Dave Phillips wrote:
>
> I say again: I like Ubuntu, I think it's a neat system with a great
> desktop. It just also sucks in some areas that critically matter to me.

Yes, I agree here ..

Perhaps many distributions are working hard to look after a subset of
users who's main concerns are quite valid - they want a system that
'just works' when used for their tasks. It is 'a good thing' IMHO if
some distributions are successful in this, if some distributions 'just
work' for typical office tasks, others 'just work' for typical home
tasks [there is a lot of overlap here] then the number of individuals
and companies using linux will increase, the demand for hardware
manufactures to support linux will increase, maybe more computers will
be available retail with linux pre-installed - all this helps increase
the number of developers working on linux as a system, and the number of
people who grow up with linux as their default system because it is in
their school, or at home, when they first start using a computer.

I am unlikely to use such a distribution - it is not put together to
cater for my needs. As a specialist user of linux with specialist needs
I expect to have to deal with the system on a much more basic level, I
need to use a distribution that is much more basic and allows manual
configuration, maybe if I am lucky I may find a specialist distribution
that is adapted and pre-configured by people with the same needs. It is
slower initially, but eventually much more efficient, to do
configurations from scratch rather than trying to un-configure a tightly
put together system that is not suited to my needs.

The most long-established user base for linux is in the server world -
hence the very strict definition of what is 'stable' in distribution
systems such as Debian, which for my purposes tends to equate with 'out
of date'. Most of the time I don't need my machines to be as reliable or
secure as a webserver or database server needs to be, I've found
'unstable' more to my needs. Luckily I am not alone - currently I'm
using Sidux [the Xfce version] as the starting point for my systems, but
there are lots of choices out there.

IMHO asking a distribution to be more flexible at the cost of being
puzzing to the novice is a bit unfair if the principle aims of that
distribution are to give an unambitious user a complete 'it just works'
solution to their most common needs.

It is easy to have a machine dual-bootable and use one distribution for
home/office use and another for specialist purposes if required.


Simon