Filed under: Internet, Macintosh, Productivity, Apple, Search, web 2.0
How to make OS X better: taking hints from Ubuntu
by Danny Mendez Jan 2nd 2008 at 2:00PM
There's a bit of an OS fanboy in all of us, but we're not all computer programmers. So when it comes down to arguing which OS is "better," we may not always have our facts straight. Andy Matuschak, on the other hand, is an OS X fanboy with a level head on his shoulders, and he believes OS X would be much better if Apple took a few more cues from Ubuntu.
Matuschak believes an operating system is only as good as its ability to avoid or solve problems, and that's what Ubuntu's really good at. For example, in Ubuntu, if a user tries to watch a video and doesn't have the proper codec to do so, the open source OS will attempt to find and install the codec.
But there's a solution on the horizon, or Matuschak would like there to be. He believes the answer is in Spotlight, a commonly underused but very powerful OS X feature which can be adapted to be a general problem solving tool.
Coming back to the video codec problem, if the user would like to figure out what's needed to play the video file, he types the file extension into Spotlight. The service would return a variety of options including codecs and programs. The suggested codecs and programs aren't necessarily installed on the computer, but, with one (or two) clicks, the user can then install whatever programs or codecs came up as a result of the search. It's merely a concept at this point, but Matuschak would like to make it a reality. If you'd like to help him out, make sure to check out his site.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
digitalrift said 2:32PM on 1-02-2008
Unfortunately, the example given won't work at all, since .avi files can be in hundreds of different codec formats...
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egork said 2:47PM on 1-02-2008
to digitalrift:
the process may be two-step. First download a program to determine the codec, then download a codec itself.
However my solution to this kind of a problem with Linux system was to download all codecs for MPlayer at once and never care about them again.
I guess the real problem with Mac may be the QuickTime Software does not have some codecs at all or not for free. But I do not know that much about Macs.
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James said 3:44PM on 1-02-2008
Isn't Windows Media Player supposed to do exactly this? I mean, in practice I think the search that it uses covers a pretty limited set of codecs -- probably small enough that it would be easier to just bundle them all with Windows and be done with it -- but I could swear the basic idea was there already.
For other files? Uh, I guess, but if "just Google it" is not a good enough answer, you really don't deserve a computer anyway.
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scottbryner said 6:36PM on 1-02-2008
Probably a poor example. Mac OSX already does this with codecs. It just doesn't do it well because codec support for OSX is sketchy. But, you can't blame OSX for that. And besides, that's why there's MPlayer for Mac OSX and a host of other similar apps.
I think Apple is taking the right stance here and trying to standardize on codecs rather than have a player that uses all of the obscure ones that crop up out of nowhere. Enter H.264 (not my favorite for certain tasks, but it's the new Apple standard).
Also, I disagree with his assertion about what makes a good OS. For me, usefulness does not equal an OS forcing me to endure a potential security nightmare and d/l a potentially buggy codec I really don't want just so I can watch a video that I probably don't really want to watch anyway. If OSX doesn't have a codec for it, it's probably pron or a trojan.
Not trying to bash Windows, but one of the main differences btwn Windows and Mac OS has always been that the user is more in control under Mac OS. In other words, the user is master instead of the other way 'round. With OSX, that mentality took a bit of a hit because of the Unix underpinnings, but it's still more true than for Windows. Mac OSX doesn't try to figure out what you're doing like Windows. And I, for one, like that.
As for Spotlight, that's the first thing I kill (with malice) when I install OSX. I don't want something prying into my files and indexing them, hogging my cpu while it does it. This is an example of the OS trying too hard to "help" me.
I'll pass on his suggestions.
cheers,
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acyclic said 8:36AM on 1-03-2008
On Windows, AVICodec is an excellent program for figuring out which codec one needs to play a specific audio or video file. Simply right click on the file and select AVICodec, and it analyzes the file, gives compatibility and links to codec downloads. Is there nothing like that for Mac? That would more easily solve a codec problem... as said above, searching for "avi" wouldn't do you much good...
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Scottb said 8:20PM on 1-03-2008
On a Mac, you can find out the codec by opening the file in QuickTime Player and opening the Info window (cmd-i). It should list the codec there.
I don't know if there are any apps similar to AVICodec or not for the Mac, but once you install Flip4Mac and Perian, you're good to go for the majority of video files you run across.
Cheers,
SB