Interesting Links for 31-08-2012

[andrewducker]

• What Killed the Linux Desktop
  (tags: linux software operatingsystems )
• Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes. Huzzah for censorship!
  (tags: apple censorship usa military )
• Antarctic may host hundreds of billions of tons of methane.
  (tags: antarctic methane globalwarming )
• Why Johnny can’t stream: How video copyright went

Comments

[steer]

What Killed the Linux Desktop Hmm... cf the usage stats here

[andrewducker]

Windows covers pretty-much as much hardware - and does so by keeping driver API solid for long periods of time. The biggest problems with Windows 2000 and Windows Vista when they launched was lack of drivers due to a new driver model, and that's something they try to avoid. If you're going to cover large amounts of hardware then you want to make it as easy as possible for the manufacturers to write drivers for you - which is something, as the article makes clear, that the kernel developers aren't interested in.

[steer]

Windows covers pretty-much as much hardware - and does so by keeping driver API solid for long periods of time.How often do you install windows from scratch? My experience is that if you install windows onto a new machine it is every bit as difficult to get hardware working properly as Linux. Most users do not see this because they don't do a "from fresh" install. Last time I did this the windows install took ten hours longer than the linux install (which took an hour). I still get the odd crash full-screening flashplayer on windows

[andrewducker]

Never had any problems with Windows 7 - the drivers installed instantly, and worked just fine from scratch, grabbing new versions from Windows Update as you go. Versions of Windows from the early days certainly had problems, but nowadays it all works completely smoothly so far as I can tell.

With the two networks printers I have, I just clicked the button to add a networked printer, it scanned the network, found it, and installed the drivers. The only proprietary driver I needed there was to be able to scan remotely.

DirectX is entirely backwards compatible. If you install the latest version then it includes support for older versions, and I tend to find that graphics Just Works nowadays, and has for a few years.

The kernel people, including Linus, have stated in the past that they have no interest in keeping the binary driver interfaces stable - they want open-source drivers that are recompiled whenever the kernel is.

[gonzo21]

On the plus side the discovery of the antarctic methane explains several major extinction events throughout the history of the planet.

... oh. Wait.

[a_pawson]

I don't agree that most people don't want a Windows phone. I suspect most people (myself included) don't care what OS a phone runs. We want a phone that is easy to use and does everything we want it to. Many people I know just accept and use whatever upgrade the network offers them.

I think I am going to have an issue with the phones being tied to the Windows App store, but there are a whole swathe of iPhone users out there which suggests many people are not that bothered by that.

[steer]

Many people I know just accept and use whatever upgrade the network offers them.

Most networks offer a choice of phones to upgrade to. If it's a free upgrade on an expensive enough contract to be offered a Lumia it's going to be a wide choice.

I wonder what the phone shop's "can you recommend something" policy is? If it's a genuinely ignorant user who doesn't ask a friend then how do they pick a phone? Assuming they're not just going "what looks pretty" how do they then choose?

It would be pretty bad to recommend the windows phone (since it doesn't look like it will fly and hence, the smart money IMHO is on the windows app store remaining under populated -- though actually I'm impressed it has as much content as it does).

[a_pawson]

I suspect that a mobile phone shop's recommendation will be governed by which phone makes the most money for the shop (and commission for the sales-rep).

Assuming that Windows mobile isn't terrible, then getting the networks to offer Windows phones to retailers cheaper than an android equivalent is I suspect going to be the key for Nokia/Microsoft. They are late-comers to the market so they are going to have to sell cheap to try and build market share.

[andrewducker]

Getting off the ground is going to require spending money on commission, yeah.

But the basic problem is that people are either going "Give me an awesome ecosystem, with a locked down phone that does things in a clean smooth way." (in which case they have an iPhone), "Give me a phone that lets me do things my way." (in which case they have an Android), or "Give me a phone that has all the apps." (either of them). There's no case where a Windows Phone beats both of the others.

Fox News calls Paul Ryan a liar.

[cartesiandaemon]

Huh. I wonder why?

1. Fox news isn't as myopically pro-Republican as I assumed?
2. They let a columnist criticise a VP candidate without anyone checking the editorial stance?
3. Paul Ryan's lies really were more dramatic than the rest of the recent Republican party leadership's?
4. Someone decided Ryan is a liability and decided to throw him under a bus early so the coverage could concentrate on Mitt?
5. Someone decided this whole election cycle was a bust, and will grab some "balanced" points by attacking Romney and Ryan now in order to endorse a "real" candidate in four years[1]?
6. Fox News had a falling out with the Republican party and are swinging left?
7. They have some other agenda I can't think of?

None of those sound at all likely...

[1] It's true the Republican primaries seemed really anaemic, which supports the "no-one wants to be the sacrificial candidate" theory, but I don't see why they would think that: Obama's popularity doesn't seem as high as all that.

Re: Fox News calls Paul Ryan a liar.

[philmophlegm]

I think it's a conspiracy to make some Democrats' heads explode:

1. Fox News is always wrong and evil, therefore when they say Paul Ryan is a liar, he must be telling the truth.

2. Paul Ryan is an evil Republican and therefore obviously a liar.

3. Does not compute...Does not compute...

4. BANG!

Re: Fox News calls Paul Ryan a liar.

[erindubitably]

It's an opinion piece by a liberal writer on the Fox News staff, so I assume it's a counterpoint attempt to show that they're being fair and balanced. Which, given it was a good article, might actually work this time round.

Re: Fox News calls Paul Ryan a liar.

[bart_calendar]

I think it's a combination of a lot of things;

1. Several months ago when Murdoch met Romney for the first time it did not go well. Murdoch has said several times that he's really not a fan of Team Romney, so the Fox News staff feels more freedom to make critiques.

2. Mainstream GOP people are really tired of the Randians in their midst and have quietly made it known that if Fox feels the need to throw someone under a bus to make themselves look balanced that Ryan is fair game.

3. Conservatives have no desire at all to win this election, because they don't want to be in charge when the Euro goes bust and get blamed for the economic mayhem that follows. This is all just a warmup for Christie to run in 2016.

4. Ryan's lies contradict the lies the other GOP people have been saying and they had to either choose to support Ryan and dump a dozen more influential GOP people under a bus or choose to shit on Ryan and they choose to shit on him.

[philmophlegm]

A thought prompted by both the Windows on phones story and the Linux on desktops story:

I don't actually want to have to care about operating systems. I want nice hardware and I want nice applications. I want the stuff that sits between the hardware and the applications to be as invisible and as unobtrusive as possible.

I suspect that outside of geekworld, this is possibly even a majority view.

[andrewducker]

Absolutely. The OS is there _purely_ to run applications. I'd happily switch to Linux tomorrow if the games I wanted to play ran on it.

[anton_p_nym]

I bought a Windows phone for several reasons; I like the Metro UI, the Nokia 610 is a really smart-looking phone that's very comfortable to use, I already have a Live account (for my Xbox and Zune), and because pretty much everything else I have is Windows-driven so I was hoping for easy compatibility. The promise of upcoming direct interoperability between the phone and my gaming console was also a draw.

I suspect folks getting iPhones have similar reasons. And I suspect that Android users are looking for more flexibility and the more-open app marketplace.

-- Steve's glad that all three options are available, and hopes they continue to be available.

PS: It didn't hurt that the phone only cost me $50 up front, with a $25 rebate, thanks to a sale.

PPS: I didn't mention Blackberry as that seems to be primarly a business phone now, and of course Symbian is dead in the water these days.