Linux

Linux

For those who don't accept Apple's monopoly on hardware for their OS and Microsoft's ridiculous policies and practices on Windows, there is Linux. Linux is functional and has an incredible array of free software - some great, some okay, some not good enough. Sometimes you have to get Windows software and run it under a Linux Windows environment.

I have used Linux now for a couple of years. I settled on Ubuntu with the LXDE desktop. Not bad once you get it configured.

If the Linux establishment wants to take over the desktop, it will have to be done with ONE desktop, not fifty. And that one will need to not be missing important features.

I tried many desktops before settling on LXDE. They typically had one disabling problem, usually a missing function or bug. One of them (Cinnamon) was great except that it disabled hardware acceleration for the display. This made OpenSCAD (3D design program) unusable. I couldn't find a fix (that worked). LXDE has one big problem - no central application for configuration. I can live with this. And it has one big advantage over all of the others - the CPU monitor on the panel (that's the control bar at the bottom of the screen) makes it easy to see what is going on with the CPUs. This lets me run another app while OpenSCAD is building a model and I can see on the CPU monitor when it is done. One strange quirk - it takes three packages to install - lxde, lxde-common, lxsessions-logout. This is only documented on obscure web pages that you find upon realizing that just installing lxde doesn't get the job done.

LXDE, and other desktops that I have tried, need a simple icon maker that just puts a couple of words in a small image, to be used as a user chosen icon. I used a paint program to do this and have my word based icons in a number of places, most importantly on the panel, where they are used to invoke important applications. For the file manager, for example, I use "Files" "home" on one icon. It brings up the file manager in my home folder. Very useful.

The command to unmount a USB disk from the Linux terminal is "umount", NOT "unmount". This is one of the worst ergonomic nightmares that I have ever encountered. The human brain works on word shapes and meanings, not spelling. When you want to know how to unmount a disk and you see the word "umount", the typical human brain (well, mine anyway) corrects this to "unmount". This, inexplicably, does not work.

Internet help for Linux is horrible. The typical answer to a question has no date, no software version numbers, and plenty of arcane terminology to help you try to fix the issue. If you understand the fix, it is still likely to not work. Not only do support packages have to be installed for many applications, they have to be the right version of the support package. And the support packages need the right support packages. There are automated installer packages to help with this. Often they work. When they don't work, you need a Linux expert to find the problem. Not good enough.

Two essential features of Microsoft Excel in an engineering environment are Solver and Visual Basic. The OpenOffice Solver is useless. I haven't tried Basic in OfficeCalc because I haven't needed it.

Fortunately for Linux users, there is a good way (maybe more than one) to run some Windows programs on Linux - Wine. Wine creates a Windows environment from which you can run many Windows programs. It isn't perfect but if the Windows program is developed with Wine in mind, it can be very good. (I am writing this on my Windows text editor under Wine.)

One of the neat things in Linux is that the file managers can access networked computers that are running a secure shell server. Windows can access secure servers but only through a special program such as WinSCP, not File Manager. I run SSHelper on my Android phone then access it from the LXDE file manager (PCManFM). This can also be done via an FTP server, but that is not secure. Well - Android 8 broke SSHelper, so until it's fixed I must use an FTP server. (For security, I have my WiFi router set up to only allow my own devices on the network.)

I have a large tips file to help me remember how to do things in LXDE/Ubuntu. If people ask, I will post it here.

As Microsoft becomes stupider and stupider, Linux needs to get its act together so people will have somewhere to turn.