On 03/25/2012 12:38 PM, Richmond wrote:
As a Mac-o-philiac I have spent some time playing around with PearOS,
and can honestly say "it sucks";
it being neither one thing nor the other.
Also, for Mac types; the initial set up does NOT have desktop icons,
and it is a right cough-cough-cough finding one's Home folder and so on.
The eye-candy is Mac-like; the functionality is not. And by fudging
around with GNOME 3 to produce a supposedly Mac-like interface
they have just obscured some of the useful features of GNOME 3.
This reminds me of attempts in the past to build Linux distros with
interfaces that are clones of Windows XP; similarly silly.
When one moves to another operating system there is a learning curve
involved, and it is disingenuous to pretend there is not.
PearOS is rather like Water-wings or those funny little wheels on the sides
of bikes; you will become dependent on them, and never learn to
swim/ride a bike
properly.
---------------------------------------------------------------
My vote for ease of use for a new Linux user who is coming from Mac,
right now,
is Xubuntu:
http://xubuntu.org/
or Mint with XFCE:
http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1818
You are more than welcome to e-mail me directly (i.e. off-list) if you
have any further questions.
Richmond Mathewson.
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:D as I said "heaping spoonfuls of salt". Mint is wonderful and XFCE is
a very straightforward and traditional DE. Both are fine
recommendations, although I am leery of Mint rolling Debian which is the
only "official" XFCE version I could find on the Mint download page. Is
it perhaps an alternative install within the Gnome DVD?
One thing that maybe could be said that for someone who wants mainly to
have a Linux install available to test Livecode apps and perhaps run
Livecode to tidy up applications being built for Linux, it may not
matter at all which distro or DE you run, the only caveat to that being
that you're better off installing a 32-bit version saving you the step
of installing 32-bit compatibility libs. So long as you can get easy
access to your stacks and apps from your Mac, and create an easy access
to Livecode on your your Linux install, you might not find any reason to
prefer one distro or DE over any other.
That said, I think, Richmond, while it absolutely true that each OS
requires adjustment and learning, this is a much more involved topic in
approaching Linux due to the extreme variety of choice regarding distro
and DE. People seek a certain comfort level and familiarity can be a
major factor. The disruption of familiarity is one of the roots of the
current DE rumblings. I don't see anything wrong at all with customizing
the DE experience to mimic either OS X or Windows, if that makes the
user happy. The comment about water wings and training wheels is silly
on two levels. It ignores the real value of them - enabling the
inexperienced to participate in and enjoy an activity in comfort and
safety as they gain familiarity and confidence - and overstates the
"danger". It's ludicrous to say that anyone who rides a bike with
training wheels will never ride without them, or who floats with water
wings will never learn swim. Surely you don't believe that! As an
extension of that argument, why not promote Gentoo, Arch, and Slackware?
Higher learning curve = more genuine experience?! I suspect you don't
actually believe that, at least not when put so directly. It is an old
attitude in the Linux community that is thankfully becoming less
prominent. Please be cautious not to promote it!!!
I have never used any version of Pear OS and only presented it as an
available alternative with a rationale for why Pete may find it
attractive. Have you tried the most recent version? Some people seem to
like it, http://sourceforge.net/projects/pearoslinux/reviews/ . Here's a
review of a pre-release version which may be interesting:
http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2012/02/15/pear-linux-comice-os-4-beta-1-review/
. Just for fun, I'm about to install it in a VM to have a look. (slow
download)
My DE is KDE 4.8 and I like it very much. I don't use all its features
but it does some things that a really love. It works for me and makes me
happy. While it's very popular (despite Richmond's feelings about it),
it doesn't suit everyone (see Richmond's feelings about it - feelings
he's perfectly entitled to, of course). I feel comfortable recommending
it as a good option. Kubuntu has a very poor reputation among KDE users,
but it sounds like Mint is improving its KDE version.
http://youtu.be/ou9HIdlSQq0
http://youtu.be/Em3KOFvQSTY
I do agree with Richmond that Mint or Ubuntu may be the most foolproof
way to approach Linux. (Saying that does not in any way imply they're
really a "stepping stone" to something "more" Linux. They are "real"
Linux and fine and respectable choices, as will be whatever you finally
go with.)
Best,
Warren
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