I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
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I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
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Re: I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
#2I strongly disagree, and take exception to the fact that this "article" is 3 paragraphs long with zero information yet throws out the idea that Linux, even Ubuntu, is 1:1 competitive with Windows or OSX on the desktop.
Contrary to the author, hardware is still a mess. Have a Lexmark wireless printer? Tough luck, there is no way to print to it from Linux. Have switchable graphics? Good luck there, too. Want your new laptop to work? Better check what touchpad you have. Just because the author found hardware that works doesn't mean the public will.
Linux won't be ready until you never have to drop to the terminal for something. Linux won't be ready until you can download a file from the Internet, run it, and install it just with a couple clicks (and not "you need to set the 'exectuable' flag!" error). Linux won't be ready until you never have to reconfigure the graphics driver from the command line upon boot. Linux won't be ready until you can run a system update and install a new program at the same time.
Flashiness is nice. People like flash. Consumers crave flash. But flash needs to come with the same amount of wow-factor built into usability. I can make this same list of complaints about Windows and OSX, but the point remains that Windows and OSX are used and known by the public. Linux isn't. To take any marketshare from the giants, you need to not just be as good as them, not just better than them... you need to make it so not using Linux is a ridiculous proposal. Ubuntu won't be there for a good long time yet.
Re: I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
#3I am unfortunately forced to disagree.
I recently moved my home machine from Windows to Linux. After a little research, I picked Ubuntu 11.10 (with Unity).
The installation went by pretty smoothly, everything seemed to work out of the box. The only manual configuration I had to do was to teach my Linux box to ping my Windows laptop. So far so good.
Then, 2 weeks later, my disk went out of space.
Turns out Ubuntu has a hidden log file that logs errors, with no sanity checks on size, and it hit 300+ GB.
In addition, flash still isn't smooth in full screen.
Easy to install and use? Reasonably so. Ready for prime time? I think not.
Re: I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
#4I strongly disagree, and take exception to the fact that this "article" is 3 paragraphs long with zero information yet throws out the idea that Linux, even Ubuntu, is 1:1 competitive with Windows or OSX on the desktop. Contrary to the author, hardware is still a mess. Have a Lexmark wireless printer? Tough luck, there is no way to print to it from Linux. Have switchable graphics? Good luck there, too. Want your new l…
Good points there, I completely forgot about Lexmark printers because the last one I bought wouldn't work on Mac OS X or Linux and I returned it; haven't bought Lexmark again. That's not to say that people shouldn't buy them, just explaining my view.
Re: I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
#5Nice, now all it needs is a usable GUI.
Re: I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
#6The main problem with the distros available today is their lack of non-free software. No matter how much you or I like free software, Minecraft can't run as good on OpenJDK as on Sun JDK, and I automatically install the proprietary Flash version because the other one's just way too laggy to use. I also always run smxi to get the best graphics drivers and compability with the least amount of work.
And even then I struggle with drivers: I went from a Radeon HD 6870 to a GTX 550 TI just to be able to run Linux on my machine. There is probably some way to install the HD 6870 on a linux machine, but after using 26 hours on that card trying to get it to work (I timed it), I gave up. Imagine if I used those 26 hours on work instead.
People don't care whether stuff is free or not: They just want stuff that works. If you can't get that without setting up non-free repositories and download proprietary graphic drivers for your graphics card, then you won't get normal people to use your operating system.
Re: I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
#7I strongly disagree, and take exception to the fact that this "article" is 3 paragraphs long with zero information yet throws out the idea that Linux, even Ubuntu, is 1:1 competitive with Windows or OSX on the desktop. Contrary to the author, hardware is still a mess. Have a Lexmark wireless printer? Tough luck, there is no way to print to it from Linux. Have switchable graphics? Good luck there, too. Want your new l…
OTOH, I recently managed to fire up an old PCI "winmodem" (which used to be the bane of linux existence) and it worked instantly in Ubuntu. Windows 7 wouldn't even finish bootup with it in.
If you want to use hardware that's more than year or two old, Ubuntu is the way to go.
Re: I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
#8I am unfortunately forced to disagree. I recently moved my home machine from Windows to Linux. After a little research, I picked Ubuntu 11.10 (with Unity). The installation went by pretty smoothly, everything seemed to work out of the box. The only manual configuration I had to do was to teach my Linux box to ping my Windows laptop. So far so good. Then, 2 weeks later, my disk went out of space. Turns out Ubuntu has…
>Turns out Ubuntu has a hidden log file that logs errors, with no sanity checks on size, and it hit 300+ GB.
Uh, what is this hidden log?
Re: I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
#9That's all subjective, of course. There are problems with bringing linux to mainstream users. But other OS don't go always smoothly either.
Since linux isn't widespread, all we've got is our anecdotes. And my anecdote is that I installed ubuntu on my non-techie relatives' computers. And that has been great both for me and for them. They still do the same thing they've been doing before. (mostly facebooking, casual gaming, skyping etc) And I don't need to run for rescue because of crapware bloat, viruses and all kinds of weird crashes as before.
So if you have parents who often calls for help because of computer problems. I'd recommend you try installing ubuntu for them and see it for yourself. Judging from my experience, I'd say it's ready for prime time. (and btw, that was much before 11.10)
Re: I’m calling it: Ubuntu is finally ready for the world.
#10That's all subjective, of course. There are problems with bringing linux to mainstream users. But other OS don't go always smoothly either. Since linux isn't widespread, all we've got is our anecdotes. And my anecdote is that I installed ubuntu on my non-techie relatives' computers. And that has been great both for me and for them. They still do the same thing they've been doing before. (mostly facebooking, casual ga…
I have a similar experience where my roommate's computer (windows)just became a bloated mess and he asked me how he could try something new. Aside from getting iTunes to run on his new Ubuntu install it was a smooth and easy transition. He ended up using it for about a year and managed to solve a majority of his own problems from the Ubuntu forums.