Re: bits/news from the users of Debian?
My post is d-d-a.
I'd like my comments attributed to.
Thanks.
Hi, i'am french (from Cherbourg), Sorry for my very bad english.
My name : Serge Le Tyrant.
My mail : goupilcom@gmail.com
My site : "Le bottin des jeux Linux" speaks about 800 Linux games and i
hope that's growing.
(http://www.surlestracesdupingouin.tuxfamily.org/LesJeuxSousLinux.html)
I use Debian since about 5 years and I love it :).
I start with Debian, then test Mandrake because it seem's at this time
(and people said it was) very complicated.
After about 1 year, some problems for configuring device driver with
Mandrake and more knowledge on Linux i decided to make another test with
Debian and it was the good.
I think graphics interface for installation is a good thing : you have
make a good job !
Actually we have 3 PC (but one with a material problem with the
motherboard) with Debian. It's a family use.
My son (5 years old) use one of it for games (for too much time :)), he
play with Quake4, Glest, Robin hood, Majesty, quake wars, doom3, UT2003,
Nexuiz, E.T., T.C. Elite, W.O.P. and many others (other more small games
like gcompris or gltron).
My wife use Linux for internet to find info and sometime to buy
something she don't find here.
She don't like computers, no chance for making her loving Linux or any
other OS :).
And me because of my site I wrote and i wrote again on OpenOffice and
search playable games for Linux :)).
My two brothers (400km from us, in Paris) use Windows and don't want to
change, it's there choice, it's life :).
I use a portable PC (Samsung Q35) which is a very good computer :
intel's graphics card is not very powerfull but it's very stable : more
than 1 year with it and zero problems after daily upgrade.
For my son's i have an AMD 64 with 1Gb of memory, an nVidia 7800GT
graphics card and about 3To of disk (yes it's great :).
I have encounter many problems with my two 1To Maxtor disk : bad disks
or problem with 2.6.24 kernel ? I don't know.
The (2/3) PC are connected each other with NFS (nice software!) and use
one CLP-500 color laser jet. Difficult to install but works fine.
We have an epson perfection 3490 scanner, a wacom intuos 3 tablet, a
Palm Zire PDA, a Canon MV800 camera and all works fine.
I have encounter a lot of problem with ATI's graphic card (9800 Pro)
which make me prefering NVIDIA which is more stable. I don't use any
more my ATI'card because it is on my old PC with it's dead mother board
but i heard they open there source and for that reason, works better on
Linux.
I don't use popularity-contest package, i don't like the idea that my PC
is sending personal info. Sorry.
I use Debian Sid and I have experiment a lot of problem some years ago
(about 2 or 3) because i install too recent package on Sid which are not
well tested.
I continue to use Sid (for the large choice of new package and upgrade)
but my preference are for installing less recent but more stable package
and then it works fine (and the most important, i have identify and
understand why this silly 3D graphic broke after some upgrade of my
system (each time xserver-xorg-core is upgrading).
I prefer Debian to Ubuntu because i don't like using sudo on each
command and for Debian's philosophy : it's free and wan't to continue to
be free for all people of this planet :). But sometimes i use Ubuntu's
package for games when i don't find them for Debian.
I have using Mandrake : finally i prefer the other philosophy of Debian
: using file for configuration, it's more simple and stable than those
nice interface where you clic and choose without any knowledge of what
you make ... like Windows.
For example, I have experiment (on Debian :) CUPS interface on KDE :
nice but too complicated. No notice, small help and not understanding
anything. You look your cups.conf before configuring : not very simple
with all those commands but with line of help i understand. I launch
KDE's interface but that don't work and then, when i read my cups.conf i
laugh/smile : the lenght of the file is multiplie by 3, don't understand
anything and all is broken.
Actually ?
In general it works (with only two or three line that i have manualy
modify), sometimes it don't.
That's a common problem with Linux (not only Debian i think) with all
device.
All works fine after day and day of searching info and changing
different files, but after some weeks of upgrading your distribution it
don't. There is so great upgrade that you don't know or don't take the
time to watch what is to be upgrade and don't reboot and test all your
system in real time. The result : after some upgrade your scanner or
your printer, your tablet, or your distrib is broken. You loose time and
time to make it working and after some year you continue with some of
your device continuing to not working ... :(
Each time i show my Linux box to a Windows' user :
the same problem, some device or some software don't work ... shame on
me :(.
Perhaps the solution : in Synaptic, separate upgrade of important
package like device driver, and/or better testing for device driver
before showing an upgrade on Synaptic ...
And what about packages ?
I'd like to see a better file manager for Gnome :
I'am searching ...uuu ... yes : It's not concerning only Debian but gnome.
I use KDE why ? : for Konqueror. Because file manager on gnome is very bad.
Please develop a good file manager for gnome with tabs and same
possibility as Konqueror and then probably i use it (because i don't
like friendly distribution of KDE for Windows).
I can use konqueror on gnome but is it using gnome ?
Try making the installation of 3D OpenGL more simple for newbies:
I think the most important thing for growing Linux community is making
it's OpenGL installation more simple.
Use the Intel's model : make a package xserver-xorg-video-* with
integrated 3D support for ATI and nvidia like Intel.
Another idea : modify the script who's installing Mesa.
Consider you install your graphics card driver (nVidia or ATI) and it
works fine.
But when you upgrade one of those packet you broke your 3D installation
: xserver-xorg-core, mesa*, libglu1-mesa*, libgl1*, libdrm.
Because they switch those files and other with there own (who are common
with your proprietary device driver) :
/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
/usr/lib/xorg/modules/libwfb.so
and for nvidia card : /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so
The script must verify there is no installation of OpenGL before
overwriting with there own or ask a simple question (with a small howto
beside the question : Do you wan't to overwrite your OpenGL installation ?).
I think it's a real problem for newbie : for them it's very difficult to
install OpenGL (downloading the driver, finding the version of Gcc for
his kernel, changing it, configuring a kernel or installing the good
header's package, installing the driver, configuring Xorg, and starting
Xorg) and when it works fine they don't understand why after an upgrade
of there Linux'box and some minute of inactivity Xorg reset (it's
because screensaver use 3D, and crash if 3D won't work). They loose a
lot of time to understand and some probably reinstall Linux.
With my Intel's graphic card, nothing of that : plug and play : it works
:). Same after upgrade :).
Because there is only one great package to install :
xserver-xorg-video-intel (the nvidia's or ati's package doesn't contain
3D support).
Another solution : contribute with graphic's card manufacturer : ATI and
NVIDIA
Please, post them Debian package (1 or 2 per years) base on there own
device driver that works fine like Intel's graphics card : you install,
you change one line on your xorg.conf (vesa->ati or nvidia) and it works.
Another solution : another source for non free package who's provide ATI
and NVIDIA packages.
It seems that other distributions provide those kind of package for ATI
and nvidia (alien with those RPM driver and distribute ?)
If it's not possible to make a direct package (because ther is no source
available) perhaps it is possible to make a package that make the other
part of the job : verifying gcc version, make dynamic link, verifying
kernel headers package, launch proprietary driver, change Xorg conf
file, restart Xorg and if it seems that it doesn't work, restart Xorg in
vesa mode and said you what's doesn't.
Debian with other distribution :
what about http://packagekit.org/ ?
It seem's to be a very interesting project for unifying distributions.
Debian for me ?
It's simply ... the most important distribution of the world.
Because it's Linux, then greater than other OS because of it's community
of developper and people, the security, the power of the system and
software.
Because in Linux, Debian use the most powerfull package manager, and one
of the biggest choice of software (and can use other package with alien).
Because i like it's democratic and fun community.
Because in Linux this distribution is free, said it and make it all the
time.
Thanks for that and for your work !
Bye.
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