Linux.com

Where it says "Here's your change to let us...." I think it should say "Here's your chance to let us..."

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Great job fixing the spelling typo so quickly! I hadn't even stopped reviewing the site when I saw your fix.

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Here's my "change"? Check yer speeling d00ds.

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Every time I go to your website I think my LCD screen is going out. I think, oh crap I've got dead spots, or burn in on my screen. And then I realize that its actually you're hard to see barely there header/title graphics. Please drop them or make them more distinct.

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I hope you're going to drop that dark blue/grey color scheme in favor of a more pleasing one.

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Dark blue is the best.

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History for NewsVac!! There has been quite a few times that I've wanted to re-read an article in NewsVac but its ran off the bottom. If there is a way I haven't really found it yet.

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oops I was talking about the newsvac in the feeds section I just now seen the NewsVac section at the top of the main page. Sorry... :(

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linux.com logo holder is too big and ugly

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Why in the "Download linux" webpage it's not mentioned Gentoo Linux?

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Links under FEEDS are not working properly
[Modified by: seifertjr on November 05, 2007 08:18 PM]

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The first time i open the page it doesn't fully load. I have to hit reload. This ALWAYS happens, unless I have already visited the site uring the session. Note that I am using firefox (rebranded to Iceweasel 2.0.0.8), and I have it set to clear all temporary stuff when I close the browser.

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I have the same problem with Firefox on Ubuntu 7.10. Often I have to hit reload more then once. The only plugin I have enabled is the excellent Flashblock.

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Same here. Firefox 2.0.0.8, no plugins, only non-default options are to ask before storing any cookies.

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On OpenSuse 10.2 in Konqueror and Firefox the page stops loading if that orange MS Forefront ad get displayed. If I refresh until a new ad is displayed everything loads fine.

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I have the same issue with the orange MS Forefront ad, using Opera 9.23 on Windows XP.

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I have the same problem. I use Firefox 2.0.0.9 on Kubuntu 7.04. This weirdness occurs on my desktop (Kubuntu 6.10) and my work PC (Kubuntu 7.10). This has been happening for the past month or so.

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Its crashing in Safari but maybe thats by design!

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I have been having real problems with the style, and often see no article, but only those ever-popular M$ ads !
what's goin' on ?

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Agree! Get rid of the MS adds!

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If you folks happen to be using Firefox, or IceWeasal, you might want to consider adding a nifty little add-on called AdBlocker Plus. It is totally sweet, just tune it, and no more annoying M$ ads! Just add it from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:1, and you're off and running. It takes a little refining, but it's well worth it.

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MS ads are just a clever way to move money from closed to open source. The more the better ;-)
[Modified by: author on November 05, 2007 07:52 PM]

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I understand the rationale for allowing MS ads, however, it seems that *most* of the ads I see are from MS. I wouldn't mind a few now and then, but as it is, every visit to Linux.com brings with it an annoying and misleading MS ad, which I find offensive. Honestly, it makes me want to stop visting the site.

I am not asking to get rid of MS ads altogether, but more variety would be welcome. Even if Linux.com does make less of an immediate profit by doing so, it will less alienate its target audience.

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I disagree: having *any* MS ads on linux.com sends a bad message about the community's faith in linux.

Please get rid of them altogether! Linux.com shouldn't need MS as a source of revenue.

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I think that having MS ads is not a problem, they fear Linux so they are trying to do some FUD,we should not care and i think is not offensive to have MS to pay for the linux.com for putting their Ads. If they want to pay linux sites this is their problem.

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While it is OK to have MS ads and it is good to have money out of it. They are so heavy that in some cases the site itself becomes unaccessible and people turn away. An image that stays there - why not but a movie? That repeats constantly? Is it more gain or loss? Perhaps having some guidelines or policy that guides what kind of ad can be placed would be appreciated.

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The current one is error prone. I am a human being and I can read English just fine, but apparently your captcha system can not, or is printing characters other than the correct ones.

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Something lighter would make a better website. Also blue is old school... get rid of gradients, etc. Clean and simple would make this site killer.

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I second this comment "Clean and simple..."

Also, I vote with the "lose the javascript" comments.

And, I vote with the "too many clicks to get to the original article" comments.

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I agree. Needs to be "Clean and simple...". The site feels heavy and slow. Start with removing the blue smudge that's behind each headline.

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For me, one problem is performance (guess Xaraya was never really designed for that load), and another one was change from old linux.com as it was.

Regarding speed, I'd suggest sticking <a href="http://nginx.net/">nginx</a> frontend web server to spare RAM and free up backend apaches to actually run CMS. Probably it's way too late to suggest not considering *Nuke clones at all and having a look at real CMS like <a href="http://typo3.com/">TYPO3</a> -- but we did drop PHPNuke and PostNuke in favour of that one (runner-up was Drupal, Java-based weren't considered for practical reasons) and I'd heartily recommend that if you [will have to] reconsider some day. Can also try to help with tuning these.

Regarding changes -- people don't usually welcome these by default; running to and fro with single sign on seems to have had decent impact on anonymous posting share.

Ah, and nl2br on comments would be really appreciated as mentioned probably daily.

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I don't see why you need Javascript enabled to view comments. That's just weird.

I was trying out new themes for my desktop and that included changing colors.. when I viewed your site it was insanely hard to view.. if I remember correctly the white background stayed white, but the font changed to my themes font color which was unfortunately light grey. I'm just trying to say if you keep the background a fixed color so should the font.

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Agree... needing javascript to read the comments is very annoying. It's 2007, you'd think people could design a site that degrades gracefully.

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i second that

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I hate that one needs javascript turned on to read comments.
I hate how there are very few articles.

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when you're reading comments anonymously and they don't have a title then you cannot expand it to actually read it. I had to register an account so that I could read it in nested view...

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The fonts are so small on my system by default unless I over ride your settings. It something like a 5 point it's ridiculous.

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The picture viewing script is slow and bogs down my browser and shows me a squashed image. It sucks.. just link to the .jpg without the script.

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BIG +1

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I have this problem also, link to the image!

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i second this too ;-)

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I would like a lighter site, but other than that i love your articles.

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As a Free Software supporter, I feel the site should be called GNULinux.com

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>>As a Free Software supporter, I feel the site should be called GNULinux.com<< {sigh}

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Linux is the kernel; GNU/Linux the O/S -- but you knew that ;-)

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There's nothing major wrong with Linux.com love the theme, the articles etc.

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I typically view the site in a browser that's roughly 800x600. The content disappears behind the left-hand menu at that size. Please make the site more readable at lower resolutions.

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I am Anonymous, This site is begining to stink (I was a long time NewsForge reader, not any more, and less here every week).

I will not create a "identity with Linux.com" because I just don't do that anywhere. So, why not allow anonymous readers to have the "liberal powers" as a default, and then allow those who create identity, to then restrict what they want to see.

I just don't want to have a sign-in for every web site I visit... it is insane to have to set up passwords for this and that, I visit a lot of web sites. And I have been visiting this one less (since the NewsForge one was merged over here... it stinks to have to hassle with too many click on this and that requirements just to read something! Note: iVillage.com in the 90s did a survey of mostly their women visitors and the results were that people are too busy to hassle with sites that don't give them what they want quickly... and that means exactly what this site has been doing lately... (the Flash corporate sites are the worst, I can't stand to go thru someone's creativity just to read a hardware specification).

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I would like the small newsvac summaries to have a direct link to their source, so you don't have to first go to a separate page with the same summary, and only then be able to proceed to the source

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I agree, this is my #1 gripe with the new website.

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YOUR COMMENTING SYSTEM. Yes, I know I'm writing in all caps. I'm trying to emphasize the point. The whole clicking to see what someone actually said in the comment is horrible. It also seems broken on IE6 and has been broken from the very beginning.

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YES! This drove me nuts until I found you can set the comments to nested instead of threaded. People don't go looking for settings, especially if they don't have an account. I would say change the default to nested, it doesn't look like it needs javascript either.

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Though I wasn't particularly excited about the site when it was merged with Newsforge and redesigned, I got used to how it looks and I actually rather like the collapsible comments. However, the image viewer leaves much to be desired. It loads and exits slowly, and I can live with that, but please give the option to click into a full-resolution image instead of the scaled image only.

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Microsoft advertisements. Seriously. Linux.com with Microsoft advertisements. Do I sense alzheimer's coming into play?

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I vote: More MS ads per page-load. FTW! The more money that flows this way, the better.

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Hi for me everything is OK I like design and content. Regards <a href="http://www.profesjonalna-reklama.pl" target="_blank">Pozycjonowanie</a> <a href="http://www.topblogposts.info" title="Blog">Tom</a>

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The screenshot popups suck. Why can't I just open those screenshots in tabs instead of it hijacking the page?

I do hate the javascript comments thing, too, but I guess that's incentive to log in ... just not right now, because I'm in a hurry.

timothy

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I clicked the xhtml badge at the bottom of the main page, and the validator found lots of errors.

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I 100% agree with validating your pages. Please do. However, on that front, this may prove some good reading on that front, if you haven't found it already:

http://www.webdevout.net/articles/beware-of-xhtml

Kevin

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What's wrong with Linux.com? How about your brow-beating readers with coercive ploys such as forcing them to create user accounts and logging-in for the option to view comments in a sane manner that anyone would view as an obvious way to order them. Keep alienating your readers with this sophomoric drivel linux.com. You got us to frequent this site in the first place by doing something right. Keep on getting it wrong! Either this site will work acceptably and effectively without your log-in nonsense or even more of us will likely take our clicks elsewhere. I'm considering avoiding Linux.com hence forth regardless of how you respond, because you've played this coercive login ploy card before. The last time you changed the Newsforge layout. Remember?

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+1

Why do I need to create an account just to set the comments to nested view? Is there a way to put that option on the page, just above the comments? I believe the old site had that.

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Asking users to take 10-20 seconds to setup a "risk free" account just to see comments in a reasonable way just shows how little you guys care about your sites visitors. Should I take 10-20 seconds to setup such an account on every site I visit? That seems to be the trend for websites, but I visit dozens of sites a day, how many 10-20 seconds is that for me? And then I probably have to verify the account, maintain the password for the account, etc. Is getting my email address stolen "risk free"? Why should I need to do this just to view comments in a reasonable way? I shouldn't, and that's exactly why I find myself visiting about once a week rather than the multiple times a day I used to go to Newsforge.

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The site is wonderful. The new colors took a little getting used to, but I wouldn't ask you to change a thing. The clever way illustrations load / un-load is pretty sweet. The nested comments (when logged in) is just right. And the way you allow comments to be modified (when logged in only I presume?) is a real plus. Have been watching the updates happen for a while (from semi-buggy to pretty stable) and I think the final results are very well done! And thanks for asking.

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The following article is a good example of problems with linux.com:

http://www.linux.com/feature/114238

The second sentence contains something resembling XML which, prior to the upgrade, provided a link to the shell script described in the article. I had to contact the author directly to get a copy of the script.

And the search feature is pretty terrible. The above article is titled "How to create a command-line password vault". If I type 'password vault' into the search field, the results do not include the article.

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More technical articles and more detail...you might even want to add some code snippets. It's nice to see fluff overviews of a particular distro, language, application, etc. but occasionally it would be worthwhile to read more details. 60% of distro articles are focused on the installation which once it is installed is over.

desNotes

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Pay a designer. Your look is poor compared to other news sites.
You rely too much on news vac when you should cover many key stories yourself for your particular readers
I don't get how you can not even cover the Google OHA story in newsvac or direct. Everyone knew it was gonna happen. It's very important story and you don't have word

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wel uhm ur RSS feeds kinda suck. They dont open in the firefox RSS ticker preview pane like for instance slashdots RSS articles.
Its a pain in the @@@@ to have to access the side to read the articles.

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just noticed I use InfoRSS and not RSS ticker. InfoRss sucks less than the ticker. but soooooo instable.

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I just registered so that I could see all the comments. It's kind of an annoyance that in the registration page you can't just hit Tab to go to the next field, it selects the text label on the side instead, so two tabs to switch to the next field.

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Couldn't resist ... In this very article/request you say "Here's your chance to let us know what you think needs changing on the site, and why." This implies that this is the one and only time readers can make suggestions to which you'll listen. You have a Contact Us link at the bottom of every page, so clearly you do listen, but I might suggest that you change the wording of that sentence either in this article or in future RFCs from your readers.

Kevin

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[Invalid] Markup Validation
Use a Markup Validation Service like the one on http://validator.w3.org/
Other than that, the site is fine.

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An "email a link to this story" option would be nice. I often view your content at work, and want to implement something from it at home when I have time, so I email the link to myself. I know Newsforge does this; I thought you had the option previously as well.

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In firefox, I've set the minimum font size to 16 (resolution is set to 1280x1024). The whole aspect of the site is ok, but a few things fall out-of-space.

For example the text of the Print and the Comment button at the right of this article tittle is going out of the white frame. Another example would be that some comments are completely misaligned when expanded, frequently overlapping each other, if you select the text you can read them, but it is really annoying.

It happens on some other websites too, if i disable the firefox minimum font size option, everything works fine, yet i frequently end up with fonts too small for me, thus disabling it is a no-no for me.

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Much of the CSS is screwed under firefox. Perhaps it looks good under IE, but what would be the point of that for a site called linux.com? Specifically, in the collapsed threaded view of the comments the lines of multiline headings overlap and he comment view controls show only half the contents of the dropdown. Even the "Print" and "Comments" links on the top right of the browser don't fit in the correct place, instead half-overlapping the black border. The line spacing in the comments is pretty ordinary too... it has been set to be somewhat less than the readable line spacing for the fonts that are used and the result is the ascenders and descenders overlap.

Normally, that's a sign that the CSS uses pixel sizes not relative sizes, with silly developers who've yet to realise that not everyone uses 72dpi monitors... it's really poor and amateurish and not what I had grown to expect from linux.com.

Oh, and you site claims that each page is XHTML1.0 compliant but it's not... just click the link at the bottom of any page to see why. e.g.

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.linux.com%2Ffeature%2F120913

shows 167 errors... Sure, some of these will be cascade errors, but at first glance, there are a lot of separate errors there too.

The new linux.com is a usability nightmare. I presume that this article was about getting feedback to find out why traffic has gone down substantially since the redesign... Well, that's why I spend less time on linux.com/newsforge than I used to.

Oh, and why do I need to type in

just to be able to start a new paragraph?

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something about linux.com that annoys me was be the absence, or that very few articles are put out on the weekends.

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Why don't you do Linux hardware reviews like what Phoronix.com does?

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There's no article text when viewing with Safari on Mac OS X Leopard

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Not having the NewsVac links point directly to the original article. Other than that Great site!

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Have you tried viewing this page in konqueror, dear lord it is unreadable, ctrl-+ nope only increases the font size for the adds. Thanks for asking the ? as to what is wrong here though, being linked from elsewhere it is lucky that I even caught the question as I no longer read anything on this site (as it physically hurts my eyes to read). Please fix, as was never an issue before.

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The links at the top of the page nearly dissapear when you hover over them, very minor, but apart from that I like the design.

Paul
web designer

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When the orange MS Forfront ad loads the text of the article and anything else below the ad fails to load.

Affects OpenSuse 10.2 Konq and Firefox. It is enough to make me go elsewhere.

KennV

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Before I realized that this ad was causing this issue and reloading the page (more than once, if necessary) would fix it, I actually read the article by viewing the source. :P

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I usually open a couple of articles in different tabs in firefox, to only have to come back and re-click links again to get to an article.

You have to click two links on two different pages to get to one article in the newsvac.. First you click the link above the headline for the article on the main page, which then takes you to another page with the same headline, again, with the link to the article. Maybe this is how you display your advertisements, but it would be less annoying and repetitive if the first link went straight to the article.

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I could not agree with you more about how annoying and repetitive that is.

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I usually open a couple of articles in different tabs in Firefox, to only have to come back and re-click links again to get to an article.
You have to click two links on two different pages to get to one article in the NewsVac.. First you click the link above the headline for the article on the main page, which then takes you to another page with the same headline, again, with the link to the article. Maybe this is how you display your advertisements, but it would be less annoying and repetitive if the first link went straight to the article.

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Stop GET FACTS In this SITE

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When a person posts a comment, search a repository for simmilar content. This way the person may find the answer or refrence to an idea. As people continue to become familiar with different applications there will allways be questions. This software is also a bit of a moving target. As questions and answeres become agregated, something like a tutorial should develop. When a person posts a remark, the content would be indexed, then provide the option to post the comment or cancle it if a satisfactory solution is found. Also, have a refrence or index of refrences to all or the most promenent open projects without neccesarily excluding closed source that wishes to participate however, closed software should have its own catagory and be identified as such, or a refrence to a physicaly separate site should be made available allong the lines of the Australia club that just answeres computer questions regardless of brand.

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Comments don't work with Javascript disabled. Use the NoScript Firefox extension, click on a comment, and you get a 404 error. It would be nice to have a more graceful fallback.

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A lot of times when clicking on a story on the home page of the site, the link just takes you to a page with the exact same one or two sentence description that was on the home page, with a link to go somewhere else. A few examples are:



http://www.linux.com/feed/121109

http://www.linux.com/feed/121121



I just don't see the need to have a full page for such a short description. Why not just have the link on the home page take the reader directly to the full story?

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Linux.com is fantastic, but I can't read it with my Nokia 770 running OS2007 hacker edition! 8^(

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with Firefox extension 'Read Easily' enables you to read all the comments without registration or javascript

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For me everything works fine.
<a href="http://www.yellobook.eu" title="yellowpages">yellowpages</a>

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Could you possibly license this content under a community-friendly license like the CC? Some enthusiastic people I know would like to include some of your articles in posts to their mailing lists (LUG groups etc.) but those who abide by copyright law are foiled by the surly "All rights reserved" at the bottom of each page.

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I don't know why so many people say that - because for me everything works great (up till now) .

[Modified by: Nathan Willis on December 09, 2007 09:26 PM]

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spam :@

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