What programs would you like to see ported to Linux?
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3 dos programs. The first 2 are propriatary, attrib and xcopy. The third is NEWSWEEP and it's in public domain. It's so old I was using it with cpm on a Kaypro 2x. The dos version works the same way.
3 dos programs. The first 2 are propriatary, attrib and xcopy.
Apparently this thread has devolved into humor. Seriously, attrib and xcopy? That is just absurd, UNIX/LINUX tools are dramatically more advanced, not to mention that the functionality of attrib is barely even applicable.
attrib is meant to be used to set attributes that are only relevant in DOS, and would have absolutely no meaning in linux. The closest thing would be chmod. The functionality of chmod is more advanced simply because the linux filesystems are more advanced and can deal with more metadata than the old fat fs. In other words, it's a DOS only tool, and it would make absolutely no sense in linux. I am sure that the author of that post got confused or something.
About xcopy, it's just a command line tool to copy. Nothing else. Nothing so great about it. The equivalent in linux would be "cp", which is far more advanced and can do lots of things. xcopy can't compare to it. There are lots of other ways to copy files in linux. However, I guess that this one at least could be replicated on linux, unlike attrib.
attrib is meant to be used to set attributes that are only relevant in DOS, and would have absolutely no meaning in linux. The closest thing would be chmod. The functionality of chmod is more advanced simply because the linux filesystems are more advanced and can deal with more metadata than the old fat fs. In other words, it's a DOS only tool, and it would make absolutely no sense in linux. I am sure that the author of that post got confused or something.
firstly, i admit i didnt read all the postings in this thread because its so long so excuse my ignorance.
at first glance i see that most postings request is a joke with a couple of exceptions.
the fundamental problem with the request is mostly the wrong approach to new platform.
everyone comes in trying to find "exact duplicate" of their primary os apps, namely ms windows users.
allow me to ask you this question, when you first used windows what is your preferance application? the answer is simple, none what so ever because the question should be "how can i do x task in ms windows?"
this should be the approach to any new platform. linux is NOT ms windows.
if we look at the current picture as a whole in the os scenario there is nothing you can do in ms windows that you can't do in linux in respect to desktop perspective, on the other hand there are things you can do in linux from server perspective that you cannot do in ms windows mainly due to our ability to customize the kernel/distro.
The only exception i can think of is games, and wine is doing a bugger of a good job. The problem is not linux but the game developers where they dont see a market for linux platform. If the market slice for linux broadens then they would have no choice but to create multi-platform games. Quite frankly if i were a games developer and i can choose platform to develop, ms windows is definitely not the choice. For starters, you will have trouble cheating in games since you can't inject into process without causing a segment fault.
Linux teaches good habits and it has an excellent security model. When entering into this os, you should attempt to do so with the question "What is linux?", "What can it do?" and "How can i do x task?" then later on you can then ask questions like "Why do i have to do it this way?" and "How i can improve on it?".
In my opinion, there is nothing that needs to be ported but rather there are packages that needs improvements.
Distribution: Windows 7 / 8.1, Fedora 21, OSX 10.10
Posts: 26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paranoidx
The only exception i can think of is games, and wine is doing a bugger of a good job. The problem is not linux but the game developers where they dont see a market for linux platform. If the market slice for linux broadens then they would have no choice but to create multi-platform games. Quite frankly if i were a games developer and i can choose platform to develop, ms windows is definitely not the choice. For starters, you will have trouble cheating in games since you can't inject into process without causing a segment fault.
Linux teaches good habits and it has an excellent security model. When entering into this os, you should attempt to do so with the question "What is linux?", "What can it do?" and "How can i do x task?" then later on you can then ask questions like "Why do i have to do it this way?" and "How i can improve on it?".
In my opinion, there is nothing that needs to be ported but rather there are packages that needs improvements.
Just to be curious, what is causing a segment fault while injecting something into a process? (Yes, i know of injecting dlls into various Game.exe in M$ Windows. So is this means that a cheat program cannot be injected into Game.bin / Game.sh etc at all??)
And why is this so? (If anything can be do it within a click or 2, or at most a line or 2 codes and defintely without that much knowledge, it will be defintely best. But this is being idealistic that NO OS can currently done that. :P)
paranoidx hit the nail on the head when she said: "the fundamental problem with the request is mostly the wrong approach to new platform. everyone comes in trying to find "exact duplicate" of their primary os apps, namely ms windows users."
Now that I am getting used to Linux I find that I do many things the Linux way. When it comes to a way of getting something done, my thinking has changed in some ways. The person who requested attrib and xcopy probably wasn't yet comfortable with the Linux commands. As a regular DOS user I actually find that I commonly use ports of *nix commands anyway. ls, mv, cp, cat, rm, rn, etc. have been on my dos machines since before Linux started coming around. Yes, chmod reflects a much more sophisticated system than attrib (which, by the way can also be used as ls -a), but it is not just about what programs/utilities do. It is also about how they interface with the user. I might point out the popularity of GUIs to do even the simplest of functions. That just shows me that it is important how easy a person finds a task. It is very important to note that people are different not only in their psychology and preferences, but often there are significant physiological differences. I can operate my DOS systems with my eyes closed and, although I am not blind, often like to do so. That is difficult on a Linux system. The reason for that is the level of difficulty. A command like chmod is great, but it takes more than 5 minutes to learn how to use it. Again, I point to the popularity of the GUI to show that many people cannot, or will not, learn something like that. I certainly don't think it shows that people like mice and revel in exercising their hand-eye coordination. There has been a wealth of interface styles in the past and Linux has mostly developed only two of them. Why is that?
I cannot defend the suggestion of attrib for Linux, but I do suggest that there were some useful interface features to DOS not the least was ease of use with a keyboard. Linux has a very powerful command line but it is that very power that makes it difficult. One cannot learn it in a month like DOS. Do you see blind people using the Linux command line? I've only come across a few. After several years of playing around I have gotten fairely comfortable with Linux when it comes to getting things done. Still it has a limited interface which I feel could be expanded. Yes, there is more to interfaces than a difficult command line and a mouseGUI. Where's the choice?
[QUOTE=Ole Juul;3328867]paranoidx hit the nail on the head when she said: "the fundamental problem with the request is mostly the wrong approach to new platform. everyone comes in trying to find "exact duplicate" of their primary os apps, namely ms windows users.
Now that I am getting used to Linux I find that I do many things the Linux way."
I agree with virtually everything in Juul's post regarding Linux OS functions.
Regarding "exact duplicate" apps, in spite of the proliferation of programs available in Linux, many simply don't handle the data already accumulated over years of use of MS programs. Some things simply don't translate, programs themselves being different in style or function. Some MS programs will run in wine, but wine, to use an overworked phrase, "has issues".
Users with a history of MS usage will often have a many years of data stored with MS apps for which there is NO compatible Linux-based alternative, making for a serious barrier to adoption of a new OS.
paranoidx hit the nail on the head when she said: "the fundamental problem with the request is mostly the wrong approach to new platform. everyone comes in trying to find "exact duplicate" of their primary os apps, namely ms windows users.
Now that I am getting used to Linux I find that I do many things the Linux way."
I agree with virtually everything in Juul's post regarding Linux OS functions.
Regarding "exact duplicate" apps, in spite of the proliferation of programs available in Linux, many simply don't handle the data already accumulated over years of use of MS programs. Some things simply don't translate, programs themselves being different in style or function. Some MS programs will run in wine, but wine, to use an overworked phrase, "has issues".
Users with a history of MS usage will often have a many years of data stored with MS apps for which there is NO compatible Linux-based alternative, making for a serious barrier to adoption of a new OS.
And thats why you don't invest in a file format that will be forgotten in 5 years. Some of MS's own apps can't even read older versions of their file formats
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