Experiment Over

2jeff • 6th Aug 2009 • technology • linux

My most recent experience with linux on the desktop is over.  I had been running the Windows 7 RC since it was released and was really happy with it.  About 10 days ago I got the itch to try linux again.  I figured I was going to have to rebuild to do a fresh install of Win 7 so why not give the penguin another try.

I’ve tried to use linux on my primary work machine (Dell D630 laptop, 150GB HDD, 4GB RAM, Core 2 Duo processor) before.  Last time I made it about 30 days before getting so fed up that I went back to Windows.  I tried Ubuntu 9.04 and was pretty happy with it at first.  Actually, I was fairly happy with it over the full 30 days.  The problems that pushed me back to Windows then are the same problems that drove me back this time.  More on that in just a bit.

This time around I tried LinuxMint.  LinuxMint is a distro built off Unbuntu.  It actually uses the same repositories for updates.  LinuxMint concentrates more on providing a consistent user interface.  They have custom applications that do things like simplify system updates (MintInstall vs. Synaptic).  They also provide a custom menu system as an alternative to the standard GNOME menu.  It’s a little more like the “Start” menu in Windows.  It provides a section for favorite applications so they’re right there rather than having to constantly menu surf for them.  LinuxMint also does away with the horrendous orange/brown UI from Ubuntu in favor of a slightly less horrendous green/black theme.

For the most part, there aren’t too many differences between Ubuntu and LinuxMint which is to be expected.  After all LinuxMint is essentially just a prettied up version of Ubuntu.  Ultimately, that’s the reason they fell prey to the same issue:  driver support.

This isn’t the type of driver support you’re thinking about.  The Dell came up just fine and everything worked great – bluetooth, wireless, networking.  Where I ran into trouble was in trying to do things that just work in Windows:  docking, undocking, using conference room projectors, switching between wireless SSIDs.  Aside from the wireless issue, all of the others centered around driver support from nVidia.

Anyone that follows linux knows that it’s an open-source operating system.  That means that all of the source-code behind the applications is freely available.  You don’t like the way widget “x” works?  You have the option to change the code yourself.  This isn’t practical for Joe user or anyone that doesn’t have software development experience.  The genius of open source code is that there is a community of thousands of people that work on it in their spare time.  If you don’t like something, then chances are someone in the community doesn’t like it and has the ability to change it.

The problem with open-source development, is that many corporations don’t support it or provide only limited support.  Companies spend billions of dollars on software development globally.  They have to sell the software they create to make money.  If they give away the code for free, how can they make a profit?  That’s their rationale (which I don’t necessarily agree with).  As a result, some of the companies that contribute to linux and the open-source community don’t provide the source code to the software they are contributing.  These companies provide binary files only which means the community cannot modify them.

nVidia is the company that makes the video card in my laptop.  They are like the companies I mention above.  They support open source software, but not completely.  They do not provide the source code for their software so the community is at the mercy of the company to provide new features and fixes.

In Windows, I can run multiple displays at once.  I can do this in linux too, and both systems make it pretty easy.  The problem with the nVidia drivers in linux is that they don’t support a lot of the features that Windows users expect.  Let’s say I undock my laptop and switch from multiple displays to just the laptop panel.  In Windows, the transition is seamless.  The display moves over and things keep right on trucking.  That’s not the case in linux.  99% of the time, there’s no display after an undock procedure.  I’m sure there’s some way to make it work properly, but the point is I shouldn’t have to.  It works fine in Windows, why won’t it in linux?  Docking after roaming around has a similar issue.  Laptop display works fine, but when I dock, it doesn’t detect the external display – even if I force it to.  Again, not a problem in Windows.

I understand that this is most certainly not a linux issue, but an issue with the driver as supplied by nVidia.  The problem is that the average user isn’t going to attribute this to a video driver.  They’re going to pin the problem on linux.  I’m not the average user, and I’m sure I could fix it somehow with custom scripting, but why should I when there’s a known working alternative?

Linux is here to stay for sure.  It has a solid foundation that some of the largest companies in the world use to build their own systems.  Until there’s greater vendor support and things “just work” ™, I don’t think I’ll be going to it anytime soon.  I will, however, be keeping my eye out for those cool open-source projects that could make my life better.  FreeNAS comes to mind, but that’s a discussion for another day