Richard Reynolds wrote:
There
are no more technical considerations. I mean, what more do people
want?? What does Windows do that Linux doesn't???
[O]k so you asked for it, most are application or dystro issues, but some
aren't and Im not talking about running windows IN linux to get these to
work but as many just work in windows, figured its a place to start.
Obviously you're new to Linux so I'll be nice.
First off, it's "Distro" (short for DISTribution) not "Dystro" (short
for Dystribution?).
*[I]t would be nice if [L]inux really worked with more than 1 of my 10
printers ( 2 of which there is no excuse for lack of support)
This is so vague that's it's really hard to debate. You don't define
what "Really worked" means. Nearly all printers made in the last five
years or more work just fine in Linux. If you're talking about the fancy
GUI apps that ship with most printers, those don't do anything that
Linux doesn't already do, and without needing drivers.
You might have a case for Linux not telling you how much ink is left in
the cartridge, but then Windows doesn't really know either: the driver
only counts head passes and guesses how much ink /should/ be left - and
it's almost never right.
Windows-only printers really don't count. Did you know that some of
those "WinPrinters" don't work with all "Windows" either? They only work
with XP, but not well, if at all, with Win9x or Windows 2000.
In any case, maybe it's just time to get a new printer?
*[I]t would be nice if it supported w/o hacking all of the features of my
laptop .... (though not a HUGE deal)
All features except two on /my/ laptop (an Asus Z71V) work fine
including the special buttons and hot keys.
The two features that don't: the WinModem (that's Microsoft's fault, not
Linux's) and the card reader (again, a part whose internal operation is
a secret known only its maker, Asus and Microsoft).
Who cares about the modem these days. And I have an external USB card
reader the size of a deck of cards that worked fine the very, very few
times I've needed it (as in once).
I also researched which laptop was best supported by Linux before I
bought. As it turned out, it's also one of the best supported by Windows
as well (as in it just works).
To be fair, if I was buying a laptop to run OS X or Solaris, (or even
DOS or WinXP) I'd check first to see which laptops were supported by
those OSes.
*[A] presentation software package (like powerpoint) that worked !!! [L]ets
face it when [I']m at work trying to run one on linux and its not doing
what I want, I look bad! [O]r if one of the other people in the room says
"[H]ey why didnt you do" ... "like I did in powerpoint" again I look bad!
What're you, Disney?
Most people who use Powerpoint slides look bad anyway. That's why they
use Powerpoint - to distract the audience from an otherwise bad and/or
boring presentation, while at the same time making it look like they
have far more relevant data than they actually do.
I usually figure that if a guy comes in with a disk full of PP slides,
he's telling me "I not comfortable standing up here and don't really
have much to entertain you with...but I've got these slides!
"Full motion Technicolor animations in 16 million colors and 13 fonts
with which to explain to the boss why your department is over budget and
behind schedule."
Face it, if everything was really going well, you wouldn't really need a
Powerpoint presentation. IOW, it's not Linux's fault you look bad, it's
yours. If you can't put on The Show with OOo's Impress, you're
overselling and under delivering.
* [I]t would be nice if [I] could handle excel and access files better,
So use Excel and Access if you must. They run fine under CrossOver
Office, as does Powerpoint by the way. $40 online. $80 if you want
support. I won't mention that OOo handles most Excel files fine, unless
you're doing something some complicated that it must be clandestine - or
is actually an attempt at a relational database - which in that case,
would make Excel more like Access. So see, you really can use OOo like
Access.
[A]gain I cant say to my clients "sorry I dont run M$", and most dont
understand that either excel is the wrong tool for the job or that
access isnt a tool :D
Can't or won't?
* [F]ull support for my scanner (though really its close ....)
My scanner (Epson Perfection 2400) works just fine in Linux. Maybe you
need to hire a consultant?
* [B]etter video editing would be nice
Better than what? Cinelerra isn't good enough?:
http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3
http://cvs.cinelerra.org/
There are others simpler Linux editors too, I just can't locate the
bookmarks at the moment.
* REAL data recovery software (all the good packages are m$ dos and or
M$ windows based) and on that I wouldnt mind shelling out $,$$$ but it
had better work the first time just like the packages that run in/on M$ do.
I have to think that if data recovery is that high on your list then to
me, that's a good enough reason to move /away/ from Windows. Seriously,
how often does one actually need data recovery solutions in everyday
computing?
I used to do a lot of data recovery back in the DOS and Win3.x days when
it seemed more necessary. There were a fair number of tools, some rather
good. But data recovery just doesn't lend itself to automation. If it
were that easy, one wouldn't need data recovery tools to begin with.
Admittedly, I haven't used Windows myself for anything but games in
years, so maybe data recovery software has made leaps and bounds in the
last dozen years and I'm just ignorant of it.
But then, I have almost never needed any data recovered since using
Linux so why would I care? BTW, there is at least one undelete app for
Linux.
* [E]mail though in reality I dont like the M$ versions either I end up
using 3, OE (using now, on laptop) outlook and pine, and using all 3 is
getting can we say OLD!!!
If you're implying that there are not good email clients for Linux, all
I can say is "You've got to be joking!". I *know* you're not talking
about mail handling.
* [A] FAST simple image viewer like acdsee, though in reality i have not
tried out any in the last 6 months or so .... so they could have gotten
better
I can view my digital pics just fine in any of several apps shipped with
Fedora Core. I've never used any image viewers in Windows aside from
what's built into XP (really just an applet) and Kodak's EasyShare
(KDE's Photo Tool and kThumbnail Viewer are just as good). I've never
seen ACDSee so I can't comment on that.
The Gimp is good enough for more detailed editing, and Photoshop runs
fine under CrossOver Office from what I've heard.
* [A]nd though this is more of a dystro and ME problem, it would be nice
if I could get rid of all of the server/multi user stuff. [G]ranted I like
it on a few machines, but back to my laptop the only user is ME, if I am
going to do something stupid im gona do it with or without having to
type su - to do so!!! a note from experience
Again, that's a pretty vague statement. What do you define as
"Server/Multi-user stuff"? NFS and Samba are servers. But so is XFS. If
you don't want "Multi-user stuff" then why are you using *nix to begin
with? Linux is, by definition a multi-user OS.
Log on as UID 0 and run whatever you want. You don't want servers,
un-install them, or don't install them to begin with. Or run something
like Linspire.
* [A] good FlightSim would be nice, and full support for 2 monitors and my
joystick/flightstick whichamacallit (in the flightsim)
Can't speak to that. It's certainly true that Linux is not a gamer's
magnet. But then if Grandma had wheels, she's be a wagon.
End of Rant
Thanks for Listening
Richard Reynolds
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
All your complaints would have seemed fairly reasonable - a half-dozen
Redhat releases ago. But you almost give the impression that you haven't
used a current version of Linux in years.
--
Best Regards,
~DJA.
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