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Microsoft staff cuts extend to Silicon Valley research lab

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A Common Trend (Score: 1)

by venkman@pipedot.org on 2014-09-23 22:18 (#2SVC)

Unfortunately, this is a trend. I know from my industry, R&D is being cut. As the summary points out, short-term this is great because you reduce the headcount and sales of your current products are unaffected, but what happens when someone else comes along with a better value? If only someone could package a nice GNU/Linux or BSD that offered the average consumer a better value than Windows...

Re: A Common Trend (Score: 1)

by ploling@pipedot.org on 2014-09-24 02:58 (#2SVR)

If only someone could package a nice GNU/Linux or BSD that offered the average consumer a better value than Windows...
This is so alien to me, what is missing? What magical awesomeness have I missed out on during the last decade thus depriving my life of joy and laughter and all things good?

Photoshop? Nah it can't be that, I mean it has to be something really impressive and I haven't even bothered installing Krita yet although I'm planning to (I do have InkScape and GIMP though). Nerflix? Don't use it but it's coming now isn't it? Games? The Steam is picking up but I don't need that either. Skype? Didn't Microsoft just kill that everywhere anyway?

What hidden gems are you hoarding Venkman! You better tell us or we'll slobber you :D

Re: A Common Trend (Score: 3, Interesting)

by venkman@pipedot.org on 2014-09-24 04:33 (#2SVS)

I see the opportunity as having two parts.
Part One--
Without touching the command line, manually running post-install scripts, or even using an "App Store", I want to see a distro that:
-My dad can use to run his small business and to look at adult entertainment sites
-My aunt can use to get on Facebook, upload photos and videos from her phone, and watch YouTube
-A college kid can use to write their lab report on in a format that the professor accepts, view their online textbooks and coursework, and on which they can run the specialized app that they need for their Biochem final paper on protein misfolding.

I have made every single one of the above cases work, but it took searching forums, wikis, and man pages. And there are times when once everything is working, a single upgrade can screw it all up due to dependency issues. For this reason, the number of people I convert to Linux is limited by my ability to help them troubleshoot.

Part Two--
Applications that can be a drop-in replacement for what people use on their Windows box. Yes, I know that such-and-such can open .docx (most of the time) and that WINE is pretty good as long as you use the right settings, but the average person does not want to go from what works now on Windows to a land of busted dependencies, abandoned software projects, command line, and constant fiddling to make things work like they did on Windows. A better value would be something that requires less effort, not more.

I love freedom and I love free and open source software. I hate the thought that people who would otherwise support FOSS may give up and stick with Windows due to their inability to get a Linux distro working on the level they would expect from a Windows box. A technically superior product that is harder to use is not a compelling replacement for something that "just works."

Moderation

Time Reason Points Voter
2014-09-24 07:44 Interesting +1 bryan@pipedot.org
2014-09-24 11:47 Insightful +1 nightsky30@pipedot.org

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