RE: tlug: X resolution / color depth

[Scott Stone <sstone@example.com>]

On Thu, 19 Mar 1998, Jonathan Byrne--3Web wrote:

> 
> -----Original Message-----
> $B:9=P?M(B : David J Iannucci <dji@example.com>
> $B08@example.com(B : tlug@example.com <tlug@example.com>
> $BF|;~(B : 1998$BG/(B3$B7n(B19$BF|(B 1:25
> $B7oL>(B : RE: tlug: X resolution / color depth
> 
> 
> 
> >I've been using XF86Setup for configuring, and I don't think this
> >lets you choose run-time bpp or resolution (this info isn't specified
> >in the config file, in any case).
> 
> xf86config lets you choose all that.  The TurboLinux Xconfigurator also
> works quite well, if you want to switch flavors :-)
> 
> >   Philosophical question, for anyone: why is this hardware-level
> >video configuration crap not necessary for Mac and Windows, and isn't
> >there _some_ way they can make it unnecessary for X?!  This is

this isn't true at all.  My Riva128 was 100 times easier to set up under
Linux than it was under Windows.  The thing is that usually your computer
vendor does all the driver install work for you when you buy the computer
with Windows preinstalled.  Windows also will autoprobe your video card at
install time (which TurboLinux also does).  It can't probe your monitor,
though - getting Windows to run high res in non-interlaced modes can be
near impossible sometimes.

As for the mac, they build the video hardware onto the mac board, and
since only one company makes macs, it's all standardized.  IF, however,
you put something like a Matrox Millennium PPC into a powermac, you have
that good ol' hardware configuration to do again :)

> 
> Well, you sort of have to do it for Windows, but you just go into control
> panel and set how many colors you want and what screen size you want, from
> the available choices.  You even have a slide control for screen size.  I
> really agree with you about these ease of use issues.  A major obstacle to
> popularizing Linux is going to be the difficulty of setting it up and
> getting it working.  I can't believe there's a Mac or Windows user anywhere
> who goes through what we voluntarily put ourselves through because we like
> Linux.  If Macs and Windows were this tough, nobody would use them except
> computer professionals, the way it was in the old days.  And guess what?
> The only people who use Linux and FreeBSD are computer professionals and
> hardcore hobbyists who have high levels of expertise.  I too, can't see any
> legitimate reason why it can't get much easier.  The obstacles that I see to
> it are 1) Funds (OK, that's a legit reason).  Linus and the distribution
> developers don't have anywhere near as much money to throw at this as
> Microsoft and Apple do; 2) The idea that a computer shouldn't be difficult
> to use hasn't penetrated very far in the UNIX community yet.  That's why so
> much stuff still seems like it's designed to be as hard as possible.  Most
> of the people using Linux and FreeBSD are computer professionals, a huge
> number of which are programmers and/or UNIX sys admins, and they don't
> really see any reason to change the way is, since it works OK for them.
> Consider this: For about US $50, you can get a Linux distribution that will
> give you the tools that you'd spend about 100 times as much on to get with
> NT Server, maybe more.  Why?  Because it's so much easier to use if you're
> not a sys admin level UNIX expert.
> 
> We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the end user and make a system they
> can deal with easily.  We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the
> marketing person, who knows that most people will never buy an OS that is
> this relatively difficult (and supports double-byte langauges so poorly
> compared to a Mac, Windows, or OS/2).  Linux is still very far from being a
> computer system for the masses, and as long as it remains that way,
> Microsoft doesn't have to worry about it and developers won't bother writing
> commercially for it.  When will we be able to walk into a software store and
> see lots of cool apps doing cool things for Linux like we can for Windows?
> Never, if things stay the way they are now.  Maybe someday, if these issues
> get resolved.
> 
> A lot of people have also heard me gripe about these things a lot, but
> obviously I like Linux or I wouldn't be here still using it.  I think
> pointing out these shortcomings is very important.  Linux is described as
> being a powerful, true 32-bit OS, and it is.  But there's also another
> definition of powerful.  It's the ability to configure, with a little basic
> knowledge and a few mouse clicks, things that require a huge amount of
> expert knowledge and often the editing of config files containing lots of
> things and requiring that same expert knowledge on other systems.  That's
> the made the Mac popular.  That's what made Microsoft move in the same
> direction.  That's why the both sell so much and are so popular.  Linux
> needs to go that way, too.  PHT's TurboDesk (part of the TurboLinux
> distribution) is a terrific step in that direction and it's one of the
> things I really like about TL, but there's still a lot more that could be
> done.  It's still a young distribution, though.  Watch for great things from
> PHT.
> 
> Linux has come a long way, and I think 1997 was a watershed year and 1998
> will see still more great advances and popularization. But this is just the
> beginning.  Linux is competing with NT (successfully) in some areas, but
> we've still got a long way to go before we can really compete with Windows
> overall.
> 
> Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks this way :-)
> 
> Jonathan
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Next TLUG Meeting: 11 April Sat, Tokyo Station Yaesu gate 12:30
> Featuring Tague Griffith of Netscape i18n talking on source code
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
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> 

--------------------------------------------------
Scott M. Stone <sstone@example.com, sstone@example.com>
               <sstone@example.com>
Linux Developer/Systems Administrator for Pacific HiTech, Inc. 
http://www.pht.com		http://armadillo.pht.co.jp
http://www.pht.co.jp	        http://www.turbolinux.com


---------------------------------------------------------------
Next TLUG Meeting: 11 April Sat, Tokyo Station Yaesu gate 12:30
Featuring Tague Griffith of Netscape i18n talking on source code
---------------------------------------------------------------
a word from the sponsor:
TWICS - Japan's First Public-Access Internet System
www.twics.com  info@example.com  Tel:03-3351-5977  Fax:03-3353-6096