Why Linux On Desktop Failed: A Discussion With Mark Shuttleworth

Rabid Rogue wrote:
On 2019-09-15 11:52 a.m., Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Rabid Rogue wrote:
I like having access to movies
and music for purchase and Linux fails miserably in that respect so
Windows 10 suits my needs best.

What doesn't play?

Having music and movies for purchase.



Streaming? Digital file format? CD|DVD?

--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

On 2019-09-15 12:45 p.m., nospam wrote:
In article , Rabid Rogue
wrote:


GNU/Linux relies basically on ffmpeg or libav for video
compression/decompression,
and each contains every codec "out of the box."

Because of patent concerns, however, some distros may omit some
codecs but others may not.

But GNU/Linux is able, out of the box, to handle it all.

not all, and since it's ffmpeg and libav, not that well.

ffmpeg 1.0 handles everything beautifully. I'm not sure where you're
getting the impression that it doesn't.

from having used it and other tools.

Considering how often you're wrong. I truly doubt that you've ever
loaded it up.

i doubt you've ever used professional tools such as avid or final cut
pro.

it's fine for free, but there are definitely better choices available,
which is why pros spend the money for them.

I don't do any kind of extensive video editing so I admittedly don't
have a need for that software.


--
Your friendly neighborhood Rabid Rogue

On 2019-09-15 1:27 p.m., vallor wrote:
On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 10:41:23 -0400, Rabid Rogue wrote:

Still, I like having access to movies and music for purchase and Linux
fails miserably in that respect

Not sure what you're talking about.

Digital purchases. I suppose that some people are completely against
DRM-protected movies and would rather purchase the disc, but I see no
disadvantage to buying from iTunes which has the best selection I've
ever seen.

On the rare occasion that I need to get media off of some medium (be it
DVD, Blueray, CD, or what-have-you), I do that on Linux.

I buy music through Amazon also, which used to be problematic for
downloading more than one mp3 at a time -- but that's all solved now.

My usual "music-buying loop" is I'll hear something I like on an Internet
stream and get the mp3 from wherever it is available. Sometimes it's
available in flac or wav (such as from Beatport), so there's that, too.
If I really like it, and lossless isn't available, I'll go looking for the
CD.

I used to prefer buying the CD as well but now that I know that Apple's
codec is the best lossless you can find (I still prefer Vorbis, mind
you), I don't think that I'm losing anything by purchasing from them. If
ever I lose my music, I know that I can re-download from them which is a
lot faster than re-ripping everything.

I guess it's different strokes for different folks and I don't want to
insinuate that Linux cannot decode content or something of the sort (in
fact, it does a fantastic job at no charge). I'm merely referring to the
lack of availability of media stores. I didn't factor in Amazon though.
Do they sell digital copies of movies?

--
Your friendly neighborhood Rabid Rogue

On 2019-09-15 1:35 p.m., vallor wrote:
On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 12:45:46 -0400, nospam wrote:

In article , Rabid Rogue
wrote:


GNU/Linux relies basically on ffmpeg or libav for video
compression/decompression,
and each contains every codec "out of the box."

Because of patent concerns, however, some distros may omit some
codecs but others may not.

But GNU/Linux is able, out of the box, to handle it all.

not all, and since it's ffmpeg and libav, not that well.

ffmpeg 1.0 handles everything beautifully. I'm not sure where you're
getting the impression that it doesn't.

from having used it and other tools.

Considering how often you're wrong. I truly doubt that you've ever
loaded it up.

i doubt you've ever used professional tools such as avid or final cut
pro.

it's fine for free, but there are definitely better choices available,
which is why pros spend the money for them.

Nowadays, money doesn't have to be made on _all_ software to turn a profit.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/pro...avinciresolve/

BTW, when you install DaVinci Resolve, it asks you if you like it to look
like a clone of other NLE's.

Very much agreed. Thanks to the open-source community, there's a free
program for just about every need. It's possible that some other, more
obscure need will arise where Linux is not equipped but generally, there
is something for everyone.


--
Your friendly neighborhood Rabid Rogue

On 2019-09-15 1:50 p.m., Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Rabid Rogue wrote:
On 2019-09-15 11:52 a.m., Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Rabid Rogue wrote:
I like having access to movies
and music for purchase and Linux fails miserably in that respect so
Windows 10 suits my needs best.

What doesn't play?

Having music and movies for purchase.



Streaming? Digital file format? CD|DVD?

Well, I've learned that Amazon sells digital music so that's no longer
an issue. I suppose that _legal_ digital movie purchases are the one
place where Linux doesn't shine.

Seriously though, it's getting a lot harder than it used to be to
complain about something lacking in Linux. It seems like most needs have
been properly filled.


--
Your friendly neighborhood Rabid Rogue

On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 14:02:03 -0400, Rabid Rogue wrote:

On 2019-09-15 1:27 p.m., vallor wrote:
On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 10:41:23 -0400, Rabid Rogue wrote:

Still, I like having access to movies and music for purchase and Linux
fails miserably in that respect

Not sure what you're talking about.

Digital purchases. I suppose that some people are completely against
DRM-protected movies and would rather purchase the disc, but I see no
disadvantage to buying from iTunes which has the best selection I've
ever seen.

I'm not sure Amazon lets you download a movie, but you can stream for-pay
movies on Linux. Same with NetFlix.

I use a Linux laptop to put movies in my watch list, then play them on
the Sony Blueray player (which supports Amazon and Netflix, among other
things).


On the rare occasion that I need to get media off of some medium (be it
DVD, Blueray, CD, or what-have-you), I do that on Linux.

I buy music through Amazon also, which used to be problematic for
downloading more than one mp3 at a time -- but that's all solved now.

My usual "music-buying loop" is I'll hear something I like on an
Internet stream and get the mp3 from wherever it is available.
Sometimes it's available in flac or wav (such as from Beatport), so
there's that, too. If I really like it, and lossless isn't available,
I'll go looking for the CD.

I used to prefer buying the CD as well but now that I know that Apple's
codec is the best lossless you can find (I still prefer Vorbis, mind
you), I don't think that I'm losing anything by purchasing from them. If
ever I lose my music, I know that I can re-download from them which is a
lot faster than re-ripping everything.

I don't think Apple supports Linux for iTunes -- and really, I haven't
missed it.

There are a lot of technologies that Apple manages where Linux has either
adopted them, or been the source. For example, CUPS for printing, avahi/
bonjour for zeroconf network discovery, and so forth.


I guess it's different strokes for different folks and I don't want to
insinuate that Linux cannot decode content or something of the sort (in
fact, it does a fantastic job at no charge). I'm merely referring to the
lack of availability of media stores. I didn't factor in Amazon though.
Do they sell digital copies of movies?

Answered above, but yeah, there's Amazon video (which I've found almost
always has what I'm looking for), where you can rent or buy the movie.
But I haven't found a way to download a movie for offline viewing from
them.

If I really like a movie, I'll get the Blueray and often the DVD too --
not much of a fan of digital streaming for movies, except for casual
viewing. I like the special features.

--
-v

On 2019-09-15 at 15:02 ADT, Rabid Rogue wrote:

I used to prefer buying the CD as well but now that I know that Apple's
codec is the best lossless you can find

In what way is it the best lossless?

A few web pages I looked at indicated that flac can give slightly
better compression. (Although there are some comments out there about
one or the other being significantly better on a given audio file.)
And since they are both lossless, the quality of the decompressed
audio is exactly the same.

Given that audio comes out the same, and the compressed sizes
(apparently) aren't significantly different, what makes you think that
Apple's codec is the best?

On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 17:00:58 -0300, Jim Diamond wrote:


Given that audio comes out the same, and the compressed sizes
(apparently) aren't significantly different, what makes you think that
Apple's codec is the best?


Because, for him, it has the Apple name on it and therefore
it has to be the best.

I have heard the same sort of thing said about Photoshop.
Someone on some forum stated that the Photoshop unsharp
mask is the best, when in reality the unsharp mask is just
a standard image processing method that is used everywhere.
But for this guy, the Photoshop usage meant that it had
to be the best.

These people are basically irrational.

On 2019-09-15 3:03 p.m., vallor wrote:
On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 14:02:03 -0400, Rabid Rogue wrote:

On 2019-09-15 1:27 p.m., vallor wrote:
On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 10:41:23 -0400, Rabid Rogue wrote:

Still, I like having access to movies and music for purchase and Linux
fails miserably in that respect

Not sure what you're talking about.

Digital purchases. I suppose that some people are completely against
DRM-protected movies and would rather purchase the disc, but I see no
disadvantage to buying from iTunes which has the best selection I've
ever seen.

I'm not sure Amazon lets you download a movie, but you can stream for-pay
movies on Linux. Same with NetFlix.

I use a Linux laptop to put movies in my watch list, then play them on
the Sony Blueray player (which supports Amazon and Netflix, among other
things).

I can't imagine Linux having trouble with streaming movies at all since
Flash has been removed from the web almost everywhere and that was the
obstacle for Linux playback in most cases. As far as I know, all
streaming sites now use standard technologies which are supported by
Linux in any browser which allows for DRM.

On the rare occasion that I need to get media off of some medium (be it
DVD, Blueray, CD, or what-have-you), I do that on Linux.

I buy music through Amazon also, which used to be problematic for
downloading more than one mp3 at a time -- but that's all solved now.

My usual "music-buying loop" is I'll hear something I like on an
Internet stream and get the mp3 from wherever it is available.
Sometimes it's available in flac or wav (such as from Beatport), so
there's that, too. If I really like it, and lossless isn't available,
I'll go looking for the CD.

I used to prefer buying the CD as well but now that I know that Apple's
codec is the best lossless you can find (I still prefer Vorbis, mind
you), I don't think that I'm losing anything by purchasing from them. If
ever I lose my music, I know that I can re-download from them which is a
lot faster than re-ripping everything.

I don't think Apple supports Linux for iTunes -- and really, I haven't
missed it.

There are a lot of technologies that Apple manages where Linux has either
adopted them, or been the source. For example, CUPS for printing, avahi/
bonjour for zeroconf network discovery, and so forth.

It's iTunes' selection that I am fond of and not the software itself.
It's the only store I know of on which you can find just about any album
and any artist and which won't cause your purchases to eventually become
unavailable. It truly is top-notch.

I guess it's different strokes for different folks and I don't want to
insinuate that Linux cannot decode content or something of the sort (in
fact, it does a fantastic job at no charge). I'm merely referring to the
lack of availability of media stores. I didn't factor in Amazon though.
Do they sell digital copies of movies?

Answered above, but yeah, there's Amazon video (which I've found almost
always has what I'm looking for), where you can rent or buy the movie.
But I haven't found a way to download a movie for offline viewing from
them.

If I really like a movie, I'll get the Blueray and often the DVD too --
not much of a fan of digital streaming for movies, except for casual
viewing. I like the special features.

If Amazon Video allows you to buy/rent the movie from them and watch it
whenever you're offline from whichever device you're using, then it is
basically exactly what I'm looking for. I had no idea that Amazon
allowed for that and I guess I'll have to give it a look.

--
Your friendly neighborhood Rabid Rogue

On 2019-09-15 4:00 p.m., Jim Diamond wrote:
On 2019-09-15 at 15:02 ADT, Rabid Rogue wrote:

I used to prefer buying the CD as well but now that I know that Apple's
codec is the best lossless you can find

In what way is it the best lossless?

Typo, I meant lossy.

A few web pages I looked at indicated that flac can give slightly
better compression. (Although there are some comments out there about
one or the other being significantly better on a given audio file.)
And since they are both lossless, the quality of the decompressed
audio is exactly the same.

Given that audio comes out the same, and the compressed sizes
(apparently) aren't significantly different, what makes you think that
Apple's codec is the best?

The best lossy. According to all of the tests I've seen, it easily beats
MP3 as well as Vorbis in sound quality. All of the graphs I've ever had
a look at show that unlike the other lossy formats, AAC really only
removes the stuff you wouldn't be able to hear anyway.

--
Your friendly neighborhood Rabid Rogue

Rabid Rogue wrote:
On 2019-09-15 1:50 p.m., Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Rabid Rogue wrote:
On 2019-09-15 11:52 a.m., Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Rabid Rogue wrote:
I like having access to movies
and music for purchase and Linux fails miserably in that respect so
Windows 10 suits my needs best.

What doesn't play?

Having music and movies for purchase.



Streaming? Digital file format? CD|DVD?

Well, I've learned that Amazon sells digital music so that's no longer
an issue. I suppose that _legal_ digital movie purchases are the one
place where Linux doesn't shine.

Well my DVDs play on my Ubuntu 16.04 laptop. Ubuntu you do have to
install restricted extras, but other distro do it OOTB


Seriously though, it's getting a lot harder than it used to be to
complain about something lacking in Linux. It seems like most needs have
been properly filled.



Yep



--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

Rabid Rogue wrote:
I think I might have been responding to another article and posted that
by accident. It's probably not free at all.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/

Bottom of page

DaVinci Resolve 16

Innovative tools for editing including the revolutionary new cut page,
visual effects, motion graphics, color correction and audio post
production, all in a single application!

Free

----------------------------------------------------------------------------


DaVinci Resolve Studio 16

Includes everything in the free version plus DaVinci Neural Engine
features, multi user collaboration, stereoscopic 3D tools, dozens of
ResolveFX and FairlightFX plugins, HDR grading, film grain, blur and
mist effects, and more.

$299


--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

On 9/15/2019 9:06 AM, Melzzzzz wrote:
On 2019-09-15, Weatherman wrote:
Rabid Rogue wrote:
Still, I like having access to movies
and music for purchase and Linux fails miserably in that respect

Ever hear of torrents?

For purchase...


Depends on what you are looking for. So far, I've managed to watch
current movies for free. Just takes time to hunt it down.

Rabid Rogue wrote:
On 2019-09-15 10:47 a.m., Weatherman wrote:
Rabid Rogue wrote:
Â* Still, I like having access to movies
and music for purchase and Linux fails miserably in that respect

Ever hear of torrents?

LEGAL movies.


Where I live, downloading for personal use is legal.

Soviet_Mario wrote:

Il 13/09/19 20:05, chrisv ha scritto:
Soviet_Mario wrote:

again the variety is a strong enemy.

It is not. Variety is an asset.

I'm not gonna deny this point in general (variety is
resilience under the attack of problems) but I don't think
here is much relevant, as here we hope to find solutions
rather than sources of problems.

Then we'll wave our magic wands, and implement that solution, right?

So a "defensive" stance is a problem in itself, a symptom
that we are in a unhealthy environment.

Nope. Just the opposite, in fact.

There are in the FOSS
too many variants, each rather limited, and versatile as a
whole, which need a lot of exploration just to be
discovered, as nobody makes them known out of the official
distro repository.

I don't think that anyone denies that some people, "newbies" in
particular, would like less variety, more "standardization". This is
true in many markets.

I think the problem is not variety in itself, but
fragmentation of resources which prevent the aggregation of
a "critical mass" of skill necessary to reach a high quality
of the software. Complex, serious software is too difficult
for half a dozen heads. Simple is not a problem.

I think the problem is trolls who think that they know better than
everyone else, what should be done. They think that they could "plan
better" than a free market.

However, we can't forget that, for many people, that would not work.
Many people benefit from the more customized, optimized environment
that FOSS allows.

I was not referring to the OS actually, but to big client sw.
Some FOSS are big enough to be state-of-the-art (Libre
Office, Mozilla, and others). But there are a lot of
programs backed by a few developers which never reach true
maturity in the sense the common user mean.

Well then, choose a different vendor.

Just because some people would like less choice, it doesn't mean that
there is too much choice. Some people would like even more!

I agree, the problem is not the choice in itself, but the
fact it very often goes at the expense of quality.

Obviously, the market is OK with that trade-off.

tens/hundreds of programs doing more or less the same thing,
none doing it perfectly, insted of "some" very complete
doing it very well.

Sounds like just about every other market on the planet. Why should
this one be different?