The annual desktop OS problem
OK, so as a kernel programmer and all that, it is getting increasing difficult to avoid running Linux as the one-and-only host operating system. This is because any good programmer instinctively understands the threat of close-source operating systems, and patent litigation, to his livelihood: it is getting harder and harder to write code without getting sued for infringing on someone’s patent for “a system that transmits email to a device without waiting for a query,” or “a way to order goods and services by clicking once on the screen”. And so, everyone wants to fight the good fight and run Linux or FreeBSD or something like that. Which I do, extensively–just not on the desktop; I treat Linux as a server, and a development toolkit.
But the heat is increasing, and lately I’ve also had more than a few problems with missing drivers for iPods and iPAQs on my newly installed WinXP 64-bit system. So, late last night after a pretty good fencing session, I launched into my annual routine, which is: toss out Windows, load up the latest Linux (Fedora, these days), and measure the pain/pleasure ratio.
Specifically, I installed Fedora Core 4 on my primary home computer, in place of the previously existing WinXP 64-bit system. My reasoning was simple: enough programs are unavailable on WinXP-64 that I had little to lose, and VMWare (or WINE–the Windows Emulator) could always fill in the gaps, for truly irreplaceable Windows programs (these days, irreplaceables include: EverNote, Araxis Merge, Macromedia DreamWeaver, and a few lesser programs. SlickEdit doesn’t count because it runs on both Linux and Windows). Furthermore, as web-based as things are nowadays, the client seems less important; after all, you’re reading this on a blog site, rather than opening up a word processor.
However, it just didn’t cut it, for a home system. Great for a server, and perhaps adequate for a minimalist, zen approach to software development. Maybe BSD 6.0 is better, especially in the performance area; I noticed they recently emphasized their support for AMD64 dual-core systems.
Good stuff
- The email client, “Evolution”, worked nicely and was effortless to set up
- Overall look and feel is certainly better than earlier releases of RedHat or Fedora
- System fonts are getting better, enough that you can actually read what is displayed in the browser
Bad stuff
- The whole system ran slowly (!), compared to when I had WinXP-64 on it. Remember, this is on a high-end workstation: 2 dual-core Opteron 275’s; Tyan motherboard; 8GB RAM and a top-notch nVidia graphics chipset; modern SATA drives (compliments of AMD–thanks again, guys!).
- Program startup time was especially miserable, even the second time, and the screen acted as if there was no graphics accelerator. On WinXP-64, I never had to wait more than a second or two to start most programs (even Macromedia’s DreamWeaver MX 2004), and the time to start a program the second time was pretty much instantaneous; with that much RAM, a clever, user-oriented, desktop OS (sorry, Linux, you’re my first love, but this is just pathetically embarrassing) will keep the code cached.
- The graphics flickered, even though it claimed to recognize all the hardware (which is high end stuff), and claimed to be running an 86Hz vertical refresh rate.
- The printing setup was good, but the printed page that came out of my HP 4 sucked. It looked as if I’d fed tissue paper into a cheap inkjet printer. The HP 4 can generate publication-quality, 600 dpi output, but the page I got looked like about 100 dpi at best. Completely unacceptable.
- All the screen fonts are still fuzzy, and too large–thus screen space is wasted.
- The network setup went reasonably well, but not as smoothly as WinXP-64. After installing the OS, I had to go back in and activate the network card, heaven only knows why.