On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 08:49:58PM +0200, Mehrdad wrote: > On Wednesday, 19 September 2012 at 17:29:17 UTC, H. S. Teoh wrote: > >On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 12:02:24PM +0200, Timon Gehr wrote: > >>The issue is that in one case you know how to fix it and in the > >>other one you do not (and you care less about it because you prefer > >>to think Windows is superior as it is what you use '99% of the > >>time'), not that the problems are inherently (un)fixable. > > > >Yeah, that's one of the things that irks me about Windows culture. > >It's touted as being "user-friendly" and "easy to use", etc., but > >actually it requires just as much effort as learning to use Linux. > >People complain about how Linux is hard to use or things break for no > >reason, but the same thing happens with Windows -- you either do > >things the Windows way (which requires that you learn what it is), or > >you quickly run into a whole bunch of gratuitous incompatibilities > >and bugs that nobody cares about because you aren't "supposed" to do > >things that way. > > > Yeah, they're "fixable" by your definition all right. > > It's just that when you ask people how, either no one you ask knows > why, or they try to convince you that you're an idiot for even > thinking about asking."
"How do I use Windows without a GUI?" "What are you, an idiot?!" > Relevant examples: > > It's next-to-impossible to go on a forum and ask about fixing a > boot-sector GRUB install without some fool coming along and > diverting the entire thread into "Why the hell isn't GRUB installed > on your MBR?" > > When you have a (God forbid!) space character in your directory/file > names and some program chokes on it? > "Stop putting spaces in your file names." > > When you ask how to make a passwordless account or how to obtain > permanent root privileges? > "Are you insane?!" > > When you ask if there is a defragmenter for Linux? > Some fool comes along and says "Linux doesn't need > defragmentation!!!!!!!!!" > > When you ask why the fonts are blurry? > "It's just different, you're just picky. Get used to it." > > When you ask why the touchpad is so darn hypersensitive? > "Modify the source code." "Why can't I do things the Linux way on Windows?" "Because it's not Linux, you fool." > Bottom line: > > Yeah, there's _always_ way to fix your problems, if by "fixing the > problem" you mean "rewriting the OS". We have the option of rewriting the OS, or any of its parts thereof. Yes you may have to (gosh!) spend time learning how the thing works and how to make it do what you want. But at least it's _possible_. You couldn't rewrite Windows even if you knew how. Besides, most of the problems you listed are a result of trying to do things the Windows way on a system that *isn't* Windows. I bet I'll get exactly the same responses if I started asking Windows forums how to make Windows behave like Linux. It all comes down to preference. I can't stand *any* kind of GUI, much less the straitjacketed non-configurable (not without massive breakage) kind of GUI that Windows offers. I do stuff on the shell that no GUI can ever hope to achieve, and I like it that way. I prefer to communicate in complete sentences rather than point-n-grunt. But I don't pretend that everybody else feels the same way. With Linux I can twist it and warp it until X11 behaves like a glorified console. Or like a 3D desktop, if I cared for that sorta thing. Heck, I've even contemplated writing a _4D_ window manager, for that matter. With Windows, I have no choice. I have to use a GUI, and a Windows-style GUI at that. Try to change the way it behaves, and everything breaks. The Windows way is shoved down my throat whether I like it or not. So guess which system I prefer to use? > It's pretty damn hard to convince Linux users that what you're > trying to do is, in fact, not out of stupidity/ignorance. It's pretty damn hard to convince Windows zealots that anything but the Windows way is not out of stupidity/ignorance. > >(I tried switching the mouse to sloppy focus once... and never dared > >try it again.) > > What's "sloppy focus"? The window focus automatically changes to whatever window the mouse is currently hovering over. Preferably WITHOUT automatically bringing said window to the top. (Good luck making this work on Windows. And once you actually manage to coax Windows to do it, have fun seeing the train wreck that is your applications once you start using them this way.) T -- INTEL = Only half of "intelligence".
