Problems with install disk, KDE
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:20 pm
I'm not sure where to post this but as most of the forums seem to be about asking questions so if this is wrong can a moderator please move it somewhere more appropriate? Thanks.
Also I'm sorry if this seems like a rant but It's been a long day and I really have had enough.
About me: I have a background in computer programming (Java mainly) on Windows but have tried Linux on and off since Mandrake 7. I have some experience setting up simple Debian based servers but in every case I've shunned the various GUIs as I have really never got on with them.
Recently my brother has being trying LM and from his demonstrations it looked quite good so I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately though it seems Linux is still miles away from being usable for the average user or in my humble opinion suitable for use as a production desktop system.
My problems begun during installation. It seems that the noveau (open source Nvidia) drivers have taken over from the older nv modules. This is bad for me as the older modules worked just great on my test hardware but the noveau driver causes kernel lockups. So to get around this problem I used the compatibility mode on the live system to do an install but, rather unhelpfully, I found that I cannot install the closed-source Nvidia drivers at the same time, which means I ended up with a system which locks hard as soon as X starts. Now my usual first port of call, the distro's rescue mode is not an option as LM's system auto-mounts the root file system (sda1) as read-only, which means I can't just simply chroot onto it and use apt-get to install the closed source drivers. Instead I have to (once again) boot the live CD and use that to mount the target drive, chroot onto it and install the drivers.
Some time later and (finally) having a system that (mostly works) I try to fix up the apt cache as it had become mildly corrupt in the process. I did this by executing apt-get update followed by apt-get upgrade. At this point I should mention that my original intention was to install Debian and do that directly onto an SSD but after numerous problems and two secure-erase wipes with hdparm I decided to save some SSD-wear and install onto a harddisk first. And I am so glad I did.
Apt-get update revealed that there were more than 460 packages to update. That's a lot of small, SSD-killing writes and definitely not something I'd expect from a Linux distribution downloaded less than 14 hours ago.
Anyway after that had completed I was finally able to boot into KDE. But the problems didn't stop there.
Round 2: WHAT THE!?!?! (KDE problems).
Probably the most important phrase ever said about user interface design was this: “Don't make me think!”. It's something I try to bear in mind when designing my own interfaces and it's one area where Microsoft really shines. But unfortunately it seems to be one of KDE's weak points:
I had trouble sorting out the mouse cursor as the relevant bits are spread over several different menus. Recommended practice is to keep everything together in one place so it's easy to find but the annoying mouse cursor animations are not in the same place as all the other mouse controls. Grrrrrr...
The panel bar is somewhat unintuitive and crashed when resized (a well known and entirely reproducible problem looking at the bug reports).
Widgets were not as easy to find as they should be and downloading and installing them from KDE's site is a hassle as they're not usually simple "download then click to install" packages.
When configuring the panel widget description popups kept getting in the way.
The calender has to be closed with a specific click inside the widget. Clicking away or pressing escape has no effect.
The panel bar at one point became corrupt although I was eventually able to fix it.
When opening a file I once had the screen go completely black except for the mouse cursor.
Additional widgets and themes are available from KDE's website, which in itself is not ideal and made worse by the lack of information scent – there is no immediate indication from any of KDE's menus that such a resource exists.
I could go on but my LM Cinnamon iso has just finished downloading. Lets see if that's any better.
Also I'm sorry if this seems like a rant but It's been a long day and I really have had enough.
About me: I have a background in computer programming (Java mainly) on Windows but have tried Linux on and off since Mandrake 7. I have some experience setting up simple Debian based servers but in every case I've shunned the various GUIs as I have really never got on with them.
Recently my brother has being trying LM and from his demonstrations it looked quite good so I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately though it seems Linux is still miles away from being usable for the average user or in my humble opinion suitable for use as a production desktop system.
My problems begun during installation. It seems that the noveau (open source Nvidia) drivers have taken over from the older nv modules. This is bad for me as the older modules worked just great on my test hardware but the noveau driver causes kernel lockups. So to get around this problem I used the compatibility mode on the live system to do an install but, rather unhelpfully, I found that I cannot install the closed-source Nvidia drivers at the same time, which means I ended up with a system which locks hard as soon as X starts. Now my usual first port of call, the distro's rescue mode is not an option as LM's system auto-mounts the root file system (sda1) as read-only, which means I can't just simply chroot onto it and use apt-get to install the closed source drivers. Instead I have to (once again) boot the live CD and use that to mount the target drive, chroot onto it and install the drivers.
Some time later and (finally) having a system that (mostly works) I try to fix up the apt cache as it had become mildly corrupt in the process. I did this by executing apt-get update followed by apt-get upgrade. At this point I should mention that my original intention was to install Debian and do that directly onto an SSD but after numerous problems and two secure-erase wipes with hdparm I decided to save some SSD-wear and install onto a harddisk first. And I am so glad I did.
Apt-get update revealed that there were more than 460 packages to update. That's a lot of small, SSD-killing writes and definitely not something I'd expect from a Linux distribution downloaded less than 14 hours ago.
Anyway after that had completed I was finally able to boot into KDE. But the problems didn't stop there.
Round 2: WHAT THE!?!?! (KDE problems).
Probably the most important phrase ever said about user interface design was this: “Don't make me think!”. It's something I try to bear in mind when designing my own interfaces and it's one area where Microsoft really shines. But unfortunately it seems to be one of KDE's weak points:
I had trouble sorting out the mouse cursor as the relevant bits are spread over several different menus. Recommended practice is to keep everything together in one place so it's easy to find but the annoying mouse cursor animations are not in the same place as all the other mouse controls. Grrrrrr...
The panel bar is somewhat unintuitive and crashed when resized (a well known and entirely reproducible problem looking at the bug reports).
Widgets were not as easy to find as they should be and downloading and installing them from KDE's site is a hassle as they're not usually simple "download then click to install" packages.
When configuring the panel widget description popups kept getting in the way.
The calender has to be closed with a specific click inside the widget. Clicking away or pressing escape has no effect.
The panel bar at one point became corrupt although I was eventually able to fix it.
When opening a file I once had the screen go completely black except for the mouse cursor.
Additional widgets and themes are available from KDE's website, which in itself is not ideal and made worse by the lack of information scent – there is no immediate indication from any of KDE's menus that such a resource exists.
I could go on but my LM Cinnamon iso has just finished downloading. Lets see if that's any better.