After weeks of ignoring the not-too-subtle notifications to update to iOS7 on my iPad 2, I finally gave in and went through the surprisingly painless process. In comparison to updating from one Linux distribution release to a new one via command line or package manager, the -1 error I received during the iOS7 update was peanuts.
The main reason I had delayed updating to the iPad 2 to iOS 7 was I was happy with the current iOS and I was worried that iOS7 would prevent my Linux machines from accessing the iOS folders. However, the incessant notifications finally came to a head a few days ago and reminded me why some users complain about Apple's approach to their ecosystem.
My Two Cents on iOS7
I like the fresh coat of paint on iOS even though the feature set for iPad 2 is limited compared to newer iOS devices. I have no idea why so many people complained about the icons and interface of iOS7, but then again my idea of nice artwork was Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man#1-12 (1990) and my favorite design is Summer Glau in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
I'm sincerely happy for dedicated Apple users who eat up anything Apple releases and praise the "innovations" to heavens. However, Linux users who have migrated or switched from one Linux distribution to another are numb or immune to minor or superficial changes. iOS7 from iOS6 is not as jarring as Ubuntu switching from Gnome 2 to Ubuntu Unity or the release of Cinnamon or the integration of newly revamped package managers. Moving from Debian to Archlinux, for example, is a bigger change than iOS7's spiffy new design, transition effects and collapsible control panel. Still, as a Linux user who likes switching desktop environments every so often, I really like that iOS has finally looked a little different.
Apple has a bald good-looking guy talking for 10 minutes about how amazing iOS7 is and how brilliant the design is. I hope someday the Linux community can get a hairy good-looking guy talking for 15 minutes about how amazing a Linux distribution is - and getting as much press on the Internet too.
openSUSE 12.2, Fedora 13 and Lubuntu
I've already written about setting up openSUSE and Fedora to access the file structure of my iPod Touch with iOS6.x and my iPad 2. Lubuntu and other Ubuntu-derivatives, on the other hand, work with iOS6.x out of the box without installing additional package managers.
I swallowed hard when I plugged in my newly updated iPad 2 to my openSUSE machine and launched PCMANFM. The folders popped up as usual and I was able to copy an episode of Arrow to my VLC iOS documents folder without issues. I then unplugged the iPad 2 and switched over to my Fedora 18 Xfce. Dependable Thunar also displayed the folders. This time, I copied a few Marvel comic books from the 1970s to the documents folder of my CBR app.
Last Words
The iOS7 update doesn't change how I use my iPad 2. Taptu, the BBC app, Duolingo, and Adobe Reader have had superficial but unnecessary updates for iOS 7 and they work like normal. I have no intention of buying another iOS device any time soon. I can attest to the resiliency of the 4th Gen iPod Touch and the iPad 2, which makes me wonder why people who have older iOS devices are ready to shell out even more money to buy a new one - if you like Apple devices so much why are you replacing yours so soon?
For me, the best feature of iOS7 isn't the spiffy effects or the flat icons. What I really like is that it STILL works with my Linux machines - at least for iPad 2 with iOS7 (for now).
0 comments:
Post a Comment