This blog is devoted to nonconstructive criticism, bashing, and other things that, being neither answers nor questions, are evidently unwelcome anywhere else in Linux Questions.
This surprised even me
Posted 04-20-2011 at 06:03 AM by AGer
What are the best open source apps? If you agree, that the list should start with Firefox, Thunderbird, and Open Office, read on. Are they good enough to convince everybody that FOSS is the way to go?
NO.
Firefox - it FREEZES. It seldom freezes to a process rill, but tabs stop to respond, URL and Search boxes refuse to receive a cursor, things like that. This freezes more often when I go to and from full screen video.
Thunderbird - it has filters OK, but they are not usable without regular expressions. And without filters, it is not usable outside a kindergarten.
Open Office - I do not use it (or alternatives) a lot, but the last encounter really shocked me. Suppose you have a picture in a DOC file. There is no way to change it. The context menu has the "Save graphics" entry, but there is no "Load graphics" entry. Nowhere. SHOW STOPPER FOR FOSS IN GENERAL!
NO.
Firefox - it FREEZES. It seldom freezes to a process rill, but tabs stop to respond, URL and Search boxes refuse to receive a cursor, things like that. This freezes more often when I go to and from full screen video.
Thunderbird - it has filters OK, but they are not usable without regular expressions. And without filters, it is not usable outside a kindergarten.
Open Office - I do not use it (or alternatives) a lot, but the last encounter really shocked me. Suppose you have a picture in a DOC file. There is no way to change it. The context menu has the "Save graphics" entry, but there is no "Load graphics" entry. Nowhere. SHOW STOPPER FOR FOSS IN GENERAL!
Total Comments 5
Comments
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"Are they good enough to convince everybody that FOSS is the way to go?"
Why do Linux users obsess over converting the entire world to FOSS? Are you happy with Linux? If so, great...forget converting the world. They'll use wtf they think is best (and for some, hand holding from Microsoft is the only choice). If you aren't happy with Linux, change it.
Not aiming this at you personally, AGer, but it seems odd to me that Linux users are so OCD over "market share" and "convincing the world".Posted 04-20-2011 at 02:00 PM by rocket357 
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"Why do Linux users obsess over converting the entire world to FOSS?"
Yes, it is kind of obsession. I have never discussed that with professionals, so self observation may lead to wrong conclusions, but my current hypothesis is that I am unsatisfied with all modern software so much that it hurts.
Pro money development has very good reasons to produce junk, possibly with very few exceptions like QNX. How that can be different in the world where people eat, drink, drive junk? I do not see fundamental reasons that prohibit FOSS to be different. So, there is hope. Last hope, that is hard to loose.Posted 04-21-2011 at 02:45 AM by AGer
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I can think of two potentially valid reasons:Quote:Originally Posted by rocket357
Why do Linux users obsess over converting the entire world to FOSS?
1. Maybe the majority of FOSS users think they ought to share the good thing they're on to, to benefit others who might not be aware of the non proprietary alternatives.
2. Maybe FOSS users think if they can encourage a larger market share, then more bugs will be reported and fixed. Again, everyone wins!
Posted 04-21-2011 at 03:32 AM by rich_c
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AGer, I share your hypothesis, though I do believe I somehow ended up on the opposite side of the spectrum by going minimalist (OpenBSD, as default as possible). My theory is that complex graphical software sucks, and I trust my ability to learn how to use simple, reliable, command-line software in complex ways more than I trust complex graphical software's ability to shield me from having to learn. Too many complete failures with complex graphical software, I guess. This much we certainly agree on.
rich_c, do larger user bases cause user-friendly code? Does user-friendly code cause larger user bases? Is it possible to have compact, efficient, reliable code and millions or billions of users? Or are the two linked together in some freaky synergy?
My complaint isn't about the size of the user base, rather, it's with the sheer amount of crap code that gets piled higher and higher with even "server edition" linux distros. It's maddening that I have to build LFS to get linux the way I want it anymore.
Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky...I think I need a nap.Posted 04-21-2011 at 05:42 PM by rocket357
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No problems here.
Posted 04-22-2011 at 11:14 PM by lupusarcanus
