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Thank you, Ubuntu

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11–20 of 133 posts

Re: Thank you, Ubuntu

#11
I've been having a lot of problems with Ubuntu. First of all, wireless on Ubuntu sucks. I can't be bothered reading tons of articles on how to fix wireless, i just want it to work like it does on Windows. Ubuntu doesn't detect a few of my webcams. I can't even install Ubuntu 10.04 on my new laptop (though it seems they're busy fixing it), so i'm stuck with 9.04. I'm also having some trouble with Chrome on Ubuntu, but i should probably blame Chrome for that. Rebooting on Ubuntu doesn't even work. I can only shut it down. I could probably fix it in a timely fashion, but i don't see why it broke in the first place. I've never had any trouble with Windows of this kind.

Anyway, It's still a great OS, but there's no way the average computer user is going to be satisfied with Ubuntu unless the developers somehow fix these little annoyances.

Re: Thank you, Ubuntu

#12
post #2

"it runs on every piece of hardware you throw at it" That's what continues to impress me about Ubuntu - I've installed it on everything from PPC-era Macs to dodgy little netbooks and it invariably 'just works'.

The new ubuntus do not work with intel graphics cards. I do not want to go through workarounds just to get rid of the screen freeze when it boots. I used Ubuntu for like 7.04 but after 8.10 I think the gfx started to break and by 9.10 they are totally unworkable, I have to restart (hard) several times to start xorg.

I would rephrase that "[some] Intel graphics cards do not work with the new Ubuntus". The problem is that Intel has chosen to prevent Ubuntu from supporting those graphics cards, not that Ubuntu cannot support them and not that Ubuntu choses to not support them.

In the cases that I looked at, Intel licensed graphics "IP" from third parties that had severe restrictions on what technical information could be published openly, making it incompatible with GPL.

Re: Thank you, Ubuntu

#13
post #4

I started using Ubuntu on my desktop when I started developing for the web and because my web-server ran ubuntu. Love the fact that I can have a server-like OS on my desktop, that also does pretty much does everything that windows and macs do

Both Windows and Mac OS X have server versions, that can easily be installed on desktops.

Re: Thank you, Ubuntu

#14

I've been having a lot of problems with Ubuntu. First of all, wireless on Ubuntu sucks. I can't be bothered reading tons of articles on how to fix wireless, i just want it to work like it does on Windows. Ubuntu doesn't detect a few of my webcams. I can't even install Ubuntu 10.04 on my new laptop (though it seems they're busy fixing it), so i'm stuck with 9.04. I'm also having some trouble with Chrome on Ubuntu, but…

The drivers problems are a manufacturer problem, not Ubuntu's. Complain against the manufacturer, so that they know that people actually want linux drivers. Vote with your wallet, buy linux compatible hardware. Don't blame Ubuntu for others' mistakes.

Re: Thank you, Ubuntu

#15

I've been having a lot of problems with Ubuntu. First of all, wireless on Ubuntu sucks. I can't be bothered reading tons of articles on how to fix wireless, i just want it to work like it does on Windows. Ubuntu doesn't detect a few of my webcams. I can't even install Ubuntu 10.04 on my new laptop (though it seems they're busy fixing it), so i'm stuck with 9.04. I'm also having some trouble with Chrome on Ubuntu, but…

There's no way the "average computer user" is going to be satisfied with an operating system that doesn't come preinstalled on their computer, that isn't officially supported by the manufacturer of their computer, and that they consequently have to deal with the various possible technical problems of.

Non-technical users don't install operating systems.

Ubuntu is the closest candidate to fixing the structural problem of "very few computers come preinstalled with a supported, free-as-in-freedom operating system". Until that problem is fixed, and as long as people are ending up having to install an operating system on arbitrary computers with millions of different hardware combinations, such annoyances will continue at some level.

Re: Thank you, Ubuntu

#17
I keep try to evangelize the fact that things like apt are one of the biggest wins for the various UNIX-like OS's. In Windows world installing software takes both finding it and configuring the installer. On a Mac you have to at least find it. On Ubuntu/Debian/etc you just have to know the name (or you can search a central database). Also no more Java/Flash player/Acrobat Reader "needs to be updated" messages. You update everything at once. And it can all be scripted. And you can update your entire OS to the next major release in three commands. I can go on and on.

Re: Thank you, Ubuntu

#18
post #2

"it runs on every piece of hardware you throw at it" That's what continues to impress me about Ubuntu - I've installed it on everything from PPC-era Macs to dodgy little netbooks and it invariably 'just works'.

Considering they have problems with two of the three graphics card vendors and wubi doesn't work if you have more than one hard disk partition, just works isn't how I would describe it. Good when it does and mostly works pretty much describes it.

Re: Thank you, Ubuntu

#19
It's weird. I used to love Ubuntu, but after 8.04 I just stopped liking it. The little things niggled away at me. The bloat, the fear of upgrades breaking things (this is why my main home file server still runs 8.04, something I'm not happy about) if you have a slightly nonstandard install. I switched to Arch for my main home laptop and breathed new life into a PIII-850 with 128mb of RAM. Ubuntu would've killed it.

In a bizarre twist of fate, work requirements meant having to use Windows Vista (the horror!) then 7, where so far the best feature seems to be "It's not vista", so no more Ubuntu at work for me, except through VMs.

Still, Ubuntu did a heck of a lot to make Linux easier for the masses, and I have to say thanks to all those at Canonical and the Ubuntu community that made it possible.

Re: Thank you, Ubuntu

#20
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new ubuntus do not work with intel graphics cards. I do not want to go through workarounds just to get rid of the screen freeze when it boots. I used Ubuntu for like 7.04 but after 8.10 I think the gfx started to break and by 9.10 they are totally unworkable, I have to restart (hard) several times to start xorg.

I would rephrase that "[some] Intel graphics cards do not work with the new Ubuntus". The problem is that Intel has chosen to prevent Ubuntu from supporting those graphics cards, not that Ubuntu cannot support them and not that Ubuntu choses to not support them. In the cases that I looked at, Intel licensed graphics "IP" from third parties that had severe restrictions on what technical information could be published…

I am using the same computer which used to work with 7.04. How come something that was working in 7.04 suddenly break in 8.10?
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