2/9/2006
Why the Linux Desktop Sucks
I’m going to start a multi-part series on my gripes with the Linux desktop and why after more then 5 years of using Linux as my primary desktop I’m actually considering the switch back to Windows as my primary desktop. My primary issue is functionality and speed and yes, I did start Gentoo’s Gentopia project to attempt to alleviate some of this frustration and bring a functional desktop to everyone. Why am I so upset? Because I feel that we’re taking steps backwards rather then forward. Even now as I type this blog entry I’m actually able to type faster then my screen will display the typed text. I really don’t think that is too much to ask of a system. For those that are interested about my system specs and config, please visit www.cardoe.com.
Now I’m sure many of you will just call me a troll and that’s fine. Another portion of you will just tell me that “This is open source, just grab the code and fix it yourself.” I, however, don’t feel that’s a valid arguement because I really don’t feel I should have to learn the source to every program and package out there and fix them. For example, CPUFreq, we’ve had the hardware technology for 4 years now and there are even programmers paid to make the software work on Linux. Why does it work on Windows and not on Linux? Are these programmers incompetent? Sure maybe I’m doing something wrong config wise but last I checked setting it to “ondemand” with a range from 600mhz to 1800mhz, it should step up when the system is under heavier load and response time drops (i.e. when I emerge).
No matter what I do, my system will stay locked at 600mhz when I use the ondemand governor. Now sure I can use the userspace governor and set it to whatever frequency I would like or I could even write a script to do this for me. But why should I have to when the code for this apparently already exists.
Filed under: 11 Responses to “Why the Linux Desktop Sucks”
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February 9th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
You should have put your main problem at the beginning so you don’t get labled as a generalization-troll.
True, only one of us can not fix all the problems. We all need to not stand for bugs, discuss what the bugs are, what causes them, what’s holding a better Desktop back and so forth. This way the word can somehow get out to people capable of fixing the issues, correctly.
February 9th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
So let me get this straight. You’re switching back to windows because the ondemand cpufreq driver doesn’t work? If windows works better for you just use it, but I’d be suprised if everything’s 100% in MS Windows OS too.
February 9th, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Well, I assume that your emerge is probably nice’d, so you may wish to try
echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ondemand/ignore_nice
As the kernel default changed a little while ago.
February 9th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
For your screen slowness you could try disabling composite, but even that should not cause screen to be very slow displaying text.
The ondemand problem is a tricky one, if cpu scaling actually works (echo $freq > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor # actually does the right thing) then your problem might be with the ondemand sampling rate or the fact that ondemand ignores niced emerge processes, both of these can be tweaked in /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ondemand/.
If you have enabled cpufreq stats in your kernel then /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/stats/ will help in debugging the ondemand governor settings.
I’m not sure if you need the opensource radeon drivers, but you could try the closed source ones and see if they make a difference.
February 10th, 2006 at 3:37 am
Yes, moving to windows will solve all your problems. I’m stuck using Windows XP Home whenever I visit my parents, which is quite often. It’s really nice that I have to reboot the computer after anyone else uses it, because windows won’t let me type my password to the login dialog unless I’m trying to log in right after a reboot. Also, have any video files on your hard disk? Worry not, Windows will protect you by crashing explorer everytime you try to view a folder that has video files in it! And the error message you get really is something along the lines “Explorer was closed to protect your computer.” instead of it just being the usual illegal action. Of course, closing explorer kills the taskbar and systemtray which in turn takes the antivirus and firewall with it, or atleast their user interfaces, forcing you to reboot. So HOORAY for things working in windows!
February 10th, 2006 at 4:44 am
my reason for switching to linux was not the dev-side of linux, but the ability to play around with my system, fine-tune it and see where it goes.
atm i’m kind of frustrated to work my way through several kb big config files just to let my roommate’s access some folders (not the best example, i know).
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ondemand/ignore_nice
why the heck do i have to work my way through there and find this option? why doesn’t this come with a sensible (desktop, laptop, server) default?
February 10th, 2006 at 4:50 am
I read that ondemand doesn’t always work that well because changes the frequency very quickly. Did you try conservative?
February 10th, 2006 at 8:05 am
Yes, that’s the same feel I have. I uses Linux 99,99% of the time, and I want it to be that way. But when I _need_ to use Windows in order to run son win app, I feels like if all were snapier, faster…
And then I start a search for “performance improvement patches”. Then I apply them and then I’m happy, but when I need to use Windows newly, I feel the real power of the AMD64 3000+ computer I have.
I don’t know where the problem is, but I feel it that way. I already knows that many improvements are going to happens soon (fontconfig next version a lot faster, KDE4 sporting QT4, X.org development going fast…), but anyways…
February 10th, 2006 at 8:37 am
to the previous responders: sure the stuff can be fixed, but I take his point to be that he is sick of tweaking things to fix them.
Maybe Ubuntu or Kubuntu would be a better distribution than Gentoo for you? I haven’t used them, but do they might have more tweaks already in place.
February 10th, 2006 at 4:19 pm
[...] Well after a couple of warm responses to my first post, Why The Linux Desktop Sucks, such as brix suggesting I be suppressed off the Planet and halcy0n saying I was just whining and not providing constructive criticism, which I’ll agree with, I’m going to follow it up. [...]
February 10th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
cardoe, you’re a gentoo developer. To whine about your problems in a post with a terminally trollish title is a sign of such weakness which might make some wonder whether you’re fit to be a dev at all. I thought devs - and Gentoo devs especially - were supposed to have some perseverance and a hacker spirit when confronted with the necessity of endless tinkering with poorly integrated software. Gentoo is regarded as an over-the-edge distro for a reason - it requires more hands-on configuration than most, and rewards the user for it with more power and flexibility than most other distributions. I’m sure the latest Ubuntu would throttle your P-M with ondemand governor just fine.
I have far more daunting problems on Linux than you do in this case - I know for sure that fixing them will require changing a kernel driver subsystem architecture and writing a whole new section into the Xorg radeon driver, respectively - but I don’t whine about them in my blog, I unpack the source and try to understand what I can do. And I’m a user, not a developer. I respect the work of other volunteers who make this awesome collection of software better every day, and when I’m frustrated that a bit of it doesn’t work, I keep the frustration to myself.
Your problem is valid. Your attitude is inappropriate. Especially so for a gentoo dev.