Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
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Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
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Re: Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
#2>I evaluated it strictly from the point of view of an average user, someone who wouldn't want to enter text commands...
It's a little sad that "average" means "prefers to express thoughts as a series of connected images and actions, rather than as text."
Re: Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
#3I think one of the most amazing things about Ubuntu/Debian is the apt-get based packaging system. Neither Mac nor Windows have anything nearly as good as that. That's its biggest advantage in my view, and if that doesn't matter to you then Linux probably isn't for you.
Re: Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
#4I think one of the most amazing things about Ubuntu/Debian is the apt-get based packaging system. Neither Mac nor Windows have anything nearly as good as that. That's its biggest advantage in my view, and if that doesn't matter to you then Linux probably isn't for you.
You know I really do like apt, but it isn't perfect, and 'rough around the edges' isn't a bad description for it (I know he meant Ubuntu as a whole).
I've had multiple times that by using apt-get autoremove, my entire Ubuntu installation has been fubared. It is almost nicer how Windows and Mac apps ship with all the required libraries and functionality they need, and you don't have to worry about it (both as a developer and a user). Add to that the confusion where programming languages have their own package managers (should I use Python's easy_install or the .debs?) and there's even more of a mess.
I've never had any difficulties on my Mac or on Windows due to a lack of a package manager, but I have had problems using apt.
I don't understand, what advantages does using a package manager have over simply shipping an app with the libraries/programs it needs? Yeah, you save hard drive space, but with hundreds of gigabytes of data, is that even important?
Re: Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
#5This is another semi-misleading title. The article points out that Ubuntu on Dell, as with all versions of Linux, is still not ready for the mass market. However, as the readers of this site are not "average" computer users the "too rough" comment does not really apply to us. Yes, I have to hack a bit to get my multiple monitor setup to work. Yes, I expect to.
Although I have a recently purchased Dell Ubuntu and am quite pleased with it I would never recommend it to say... my mom.
Re: Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
#6I think one of the most amazing things about Ubuntu/Debian is the apt-get based packaging system. Neither Mac nor Windows have anything nearly as good as that. That's its biggest advantage in my view, and if that doesn't matter to you then Linux probably isn't for you.
You know I really do like apt, but it isn't perfect, and 'rough around the edges' isn't a bad description for it (I know he meant Ubuntu as a whole). I've had multiple times that by using apt-get autoremove, my entire Ubuntu installation has been fubared. It is almost nicer how Windows and Mac apps ship with all the required libraries and functionality they need, and you don't have to worry about it (both as a develo…
I had a problem due to Windows not having a package manager. I had emacs and RCS installed, and it worked fine. Then I installed a CVS package that included the programs it needed, including RCS programs. Its version didn't work with emacs. If there were a package manager I would have been warned about the conflict.
I've been using Debian for years, and Ubuntu recently, but I had to look up autoremove; I've never used that apt-get feature. I have used autoclean, which is benign. It does sound like there are problems with autoremove that should be fixed, but for now why not just avoid that feature?
Re: Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
#7I think one of the most amazing things about Ubuntu/Debian is the apt-get based packaging system. Neither Mac nor Windows have anything nearly as good as that. That's its biggest advantage in my view, and if that doesn't matter to you then Linux probably isn't for you.
OS X has both Macports and Fink - not quite as great as apt-get but pretty close
Re: Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
#8I wonder how Ubuntu will be reviewed by an user who is using a computer for the first time and has no OS exposure of any kind before?? hmmm...
Re: Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
#9>I evaluated it strictly from the point of view of an average user, someone who wouldn't want to enter text commands... It's a little sad that "average" means "prefers to express thoughts as a series of connected images and actions, rather than as text."
Why exactly is that sad?
Re: Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu: "...still too rough around the edges..."
#10This is another semi-misleading title. The article points out that Ubuntu on Dell, as with all versions of Linux, is still not ready for the mass market. However, as the readers of this site are not "average" computer users the "too rough" comment does not really apply to us. Yes, I have to hack a bit to get my multiple monitor setup to work. Yes, I expect to. Although I have a recently purchased Dell Ubuntu and am q…
I'm a little disappointed in Mossberg with this. He's right about some things - it is too much trouble to get DVDs, Flash, etc. working with Ubuntu, especially when so many things work so well.
I've been strongly recommending Ubuntu or OS X to the cloud of relatives, friends, relatives of friends, and friends of relatives who seem to think that just because I do something with computers that I'm a resource for desktop support. I would much prefer to try to fix problems with Ubuntu than those with Windows. Mossberg should have asked his resident hackers which they'd rather fix.