lsemmens wrote: ⤴Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:23 pm
The point you seem to be missing here, is not a shortcoming of Linux but that of the suppliers of these devices. They develop for Windwoes and Linux does not get a look in. The only drawback of Linux in these cases is the small user base. You can't just plug an iPhone (Apple product) into a PC and it "just works" which is what you are expecting of Linux. You still have to install that piece of malware called iTunes (developed by Apple for the Windows platform). It won't work on a Commodore 64 (remember those) either.
I remember that more than you know.
The C-64 was a major part of my life!
I think I'm talking about something different here with "just works". I'm not talking about similar functionality to iTunes, for example. I'm talking about basic functionality to allow the Linux system to use the (standard) file system in the phone. i.e. plug in the phone, and be able to access the directories where audio files are stored. If I have mp3 files, I should be able to edit them with Audacity or play them with whatever (VLC? RhythmBox?). Windows will let you look at that directory on the phone as a folder.
That's all I'm looking for, and it does seem to work for some Linux installations and not others.
Now, I fully get the control these manufacturers have over how the thing works with external systems. But see above...it does work in some Linux situations, and for those of us where it doesn't work, the instructions appear daunting.
Imagine how they appear to a new Windows user who doesn't even have the experience I have with computers. I won't even get into how bad printers are, and THAT is 100% the fault of the manufacturers.
(and we're back to the thread title again!
)