What would you like to see changed about Linux?
 

I know I'd like it to be more compatible with Windows computers and files.

we need that like a hole in the head.

we need to stop putting any effort into being compatable with windows and get on with writing native apps for linux.

I'd like to see continued consistent development in all areas.

Some specific areas that need more attention:
1. Wifi device support - mostly hardware vendors fault for not releasing specs to work from
2. Office Suites - not that I use them, I'm a letex man, but lots of people do. In general Linux supports office documents pretty well with OpenOffice, but I personally hate using OpenOffice, it is so bloated. Perfect example of why Java shouldn't be used extensively for large applications.
3. XFree/Xserver/WindowMangers - XFree works well, Xserver works well for a program that is so young. But anyone who has used a Mac lately knows it could be cleaner, it could be prettier, it could be more resource efficient.

And I agree totally with rshaw. Linux is better off being Linux and doing that well then trying to be Windows. Windows is a technically poor system. The only way to make Linux closer to Windows is to cripple it.

I am all for being able to deal with common document types and such so users can share files. But I can do that. If somebody sends me a word doc I can open it. And more importantly, if they need me to send them one I can do it. I perfer to use letex and send them a pdf or a ps file, or even the source, but I recognize many people can't deal with that.

Can you explain what you mean by "more compatible".?

I run a dual boot system, on what was originally sold as a 'windows computer', and
have no problem reading or writing files to my windows partition, or windows floppies,
and the list could go on.

Of course I can't execute windows applications, but I have no trouble communicating with friends who insist on using msword, excel, and so on -- OpenOffice does the trick for me.
As for PDF files, there is a Linux version of Acroread by Adobe, and of course there is
xpdf. I can produce PDF files easily using a variety of means.

My only complaint is not with Linux, it is with Intuit. I need to keep a windows partition on my machine just to do my taxes once a year!

By the way, when you say 'what would you like changed about Linux?' it is kind of an
ill formed question. I think that strictly, this would only refer to the Linux Kernel. Beyond that, you can pretty much get any kind of environment you want by your choice of distribution and the way you set it up, ranging up to pretty nearly mswindows like.

Or by compatibility did you mean frequent crashes and suceptibility to viruses, worms, and other internet attacks :-) ?
(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Best, and good luck with Linux

John Velman

Linux needs to stay independent from looking and acting like Vendoze. I mean it more powerful than Vendozes, it can be a PDC, printer Server, File Server, Firewall, DHCP Server, DNS Server,
Email Server, just name a few and many of these can be on the same box. Now Vendozes can't do that.
I agreee that there is a need for some apps yet, but give it time and they will be there.
I just setup a PDC and friends it does not b get any easier to set one up like Linux can. Just follow some directions....
With Vendows you spend a day getting it up and getting all the "FIXES" it needs to work.
THen you spend time setting up users , and permissions . And so it goes... Then you get to setup another one for mail, another one for DNS, another one for BDC.....;

So No I don't want Linux like Vendows.

Just take sometime to learn the command line and learn something new.
If you want a easy Desktop to work with give XiMain 2 a try , I think you will come to really like it.

Bytecode Interpreter!

Turbo Tax! You can do your taxes completely on the web. I did mine that way this year.

Comaptible
 

When I say compatible, I mean that even with Wine, I can't run some of my Windows programs. When I tried to install Adobe Photoshop Elements, it did, but I can't find it.

And my point (and I think some other would agree) is this: Wine is not the answer, writting native apps is the answer. Native apps will always always always be better then running through a system like wine.

If you want to do photoshop I suggets you checkout gimp.

But GIMP isn't as developed as Photoshop is, so people using Linux are currently disadvantaged when they photoedit compared to Windows/Mac users because they have a less mature application to work with. That's why WINE is necessary. Too bad it still doesn't work.

How so? I used Photoshop for nearly seven years....now I use Gimp, and I can't find those disadvantages of which you speak. Since version 4 PS has made very little improvement beyond some superficial features.
The Gimp can do everything PS can do (with the exception of some added tools that have nothing to do with image editing) ...you may just need to get creative once in a while.

More compatability with Windows files (MS Office) would be great (although I do by-pass this using VMware running windows on linux). I personally spend a lot of time @ work using, and building excel spreadsheets & other MS Office apps full of VBA, & VMware seems to be the only solution (albeit expensive for your avarage user) available @ present to enable me to use MS files I need for work, at home on my Linux box - I have tried wine/cross-over office, but to buggy with VBA, and the excellent openoffice unfortunately cannot run VBA
:(

In the corporate world, MS products are quite the standard (esp. in accounting industry - accountants seem to have an everlasting love-affair with Excel ;)

You know what else? Gimp is a lot cheaper to get then photoshop to. If you want to blame somebody for not having photoshop in Linux, don't blame Linux, blame Adobe.

I'd personally much rather have the talented open source programmers work on some useful native software then to spend time trying to hack together a means to make windows apps run on Linux. Thankfully most of those talented open source programmers think the same way I do.

Eventually, if enough people complain to companies like Adobe they will put out there software for Linux, but as has already been said, Gimp gives you about 98% of the functionality of Photoshop for 0% of the price.

How difficult/bad would it be to standardise a little more? As a newbie, it's difficult to work through some problems because distros store things in different places (for no clear logical reason). The documentation we're always encouraged to read refers to files which aren't where we're told they are.

Why are runlevels sometimes different between distros? Is there some reason they have to be?

And package maintenance..... rpm, apt, portage.....

It's all about choice. Sure, enforcing standards would make it a little easier and probably solve some problems, but at the cost of removing one of the fundamental aspects of GPL...the choice to follow your own path to wherever you feel it should lead.

As for the original question, I just thought of something I'd like to see: More GUIs with no pixmaps...just shapes, colors, and text, like Blackbox.