Re: The Terminal
First let me say that there are a dozen ways to skin a cat in Linux and the command line will always do the job. However, this is for Windows users, and the Windows cmd is not the Unix CLI. There are a handful of "codes" that Windows will recognize, while the Unix CLI is more like a "language" to interact with your PC. Other than a few DOS remnants, there isn't much reason to use the Windows command line. With Linux it's practically thrust at you as soon as you have any kind of problem. As a reviewer I have to walk a fine line between what is done and what isn't ready to come out of the oven yet. With opensource software it's more like a razor's edge, NOBODY is going to be happy about ANY standard set forth, but it needs to be done (without objectivity and standards, how do you compare things?). I have drawn a line in the sand - if software can be gotten via Add/Remove, synaptic, or a .deb from the official source of the software, and it works, than it's good to go. If not, you can still install and use a piece of software, but I'm not gonna recommend it. Just note that a new user will immediately be confronted by a clusterfuck of lib dependency (exacerbated by 64-bit), terminal commands, privilege insufficiencies, hacks, workarounds, etc that would require more knowledge, not necessarily to do, but to be comfortable doing. Part of the reason for all of this animosity and disconnect between users is due to Linux people making big claims like "I'm playing COD5 on Arch" but neglect to mention that it took 5 weeks to figure out how. When possible converts try to do this stuff, they only walk away mad and feel lied to. What makes it worse is someone saying "open up the terminal and type abc 123 xyz to fix it" without giving any explanation into what it all means. That makes otherwise knowledgeable users feel stupid and talked down to, and sometimes becomes the kindling of a flame war like you saw here today. If I'm a mechanic and you have a car that needs a new tranny, I won't tell you to save some cash by going down to Adavance Auto and get a new one, letting you figure out how to remove the engine as you go, that would be a dick move. Some things just aren't a "piece of cake" in Linux and the last thing I want to do is give somebody the wrong impression by saying "no problem, you'll just have to screw with it for several hours". Windows Users: I don't know what your individual previous experiences have been with Linux or what who said in the comments or forums. What I can do is not entice you with false or unrealistic claims. You're only gonna get stuff that "just works" from my articles. If somebody from your past told you that Linux prints money or some other foolishness, I apologize. All I can do is give you the straight dope and lead you through, if you're willing to listen. Linux Users: There is going to be a little "getting to know you" period with Linux before we tackle anything more technical than what you'd find with Windows, this means Ubuntu for now. Until then, please bear it and remember it is (unfortunately) a primarily Windows world - Ya gotta crawl before ya run.
Re: Google Earth and Adobe Flash 10 on 64-bit
I've been looking into both GE and Flash 10 to make sure nothing has changed since I wrote the article (a few weeks ago). Keep in mind that this is for Windows lifers, so (see above) GE is a PITA for 64-bit. Even if you go through the libs and terminal commands needed, it is still known to have problems. Also the GEARS app site says "32-bit OS (64-bit not supported)" under the sys reqs. Without spending anymore time looking into it, I'm pretty sure that means terminal, hacks, etc. Correct me if I'm wrong (I know you will!). Flash 10 for 64-bit Linux is in the alpha stage and is not available in Add/Remove or Synaptic or as a .deb from Adobe, but instead as a .so lib file (major PITA for NEW USERS). While both can be gotten to work, as a reviewer you've got to think about it like this: If you were reviewing a piece of retail software for Windows that required you to use the run prompt and edit the registry before it worked, wouldn't you eviscerate that product in the review? Being open-source and/or free I won't dog ANY of this stuff, but at the same time I'm not about to tell people (newbs in particular) that it WORKS or that they should RELY on these apps in any way. To put together a guide for Windows users, you've got to use their standards. So that is "The Bar" - if I have to fiddle with it to get it to work, it's not really "ready" yet, is it? As far as hardware goes (it is a hardware site afterall) Ubuntu 9.04 is standing shoulder to shoulder with Vista/7 in terms of out-of-the-box compatibility and that is why we're doing Ubuntu. If anybody has a GUI-only way of getting any of these to work, by all means share it with us. Just keep in mind that there is probably a reason (beyond laziness or corruption) that the official source of the software hasn't packaged up these versions yet (Flash 9 is done and ready to go on 64-bit and 10 has gone gold on 32-bit), or that it hasn't made it into the repo's yet.
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