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253 Comments
- Phate8263, on 03/25/2009, -1/+39It would be better done to have vanilla windows vs vanilla ubuntu.
The codecs guy for example. I suspect he's just used to windows, and already knows the tricks. Both windows and linux need to install codecs, and they do it in very similiar ways. Try opening a divx file on a vanilla windows install, or a .mov. They are very similiar. Both will try to open in the default player, and then say you need to download codecs, and then they both will* ...
*(actually I'm not sure windows will install a .mov codec, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt) - chadsmith729, on 03/25/2009, -12/+43- AMEN. I'd rather be working than swearing at the terminal or trawling forums just so I can figure out how to make my DNS settings stick between reboots for example
(When was the last time you actually USED linux? Gnome and KDE are much more advanced than they were even 2 years ago. You are completely off base, it makes me think that you haven't used it in many years. This statement was true oh I don't know about 4 years ago!)
- Web browsing on Linux? Sure. Serious computing? Nope.
(I work on Linux 6 days a week. I am a website programmer, and have all the tools that I need to do my work. I also do a lot of video editing, photo editing, and video conferences. All on linux. Oh, and yes I do surf the web as well.)
- Exactly
(Two years working on a Linux machine and guess what? Initially the transition was a bit rough having customers call and I can't find the programs or data to answer their questions. Guess how long the break-in period took? 2 days. We serve over 800 domains, I answer about 30 calls a day and in-fact I am on a call right now with a customer answering a database question for them.)
Sorry man, you really need to give the new Gnome and KDE a chance again. Lot's of problems have been fixed especially in terms of video cards. - chadsmith729, on 03/25/2009, -13/+42There is plenty of life after windows. In-fact I have never been happier in my life since I am not tied to Windows. Microsoft isn't getting my money, the Linux Foundation is. Open source is where things are going. I work at a large website development company with over 15 employees and we service over 800 domains. Guess how many developers are on Windows. None. Not a single one. 6 KDE, 4 Gnome, 5 Mac's. There is only one machine that is on Windows in the building ... our accountant.
- ahawks, on 03/26/2009, -1/+24And consider whether the "LOL noobs" mentality is going to attract or repel new users.
- 4321234, on 03/26/2009, -2/+24I used one-click-install to add all codecs. Guess I'm pretty l33T.
- Sealbhach, on 03/25/2009, -12/+32LOL noobs.
Google use Ubuntu for serious business, lots of other organisations do too. - SteveMax, on 03/26/2009, -0/+20What do you define as "serious computing"? Myself and my department use Linux exclusively to work out particle beam simulations, detector Montecarlos, lattice QCD, examine new particle interactions and try out new models beyond the standard model of particle physics. Is that serious enough for you? Or do you thing only touching up photos in Photoshop is "serious computing"?
See how a generalization can be completely off base? You can do serious stuff in all major OSs, and in most of the minor ones too. It all depends on what is it that you want to do. - LANjackal, on 03/25/2009, -43/+59I think it's hilarious that only 1 out of 4 of the respondents fully endorsed Ubuntu as their system of choice.
I've used Linux for years at home and at the office. It's installed on one of my laptops and on my PS3. But I've always been frustrated by the fact that anything more complex than web surfing rapidly turns into a hackathon.
The following quotes from the article reflect my experience with Linux:
"Everyone that I know who uses Linux tends to be a computer nerd or work in the industry. They enjoy playing around with the system and I don't know if they actually do any work – whereas I'm interested in actually getting things done."
- AMEN. I'd rather be working than swearing at the terminal or trawling forums just so I can figure out how to make my DNS settings stick between reboots for example
"Personally, I'd prefer something a little more complex which allows me a greater choice of software. It might be great for an older generation of computer users who just want to browse the web easily and safely."
- Web browsing on Linux? Sure. Serious computing? Nope.
"I wouldn't necessarily trust Ubuntu for work, as I wouldn't want to find I couldn't do everything I wanted to do."
- Exactly - skyshock1, on 03/26/2009, -1/+16And you will forever be limited in your endeavors. Windows users never seem to have a clue how powerful a tool a good shell can be.
- j2002, on 03/26/2009, -1/+15"One gripe was that the red cross to close pages and programs was stuck away in a corner"
Wait a second - where is the close button usually located? - earthforce1, on 03/26/2009, -1/+14They probably should have set them up with LInux mint - a Ubuntu derivative that comes pre-installed with all the closed source codecs.
- draxenato, on 03/26/2009, -6/+17That's all I use windows for, playing games. It's not good for much else.
- chaos7, on 03/25/2009, -9/+18the problem is, so few new mainstream games run as good on linux as they do on windows. i will never use linux as long as this is the case.
- skyshock1, on 03/26/2009, -3/+12Go learn what LDAP groups are before you post again.
- archiesteel, on 03/26/2009, -0/+9LANjackal: one of them (the musician) wasn't an average user by any measure. I'm also dubious about some of his comments, such as not being able to play WAVs or MP3s. AFAIK Wave files are supported out-of-the-box, and double-clicking on an MP3 file will pop up a dialog offering you to install the codec automagically.
I'm an advanced user, but I also do lot of work with newbies. It's not the Average User that has problems with Linux, it's the Windows Power Users (because they don't want to spend time learning to be a Power User on another system) and Users using specific software (such as musicians using CuBase).
Linux is just fine for the average user, and I've actually set up many average users with a Ubuntu PC in order to get less Family/Friend Tech Support requests. - inactive, on 03/26/2009, -19/+28There you have it. Keep screaming about linux on the desktop and how your grandma can use it. They can't. It doesn't work well unless you know the command line. That's a HUGE stumbling block. Argue and pout all you want. Windows/OSX is easy to use and for the most part, work well. And rather than ranting about how great it is, how about you fix the issues and we'll give it another go in a year or so. Have you actually read why the return rate was so incredibly high with netbooks? It's because linux came on most of them so OEM's switched to xp to cut back on the return rates.
- 3mpire, on 03/26/2009, -3/+12I'm also a Web Developer and have Ubuntu running on my home box. I got a new monitor for it and decided to change my screen resolution. Black. Somehow xorg.conf got *****. I can fix this without gui. A normal person can't. Say what you will about some of the OP's points, Ubuntu is hardly something I would give to an entry level user unless I was willing to be their personal help desk. It has made great strides and I love it, but it isn't ready for prime time yet.
- motters, on 03/26/2009, -1/+10I've been using Ubuntu at work for the last two years, and have had very few problems (less than other Windows systems). Best of all is that unlike the Windows system it doesn't slow down over time.
- gipperp, on 03/26/2009, -0/+8- Web browsing on Linux? Sure. Serious computing? Nope.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercomputer#Operati ...
done - richgustavson, on 03/26/2009, -6/+14Linux will never be mainstream unless the command line is put into a dark closet (only needed on very rare occasions).
The majority of computer users don't know how and/or don't want to use the command line on a daily basis. I honestly don't think the Linux community wants to use the command line any less, so I don't know why I see all these articles claiming that Linux is becoming mainstream. - Midnitte, on 03/26/2009, -1/+9Thats funny, because Windows basically hides the command line (in vista its not on the start menu by default) and yet half my problems end up being solved by using the command line quicker then trying to menu around.
Connect Issues? ping google.com > ipconfig /renew
How much faster/easier is that then going through window after window? - Fratz, on 03/26/2009, -1/+9Whoah, whoah, whoah. My parents (68 and 76) use Linux, and they'll be grandparents a month from now. So should I believe their experience or your claim?
- init100, on 03/26/2009, -0/+7There are ways in Linux to accomplish the same tasks as group policies in Windows, but the Windows fanboys can't find them, because it doesn't work exactly as in Windows.
- inactive, on 03/26/2009, -1/+8WHAT?! Linux no longer for geeks? I'm switching to BSD.
- ohsoserial, on 03/26/2009, -1/+8"Too bad *nix users are ***** and only look down at any other OS users.
That mentality will get them FAR. </sarcasm>"
Hey, it worked for OSX. *duck* - Tenoq, on 03/27/2009, -0/+7@ Gareth321 -
Then tries and fails, in my experience.
@ Insanitation -
Depending on version. Basic and Business don't have the DVD codec included. Bit of a PITA for your average user. Although most average users bought a Dell which probably included a 5 year-old copy of PowerDVD. - inactive, on 03/26/2009, -0/+7It has been "shedding its geeky image" for over 5 years now.
- Megatog615, on 03/26/2009, -0/+7And Ubuntu actually tells you that you're missing the codec and lets you launch an installer to install them.
- wisam, on 03/26/2009, -4/+10what the hell is Spotify?
And it's Pidgin for God's sake, not Pigeon. - t0x2c, on 03/26/2009, -1/+7Look into the Mesa/DRI project (specifically Gallium 3d), they are trying to write a dedicated hardware platform for linux. Hopefully it won't be too much longer, in a lot of tests, the linux platform runs faster than window's running the same tests. There just starting, so it'll be a while, but they have the support of the entire X.org community, so it shouldn't be another spark and fizzle project.
- Fratz, on 03/26/2009, -0/+6The scary thing is that with web apps on the rise, most people may find themselves turning on the computer, running firefox, and then turning the computer off. My parents use Firefox, Thunderbird, GIMP, mplayer, they play games, run Quicken (in wine), and do everything they did in Windows, except worry about malware.
That said, you need to be careful not to fall into the "no true scotsman" trap in defining what is and isn't "REALLY" computer use: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman - kash55, on 03/26/2009, -4/+10Linux fans need to realize that things arn't straight forward enought to be used on a mainstream level. It is much bettter than a few years ago, but it has got some catching up to do. You opinion can't be taken very seriously when you just close your eyes and put your hands over your ears and keep yelling Linux is great, those who don't know how to use it are idiots.
Everything has pros and cons. - jemka, on 03/26/2009, -3/+9Here's a tip. If you want to gain market share, don't use a 55 year old gray beard with a pink guitar to spotlight as a user of Linux. He looks more like a MAC user.
- quick1, on 03/26/2009, -1/+7You know, I've been developing on Linux for the past 9 years between college and work. I'm a software engineer, and am currently typing this up on a linux box running centos. I've run multiple distro's, and installed gentoo from a stage 3 tarball.
All that said, at home I run XP on my main desktop, Vista on my laptop, and Centos as my home server. Why? Because my windows boxes work fine for what I use them for (watching movies, reading the web, playing music, playing games, etc). I've thought about switching everything over to linux, but I just can't justify having to spend the time to get everything set back up just so it will work like it does now.
I guess my point is that if I know linux fairly well and still don't have the motivation to drop windows and switch to linux, I think its a bit of a stretch to expect someone like my parents, who can barely use windows, to take the time and switch over to linux.
Now if linux came pre-installed on a box, as in the case of a netbook, then I think my parents would be able to use linux as well as they manage to get by with windows. But even then I would expect them to choose windows over linux if given the choice, and I can't really disagree with such a decision. - caddyalan, on 03/26/2009, -5/+10I gave Ubuntu a try a couple years ago, and I was surprised to find that it was less complex than DOS. I'd been expecting a text-only interface, but it was relatively easy to understand.
- DigitalPioneer, on 03/27/2009, -0/+5ohplease: And if you think windows is better at running servers than Linux, then I don't believe you've ever seen a server either, let alone configured an enterprise network.
- Fratz, on 03/26/2009, -0/+5You can install steam in Linux, so you're 50% there.
- archiesteel, on 03/27/2009, -0/+5Thomasaka: the vast majority of hardware is supported by Linux.
You know, all OSes have their good and bad points. Lying in order to support your OS of choice is really the pathetic height of fanboyism. - Misterberu, on 03/26/2009, -5/+10I use Ubuntu and OSX and couldn't be happier. But... I'm not going to lie... Windows 7 looks pretty cool. I think life after Windows may just end up being Windows 7 for some users.
Personally, I hate Windows, and will probably never use it (except for games... but Onlive might change that if it's not just a stupid April Fool's joke...), but sadly, I think it's far from over.
(Yeah, I'll probably get dugg down, whoopty doo.) - jameson5, on 03/26/2009, -2/+7I just loaded Ubuntu for the first time on Tuesday and I can't even believe how great it is. It was incredibly easy to install, and even came with Firefox preloaded. Way cooler than I expected for a free OS.
- puzzud, on 03/27/2009, -2/+7Hey look at me. I'm a silly little Windows user. I've been using it all my life. I don't have another life to use a more intuitive computer interface. Anything I haven't spent my life using is too complicated. I fear change. I also fear that I won't be able to perform my work on anything else. We should pay Microsoft alot of money just so I still have a job. I don't mind paying a safe and free of fear Microsoft tax just as long as I have a job. I feel so secure now. Vendor dependency is so wonderful. I don't mind having the carpet pulled out from under me. Wait... what is this NEW version of Windows? Oh, oh God! Get it away from me! It smells, it smells. Can I still use Word? If I can't use word on it, I'm done. I'll use a Mac. Oh, yea, Macs look safe. I mean, I always see them in movies, so they have to be good, right? Word works on them? Good. Hey, this looks good; I wouldn't mind paying $2,000 for this. I mean, just as long as I can do my work on it. It would be worth the Apple tax. If there are alot of people using this, then I don't think it'll be bad.
The sad thing is something like 95% of people with Windows on their computers don't do anything that can't be done easily on a Linux system. And you can say the same of this with Macs (performing both roles), they aren't excluded, because I've seen Windows users struggle with Macs even when they thought it would be "so easy." - Tenoq, on 03/27/2009, -1/+6@ Thomasaka
Utter, complete BS. Linux supports more devices out of the box than Windows. - init100, on 03/26/2009, -0/+5"it doesn't bode well for your platform if you can't sell it on its own without bashing something else."
So why is Steve Ballmer and his ilk bashing Linux and OSX all the time? - atm259, on 03/26/2009, -1/+6Everyone who returned the laptops that had linux pre-installed returned it because they wanted windows. Not because it is better, because it is what they are used to.
People want to be comfortable, you use windows all throughout school (most of the time) so it's natural for people to feel comfortable with it. Not because linux sucks, and not because Windows is awesome. - LANjackal, on 03/25/2009, -8/+13The last time I used Linux? How about now? It's installed on my PS3 and on one of my laptops.
I won't belabor the point because as tech-head I'm not the "average user", and neither are you, for that matter. The "average user" running a spanking new Ubuntu install was covered in the article, and you already saw what they said. Only 1 of 4 said he'd embrace it as his primary choice, everyone else had reservations. I rest my case. - theonlywizdum, on 03/26/2009, -3/+7"you are attempting to install a codec, cancel or allow?"
"you are 1/4 of the way through installing a codec, cancel or allow?"
"you are almost done installing a codec, cancel or allow?" - Midnitte, on 03/26/2009, -0/+4Thats right fanboys. Because Linux already is mainstream, most devices now use some form of linux, whether its a router, a smartphone, or even your car. Stop living in a fantasy world about windows being the only choice, and stop being a dam conformist in terms of computers.
- skyshock1, on 03/26/2009, -2/+6A few loud ***** does not an entire user base make.
- eleete, on 03/26/2009, -1/+5Mac is based off unix, silly, BSD I believe
- skyshock1, on 03/26/2009, -0/+4So install the fonts you like, and have them default to those?
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