[ale] Still no flames... :-) (re: PDF & distro hunting)

[aaron]

On Tuesday 23 August 2005 21:16, James P. Kinney III wrote:
> On Tue, 2005-08-23 at 16:36 +0000, aaron wrote:
> 
> > Actually, as I understand the workings of OSeX, even if the application 
isn't 
> > directly supporting PDF, every aspect of the display system and user 
> > interface will be!  :-)  Quite literally, everything one sees on a Mac
> > OSeX  screen is rendered PDF.
> 
> I thought it was native postscript. PDF is basically compressed
> postscript.

Thank you for the correction. I was forgetting that point of distinction 
between PDF and PostScript.  Still, saving PDF screen shots and publishing 
anything printable as a PDF file are fully integrated into Mac OSeX.

> So the decompression for each screen update would explain
> the lag time on a Mac ?! <ducks for the flame-proof underwear>
> -- 

No flames, but I'll note that I'm currently running test installs with several 
Linux distros in an attempt to find one that even comes _close_ to providing 
the immediate user feedback and interface consistency that I find throughout 
the OSeX environment and applications (commercial, freeware, OSS or 
otherwise) accross a range of systems with various CPU speeds .  

My goal is to find or assemble a Linux distro that addresses the needs of 
Linux newbies and intermediate level users seeking safe harbor from the 
assaults of windblows. The key design requirements are that the install 
provide a suite of common apps and run responsively on slightly older, 
slightly slower hardware, yet present a reasonably consistent and modern user 
experience (ideally with enough interface familiarity that basic system 
management, app launching and interface usage can be explained to an average 
user in a 30 minute video tutorial).

My observations so far are that KDE and some branches of Gnome have made major 
strides in presenting a more unified GUI and basic application suite 
environment, but even with KDE I'm finding significant inconsistencies in 
responsiveness, preferences, user experience and bug sets between one distro 
and the next.
 
Don't get me wrong, because this isn't complaining, just observation. I love 
the flexibility, free beer and freedom that spring from Open Source anarchy, 
but fully understand their are going to be trade offs and extra learning 
efforts.  I really want to prove that Linux is, in every way, ready for the 
desktop, but I don't have unfair expectations that free software should 
provide the same levels of consistency and integration that the more 
regulated design requirements of commercial development can (potentially) 
facilitate. I'm just trying to find or assemble a freely distributable 
packaging of Linux / OSS essentials that does a respectable, consistent  job 
of addressing the needs of the average, present day, desktop internet 
computer users (while avoiding geek treks into lands of shell commands and 
config file editing).

I've still got a few promising Linux distros to try out, like the Vector Linux 
ISO I'm downloading now, so I'm holding to the belief that the solutions are 
out there.  In my evaluations I'll also need to remember that, after a decade 
and a half of running Amiga's, I'm especially spoiled about GUI 
responsiveness.  The Amiga developer style guidelines specified that visual 
response to user actions occur within 3 seconds (-;  allowing that the GURU 
MEDITATION crash alert sometimes qualified as the visual response ;-)  

peace
aaron