[PLUG] Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition

[Rogan Creswick]

On 8/2/07, Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 2 Aug 2007, Rogan Creswick wrote:
>
> > Whoa! We're down to only Gnome and KDE now?
>
>    Nah. Even Ubuntu has an Xubuntu flavor running Xfce-4.4.

I should mention that I think the ubuntu movement *is* a Good Thing, I
just wish there were some differences about how it's been pulled off.
For instance:

  * emphasize the xubuntu-desktop, ubuntu-desktop and kubuntu-desktop
packages, *not* the different distributions.  This could very easily
be a choice on an "advanced" install page, if not a primary page.
Ubuntu is already the "default" by virtue of having a more
pronounceable name, so it's not really a step backwards in choice.
  * use power management tools that don't require an X server, or
somehow detach power management from the UI so your laptop goes to
sleep when you close the lid even if you switch to Enlightenment.
  * Ditto for networking tools.
  * Ditto for keymapping (adjust the underlying settings via some
gnome|kde|xfce UI, but don't delegate the keymapping to the UI
itsself.  I still want to be able to type when the UI changes.)

> > There are many, many fully functional, efficient and sexy desktop
> > environments / window managers out there, but their popularity is
> > declining because no one has made a *new distribution* that installs
> > one of them by default.

It would have been safer of me to say "relative popularity", but it is
true that I haven't even tried to measure this.

>    A lot of users are overwhelmed with the available choices in linux. They
> really don't have any solid technical basis for choosing among them, so they
> stick with what's familiar or easy.

I'm not disputing this.  My point is that the perceived difficulty of
customizing an [x|k|]ubuntu install is much higher than the actual
difficulty, even for a novice.  (compare a complete
reinstall+reconfiguration, which may entail data loss, with a few
minutes of waiting on synaptic/apt).

--Rogan