[Discuss] The next Linux desktop

[lconrad at laymusic.org (Laura Conrad)]

>>>>> "Richard" == Richard Pieri <richard.pieri at gmail.com> writes:

    Richard> I think that Laura's experience is indicative of the state
    Richard> of the Linux desktop especially on portable kit.  In short:
    Richard> it sucks.

In the light of later discussion, I want to point out that nothing I
complained about was directly related to the desktop at all.  

If the developers are tweaking the desktop experience at the expense of
fixing the bugs in power management and graphics, there might be an
indirect relationship, but I actually was using XFCE on Xubuntu, so my
problems had nothing to do with the desktop wars.  

I'm actually quite a lot like the non-technical users -- I just want
something that works the way I'm used to.  The difference is that I got
used to X windows in the 1980's.  So I *need* focus follows mouse.

As long as I can run the applications I want, I don't really care what
the desktop looks like.  But when I was having trouble with the
screensaver hanging, I kept remembering how impressed my friends were
with xscreensaver in the mid nineties, and wondering why I couldn't
still impress them that way.  Thanks to Mint, now I can.  A small
blessing.

-- 
Laura   (mailto:lconrad at laymusic.org, twitter: @serpentplayer)
(617) 661-8097	233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139   
http://www.laymusic.org/ http://www.serpentpublications.org

The opposite of "funny" isn't "serious"; the opposite of both "funny"
and "serious" is "sordid".

R. A. Lafferty