Future and impact of ongoing projects in Linux world

[Xen]

Tom H schreef op 11-10-2016 16:52:
> On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at 1:01 PM, Xen <list at xenhideout.nl> wrote:
>> 
>> That's not really true. The vast majority of people would go screaming
>> for a Windows or Mac PC if they had Linux preinstalled.
>> 
>> The level of system maintenance I would have to give to my family for
>> a Linux box is about 95%.
> 
> Please don't extrapolate from your experience to all.
> 
> I maintain three laptops for non-technical users and they're running
> Ubuntu quite happily.

You say "maintain". I have never "maintained" anyone's Windows systems. 
I just fixed stuff when it was broken and that was a very irregular 
event, very very rarely. There was no maintenance in that sense. It is 
mostly "set up and forget".

And I was not extrapolating from Ubuntu experience (in that sense, 
supporting people with it) because I have never ever installed it on 
someone else's System. I was extrapolating from my Windows experience. 
So, what you say and what I say do not necessarily conflict, 
particularly if you attest to "maintaining" those laptops for other 
peole which is precisely the relationship I indicated.

Could you take yourself out of the equation for those 3 laptops for a 
year without a problem?


> From skimming of this thread, it seems to me that you might be trying
> to work against the system in order to achieve your goal rather than
> use the tools that are provided, like people who run "chattr -i
> /etc/resolv.conf".

Never even knew about that tool and those flags ;-).

Your impression may coincide with my impression that I am often running 
"behind schedule" because other systems advance faster than I can keep 
up with. The result is that you don't have the "time" to learn to "work" 
with the new system because complication constantly goes up.

An example is today when I am trying to prevent KScreen from resizing my 
X display. I don't know where I can disable it. I can either go on an 
endless and probably fruitless search for the answer, or I can write a 
script that checks syslog and reverts its changes when they have 
happened. You can call that "working against the system" but finding 
information on how to change the workings of kscreen will prove harder. 
I just learned I can disable it, but the way to do it was only evident 
through some stackexchange question, a site I am trying to avoid and if 
all my browsers supported the google addon they would never show up in 
my search results anymore.

Writing the script empowers me because the next time it will be easier 
and I do not need any other knowledge than what I can already readily 
discover on my own to effectuate it. Most of Linux these days is 
completely and utterly dependent on external sources to know how to do 
anything.

I just want to get to work changing my current system but they keep 
changing it faster than I can keep up with!

Completely disabling KScreen is also quite unsatisfactory. Thus far I 
have learned to: use journalctl's --show-cursor functionality, its 
after-cursor functionality, of course the udev rule that was necessary, 
how to give a root user access to my X session, and so on.

I prefer to be in control of my own systems but many of the "let me do 
that for you" systems we have today don't make that easier.

KScreen's functionality is extremely borked and killed my X session or 
its display within minutes of me trying to configure dual monitor. I 
have stayed away from it ever since and run xrandr commands myself. The 
"system" works against ME!!

Now KDE has started to give "copy / search" popups and now I have to 
find how to disable THOSE. ANOTHER THING TO DO. Fuck it, I'm leaving 
here ;-).

Actually, it is Opera that started doing that, I blame the wrong person. 
I was able to turn it off. :D.

It seemed to be site-wide because I often use it for e-mail. But KDE 
also has these things, like popups when you move a file (drag and drop) 
that I hate. The system is working against ME and doing stuff for me 
that I don't want. I was perfectly content with the simple way it worked 
in Windows 95 and things shouldn't have changed since then. A plus sign 
indicated copying, ctrl makes it into copying, a minus sign makes it 
moving or something like that, shift turns it into moving; that's all I 
need, as simple as that.

People try to improve stuff that doesn't need improving and then I have 
to work against it in order to disable it again.



So yes I am most definitely 'working against the system' because it 
keeps automating stuff (in the wrong way) I don't want to be automated. 
It is not making my life better by doing the wrong thing forcibly.

I don't have the time to learn all of these new systems, I want to get 
my system working now, not three years down the road with scarce 
documentation available or documentation that requires you to read books 
before you can do anything. Why on earth should I learn to work with the 
system if it always opposes me? If it doesn't even make it easy? Those 
systems consider themselves more important than the user.

I will just end with this ;-).


Linux has an affliction and it is system developers that want to be 
important and that want their systems to be centric in other people's 
lives even when other people don't want them there.

Linux is pestered by systems that say "I am amazing, look at me!" and 
update cycles that say "Keeping your system up to date is more important 
than doing actual work". WINDOWS 10 is doing that and it is the prime 
reason that system is so horrible. People are considering class action 
suits against Microsoft for it. Windows ten will easily say: I have 
important updates to install, I will keep your system busy for 30 
minutes while you shut it down, then another 30 while you boot it up, so 
you can't do any actual work and SEE HOW AMAZING I AM TODAY.

Microsoft is a ferret in a box peeking its head out and biting you when 
you are not looking or when you need your hands not to bleed.

Microsoft goes to great lengths to interrupt your day and to interrupt 
your workflow, and you know, don't be like that, please.

I don't know whether Microsoft copied it from Linux or the other way 
around, but both are doing it these days. You are just not, allowed, to 
control, your own, system.