PCLinuxOS, Ubuntu, Mint and Mepis proponents often claim that desktop linux has improved a lot in last 5 years that it has become much user-friendly and productive. But do you still realize why desktop linux still sits only on 2% of the systems. There are many views as to what keeps people away from using even so user-friendly desktop distro such as PCLinuxOS. Some say Linux is still not ready for desktop for lack of mature software, loose desktop integration, lack of support, multiplicity of standards.... and many more....
Do these views justify the stagnant adoption of desktop linux? Well they do to some extent and all of them really don't matter that much. So what is that big roadblock?
It's pirated microsoft in developing countries that really pose a threat to deployment of Linux. Top models of major Desktop/Laptop brands come with original copies of MS windows preinstalled but still some lesser known brands and base models of top brands come with PCDOS or FreeDOS. The sales of such models and brands actually outnumber those who come Windows preinstalled. As soon as those low (base) model desktops/laptops are shipped out from the vendor/retailer the user loads a pirated copy of windows xp or vista. Because pirated XP and Vista are available for just Rs. 40, it means less than $1. So who is going to take the pain of choosing a desktop linux distro, installing and configuring it if needed. The same is true with 99% of assembled PCs. Rarely ever anybody purchases a licensed copy of Windows for an assembled PC.
Difference of figures between desktop and laptop sales and microsoft windows sales says that more than 80% of the home users are using pirated copies of windows. And they are happy with it as they don't need the genuine microsoft advantage at all. After all, why any home user will need it anyway, he/she just uses the box for word processing, web browsing and some multimedia works. Though windows sucks them for viruses and many other problems, it's not a big deal. It just takes another 30 minutes to do a fresh install.
It seems that Microsoft is indifferent towards piracy. Because this piracy is a blessing in disguise because it helps maintaining MS dominance in desktop market.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Why do PCLinuxOS and other Desktop Distros sit only on 2% of the desktops and notebooks?
Sunday, March 23, 2008
PCLinuxOS Gnome 2008 Released
Good news for those looking for PCLinuxOS 2008. However, it is not the official PCLinuxOS 2008 full release, rather it's a gnome remaster that has the same kernel (kernel 2.6.22.15.tex3) which is supposed to come with the official full release.
I am blogging this post from the latest gnome remaster of pclinuxos. I had tried its last version also, and I would highly recommend anybody even if he/she is happy with that, because the latest pclos gnome remaster is fast, beautiful and more polished.
With its last version I had a few problems related to display and system responsiveness. This edition has taken special care to fix those. It has included brasero as the default cd/dvd burning tool, which is a good step forward. Pclos gnome 2008 also readily detects intel gma 965 (x3100) graphics cards and latest broadcom wireless ethernet cards.
I have just one complain to Linuxgator regarding its office apps. It still has that abiword and gnumeric whereas it could have made some space for openoffice after removing those compiz and few less used apps.
Download the latest gnome remaster:
(666MB) MD5
Sunday, March 2, 2008
My Favourite Apps on PCLinuxOS Gnome 2008
Sometimes I think what keeps me stick to PCLinuxOS, while there are many popular desktop linux distributions around. Why can't I make Ubuntu, Mandriva or Fedora a mainstay on my notebook even though there are many more desktop applications available for them? Why could not I keep any of them on my notebook for a day or two, even though they have a bigger community behind them?
The reason is - Tex and the Ripper Gang have not only gifted me a great OS, but a good number of applications that just work. The applications compiled by Tex and his Gang alway work. For example, WinFF, I had tried WinFF in Mandriva 2008 and Ubuntu 7.10. And I had a bad impression of the app until I tried it on PCLinuxOS. Oh! My God, it's a great program to meet anytype of video conversion. There are so many other instances where only the applications packaged by Tex and available on PCLinuxOS gives a better experience than any other in the linux world. Perhaps, Tex puts his heart and soul into packaging good applications. Perhaps, they are godly creations!
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My PCLinuxOS Desktop: No multiple windows, No icon clutter on a pure Linsta look.
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The good old music player for Linux and my favourite. I like it for its speed and simplicity.
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Oh! When I am in a doubt if a video will play on my system I play it on VLC and it goes. VLC liberated freedom to play any video despite the proprietary restrictions.
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Mplayer, my next favourite media player.
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Aiksaurus, the best small thesaurus on PCLinuxOS
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Wordnet in fav word lookup program on pclinuxos
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I had in the impression that OOWriter is slow in comparison to MS Word. But after shedding multiple language support, java support, gallery and some rarely used addons I found it very much responsive. I also embedded wordnet with oowriter to make it a writer's possession.
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Running Nvu in pclinuxos is better than running Dreamweaver in XP
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Audacity does those audio correction for me. I don't need a more powerful applications.
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Blender is good for creating simple 3d models.
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F4L is not as powerful as Adobe Flash. But how many of us work on Flash and action scripts and develop a complete CD/DVD presentation. If you are not a Graphic Designer and you just want create simple banners and animations, F4L is for you. I am happy with it.
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I need this app every now and then. Need I say anything about it?
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The best opensource image editor that gets better with each new version.
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Inkscape is the answer to Windows based CorelDraw
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When it comes to edit iso files, isomaster is my favourite app.
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No more gnomebaker, no brasero, no gcombust. Nautilus cd/dvd burner works the best on my pclinuxos gnome remaster.
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Gaim got better with Pidgin and it's on my pclinuxos always.
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I love skype for its voice quality and features. It's there always on my PCLinuxOS.
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I have always liked transmission on my PCLinuxOS Gnome Remaster because it's small, simple, fast and flawless.
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Recordmydesktop generates optimized ogg video of my screencast on PCLinuxOS. It does better work than most of the non-free screen cast programs.
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I came across wxDownloadfast, don't quite remember where, but it's great download manager. It's fast and light, and runs on pclinuxos quite well.
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WinFF does the best video conversion on top of ffmpeg. Two thumbs up for its power and versatility.
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My wife's favourite typing tutor on PCLinuxOS gnome.
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Rxvt, my best text terminal. It is a tiny and fast.
(The screenshot displays my grub menu. My system doesn't stop at boot options. It boot boots just like Windows XP, it's hidden from ther user)
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I run bare minimum services on my pclinuxos. The result, my system runs at a blazing speed. If you are a pclinuxos home user you can also reduce your services for faster bootup and better response.
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I have optimized my inittab for better bootup. You can do the similar changes to your pclinuxos if you are a home user.
Friday, February 29, 2008
PCLinuxOS Leads Early 2008 Fav Distro
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One more good reason to rejoice. PCLinuxOS is leading the early 2008 desktop distro race.
Visit tuxmachines and cast your vote in favour of pclos.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Tips from a PCLinuxOS User on Buying a PC and Choosing an OS
Choosing OS for Home Users
Most of the power desktops/laptops come with Vista preinstalled. But is it worthwhile for the extra money you pay for it? Even some windows lunatics say MS took more than 5 years to downgrade the good old XP. Well, if you will choose other OS than that of the preinstalled Vista, you will need to gather drivers and other productivity software. So, it's wise to run a Linux flavour such as PCLinuxOS 2008, Mandriva 2008, Mepis 7.0 or Linux Mint 4 Daryana (these are the latest as of Feb. 2008).
Always choose the latest desktop oriented linux (or pclinuxos without any second thought) flavour for home computing. Ensure the Linux desktop you are going to use is newer than that of your hardware. And always choose Intel hardware (it has better drivers support in linux world). You won't have configure your devices and/or look for drivers. Just pop in the disk and you will get a working desktop/laptop within a few minutes.
If your hardware is very old use an old distribution or the one with generic kernel. But ensure the distribution you are using should be newer than the hardware.
What's more a desktop linux such as pclinuxos will provide you with just enough software for your home computing requirement. You will get a cutting edge office suite (openoffice), image manipulation program (gimp), a truck load of instant messengers, p2p clients, browsers, multimedia players, and all that. Even you won't need to install a single program. However, if you need more, than the repository is just a click away.
Choosing Laptop/Desktop for Home Users
Go to a PC retailer, ask her about the desktops and laptops. She will most definitely lead you to the selves having PCs with specs such as Intel Core2Duo, Dual Core, Centrino, ATI or Nvidia Graphics, and heavy RAMs exceeding 1GB. Probably she will tell you to buy the latest HP, Thinkpad or Vaio, or even more, a powerbook. Many customers go by it and bring home a power performer.
My friend, Satya, an HR manager, asked me to about buying a laptop. His requirements included word processing, spreadsheet generation, web surfing and watching movies. He is not a gamer. Last night he brought home a HP DV series laptop (specs: 1 GB RAM, Intel Core2Duo and NVidia Graphics with 256 display memory). I tried it. It was very fast and responsive. It is very good box for avid gamers and developers. It costs around Rs. 60,000.
Then we compared his HP DV laptop with my bare basic Compaq laptop (specs: 512MB RAM, Celeron M 530 1.73GHz, Intel 965GMA graphics, it costs only Rs. 25,000). Our comparison involved jobs such as: word processing, image editing, watching VCD, DVD and some Xvids, and ripping DVD, on PCLinuxOS Gnome Remaster and Vista Basic.
To our surprise, that costly HP laptop performed better while ripping a DVD, else the performance difference in other jobs was zero, we could not notice any difference.
So, what's the point buying that power machine paying almost twice the price than that of a model that just meets your requirement impeccably?
Anybody who is looking for buying a laptop/desktop for home use please don't be fooled at the latest Intel processors, costly graphics cards, high capacity hard drives and that pre-installed Vista OS. No need to pay almost twice the price of a base model.
Ideal hardware specs for home computing
Processor: Celeron M 530 or above (cheap yet great performance)
Memory: 512MB (enough you will never need more)
Graphics: Onboard Intel Graphics (don't go for those Nvidia or ATI if you are not a gamer)
Hard drive: 80 GB (why more than this, buy some DVDs instead and store those heavy files)
Monday, February 11, 2008
PCLinuxOS Gnome 2008 - Linstized screenshots
I was looking for PCLinuxOS flavours with latest xorg and kernel. PCLinuxOS official version is yet to be released. And it may be May till the final reaches mirrors. So I thought why not try its gnome remaster. It's the same pclinuxos with gnome desktop. To the gnome remaster I added crossover linux and installed photoshop (my fav image editing software) and ms office (my favourite office suite, though I love Linux I don't like openoffice or gnome office). Also I searched a while for themes in gnome-look.org. And here is the result of what I got. Even vista people will envy this eye-candy pclinuxos.
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PCLinuxOS Gnome screenshot showing nerolinux, ms office apps and photoshop icons. Also the theme manager showing the default themes + customized linsta theme. I also changed the gnome main menu with vista icon. Some where I have renamed native linux icons. So that many windows users will feel at home.
Nerolinux on top of crossover linux on my pclinuxos gnome desktop.
MS Office on top of crossover linux on my pclinuxos gnome desktop.
rxvt on my pclinuxos gnome remaster.
Epiphany on my pclinuxos gnome remaster.
My PCLinuxOS gnome desktop with the launch icons of the apps that I use.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Linux woes told through PCLinuxOS - as my friend tells it
My friend Sudhanshu wants to share few words with Linux community. He was a Windows user now turned to a full-time Linux user only last week. He asked me several good things and bad things of linux, I told him to recollect all his thought and put into paper. Here is what he says. I thought it would be better to put the ideas on this blog. Because PCLinuxOS is the best usable and easiest desktop in the Linux world. At least I think so.
Hope, the members will address some of the issues raised by my friend. So that he (and many others) will know why Linux is so if it is so.
Here goes my friend Sudhanshu......
"I just want to share some of linux ecstacy and agony with you.
Linux is a great server. In my office we never had any problem running web servers on Mandriva, RHEL or Debian. But I wonder why Linux Desktop is still rough around the corners. Let me site some examples (all from my experience).
- I am never sure whether I can copy the next VCD on my Linux Desktop.
The first time I tried to copy the vcd files I miserably failed. Then somebody suggested me to use vcdimager and/or vcdgear. Tried that. Some of the vcds got copied, some still could not (but i tried them on XP, all get copied like breeze). Then somebody else told me to use cdfs. I did that as well. And it was a tedious job building a kernel module (dkms-cdfs). It did better job then vcdimager and vcdgear. But still I find problem. - Next is the issue with drivers. PCLinuxOS 2007 did not have drivers for my x3100 graphics card. Somebody told me to download the latest xorg-video-intel driver. Downloaded it, but it could not go. It asked for a later xorg-server. Upgraded it. Still could not succeed. Of course, PCLinuxOS Gnome Remaster 2008 install detected my driver and autoconfigured. But, again a big but, I get only 24bit color at the best, whereas on windows I could get 32bit color. It's not a big issue, but nontheless a concern.
- I always loved my system clean. That's why I used many disk-cleaning tools on windows partition. But while using kleansweep on PCLinuxOS, I got dire results. I could not got my desktop back. I had to do a fresh install. Later I came to know that kleansweep is quite unintelligent while choosing what keep and what to dump. But I never had such a problem before.
- Then big issue was with getting proper software. Take for example K3b. It's versatile. But again not like that of Nero (I am talking about the Windows version, NeroLinux lags behind K3b). Whenever I write CD/DVD on Nero, I am sure it will burn well. But in K3b I have to be cautious about the burning speed, else the media is gone.
- The same thing goes with other softwares like Deluge and Ktorrent. None of them are as good as utorrent or bitcomet... On other front such as Office suites and graphics, linux apps are not that much productive. Let me explain, I never found OpenOffice as responsive (and fast) as MS Office. I never find GIMP as usable and versatile as Photoshop. Coming to illustration software, inkscape, xara and sodipodi lag miles behind CorelDraw and Adobe illustrator. The same goes with video-editing and audio-editing apps.
- Another big challenge. Last week I purchased disks of Britannica Encyclopedia and Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. I refer to both of them at home and office. Both of them have option to speak/pronounce text and both come with Linux and Windows versons in a pack. In windows I never had any problem. OALD took MS speech engine and Britannica took quicktime. But while trying them on PCLinuxOS the speech engines did not work. Britannica and OLAD both asked to install VLC (despite the fact that the system already had the latest versions of VLC) then it told to use the VLC binary that came with the Britannica and OLAD. Did that as well. But still no going....
- Coming to web browsing. Previously, I had 64kbp bandwidth. I upgraded it to 128 last month (64kbp sucks). In windows I have always found it a bad experience to browse, but accessing the web was never a challenge. While in PCLinuxOS I could not access some of the websites. Firefox would fire some rounds of search and then it will say "The server is redirecting the page in such a way that would never....." and stand still... Later after a full days toil, I came to know it was an ipv6 issue. I disabled ipv6 globally. Now I enjoy browsing on firefox the best. Well, let me explain one more thing... Firefox is great in many respects, but it has one drawback, it's still very slow to start, whereas IE4, 5, 6 and 7 all are very fast to start, though they fall flat before FF feature-wise.
- I visit distrowatch regularly. Love to read the software and new-releases. I am very annoyed, when will the bugs will ever go. Every new release note tells it fixed certain bugs, but still there are many to be fixed on the next release. The n-number of alphas, betas and rcs...
- Then coming to desktop environment. Windows Desktop Environment (Explorer) and Mac Environment (Aqua) rarely break/crash. (I am talking about desktop environment and not the system or OS). But I have crashed KDE and GNOME several times. You tinker a little and will be dragged to a text terminal. At some good times you can come back to desktop
and at some bad times you have to re-install or re-configure the desktop... - The integration puzzle: On windows I never have problems in adding/removing/changing programs. My MS Office default install had Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, and many others, but I removed everything except Word, Excel and Powerpoing. But while trying the same with OpenOffice on PCLinuxOS, synaptic says it's going to remove the whole of OO.o. And the same thing goes with others. I know I have x3100 video driver installed. But on synaptic I see many others video drivers (and tons of other drivers). While trying to uninstall them, it says it's going to remove the x3100 driver as well. What a mess! The same is true with removing quite a lot of other software. When I try to remove some of unnecessary software, synaptic says it's going to remove some necessary software as well. Oh!!
Last words...
Despite all those things I use Linux. I am proud of its growth. It's improving like anything. Only last sunday, I deleted my windows partition and did a fresh install of PCLinuxOS. Because I love FOSS, GNU and Linux. I like their philosophy of software development and deployment. And I like the linux security. But as I told earlier, I just pray god and the developers to smooth the rough edges of Linux. Hope the situation will improve in next few years.
Thanks all the forum members."
Friday, January 25, 2008
PCLinuxOS 2008 - a mini survey
I have been using PCLinuxOS for last 3 years though every now and then I switch to different distros, always I keep coming back to the comfort of PCLinuxOs. I love PCLinuxOS for some reasons and I hate it for some other. However, a copy of PCLOS remains with me wherever I go.
I am sure it gives the best desktop experience of Linux than any other distro, but still some people prefer another to it. Why??? For this I had polled a mini survey on this blog, which addressed to this issue and some others as well. Here are the results:
What makes PCLinuxOS the best? Stability, Beauty or Performance?
My visitors liked PCLinuxOS best for its stability. No doubt it's beautiful and a good performer. But the beauty and performance is delivered from other desktop distros also.
Which is the best desktop Linux? PCLinuxOS, Mandriva, Fedora or Blag? I have removed Ubuntu from the list, because it is very much cliched.
I posted above poll just to compare PCLinuxOS with Fedora/Redhat. Sometimes I feel sorry about Fedora. It has never been ready for desktop. In desktop arena, PCLinuxOS beats Redhat/Fedora all the way.
What is your preferred desktop environment? KDE, Gnome, Xfce or IceWM?
Poll result shows KDE is still the winner, but Gnome is rising on the scene at an alarming speed, may be it will outdo KDE very soon. It's good that PCLinuxOS also has a Gnome remaster ready for avid gnome lovers. Visit http://linuxgator.org for more...
Why Linux is still not the preferred desktop? Are people not aware of the latest improvements in Desktop Linux Distributions? Is Linux Desktop environment not as tightly integrated with the system as that of Mac OS (OS X) or Windows XP? Do so many Linux distributions dilute the focus of interested users? Is Linux not as usable as Windows or Mac OS (OS X)?
The above poll topic attracted very few responders, but pathetically responders proved it that Linux is still rough around the corner, still lacks the polish of Mac or Win. It's really pity that Linux being free and versatile sits on 2% of the desktop/laptop! Good heavens, distros like PCLinuxOS, Mepis and Mint are working hard to give Linux its long deserving polishness.
Friday, January 11, 2008
PCLinuxOS 2008 MiniMe Rocks
The wait seems worth it after having face to face with PCLinuxOS 2008 MiniMe. I have a special interest in this edition, because it was downloaded on my machine coinciding with the birth of my first child - Piyush. Both have unlimited possibilities, but the possibilities of MiniMe is pronounced at its release whereas my son has to prove it at sometime in future....
PCLinuxOS 2008 MiniMe was released on 7th Jan 2008. It is a minimalist live CD with KDE. It comes with 2.6.22.15 kernel and xorg-server 1.3. It is a minimal live CD that is bootable and installable. To it you can add your own background, window decoration, localizations, preferred applications and supporting libraries, to power up your desktop.
Tex and the Ripper gang have always gifted us with a better PCLinuxOS in every release, this MiniMe is no exception. But what I liked the most in it is its swiftness and look. The default window decoration Linsta Squared simply rocks.
The most noteworthy point in the release of MiniMe is that - PCLinuxOS regular release is just around the corner. I hope to see more in that as well.
Tex, you have done a great job.
Download : http://spout.ussg.indiana.edu/linux/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/live-cd/english/preview/pclinuxos-minime-2008.iso
Sunday, December 23, 2007
PCLinuxOS Business Edition Linux or simpley BEL
PCLinuxOS has risen up in popularity like no other distro. And alongwith it there came several community projects like: SAM, PClinuxOS Gnome, TinyME and PCFluxboxOS. However, the news is that it has a Business Edition also, PCLinuxOS Business Edition Linux or simply BEL.
PCLOS BEL is a business implementation of PCLinuxOS 2007. It caters to the needs of small and medium businesses. It is one of the easiest to use Linux Distributions available to them.
BEL comes out in multiple version such as - Terminal, Workstation, Server and SOHO.
I installed its Workstation edition my Compaq C702TU notebook. It is very much responsive. I would say it a blazing distro, though not cutting edge. The only problem I faced was configuring the x3100 graphics card, like PCLinuxOS 2007 it does not support the graphics card. Well, that's not an issue with business deployment.
As the BEL people say, it brings the full power of GNU/Linux to help your office computer make you more productive, and offer cost effective, resource light solutions that make your office tasks more efficient and easy to use. My opinion is if you are purchasing SLED or RHELD, you should try PCLOSBE. Who knows, it will prove just right for your business. And you won't have to spend a penny.
Visit BEL website for more.
