows Vista (which I am running). After a bit of digging, I realized that I do not need to install the ActiveSync software, as Vista has the Windows Mobile Device Center. So, I download that, get it installed, and plug my phone into the USB port. Windows recognizes the new device on the port and proceeds to install the drivers. All seems happy. I launch the Mobile Device Center. Unfortunately, my phone does not show up as connected. I spent a significant amount of time playing with it yesterday – working through various troubleshooting guides I have found. Still no luck.

This should not be this hard. To me, this is in the category of “things that should just work” – especially since both devices are running versions of Windows. Maybe I expect too much.

I will repeat myself on this…

This should just work!

PS – anybody who has made this work, please leave me a comment with any suggestions you might have!

 PPS – why are data plans so insanely expensive in Canada, compared to the US? It cannot just be market size – is it just because they can get away with it?

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Friday morning rant…

This morning I am going to talk about various things which have been getting on my nerves this week (leaving aside the obvious things that always get on my nerves, like bad government, war, etc.).

  1. Software that constantly interrupts the flow of what I am trying to do by asking me stupid questions. I know many people have talk about this before, but it seems that no one actually writing software ever listens. Software should only ask you questions when it really needs to. It should never ask for confirmation to do things which are (or should be) reversible. I go to uninstall a piece of software (this happens with my Bluetooth mouse driver, Visual J# Redistributable, and almost everything in the Windows ecosystem) , and I am very intelligently informed that “if you uninstall this, you may not be able to use it anymore”. Isn’t that what “uninstall” means? What a completely useless bit of information. And, if I really need to use it again, I can always reinstall it! Many UI developers will argue that they are simply protecting the user from making mistakes. In reality, they are just doing the easiest thing so that the software does not have to take responsibility for keeping things clean. Implementing undo functionality everywhere is messy and time consuming. But, it is the right way to do it for the user. So, my note to developers is, stop wasting my time with stupid questions!
  2. Software that does not uninstall itself properly. I am getting really tired of software that installs a bunch of stuff on my computer (not just spyware, but stuff that is actually necessary to the functioning of the software), but does not clean up after itself when it uninstalls. One of the worst offenders in this category, I think, is Visual Studio. Uninstalling Visual Studio seems to take forever.
  3. Installing Open Source Software. Is it my imagination, or does a lot of open source software go out of its way to make itself hard to install on a Windows platform? To be fair, there are some projects out there which are very good about this (Apache, Tomcat, JBoss all spring to mind), but there are many which seem to be trying to be difficult. Is it a question of trying to make people think it is Windows fault that this stuff is hard to get working, so that people will be encouraged to go elsewhere? Or is it a just a lack of caring? If open source wants to dominate proprietary software, the fact is, it has to be as clean and easy to set up and make work.
    (Then again, I have run a lot of closed-source software with the same problems – not sure what their excuse is either!)
  4. Web sites that override the back button. What is it with these sites? Do they assume that their content is so compelling that there is no way you would ever want to leave? Or are they trying to stop you from leaving (like you are not going to find another way out)? This web site behaviour is just plain rude, and inconsiderate of the user. For the most part, if a site does this, I will never go back.
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