Most requested things for the Linux Desktop
There have been a few articles recently on slashdot, osnews here are a
summary of the main requests
Sound - better mixing support,
no more blocking of sounds
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dmix was
mentioned. I have this problem with my old soundblaster. One user
suggests using lsof /dev/dsp. Another
use:
something like 74% of the sound cards is mass or semi-mass circulation
do not support hardware mixing in linux, and dmix is a cludge. how
about a standard software mixer build into the alsa system, which only
deactivates when their is a hardware mixer available. |
| Better ACPI support |
Multiple users complain of this.
Some bioses are buggy.
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Various applications - Access,
Video editing,
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Sure. php + mysql (phpmyadmin) as an access replacement. OpenOffice 2.0 will have mysql integration. For video editing perhaps a mac is better right nowunless you want high end.
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List 1
# 1.Windows Network Neighborhood visibility and UNIX/Linux visibility
in the same panel.
ubuntu has this.
# 2.Active Directory password management which includes single sign-on
and password expiration policies.
Yes - may be difficult
# 3.Interoperability with Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000.
OWA
# 4.Font compatibility with Microsoft Office and Openoffice.org and/or
StarOffice.
proprietary - don't hold your breath
# 5.Windows Terminal Server clients using RDP out of the box for home
grown applications and special Windows applications.
rdesktop works
# 6.Ability to click on a file in a Windows or Samba share and initiate
the associated application.
kde works find as does gnome
# 7.Device management for hardware compatibility.
Mandrake has this
# 8. Compatible Windows Media player Codecs.
proprietary - but available
List 2
1. A *reliable* graphical FTP client. gFTP is buggy (I almost buggered
up some osnews ftp files once while trying upload using drag-n-drop),
Nautilus/vfs doesn't cut it, and KBear looks really ugly and uneeded
busy (and hasn't been updated for over a year).
try firefox. ncftp works fine for me. anyway I think it should be done
in nautalis or konqueror
2. Windows Media & QuickTime. Sorry, but I need my regular dosage
of movie trailers. Real Player works on Linux, but I need QT and
WMV/WMA too (and please don't suggest the windows-codecs package for
use with VLC/Xine/Mplayer and their browser plugins as these hardly
work with what's out there).
Proprietary - don't hold your breath
3. Audio & Video support for AIM/iChat, Y! & MSN in Gaim or
Kopete (I need a multi-protocol app to handle these). I have three
webcams here, I gotta use them. Gaim-vv is still alpha quality, and it
isn't really part of Gaim's official line.
Proprietary - don't hold your breath. Skype works fine and is included
in a couple distros.
4. Alsa needs to fix their architecture and/or drivers to automatically
include a software mixer if the hardware doesn't have one. There are a
gazillion of PCs (and especially laptops) out there with Intel/Via AC97
onboard sound cards that don't support hardware mixing. For these
machines, Linux will only serve sound to one application at a time.
Using the "dmix" software mixing plugin only satisfies Gstreamer &
ESD apps, XMMS and Mplayer (all after tweaking their default settings
to use the new "default" virtual Alsa "device"), but there are so many
other apps that are not configurable as they use their own OSS/Alsa
backend that simply won't even load sometimes, or just won't play any
sound (mind you, the "aoss" trick only works with Real Player).
This situation is disgraceful considering that we are in 2004. This is
not 1993 with Windows 3.1 and Sound Blaster, people. The Alsa Project
should find an automatic solution to this huge problem that degrades
the Linux experience down to the floor. Remember, these Via/Intel on
board sound cards are everywhere these days. At least 2 out of my 8 PCs
here have the problem with Linux (which is not a problem at all with
Windows/BeOS btw).
Issue for many people
5. A good home video editor. Kino is closer than others, but still not
there yet, plus it's easily crashable.
Maya
6. A simpler interface for Gimp. Something like PaintShopPro's. Trying
to do some basic image editing with Gimp is a nightmare. PSP's and
Photoshop Element's interfaces are much more intuitive for simple
stuff, Gimp's is simply not.
Sure - actually should be a simple project.
7. Easier wi-fi/bluetooth configuration and ability to easily "create
networks" with them (share internet connection with other wi-fi or
bluetooth devices). Currently this is a lot of hard core unix
command-line work on any distro. Even Mac OS X only makes it easy for
Wi-Fi, but not for IP over Bluetooth.
Couple of distros have this working now. Wifi needs work.
8. Library developers should not break their APIs too often. There's
nothing more nerve wrecking than trying to satisfy deps by compiling
them, and realize that your app doesn't compile because it needs this
or other specific version of a library/header. Yuk.
The cost of progress. Actually I think it is getting better.
9. Better and more reliable ACPI support. Currently my ATi-based laptop
does not awake with any distro I tried (and recent kernels with
supposedly "fixed" acpi).
Agreed
10. Better PalmOS and PocketPC synchronization software that work with
the latest models and software (I got a new Clie). Something like "The
Missing Sync" available for Mac.
J-Pilot works fine for me.
User 3
(1)
Not really your average "desktop" user issue, but a decent IDE. I
love vim as much as the next Unix-head, but at the end of the day, it's
just a text editor. Anjuta doesn't cut it...development is stalled,
even though I hear there is some kind of 2.0 "in the works"
Eclipse, kdeveloper?
(2) Get Gpdf working properly. I read a lot of technical documents and
even though Xpfd does work, it doesn't really fit in with the rest of
the desktop and it's interface way too spartan.
Agreed. kpdf works ok.
(3) Get wxWidget library packages updated using gtk+ 2.x. There are a
lot of utilities that use wxWidgets and just look like ass with the
default gtk+1.2 build. Ubuntu seems to be pretty bleeding-edge and it
still ships with wxWidgets built with gtk+1.2
Agreed. Mandrake 10.1 does I believe.
Two and three are minimal issues. One is a much bigger issue.
Posted by Anthony at November 9, 2004 08:52 PM
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