Im looking for a linux project to get involved in. I suspect its already started so if anyone knows about it please share - i'd be surprised if i had to start from scratch... Futureproof Linux (as a suggestion) 1) Hardware and Drivers Linux has failed miserably to keep up with the evolving nature of technology. We now have more companies making more variations of every electronic kit - than ever before. So this idea that one driver can serve everybody is outdated and doomed to failure. A truely 'free' os will have a *easy* and *simple* way of swapping out drivers. I want my computers to contain whatever hardware i choose to buy and plug in. So i will need a few files to explain to the OS the capabilities of the hardware and how to optimise its use. 2) Professional Products - an installation file (singular) No more going to the central store for half-finnished abandoned software. I want to see the store front. A proper website with info about the company or person. How serious are they? do they deserve support or funding? If i like their effort i want to download their software and try it. doesnt really matter how, but the current system just sucks. It takes waaaaay too long to find decent software. So many programs are only ever discussed on obscure forums and have to be downloaded as multiple files, and even compiled!!!! 3) Death to the Command Line When i run a program or use a tool, i want to see constantly (all the time) the results (or status, or effect). Maybe graphically, maybe numerically, maybe some other way... i want information displayed on my big fancy monitors, utilising my big fancy graphics cards. I do NOT want a little black box with some text !!!!!!!! Likewise, i want controls. i want to see what i can adjust, the range of the controls, and how they interact with each other. I do NOT want a flashing cursor next to a post-it note of possible commands to type. This insistance of an antiguated inefficient shell tool is just plain ridiculous. Yes there are 1% of 1% of programmers that can operate faster, but honestly 99%(with a million decimal points of 9 recurring) of fans dont actually work for a living. Ever tried editing a video using BASH. So anyone interested in making a *real* contender?
Please post a video of your attempt at writing such an OS, or software using a pure graphical user interface without a keyboard... You did say no text boxes, therefore no need for a keyboard, correct ? Be it Linux's BASH or Windows PowerShell, there are no more powerful tools available. And yes, there is some work involved in learning how to use those tools.
stereotypical linux fanboi Thankyou, for proving yet again, the pedantic and facetious nature of linux fanbois. Why not try and help, instead of leaving childish replies to your own imagined questions. For JFKI and his ilk: would you fly on a passenger plane where the cockpit has been replaced with a small black screen, a keyboard, and some impertinent teenager? Of course not - we all expect a professional GUI - with numerous keyboards!!!!! keypads, switches, controls and other input devices. If we are to ever get a serious contender to windows, and god-knows we need one, we need to create an OS that works, and is easily fixed. I know a few script-kiddies will shout the usual nonsence, but us experienced techies know that there isnt a single distro that can compete with xp or 7.
Whatever you are looking for, I guess Linux won't be it. An OS that just works all the time with every component & has a GUI for everything and never fails will most probably never be created.
@OP: get involved in a project like linux mint if you want. You can always present your ideas to the devs there. Unfortunately, HW manufacturers (especially ATi & nVidia when is comes to drivers for Intel-ATi video cards or Intel-nVidia video cards) don't give a rat's 4$$ when it comes to drivers, thus the "blame" is not on linux part. There are click-click-click GUIs for linux in order to install software and drivers: Synaptic, gdebi for local deb packages, Apper in KDE, aptitude - just to name a few. P.S. Cinnamon is still buggy here and there, even though is at 2.8, so you can help there.