"...crazy..."
Note: If you're not tech-inclined, stop reading right here.
So lately I've been messing around with linux again, and trying to find a distro that suits my needs. So far I've tried two, Fedora Core 5 and Kubuntu. Switching to linux is not an easy task, specially after being a win user for so long. Not only is the core system vastly different, but just overall getting around it is not as user-friendly as windows, yet. However, it's getting there.
I've always liked the idea of linux, because I see great potential in it...but the few times I tried it way back during the RedHat period I was always sent back to windows, somewhat depressed. It was just too hard to do anything for the average user. Yet here I am, on linux once again...
Fedora Core 5
I can't even begin to express how many problems I had while running this first distro, from availability of software packages to not being able to install xgl-compiz plus lack of overall documentation. At times I felt I was the only one using the distro and running into problems, because a few times I tried to search for answers using my good friend google, and nada.
However, it does have some good points. The installation was very smooth, taking only aprox 35 minutes ( for a full 5-cds install ) and not once I ran into problems ( and I installed the distro over 5 times ), quick loading time from boot, both KDE and Gnome desktop enviroments, and it was speedy overall on my ancient pc. But what's the point of running something where you can't get the tools you need working with ease? Installing java and its dependencies was a pain in the ass, so there went my chance of running my preferred bittorrent manager ( azureus ), every time I tried to compile the package I ran into all sort of issues. And even more basic things like doing a simple upgrade from KDE 3.5.3 to KDE 3.5.4 was hell, since it broke a lot of things after it was done "updating" ( with no errors during the process mind you )...funny, ain't it ?
The last stroke came when I tried to install the bleeding edge XGL / compiz ( basically 3D accelerated desktop experience, with a lot of nice effects ) and it just didn't work. I must have tried around 15 guides and nada...no dice. Goodbye Fedora Core 5, you suck.
Kubuntu 6.06 LTS
So after my fun experience with FC5 I went to Kubuntu's site and downloaded their LiveCD ( basically gives you the ability to run the OS and try it without installing anything permanently ) and loaded it up, after playing around with it for 15 minutes, I was sold. Minutes later I was clicking on the "Install" icon nicely placed on the desktop.
I ran into a few problems during the installation, my fault of course, since I was trying to install linux without defining a /boot partition...so the installer couldn't write GRUB ( which is basically a boot loader ) into the Master Boot Record. I tried again, this time doing so, and within 10 mins top I was running a fresh/permanent and fully functional copy of the distro from my HD. I was surprised at how quick and responsive the OS felt overall and how simple, yet beautiful it looked ( thanks to KDE, which is my preferred desktop enviroment under linux systems )
After upgrading many packages and doing some random work I proceeded to get my hands dirty on what I really wanted out of linux, the ability to have a fully working 3D rendered desktop enviroment thanks to the bleeding edge technology developed by novell called XGL.
I tried for over 3 days on Fedora Core 5 to get XGL ( said 3D engine ) and Compiz ( series of plugins that use XGL to render animations on windows, etc ) but I was unable to do so. Low and behold, I was able to get both working on Kubuntu within the first day. Thanks to more documentation, more people using the distro and creating guides and packages for it therefor making the process not only available but pretty straight forward.
I cannot begin to tell you how impressed I've been the last few days with the possibilities of said engine. I have been playing around with it non-stop for the past week and I cannot seem to get enough. From wobbly windows, pixel shader driven effects such as transparency and blur, awesome themeing capabilities thanks to CGWD, automatic positioning of all your current windows ( as shown in the picture above ) so you can select quickly the one you want to work in, to an amazing 3D rotating cube with all your workspaces/desktops.
Now of course, not everything is perfect...after all, nothing in life really is. Because it is a fairly new technology you're bound to run into a few problems every now and then, like how limited its implementation currently is, not all distros support it, not all videocards work with it, and things like that. But the good thing is that there's a lot of people out there trying to make it work on all kind of distros/pc's so it's not hard to find information/guides about it.
Performance wise I have to say I'm impressed. I mean, I'm running a very old Athlon XP with a gig of ram and a 6600GT which is by no means bleeding edge and I manage to run it very smooth here, lately I've been having a few issues with it but that's mostly because I'm messing around heavily with the whole thing, trying experimental plugins, patching files to add even more eye-candy and shit like that. But the overall user who just wants the eye candy shouldn't have much problems.
So here I am wondering why companies so big such as microsoft, who could easily afford the investment haven't been able to develop something like this for their upcomming OS Windows Vista.
This is exactly what I was expecting vista to do when it was announced several years ago, the ability to have a 3D engine that uses the GPU to render everything on the desktop with nice effects/animations which ultimately make the experience so much more enjoyable, and I have to say that being a current beta 2 owner of said OS I find myself very dissapointed and much more inclined to make linux my day-to-day OS.
Why? Because I love technology, I love productivity and most importantly because I love innovation. And that my friend, its exactly what linux and XGL happen to be. And if you can do in linux almost everything you can do in windows + the ability to have a more enjoyable desktop experience, then why use windows at all? And that leads me to my final and closing statement of the post, which is the only thing windows have going for it in my eyes, the ability to play OpenGL videogames with ease, which linux lacks. But it's not because of linux itself, it's because game developers and GPU makers can't be arsed to port their games and/or their videocard drivers that work decently in another platform.
Someday, perhaps.
Now I go back to messing with Kubuntu, later...
-x-o-x-
So lately I've been messing around with linux again, and trying to find a distro that suits my needs. So far I've tried two, Fedora Core 5 and Kubuntu. Switching to linux is not an easy task, specially after being a win user for so long. Not only is the core system vastly different, but just overall getting around it is not as user-friendly as windows, yet. However, it's getting there.
I've always liked the idea of linux, because I see great potential in it...but the few times I tried it way back during the RedHat period I was always sent back to windows, somewhat depressed. It was just too hard to do anything for the average user. Yet here I am, on linux once again...
Fedora Core 5
I can't even begin to express how many problems I had while running this first distro, from availability of software packages to not being able to install xgl-compiz plus lack of overall documentation. At times I felt I was the only one using the distro and running into problems, because a few times I tried to search for answers using my good friend google, and nada.
However, it does have some good points. The installation was very smooth, taking only aprox 35 minutes ( for a full 5-cds install ) and not once I ran into problems ( and I installed the distro over 5 times ), quick loading time from boot, both KDE and Gnome desktop enviroments, and it was speedy overall on my ancient pc. But what's the point of running something where you can't get the tools you need working with ease? Installing java and its dependencies was a pain in the ass, so there went my chance of running my preferred bittorrent manager ( azureus ), every time I tried to compile the package I ran into all sort of issues. And even more basic things like doing a simple upgrade from KDE 3.5.3 to KDE 3.5.4 was hell, since it broke a lot of things after it was done "updating" ( with no errors during the process mind you )...funny, ain't it ?
The last stroke came when I tried to install the bleeding edge XGL / compiz ( basically 3D accelerated desktop experience, with a lot of nice effects ) and it just didn't work. I must have tried around 15 guides and nada...no dice. Goodbye Fedora Core 5, you suck.
Kubuntu 6.06 LTS
So after my fun experience with FC5 I went to Kubuntu's site and downloaded their LiveCD ( basically gives you the ability to run the OS and try it without installing anything permanently ) and loaded it up, after playing around with it for 15 minutes, I was sold. Minutes later I was clicking on the "Install" icon nicely placed on the desktop.
I ran into a few problems during the installation, my fault of course, since I was trying to install linux without defining a /boot partition...so the installer couldn't write GRUB ( which is basically a boot loader ) into the Master Boot Record. I tried again, this time doing so, and within 10 mins top I was running a fresh/permanent and fully functional copy of the distro from my HD. I was surprised at how quick and responsive the OS felt overall and how simple, yet beautiful it looked ( thanks to KDE, which is my preferred desktop enviroment under linux systems )
After upgrading many packages and doing some random work I proceeded to get my hands dirty on what I really wanted out of linux, the ability to have a fully working 3D rendered desktop enviroment thanks to the bleeding edge technology developed by novell called XGL.
I tried for over 3 days on Fedora Core 5 to get XGL ( said 3D engine ) and Compiz ( series of plugins that use XGL to render animations on windows, etc ) but I was unable to do so. Low and behold, I was able to get both working on Kubuntu within the first day. Thanks to more documentation, more people using the distro and creating guides and packages for it therefor making the process not only available but pretty straight forward.
I cannot begin to tell you how impressed I've been the last few days with the possibilities of said engine. I have been playing around with it non-stop for the past week and I cannot seem to get enough. From wobbly windows, pixel shader driven effects such as transparency and blur, awesome themeing capabilities thanks to CGWD, automatic positioning of all your current windows ( as shown in the picture above ) so you can select quickly the one you want to work in, to an amazing 3D rotating cube with all your workspaces/desktops.
Now of course, not everything is perfect...after all, nothing in life really is. Because it is a fairly new technology you're bound to run into a few problems every now and then, like how limited its implementation currently is, not all distros support it, not all videocards work with it, and things like that. But the good thing is that there's a lot of people out there trying to make it work on all kind of distros/pc's so it's not hard to find information/guides about it.
Performance wise I have to say I'm impressed. I mean, I'm running a very old Athlon XP with a gig of ram and a 6600GT which is by no means bleeding edge and I manage to run it very smooth here, lately I've been having a few issues with it but that's mostly because I'm messing around heavily with the whole thing, trying experimental plugins, patching files to add even more eye-candy and shit like that. But the overall user who just wants the eye candy shouldn't have much problems.
So here I am wondering why companies so big such as microsoft, who could easily afford the investment haven't been able to develop something like this for their upcomming OS Windows Vista.
This is exactly what I was expecting vista to do when it was announced several years ago, the ability to have a 3D engine that uses the GPU to render everything on the desktop with nice effects/animations which ultimately make the experience so much more enjoyable, and I have to say that being a current beta 2 owner of said OS I find myself very dissapointed and much more inclined to make linux my day-to-day OS.
Why? Because I love technology, I love productivity and most importantly because I love innovation. And that my friend, its exactly what linux and XGL happen to be. And if you can do in linux almost everything you can do in windows + the ability to have a more enjoyable desktop experience, then why use windows at all? And that leads me to my final and closing statement of the post, which is the only thing windows have going for it in my eyes, the ability to play OpenGL videogames with ease, which linux lacks. But it's not because of linux itself, it's because game developers and GPU makers can't be arsed to port their games and/or their videocard drivers that work decently in another platform.
Someday, perhaps.
Now I go back to messing with Kubuntu, later...
-x-o-x-