On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 6:49 AM, Rob OpenSuSE <rob.opensuse.linux@googlemail.com> wrote:
This is the same problem that windows has. Too many apps think they are the most important thing you'll never use.
Any Specifics?
That's a big list, but here's a couple of examples on WinDoZe: Java Quicktime iTunes Any Search program CD Burning programs that override the Windows default settings when you insert media Instant Messengers(The average at my shop is 3 installed - MSN being the most often seen) Printer utilities that don't need to run Office quickstart programs Hardware utility programs(video, sound, etc) that no one ever tweaks. Advanced Text Servcies and the language bar(which is really only good for east asian users) Firewall(for a desktop on a hardware router, it's pointless. For a laptop that's on different connections it's not). Both Windows and Linux on this one. Also, the Prefetch and Superfetch schemes will preload things like installer programs that you only use one time. If you turn off Superfetch, you can actually use Vista with 1GB RAM. The biggest speed boost in Windows is using msconfig and turning off all of the startup programs and services that don't need to be run. I've even seen where I have uninstalled stuff like Norton and Macafee and FSecure and they still have stuff loaded on startup. That's why Symantec and Macafee have removal tools, and then they still don't get everything. And, just try installing a current version of Norton or Macafee on any machine slower than 2Ghz with 512MB and watch your machine turn into molasses. Fortunately, Linux is nowhere near that bad, but openSUSE still installs a lot of what I fell are unnecessary programs like Beagle, OpenOffice(KOffice is much better and uses less resources if you use KDE), AppArmour, etc. I realize that the devs want to make the install easier and that they choose a specific set of apps to install, but, from my experience, 90% of the people never even use a Desktop search program, so it's just a waste. Also, YaST can make it a pain to uninstall stuff. Try removing OpenOffice, AppAromour or Beagle in 11.0, and you'll get dependency complaints. If the main module of a program is selected for removal, all parts of it should be removed unless they have a dependency elsewhere(which they shouldn't). I haven't tried it in 11.1 yet. The idea of preloading some things for faster startup speed is laudable, but then again, it has huge tradeoffs on slower systems. It's a shame there's not an easy to use tweaking program for Linux. YaST has some things, but they aren't as robust as I would like to see. I'd write one, but I'm not a programmer, so..... -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-factory+help@opensuse.org