Re: [NTLK] OT: Wasted CPU cycles

On Sun, Mar 2, 2008 at 9:18 PM, Martin Joseph <NT@stillnewt.org> wrote:
> Yes, there are many examples of bloatware including OS's.
>
> This bloat is generally unfelt by the end user, as the speeds and
> disk spaces involved in the newer systems make this bloat moot.

This is very true. And here's a quiz. If I were to ask you, which has
more bloat--Linux or Mac OS X Tiger. I doubt anybody would say
"Linux", but why is it that every Linux distro I've tried--OpenSUSE,
Yellow Dog Linux, Fedora 8 and Ubuntu (all three main flavors-Ubuntu,
Xubuntu and Kubuntu), and every desktop under Linux--Gnome, Xfce and
KDE--all make my Mac (Pismo, 2000 Powerbook with a G4 brain) run
slower? Granted, launching apps is faster, and scrolling can be
frustratingly fast, but moving windows is painful, and leaves ugly
artifacts on the screen while dragging, and switching desktops can
take far longer than I would ever expect. And I get no desktop effects
to boot. It's just a plain-jane desktop. And even Xfce can be painful
at times! Actually, to be honest, the "bloated" KDE tends to run
better than either Gnome or Xfce. But the real surprise is that OS X
Tiger is perceptually snappier across the board, with the exception of
launching apps. But even in Linux, apps like Firefox or Evolution can
take seemingly forever.

I thought Linux would breathe "new life" into my aging Powerbook, but
I find myself back in Tiger because it is more responsive.

So, "bloat" is obviously not what we think it is... Now, just to
figure out what it is! I lke what Steve said in his post, about
"optimized" code having different, self-cancelling ends--compact, or
well commented, or maintainable code. I think the same holds for
"bloat." One man's bloat is another man's way of making something
perceptually faster (without actually _being_ faster), which improves
the end-user experience. Fascinating stuff.

Oh, and instead of a Linux distro? I've gone whole-hog on my Mac with
a complete KDE install inside, with a mixture of Fink, GNU-Darwin, and
some of my own, self-compiled components. So I have my own,
"home-brew" BSD distro. ;-) makes me happy. ;-)

-- 
 -Jon Glass
Krakow, Poland
<jonglass@usa.net>
"I don't believe in philosophies. I believe in fundamentals." --Jack Nicklaus
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