On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:35:20 +0000, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>>> Things have improved since 2006 then. ;-) I wasted a whole day trying
>>> to get the nVidia drivers to work...
>> 
>> 2006 is about 4 generations ago for openSUSE.
> 
> Actually is was (IIRC) Debian at the time, but whatever. ;-)

It's still "n" generations.

>> Yeah, things have changed
>> since then.  The ATI drivers used to be a royal pain the ass to install
>> and configure.  Not anymore.
> 
> All I remember is that even after endless fiddling, I couldn't get 3D
> acceleration to work. (Actually producing a picture didn't require any
> special attention at all.)

Yes.  *Used* to be.  Not anymore.  Time to update your knowledge - that's 
what I'm saying.  It's like saying "Windows can't run DirectX 10" and 
then admitting you're talking about Windows 98.

>>> (Of course, a few months later I upgraded my graphics card, making my
>>> Linux partition non-bootable. That was roughly when I decided to just
>>> not bother fixing it.)
>> 
>> Probably rebuilding the kernel?  Otherwise, I can't see how a graphics
>> card change would affect the hard drive at all.
> 
> OK, to be completely clear: It booted, but X wouldn't run.

That's quite different from "the Linux partition was non-bootable", which 
is almost a direct quote of what you originally said.  X not running is 
something that used to be an issue with a kernel update.  It's rare now.

>>> Sure. And it'll probably continue to get larger over time. But right
>>> now, it's still fairly modest by comparison.
>> 
>> You must be looking at different places than I.  Go have a look at
>> sourceforge.net, freshmeat.net, and at the repository list for openSUSE
>> at the number of packages available.  There's TONS of software for
>> Linux.
> 
> Most of which is only marginally functional.

Percentagewise, perhaps - look at the raw number of usable applications.  
It's not "6".

> Don't get me wrong, there *is* some seriously quality software out
> there. But there's also a lot of stuff that doesn't work very well.
> (E.g., klogic. It does almost exactly what I want. But it doesn't *work*
> properly. It randomly segfaults, and sometimes it GIVES YOU THE WRONG
> ANSWER. It's also fiddly to use for no good reason.)

And did you submit bugs against this, or did you just say "this thing 
doesn't work" to yourself and go somewhere else.

> Anyway, how much *commercial* software (such as big-budget games) are
> there for Linux?

Ever hear of Cedega?  Transgaming?  Loki Games (OK, they're now defunct - 
a shame because now they'd probably do OK)?

You have to keep in mind as well that the mindset of the typical Linux 
user is different - commercial applications are secondary considerations 
*most* of the time - after all, if I can find a quality OSS solution for 
no cost, why would I look to a commercial application?

>> Then add to that Windows apps that work with WINE (and that is growing
>> significantly every month).
> 
> It's news to me that *anything* works under WINE yet. (But then,
> admittedly it's not something I follow closely. If I want to run Windows
> software, I just run Windows...)

Go and look at the Wine AppDB.  The list of supported apps is 
significant.  Which reminds me, I need to try running Framemaker 8 under 
it.  One less reason to run Windows in a VMware session.

>> Now tell me again that you have more choice on Windows than on Linux.
> 
> Most of the software *I* want runs only under Windows. Not all of it
> (there are some notable exceptions), but most of it.
> 
> Of course, it depends what you're trying to do with your PC...

Exactly.  And that's part of the reason why the approach of saying what 
you said that got me started is the wrong approach.

Jim

Post a reply to this message