I’m just getting to know my new fedora core 5. Some of the stuff is cool like laptop suspend works, and some of it is not so cool. Unfortunately, there’s more uncool than cool.

Backstory: I’ve never been a real fan of redhat. back when jlg sent me to get my RHCE, i wasn’t all that into it. You go in, you learn 30% linux and 70% redhat specific tools. It seems the trend is not reversing.

So, the first stumbling block was my clock dockapp. I’ve been using asclock since, well, since i’ve been using linux. asclock is nice. it’s simple. it no longer can be compiled in fedora core 5. why? because of this:

21.4.2. Imake

The imake utility is no longer used to build the X Window System, and is now officially deprecated. X11R7 includes imake, xmkmf, and other build utilities previously supplied by the X Window System. X.Org highly recommends, however, that people migrate from imake to use GNU autotools and pkg-config. Support for imake may be removed in a future X Window System release, so developers are strongly encouraged to transition away from it, and not use it for any new software projects.

and so, the just removed it. now, usually, you can go get a -compat rpm to get all that once was and is no longer. well, that’s no longer. it’s gone. gone for good. farewell, my time telling friend.

The next hurdle i stumbled upon was no more xscreensaver. now, honestly, i don’t really mind. I mean i was pissed when they ditched xlock. You went from typing ‘xlock’ to lock your screen to having to type ‘xscreensaver &’ to start the daemon and then you had to type ‘xscreensaver-command –lock’ to lock you screen. I mean, wtf? that sucks. so, no tear for xscreensaver. however, what did they move to, you ask?

The latest versions of GNOME Power Manager (http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnome-power-manager/) and GNOME Screensaver(http://live.gnome.org/GnomeScreensaver/) provide new and integrated power management capabilities.

excuse me? some people don’t want to run gnome, you insensitive clod!

This, of course, hits a soft spot with me. anything gnome hits a soft spot. why would anyone in their right mind want to be handicapped by this inferrior product that’s been designed by fools who have turned themselves over to ms windows ui programmer wannabes? everything they do is a rip of windows. heck, they even went retro windows 3.1 style with spacial nautilis. but, hey, let’s not go there.

Next up is something that was promising and now . . . sigh:

7.4. NetworkManager

Fedora systems use Network Manager to automatically detect, select, and configure wired and wireless network connections. Wireless network devices may require third-party software or manual configuration to activate after the installation process completes. For this reason, Fedora Core 5 provides Network Manager as an optional component.

Refer to http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Tools/NetworkManager for more information on how to install and enable Network Manager.

So it sounds great, right? except, the only interface into this thing is an icon in the gnome task bar. great. You insensitive clod! also, on a style note, every daemon since the beginning of time has used an all lower case nameing convention. WHY MUST YOU BREAK IT! . . . YOU INSENSITIVE CLOD! I mean, is it so hard to follow a naming convention?!?

I wish things stopped there. I really did . . . but read on my young companions, for we are soon to hit the creme de la creme:

7.7. No automatic fstab editing for removable media

The fstab-sync facility has been removed. In Fedora Core , the fstab-sync program is removed in favor of desktop specific solutions for mounting removable media. Entries for hotplug devices or inserted media are no longer automatically added to the /etc/fstab file. Command-line users may migrate to gnome-mount, which provides similar functionality.

are you f-ing kidding me? wait, let me read that again . . . are you f-ing kidding me?!? why? . . . wha . . . why?!? since when is mounting devices an excerise left to the window manager? The window manager?!? I mean integrating a browser rendering engine into your OS to display a graphical view of your filesystem make more sense than letting your window manager mount your filesystems. not only that, but i will be damned if i ever type the words ‘gnome’ and ‘mount’ on the same line.

So, that being said, any recommendations? I hear Ubuntu is all the rage these days. Don’t anyone say Gentoo. i don’t have time for that shit. on this box, i’d be compiling for days.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 28th, 2006 at 4:17 am and is filed under tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.