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I think this is awesome but how many more Linux OS' do we need? The community needs to come together and hammer out the end user desktop issues and get a unifi

I think this is awesome but how many more Linux OS' do we need? The community needs to come together and hammer out the end user desktop issues and get a unified Linux out to the unwashed masses. Windows 10 can't be the only future.

snazz 8y ago
Redox isn’t Linux. It has its own kernel that you can read about in the docs.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  I get where the post is coming from though. Redox decides to write a brand new kernel with some interesting ideas, but then basically just slaps a UNIX-like userland on top of it.
  - empath75 8y ago
    Path of least resistance -- but it seems like you can write a non-unix-like userland on top of it if you want to.
  - weberc2 8y ago
    What's wrong with changing a few things at a time? Why should this project attempt to solve every problem at once? I can't imagine that resulting in a usable system, at least not in the next decade.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
      Nothing wrong with it really, especially since Redox bills itself as a research OS (at least it did last I checked) and not a contender for replacing desktops. But I still share the original poster's disappointment in yet another UNIX-like system, especially at a time when, in my opinion, Personal Computing and the Desktop in particular are being driven towards extinction.
    - mmirate 8y ago
      It's a research OS, ergo: why does it need to be usable? and why should all the effort of writing a new OS be spent on only a handful of novelties instead of amortized over as much novelty as possible?
  - dralley 8y ago
    If they just waited around for people to support Redox in every application natively, it would never happen. A Posix'y shim layer is a very practical concession.
nouveaux 8y ago
It's not likely that the small groups of people working on new operating systems really effect the outcome of open source desktop. One guess is that not enough UI/UX people work on open source desktops. The other guess is that hardware information is hard to come by, so driver support is still lacking.
qwerty456127 8y ago
Can you name any end user desktop issues for Linux? I don't know any except lack of native Adobe Photoshop, limited selection of games and inefficient marketing. It already is easy and pleasurable for any reasonably young non-gamer non-geek with Windows7&Mac background to use Ubuntu or Manjaro, just install it, install and pin all the apps they need and no questions emerge.
- rifung 8y ago
  > Can you name any end user desktop issues for Linux? I've installed Linux on like 5 of my desktops/laptops. The best way to describe my issues with it are "death by a thousand cuts". Namely that random stuff just doesn't work, either at all or the way I expect or want. Installing Nvidia drivers is hit or miss. Wifi often doesn't work out of the box. The touchpad experience is far inferior. Also all of the desktop environments I've used have been really ugly (GNOME, KDE, Unity). Even when installing Linux there are so many options for partitioning (what format you want, swap space size, etc) which are likely overwhelming for non technical users.
  - ThenAsNow 8y ago
    > Also all of the desktop environments I've used have been really ugly (GNOME, KDE, Unity). This is very much in the eye of the beholder. Linux with KDE has been my daily driver since at least as far back as 2009 (with the KDE 3.5 series), possibly earlier. In no way would I say it's any uglier than windows, especially now with all the effort to make key GTK applications fit with Qt ones via theming. Windows 10's hodgepodge of old and new styles for things like settings is more offensive to me than anything a Linux graphical desktop does. Agree the driver situation lagging on Linux vs. Windows is sub-optimal, but when the driver support is there, I don't find Linux to work any more poorly than Windows. The reality is that every major desktop system has issues, but at least with Linux, if you learn enough about the plumbing, you can go in and try to fix or work around issues that arise. Until we move into a new world of robust, correct-by-construction, non-worse-is-better software, I'll take the lumps I get with Linux over the others whenever I have the choice.
ineedasername 8y ago
Unfortunately, improving the desktop picture and having a unified Linux for the masses has been an unfulfilled dream for at least 20 years. There have been real improvements, but short of a black swan event it still feels like we're far away from that goal.
robertsd247 8y ago
Whoa! -4. Not winning the popularity contest with this one. :)

snazz 8y ago

Redox isn’t Linux. It has its own kernel that you can read about in the docs.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
I get where the post is coming from though. Redox decides to write a brand new kernel with some interesting ideas, but then basically just slaps a UNIX-like userland on top of it.
- empath75 8y ago
  Path of least resistance -- but it seems like you can write a non-unix-like userland on top of it if you want to.
- weberc2 8y ago
  What's wrong with changing a few things at a time? Why should this project attempt to solve every problem at once? I can't imagine that resulting in a usable system, at least not in the next decade.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    Nothing wrong with it really, especially since Redox bills itself as a research OS (at least it did last I checked) and not a contender for replacing desktops. But I still share the original poster's disappointment in yet another UNIX-like system, especially at a time when, in my opinion, Personal Computing and the Desktop in particular are being driven towards extinction.
  - mmirate 8y ago
    It's a research OS, ergo: why does it need to be usable? and why should all the effort of writing a new OS be spent on only a handful of novelties instead of amortized over as much novelty as possible?
- dralley 8y ago
  If they just waited around for people to support Redox in every application natively, it would never happen. A Posix'y shim layer is a very practical concession.

nouveaux 8y ago

It's not likely that the small groups of people working on new operating systems really effect the outcome of open source desktop. One guess is that not enough UI/UX people work on open source desktops. The other guess is that hardware information is hard to come by, so driver support is still lacking.

qwerty456127 8y ago

Can you name any end user desktop issues for Linux? I don't know any except lack of native Adobe Photoshop, limited selection of games and inefficient marketing. It already is easy and pleasurable for any reasonably young non-gamer non-geek with Windows7&Mac background to use Ubuntu or Manjaro, just install it, install and pin all the apps they need and no questions emerge.

rifung 8y ago
> Can you name any end user desktop issues for Linux? I've installed Linux on like 5 of my desktops/laptops. The best way to describe my issues with it are "death by a thousand cuts". Namely that random stuff just doesn't work, either at all or the way I expect or want. Installing Nvidia drivers is hit or miss. Wifi often doesn't work out of the box. The touchpad experience is far inferior. Also all of the desktop environments I've used have been really ugly (GNOME, KDE, Unity). Even when installing Linux there are so many options for partitioning (what format you want, swap space size, etc) which are likely overwhelming for non technical users.
- ThenAsNow 8y ago
  > Also all of the desktop environments I've used have been really ugly (GNOME, KDE, Unity). This is very much in the eye of the beholder. Linux with KDE has been my daily driver since at least as far back as 2009 (with the KDE 3.5 series), possibly earlier. In no way would I say it's any uglier than windows, especially now with all the effort to make key GTK applications fit with Qt ones via theming. Windows 10's hodgepodge of old and new styles for things like settings is more offensive to me than anything a Linux graphical desktop does. Agree the driver situation lagging on Linux vs. Windows is sub-optimal, but when the driver support is there, I don't find Linux to work any more poorly than Windows. The reality is that every major desktop system has issues, but at least with Linux, if you learn enough about the plumbing, you can go in and try to fix or work around issues that arise. Until we move into a new world of robust, correct-by-construction, non-worse-is-better software, I'll take the lumps I get with Linux over the others whenever I have the choice.

ineedasername 8y ago

Unfortunately, improving the desktop picture and having a unified Linux for the masses has been an unfulfilled dream for at least 20 years. There have been real improvements, but short of a black swan event it still feels like we're far away from that goal.

robertsd247 8y ago

Whoa! -4. Not winning the popularity contest with this one. :)