btw - I don't know that I've ever posted an "I Want" list to this thred, and between being too lazy at the moment to ga back and check as well as whatever I might've said before having changed in the intervening time: here goes.
- more aggresive pursuit of newer kernel releases as they become practical, enabling new hardware/software features.
- the possible pursuit of a 3D desktop that provides enhanced functionality if possible, as well as looking really freakin cool.
- less dependence on KDE/GNOME as defaults for the desktop in general. I personally don't happen to like them, use them and their features as little as possible, and feel that from the few distros I'm familiar with, something along the lines of RedHat offereing those two choices only as part of its standard graph. install is just kinda depressing, considering all the choices out there. But, RH is aimed at a different audience, and therefore has its own priorities. No beef with the approach, just doesn't work for me.
3D is a big chink to swallow in and of itself. LONG TERM GOAL.
- PACKAGES!!! I hate .rpm's, I think they're a royal pain in the tush. I know lots and lots of people use them successfully all the time, and that's great, but I'll take either straight-up .tar.gz src-code OR apt-get and similars any day of the week over .rpm's. Broken dependencies really chafe me where the sun don't shine. This is a big big goal in and of itself that requires alot of work and attention to detail, but Hey, it's an "I Want", not a "we have".
- This is the big one, and it's kind of a "I Don't Want": Native support for anything but linux binaries is never ever gonna be part of the Linux Kernel for a whole lot of very valid reasons that have been stated all over the place. A good set of emulators being included in the base install is fine and good, but I don't want us to spend oodles of time watching a pot that's never gonna boil. Leave the emulation work up to the people who are developing that stuff independently, and just make sure that we have it well-represented is my vote, since this seems to be a big deal for so many people.
- The corresponding I Want would be that I want this project to be a haven for cutting-edge Linux Software. LINUX software, not Windows/MAC/etc. -on-Linux software. One of the greatest things about running linux is that you don't have to rely on Big Bill anymore. So, why keep perpetuating the companies that pray at the altar of Redmond and nowhere else?
My thought is this, and this is not for the people who want emulation support for things they've kazaa'd. That's a whole diff. subject:
If you actually do go out and buy a copy of.... Paint Shop Pro, to give a random example, and then bring it straight home and stick it on Wine. (Don't know how valid this example is, I don't actually use Wine or any other emulater. Like I usually say: "That's what I have an XP box for.") How is that furthering the development of great Linux software and furthering your lack of dependence on Microsoft? All Jasc Software would see would be another Windows-based program being sold. But, if they and their competitors started seeing business go out the door for a competitively-priced package that only runs on *nix.... wouldn't that turn a few heads in management? Make them start thinkin about putting out a version meant just for us? Remember, "free software" does NOT mean "software for 0 dollars and 0 cents. It can, but that's not the real meaning of the phrase. It means choice. It means not needing an emulator in the first place, because the Linux version does everything you want and more. As is the case with such a lowly function as command-line regular expressions. Anybody tried to search for complex strings in DOS lately? Good luck!! You can do it, but the Linux implementation is so much more powerful. That's choice. If the DOS version had just been cloned or ported or emulated or whatever (a historical impossibility, I know. I'm being rhetorical here! ), that choice would have been gone. That is, at the core, why I don't emulate. I don't like the principle of the thing. That's me, I'm idealistic and probably impractical, but I really think that it's something we all need to give a bunch of thought to considering where we're going with all of this.
I know I've ruffled alot of feathers with some of my comments here and elsewhere aimed at the people who've doubted this project. I don't apologize for those comments, because I still feel that alot of people are being overly-judgemental and unfairly expecting us to have certain things decided at this very early stage of the project. I would, however, welcome the comments of anyone who thinks I'm a big *** in light of this post.
Surgeon General's warning: erroneous commands are not strictly endorsed for mass usage. http://www.yinrunning.com
Doesn't Darwin have a duck as its mascott...You should try to come up with something more unique. If anything, I would be able to help you out with the design of this new mascott...
Doesn't Darwin have a duck as its mascott...You should try to come up with something more unique. If anything, I would be able to help you out with the design of this new mascott...
yea, but i'm sure darwin doesn't have a duck with 4 legs
My System:
ASUS A7N8X
AMD Athlon XP 2100+
256MB OCZ PC3200
GeForce 4 MX 440 (I want an FX!!)
Sound Blaster 128 (onboard sound blows)
80GB Western Digital
Toshiba 12A DVD-ROM
Memorex 52X24X52 CD-RW
OSes: SuSe Linux 8.1 Pro/windows 98se
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"Whad' your mom buy you a 'puter for Christmas?" -Lord Nikon, "Hackers"
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St@T1c d1sCh@Rg3
----------------------------------------------------
My System:
ASUS A7N8X
AMD Athlon XP 2100+
256MB OCZ PC3200
GeForce 4 MX 440 (I want an FX!!)
Sound Blaster 128 (onboard sound blows)
80GB Western Digital
Toshiba 12A DVD-ROM
Memorex 52X24X52 CD-RW
OSes: SuSe Linux 8.1 Pro/windows 98se
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whad' your mom buy you a 'puter for Christmas?" -Lord Nikon, "Hackers"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
St@T1c d1sCh@Rg3
----------------------------------------------------
I am a brand new (and I do mean NEW) Linux user having been a MS/Windows user all my life. So what's this to do with the thread? Well, someone says they want to write a Linux OS that is compatible with Windows. I might be wrong, but I am thinking about converting to Linux to get AWAY from Bill Gates....not give him yet another thing to be able to screw up and making money while he's doing it.
We apparently have tons of programming expertise out there. Why not write our own (Linux) programs that do what we want them to accomplish like Windows programs do but not be compatible (thus requiring Linux and Windows to unite)? I would rather see Linux NOT become buddy-buddy with Microsoft and give Bill Gates an opportunity to buy us out (and trust me...if he gets the chance, he WILL).
first off, we have decided not to include native windows program support as of yet...
however, programs such as wine will be included...
If, somewhere down the road native windows program support is achieved by someone it will be for this reason...
... granted there are many alternatives to windows based programs such as openoffice vs. microsoft office.
Programs designed for windows are usually created by well equiped teams of hundreds of programmers ... as you read our thread you will realize that we are not as well off as some major software companies (heck, we get excited when someone gets a 6 gig box we can use as a server).
There is simply a larger market for companies with windows users (ex. some windows users are dumb enough to shell out up to $700 for microsoft office) ... therefore some of the best programs out there are designed for windows and would be near impossible to duplicate.
hence the need to use windows based programs
just remember, a lot of these programs are not created by our big buddy Bill ... but he does line their pokets very well for their support.
... however, the future is getting brighter as we are seeing an increased number of major software companies creating linux versions of their software.
yet, there is still a need for non-linux software and there will always be a need for support of older programs.
My System:
ASUS A7N8X
AMD Athlon XP 2100+
256MB OCZ PC3200
GeForce 4 MX 440 (I want an FX!!)
Sound Blaster 128 (onboard sound blows)
80GB Western Digital
Toshiba 12A DVD-ROM
Memorex 52X24X52 CD-RW
OSes: SuSe Linux 8.1 Pro/windows 98se
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whad' your mom buy you a 'puter for Christmas?" -Lord Nikon, "Hackers"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
St@T1c d1sCh@Rg3
----------------------------------------------------
"When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity."
Albert Einstein
"USA Today has come out with a new survey: Apparently three out of four people make up 75 percent of the population."
David Letterman.
Okay, I've decided what I want for features. I want a distro that's just as easy to install as Mandrake except I want it to use a package-management system just like Gentoo's portage. That's all I want. Gimme that and you've got my money.