Tag Archives: Linux

[Not anime] Windows sucks, and so does Linux (Why I’m still using Windows)

  By Halfey Halphstein | July 25, 2012 - 11:27 pm | , , ,
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I found that both Windows and Linux are equally suck. Neither one of them is better or superior to the other. Because of that then my choice would be based on the users, where the one with nicer users win. In this case I found Windows users are nicer than most Linux users I’ve met offline/online because they have no emotional attachment towards Windows, neither they are loyal. They use it not as a fan but as a user, they don’t think they’re special for using it. Name-calling, flaming, trolling is pretty much non-existent among them when it comes to Windows-related discussion.

Among Windows users they rarely compare Windows with Linux for the sake of saying Linux is bad. They have no reason to do that and they don’t have to. Linux fans usually say “Windows breaks on a frequent basis and it’s Windows’ fault. In Linux when things break it’s your fault”. This is bullshit. Whether the system breaks by itself or we broke it, the point is we’d have to take care of it whenever something broken, regardless it’s Windows or Linux. Linux is no special in that sense. Unless it can fix itself, I don’t think there’s anything in Linux that I can brag about and feel proud of.

Windows sucks is not enough of a reason for me to give it up completely, let alone to switch to Linux. I see Linux is equally sucks so there’s no point in switching to it. Linux may not break by itself (assuming that Windows does break itself that often) but even if it’s our own fault that it breaks it would still as frustrating as in Windows when that happens. My experience in Linux is there is no such thing is everything runs perfectly the first time upon installation. Whether it’s Linux or Windows both would require a certain level of manual configuration at some point. Taylor-made, cookie-cutter system like Mac OS X is an exception but it’s not accessible by the mass.

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[Interpost] I’m close to getting a tablet (Part 2 – Final)

  By Halfey Halphstein | February 8, 2012 - 10:06 pm | , , , ,
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(Written in response to a blog post here at TabletWritings.com)

Answering the question “why I wouldn’t mind getting a tablet”. For this question I’ll divide my answer into 2; one for the 5-inch “phablet” and another one for the 7-inch “mini” tablet. Here’s my say.

5″ tablet

I have no issues with carrying a 5″ phablet (phone+tablet) around with me because they’re still pocketable enough for me. After all I’m used to carry small notebooks in my pocket for years, and they are often bigger than those phablets. However that still doesn’t mean I’d tolerate Samsung Galaxy Note. Sure there’s only a 0.3″ difference between a true 5″ phablet like Lenovo LePad’s display and Galaxy Note’s 5.3″ display. However if that ‘small’ difference doesn’t give me any noticeable gain over having slightly larger screen then it means it has no advantage over the smaller one. Besides I like things to have “rounded-up” value (integer) which means the number 5.0 looks more beautiful to me than 5.3.

7″ tablet

There’s no true “phone-replacement” tablet so far (phablets are exception) but I’m not blaming the tablet makers because it’s clear that very few people (including myself) would actually want to use a tablet as an absolute phone substitute. It maybe less portable than the 5-inchers but I’m ready to design my own tablet case/bag to make it cool enough to lug the ‘mini’ tablet around (I used the word ‘mini’ here because a true tablet is supposed to be 10″ and up in size).

Recently KDE announced a 7-inch Linux tablet named Spark and will probably be released anytime this year. From the available specs it doesn’t have a voice call capability, which means it’s not what I’d want for a phone replacement tablet. However being a Linux user (a convert but not yet a fan) I’d love to see one lying around after various attempts by Linux community failed in miserably in the past. It will sport KDE’s Plasma Active interface, a mobile counterpart to Plasma Desktop. In terms of mobile UI I personally think the Plasma Active is good enough for phone/tablet operations and maybe could even give a better user experience than those found in Android or iOS.

Early look of KDE Spark. Those ports are sexy. I mean it.

More about the KDE Spark can be read here.

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There’s a difference between a Linux distro and a Linux-based OS, you idiot!

  By Halfey Halphstein | April 30, 2011 - 3:24 am | ,
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Meego has always been inaccurately identified as yet another Linux-based operating system. Meego should actually be recognized as a true Linux distro instead of being a mere Linux-based OS like both Android and WebOS. In fact one should never add the Linux moniker to Android and WebOS by calling them “Linux Android” and “WebOS Linux” because they don’t comply to the definition of being a Linux distro. In other words only operating system that fully-compliant to that definition can be called Linux. It is in that sense that Meego is a full-compliance Linux distro and not just being “more compliant” rather than just a Linux-based operating system, like Android or WebOS. What definition you ask? Lurk more elsewhere as I’m not going into details about it here.

The difference between a distribution of Linux and a Linux-based operating system is similar to the difference between a juice made out of nothing but fresh-pressed apples and an apple-flavored juice (no pun intended). It’s not to say that one is better than the other, but if you want something close to eating an apple then knowing what’s in your cup is important.

All Linux distros should follow the way …

  By Halfey Halphstein | April 28, 2011 - 4:55 pm |
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All Linux distros should follow the way of Windows and Mac OS X by default, where applications are installed from a single downloaded file where when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program with graphical prompts, rather than the traditional package management systems that many Unix-like systems use.

Does hating iPhone iPad iPod automatically makes me…

  By Halfey Halphstein | April 21, 2011 - 3:11 pm |
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Does hating iPhone/iPad/iPod automatically makes me an Android fan? No, that kind of logic is FAIL. In fact I’d still hate iXXX even if Android wasn’t there. The truth is I have issues with Android too like it’s not fit to carry the Linux label and incapable of running Linux apps (despite the much bragged point of being based on Linux, open source, etc), as well as some other stuff. However I have greater issues with iXXX. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just Apple but also all other elite brands that claim to be the best, keep talking big and refused to admit/recognize/acknowledge it when ‘cheaper’ brands surpassed them (in a better way) in many terms.

So what would I do if there was no Android? Of course I’d root for Symbian. No, I won’t go for WinMobile (or WP7 for that matter) as I have similar issues with WinMobile as I do with iXXX. If there was no Android and people don’t like iXXX of course Symbian would be the king as those people would go for it, boosting its development and sales, unlike the current situation.

So if I care so much about Symbian then why do I hypocritically root for Android today? No, it’s not about being hypocrite, it’s about which one has a brighter future. I’m a practical person. I know iXXX has a bright future too but for it to force its users into a closed ecosystem is not something that I can live with. At least BlackBerry doesn’t have similar ecosystem, which is why I’m more compatible with BB than iXXX.

BTW I might have liked iPhone if it was a classic-iPodish looking phone rather than the touchscreen one. I understand Apple want to make it more than just a phone, hence the smartphone moniker but I think it was overkill on that time. I hope the rumor about Apple making a budget iPhone is true, and I hope it will have physical keypad just like a normal phone. After all I have a hard time to call a phone without keypad as a phone, even if it’s Android/Symbian.

The good thing about iPhone is it has only 2,3 form factor that 3rd party manufacturers have no problem in designing complementary devices/accessories for it. Well, it can be a good or bad thing, just like how the availability of different models/specs of Android phone becomes a good thing for different target groups. Anyways, I think for Linux (the real one, not Android) to conquer tablets as well, the software (apps) need to be touch optimized too. In other words, Linux needs to be less dependent on CLI and improve the GUI into touch interface.

So the question is not about what I love when I hate another.

Linux users who keep bragging about the …

  By Halfey Halphstein | November 15, 2010 - 11:54 pm |
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Linux users who keep bragging about the superiority of CLI over GUI somehow reminds of of how Mac users in the past used to brag about the superiority of 1-button mouse over the 2-button mouse. Since the arrival of the Apple Mighty Mouse, Apple finally had officially acknowledged the usability of 2-button mouse, rendering all previous arguments of “1-button mouse is superior” becomes pointless. I can see the same thing too with the CLI vs. GUI argument.

Yet another negativity (you’ve been warned)

  By Halfey Halphstein | October 19, 2010 - 11:57 pm |
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iFags keep rationalizing every moves/decisions by Apple never ceased to amuse me, and so does Linuxfags who in a similar way keep rationalizing Linux OS design as always superior in every aspect to other competing OS-es. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Linux user too, and not just a mere user, it is my main OS but it does not stop me to criticize it. The reason to this is because I want to see improvement on the OS. I now my criticism alone won’t improve it directly but with me make it available to other people, the more people share my ideals, the more likely it will reach the developers. Then it’s up to them on how to react, either to arrogantly shoot down every criticism they received or take it into consideration.

It’s safe to say that open criticism is like an indirect petition to the targeted personnel/party. It doesn’t matter whether it’s pointless or not because every criticism you give, as long as it’s from your heart will worth it. And because of the same reason too I don’t hesitate to criticize anime and/or other form of art. Just so you know, for me to criticize things doesn’t mean I have to be a master in that faculty/field. It doesn’t mean I have to be a better one in order to criticize a crapwork. Excellence in a given field is not required to have a critical insight into that field. After all crap does exist and any attempt to deny that is useless. That being said, any negative respond to this post would be a purely ad hominem argument.

And yeah don’t try to tell me that I’m stubborn or arrogant just because I refuse to accept certain things. The fact is you saying me as stubborn or arrogant is made based on your own definition only. In other words you see me as stubborn or arrogant is because I refuse to do or see things the way you do. Let me tell you, just because I don’t follow your way doesn’t mean I’m stubborn or arrogant. Besides for you to see me like that is like you want to force me to follow your way or you want to impose control on me. Oh, you asked my why there are only negativity here? Let me tell you. That’s the sole purpose why this blog is here. Of course I do have my own all-praising, all-complimenting, all-buttkissing blog but I don’t need to tell you everything here.

(98/99 people who think I’m arrogant are arrogant people themselves.)

The biggest lie the IT world have told me (resurfaced)

  By Halfey Halphstein | October 16, 2010 - 1:14 am | ,
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Windows XP Virtual Machine on a Mac

Image by scottpowerz via Flickr

 

My first experience with Linux was 10 years ago. Although I started my computing experience earlier than that (I attended computer classes since 1995) but I remain a n00b because the beige boxes scares me. I only started falling in love with computers and IT stuff when my father purchased our first family PC (powered by Pentium III) in year 2000. By having our own PC I can freely tinker around it without having to worry too much. Although the PC was pre-installed with Windows 98 SE, an article in local PC magazine drove my curiosity to try Linux and ended up installing RedHat in a dual-boot environment. I admit that I fell in love in Linux but I love Windows more because of it’s ease-of-use thus I set Windows as the default OS. Actually nobody in my family knows there’s Linux in the PC because it is only bootable via a boot diskette. Despite using Windows most of the time, I keep using Linux occasionally out of curiosity and started mastering it unknowingly in the process.

A couple of years since my introduction to Linux, I learned about the existence of special kind of software that would allow me to use Linux without having to set my beige box to dual-boot system. The software is known as virtual machine. I installed Connectix Virtual PC and began experimenting with various Linux flavors, often more than 2 at one time. Sure, having such load in a Pentium III box with maximum RAM of only 512MB is a pain but for a geek it was a pain worth bearing. However it still does not enough to make me a Linux convert because I still think that Linux was still immature for a beginner’s use. It was during the same time I introduced Linux to my family and nobody accepted it. Yes, the heavy reliance on CLI freaked my family members and unlike Windows which they can fix themselves, they’d left dumbfounded should they face problems in Linux. And I was more convinced that Linux is still not good as a beginner’s OS. Well, perhaps I’ve used the wrong distro but how should I know if the one I’m comfortable with may be too scary for others?

Fast forward a few years and I’ve almost gave up being a Linux evangelist to my family. Yeah, I know it wouldn’t succeed because I still not using Linux as my main OS up to that time. It’s not that I don’t want to but virtualization software consumed too much of my limited system resources, although my PC was among the most powerful of that time. Even if I set my PC into a dual-boot machine and dedicate all system resources to whatever OS I booted, it wouldn’t help either because I’m not happy with the hassle of having to reboot the machine just to switch the other OS. Then I think why not the computer developers simplify it? My computing knowledge were pretty much limited on that time. All that I could think for improvement is either to make the virtualization less resource hungry or something that I described as “hardware-level virtualization”. The former might be impossible because no matter how small footprint the virtualization software has, the overall system resources is still shared among the host SO and the guest OS. For the latter, I thought it was ridiculous until I read an article in another local PC magazine about the so-called “hardware-assisted virtualization” in 2005, around the same time of the emergence of multi-core consumer CPU.

From what I understood about hardware-assisted virtualization, it’s similar to my vision of hardware-level virtualization, where system resources are partitioned at hardware level instead of in software level as in the traditional software virtualization. In the article both AMD‘s “Pacifica” and Intel‘s “Vanderpool” were mentioned well. I thought the technology I’ve been waiting for has arrived but I was wrong. It’s all liars. The article mentioned about having a machine where we can boot into both system at one time without the need to install the virtualization software and we can switch between the OSes in real-time without having to reboot the system (let’s call it “double-boot” instead of dual-boot) or reloading the same OS without restarting it. Sounds nice because should the current working environment crashed, the loaded copy of the OS would take over and this could be done without the user noticing it. However I still haven’t seen my dream of “double-boot” system become true despite the technology is already available. The technology becomes useful only if the virtualization software is installed, which means it still need the host-guest relationship between the OSes, of which I think kills the purpose of having the hardware-level virtualization. I am highly disappointed. However there was one time in local PC expo where I saw an Apple representative demonstrated switching between Mac OS X and Windows XP in real-time using certain key combination. I asked him whether there are any virtualization software installed or not and he answered me the Mac only use Bootcamp. I’m not sure though whether it’s true or there were just some tricks because I never really have a chance to use Windows on Macs but whatever system it is, I only want to see the “double-boot” system become true.

How often I should have major upgrades f…

  By Halfey Halphstein | September 4, 2010 - 7:31 am |
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How often I should have major upgrades for my OS? Even if there are free annual major upgrades for my system, I won’t be happy either if it involves huge downloads every time that happens. Yes, I’m referring to a certain specific free Linux distro where the company that maintains it promised the user that the major OS upgrades will be available every 6 months or so, more or less. Luckily transferring user preferences and settings in Linux is not as tricky as in Windows because no system registry is involved, which means things won’t be too disastrous even if the upgrades didn’t run smoothly. The worst you’d do is most probably to fresh install the system, recreate your user account and manually patching/transferring all your previous settings to your current installation. But then again it doesn’t change the fact that I hate mandatory huge downloads like system upgrades as I mentioned above. If that’s the case (inevitable huge downloads) I rather getting major upgrades only after every 2 or 3 years than doing it twice or even once every year. I know major upgrades always associated with major security concerns but for something that “as big as an OS”, I think having to do it each year is too much to the point of annoying. Yeah, I might be able to skip it but chances are newer apps might only be optimized for the upgraded system only, rendering most users would feel like being ‘forced’ to do the upgrades. Besides I think annual major upgrades for free OS doesn’t really makes sense since there’s nothing to sell in the first place. At least in Windows world, although only having major upgrades once every 2 years or so, it does makes more sense as those upgrades are something they’re selling, something they (Microsoft) are making money from.