When is Linux ready for the desktop? Or more likely, the laptop? Walt Mossberg recently has echoed that while Linux is easier to use, its still not for everyone (permanently archived at his blog, Linux’s Free System Is Now Easier to Use, But Not for Everyone).
I have to applaud Dell for having the balls to sell Ubuntu on their laptops. In fact, now, Lenovo/IBM are thinking that they might do this as well, and the polls seem to suggest that Ubuntu is the favourite.
However, I should caution all these companies from even going near Linux with a ten-foot pole. Quite simply, this is because Linux doesn’t work. If their product doesn’t work as advertised, what are the chances of a customer possibly suing them, for a product that isn’t fit for purpose?
Before buying a laptop, I was told that if I went with an Intel video card, I would be safe, and everything would just work. I was lied to.
- Suspend and resume work sometimes, but its so unreliable, that saying random prayers are handy, but don’t always work.
- Turning off the wireless on a plane and turning it back on, will somehow ensure that I need to reboot my machine to get it working again.
- Attempting to drive the external display, could lead my machine to stop functioning, requiring a hard reset.
There are so many known bugs that Dell had to create a special Wiki page to list the known issues with the systems they sell. And if there are bug reports attached, these don’t look like they’re getting fixed anytime soon. Keeping in mind these are Intel video cards, and Intel tells you that they’ve got such a big commitment to open source. Last I checked, my Linux/PowerPC laptop with an ATI card (last generation PowerBook G4’s) did suspend/resume, external display driving and working wireless much better than I currently get on my newer Dell.
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
Frankly, most of the time, my laptop sits at my desk. But there are times in a year I travel, a lot, changing wireless networks, turning it off and on from time to time, having to make presentations, putting it thru many suspends and resumes, and so on. That is, using it like how a laptop is meant to be used.
I’m so unhappy to say that after over a decade of using Linux on my desktop, I still find Linux inadequate for basic laptop functionality.
Don’t get me wrong. I like Ubuntu. I like their release policy, the fact that I have a working machine most of the time, and during the past release cycle I might have only seen two new kernels. I like that I can run some restricted/commercial software with no issue – VMWare, Java, Flash, etc. Sure I’ve had to have random hacks to get some things working, but for the most part Ubuntu has struck a chord for a good balance between freedoms and usability (when I want to futz around, Fedora is still the best for that). I just wish they would go the extra mile to ensure that basic laptop functionality works better.
Do I give up some of my freedoms and move to using OS X, like most people seem to do now? With pervasive Internet connectivity available, and IPv6 address spaces to rid me of NAT, maybe I should harness screen + ssh and get work done remotely, via a Mac.
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