Linux on a server works great. We all know that. You can update and you can remove programs without telling all the users that “We have to reboot the server, so please take a 30 minutes break”. I have choosen to use Linux as my OS on the Desktop as well. The reason is because I am a PHP-developer it is better to have a system that is pretty similar to the one where the final project will run. So my laptop is equiped with Apache, mySQL and PHP / Perl running (LAMP) and those technologies works without any problems.
Right now I feel that Linux is not where I would like it to be as an OS for professional use on the Desktop. At the moment I am struggling with a few problems related to the desktop related to X.org. My problems are as follows: Windows that looses focus, windows that bounces and more. To sum it up: It’s annoying.
When I was on the “other” OS I used some professional programs quite heavily. These were: Photoshop (I’m a freelance journalist/photographer and has done jobs for some newspapers and magazines in Norway), InDesign (I’ve created a BMX Magazine with InDesign), Illustrator (to design elements for the magazine and the logo) and Fotostation (professional Photocataloging for Windows and Mac). In my used to be daily work I have used MS Office heavily too. Related to programming I have been used to Visual Studio. So what does Linux have to offer for me as a professional?
This is the list:
Photoshop: Gimp or Pixel (not open source) – None of these programs are even up to par with the standard photoeditor. Gimp does for instance not support CMYK which is important when you use the photos in printed material (magazines for instance).
InDesign: Scribus – It’s an OK program, but not close to InDesign – and I am only using version 2.0 of InDesign.
Illustrator: Inkscape – This is actually one of the better programs in the open source catalog. There are features missing (some related to keyboard and moving around in the windows), but the program is actually quite good. Illustrator is still a notch better, but you would expect that from a program that is more than ten years old and has a big group of programmers and other resources behind it.
Fotostation: FSpot / Picasa – Software for home use – at best. That’s really what I have to say about those two. I have a feeling that – at least the last one – they are not written by or for people who are into photography.
MS Office: Open Office – There are still features missing and there are things with OOo that are a bit harder to do than with the close sourced software.
Visual Studio: Mono / Eclipse: Mono is a great project. But I have a feeling that the programs made with this tool are slow. I’m currently trying out a few programs to “feed” my iPod. Banshee is one of them. I’ve also tried Floola. The first one uses Mono and the last one is programmed with RealBasic. And the last one feels much faster than Banshee. Still I am using Banshee because there are features that I like. I have also tested Songbird, but there is some features that are missing (CD-ripping and podcast-support(!)). Eclipse: Currently trying to see if Eclipse with Zend is the best tool for creating PHP-webapplications. I find the price a bit steep, especially because I don’t think Eclipse is that stable…
But what if I wanted to write a GUI program in C or python. Which tool do I use then? There aren’t really that many tools that are really good at it. And I think I know the reason for that: Real programmers don’t use such tools. Creating applications shall be done in vi(m) or pico… You probably have more control over how the GUI is made, but at the same time the risk of creating bugs is much larger. So why not use a GUI-tool? And why not create a Visual XX for Linux so we can start creating even programs easier?
I think the lack of GUI-tools for Desktop-applications is the reason why the Linux server is working so well. Server software does not have a GUI. It does not need a GUI. So all you need is gedit, vim or pico.
And back to Mono: The applications made with this GUI-tool are slow. I tested out FSpot to see if it could be a replacement for Fotostation. It wasn’t, and it was also very slow – but the speed had nothing to do with my reason not to use it for managing photos. I also find Banshee really slow.
This could be related to Mono, but it could also be related to the developers of these two applications. It can also be related to my Latitude D420…
I’ve written it in forums before, and I’ll repeat it here: I don’t mind paying for software under Linux. To me Linux is firstly all about having an Operating System that is stable, that is virus free and such things. It is not that important to have a free OS. And so you could argue that I should have bought a Macintosh. Well. I could. But my budget allowed me to buy a MacBook and it did not appeal to me at all. There is nothing screaming “professional” when I look at it. All it reminds me of are the “computers” we bought back in the 1980s when they were named Oric-1 or Spectrum 48.
I believe that Linux on the Desktop is now struggeling uphill. I don’t see much development happening in some applications, and there are applications that we are missing. Not so much in my department, but elsewhere. Like: Where are the accounting software? Where are the invoice software? Where are the sound editing software? Where are the Home Video software?
Inspiration for this article: Bryan Lunduke of Linux Action Show had a session at the Linux Fest Northwest titled “Why Desktop Linux sucks and what we can do about it”.
Links: http://blug.org/fest2009/spkr-record.dxp?id=109, http://lunduke.com/?p=422
