Failed Startups

Read a good write up on a failed startup this morning. Definitely ran into a few of these issues myself trying to bootstrap MMG Security.

Still even though it didn’t work out, I largely enjoyed the experience and am looking forward to implementing my next “big idea”.

Linux Hater

I keep hearing about this Linux Hater’s Blog and how good it is so I thought I’d check it out. Thought it might be like the UNIX-Haters Handbook.

It seems the main beef Mr. Hater has it that there is no common API/ABI across Linux distributions, so proper support and 3rd party applications are lacking. He also seems angry that the community won’t do anything about this. The rest of his blog seems to be various rants against real or perceived problems with Ubuntu (or as he calls it youbuntube).

If Mr. Hater really thinks it’s gcc/glibc/glib/gtk/etc and kernel versions that is holding back 3rd party apps, I think that is just naive. In 2008, who is writing consumer level applications in straight C/C++? Maybe the lack of ported apps has to do something with Windows/Mac developers using APIs not available on Linux at all (e.g. Win32, DirectX, ActiveX, various Core* stuff from Apple). Maybe they are depend on other 3rd party libraries/components that aren’t commerically available/supported either. That’s much more likely. It’s a chicken and egg problem as no one wants to port without a big userbase and people don’t want to switch if their apps won’t work.

Maybe Mr. Hater had some issues with his My Little Pony?

With the trends in virtualization, I don’t see why these problems won’t be solved with VMs in the near future. That is the direction that the market is going. If the application(s) you need must have Windows, then use a Windows VM and run it there. Technology like VMware’s unity is only making it easier. This stuff will filter down to Joe User eventually.

Alternatively, perhaps the average user will stop using a PC and miagrate to dedicated devices for Internet access? There are people looking for that kind of a solution.

Most non-technical people I know use apps like YouTube!, GMail, Facebook, etc. They install them by typing the URL into their web browsers. I can’t really say I know anyone offhand who’s bought any consumer-level commerical software recently.

For support, from what I can see, most ISVs either support RedHat and/or SuSE. Anything else and you are on your own. I think that eventually will consolidate the market and get rid of some of the lamer distro forks. That’s still in progress though.

As for Mr. Hater’s issues with Linux being difficult and non-intuitive compared to Windows or Mac OSX. I think that is kind of offbase too. Linux distributions have come a long way. I remember what things were like before HAL, D-Bus, udev, etc. Sure it’s not perfect, but it’s also not like people have stopped working on making these things better. Look at things like NetworkManager.

X11 was very stagnant with XFree86. It took time, but x.org is moving forward again. They are working on configuration-less X so you don’t need to edit xorg.conf. Their work has enabled other projects like Compiz-Fusion (sure some of those effects are useless eye candy) to push things forward too.

Also “difficult” and “non-intuitive” is rather subjective. I see people all the time who’s attitude towards computers is if there isn’t step-by-step instructions and a 120×120 icon on the desktop to click it’s not easy enough for them. You know these people who “hate computers” and are adverse/hostile to learning even the slightest bit about them. Windows, Mac or Linux isn’t going to make a difference to someone like this.

Someone who’s used Windows or a Mac for years and now switches to Linux is also not going to have an easy learning curve. Can’t argue with that. I think Apple makes switching look easy because they have total control of both the hardware/software. Maybe the solution is for distros to start only supporting certain hardware configs?

Over the years I’ve used Linux, I’ve seen things improve a great deal in regards to useability and functionality. I haven’t any huge (eg. non-working system) problems in a long time over many upgrades. I use it at work and I use it at home. I know I’m not the average user but I know I’m not alone in my experiences.

I will give him that Ubuntu/Fedora/OpenSuSE in their attempt to hide all the system complexity for end-users make it very hard for those same users to figure out what is breaking/wrong and correct it. I think Windows and Mac OSX suffers from this to some extent too.

It’s not all bad, some things Linux/GNOME has gotten right. I remember trying to use a friend’s Macbook last year, I wanted to make a copy of a data CD. I put it into the drive, the icon appeared on the desktop and I right clicked and selected Copy. Mac OSX (Lepoard) promptly created an copy of the disc icon on the desktop. I had to find the burning application and dump/burn from there. With Linux/GNOME, right click on the disc and select copy, “just worked”.

I don’t see any easy answers for making this stuff easier to everyone. That’s probably why you see GNOME guys always talking about who their tarket market/audience is.

At least Mr. Hater seems to have the attention of some of the main developers in GNOME/Varius Distros/Mono/etc. Hopefully the valid points he brings up will be addressed.