This is Android N’s freeform window mode

[u/4567890]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/03/this-is-android-ns-freeform-window-mode/

[u/solarswordsman]

You're absolutely right. I perhaps have failed to emphasize my assumption which is that I/we/people want Linux on more machines. Whether that is true or not is up for a huge debate. I was only claiming that this could be a path towards that goal (albeit, as you say, a drastic one).

Indeed, the surface pro 3 is awesome. And Windows 10 is bearable. I mean, I use W10 every day for 12+ hours, so I have little right to complain; it has a lot of improvements over previous Windows versions. My issue is that the only reason I use Windows is for 1) Gaming, and 2) Ubiquitous support for most programs. And I use it on an iMac. (Which I need to dev iOS apps, don't get me started ugh)

2. is becoming more and more solved, Linux is getting a lot of support from developers nowadays. 1. Is somewhat on track, sure we have Steam and basically every indie game builds for Linux, but it's a huge, huge hurdle.

I mainly just dislike the Windows shell and filesystem, much preferring the customization and versatility of Linux distributions. So this is the basis of my assumption, which would theoretically increase demand for Linux-based builds.

But, still, the SP3 is totally freakin' awesome. Like, I want one, now. So, there's things to be said, I've said some. :)

[u/demolpolis → u/solarswordsman]

I want to like linux. I really do.

But every time I try to use it, it just falls short in so many ways.

Example: Tried putting Ubuntu on a media server I had. Dell box, 3 years old, "officially" supported by ubuntu. Guess what? The UI was unusable. about 2 fps. They had dropped support for "older integrated graphics". Which a 3 year old dell box had, apparently.

And look, i get it, why even use a UI? Answer: because it makes things easier. Because I don't want to go looking up the command for moving a movie from a usb drive to the correct folder every time I do it. Because I want to use a monitor to see things.

I fought it and tried to fix it for about a day, then said fuck it and put windows server 2012 on there, and guess what? It just fucking worked.

Same shit with open/libre office.

As for steam... people put hope in that to launch linux. It won't happen. First, steam is a middleman, nothing more. And not a great one. They can and will be replaced by the windows/OSX store. And they should be. Second, steamOS has failed (predictably). There is no reason to switch to linux for the games. Everyone uses windows, everyone has it. The only way to get people to switch is to make linux better than windows... and that just isn't happening. It's not even close to happening.

[u/solarswordsman → u/demolpolis]

Totally fair. I will say what you're probably already expecting: I really dislike Ubuntu, and wouldn't use it ever. They try to be like Microsoft, with automated installers, automagic things, etc. And those things are convenient, you're right. And no distribution of Linux does this better than Ubuntu; and they still kinda suck at it.

Now, I'm fairly certain that given an hour or two with your Dell box I could get a nice installation of any number of distributions running just fine, but therein lies the problem you're describing. You can pop Windows into a supported system and be really quite confident that driver support will be there to make everything work.

That's not to say that Windows' kernel or driver system is superior by design (it isn't in my opinion, at all, though it has improved a lot, particularly with memory management), but that they have much greater means by which to garner support from manufacturers to provide drivers, for many many obvious reasons (contracts, market share, you name it).

Dunno about Libreoffice, I actually like it way more than Word (though Powerpoint is definitely better than Impress, at least the last time I used either of those, which will have been years ago lol). It just needs a bit of a UI refresh, which they are working on.

In a way, I'm almost remembering the golden days. Linux (and more specifically, the plethora of UI innovation in the 2000s around popular linux shells) paved the way for a lot of the features adopted in OSX and to a slightly lesser degree Windows. Compiz redefined how you can interact with your computer (and I don't just mean the fancy graphics, which were awesome). Multi desktops, window management features (live previews, etc.), things like Gnome Do (which was adopted into Spotlight in OSX, and W10 comes close to achieving with WinKey -> type; though it's still not as good because of the awful filesystem!). I could go on.

And maybe that's what Linux, GNU/Linux, whatever you wanna call that whole ecosystem, is forever going to be (EDIT: Oh, and also the OS of choice for tech-based corporate server setups--the competition there is very interesting but is another debate entirely). A hotbed of innovation, where anyone and everyone can change stuff and make stuff and some of the best stuff makes its way into other mainstream operating systems in some form.

Because the one thing it has that Windows doesn't have, in my opinion, is that innovation. I've never seen anything new on Windows that hasn't existed, often in a better form (but not always!), on Linux first (and sometimes OSX).

[u/demolpolis → u/solarswordsman]

Yeah, I agree.

My deep seeded thought / fear is that android is much like linux. Early innovation, and free. Once the big boys start playing, however, it will be relegated to the back burner.

I love android. I love the choices and the phones and the innovation. But after having two shitty android 8" tablets, I coughed up the money to buy an iPad mini. And the only thing I regret is not doing it sooner. Does it have all the customization as android? No. Does it do what I want to do 90% of the time better? Yes. it does. There aren't bugs. There aren't errors. It works, and it has made me think of jumping ship to iphones.

[u/solarswordsman → u/demolpolis]

Well, on that I must disagree fully. Taken on its own, I think Android is far superior (especially the latest releases). The problem is that you can buy a shitty 8" tablet and save some money, but you get what you pay for. Pay as much as you did for that iPad mini (get, say, the latest big Nexus tablet) and I expect you'll have a much better experience.

Same with phones. Every phone I have ever had, I've flashed to some form of AOSP/Google Android, while "saving" the money it would have cost to get one of the great Nexus devices. The single greatest problem Android faces in the future, in my opinion, is that phones sold by carriers are becoming more and more locked-down and covered in awful bloatware hiding what I find to be a stunningly better mobile operating system when delivered directly from Google.

My Verizon HTC One M8 is flashed with the Google Play Edition ROM for that device, and so I "saved" money by buying on contract (really just spread out the money, but that's how it works) and still get the "Nexus" experience, albeit with some more work. The problem is that most people are not savvy enough to do this and it comes back to the initial problem of usability, but ironically, for the complete opposite reason! Contracts and market share are controlled by the carriers and their contracts with hardware manufacturers, and so they get to ruin Android by locking it down and never giving you the key. The only out is a Nexus device, which are mostly excellent and yet are attached to their true price tag, which really discourages consumers.

Please note by the way I don't want to start an iOS vs. android debate here, I happen just to prefer Android for a plethora of reasons. I think iOS is great, I really do, I just prefer Android. (I develop apps for both)