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153 Comments
- splinecl, on 10/12/2007, -2/+63Isn't this article more like "The best reason yet not to use Windows" :P
- GhostCow, on 10/12/2007, -6/+60What app does the common user really need that doesn't have an open source equivalent or run under wine?
Gamers are the only guys that really get screwed if they switch to Linux - eMpi, on 10/12/2007, -8/+56I agree. But I think there will be. I uses Firefox from an early point and a lot of of sites didn't support it - now it's only in rare cases a site doesn't support FF. The same thing goes for Linux, I think. I think in the year to come and the next to follow a lot of things will happen in this area. We stand at a crossroad here, Microsoft changing course for instance, and it's going to be exciting to see what will happen. I will do my part by using Ubuntu every day and spread the word of Linux over Microsoft - Vista being the best argument to make the switch...
- tech10171968, on 10/12/2007, -1/+42I have to agree. The biggest reason I started using Linux is the restrictive licensing which usually accompanies Microsoft products. When I buy (not rent) something with MY hard-earned money (for example, a car, or a t-shirt, or even software) I like to believe that item is MINE to do whatever the hell I want with it. With Microsoft's ever-increasing restrictiveness in its licenses it's getting to the point where a user will eventually not own any of the software installed in his machine. Screw that; it's MY computer, I purchased the software with MY money, and, as long as I respect the copyright and patent(s) behind that software, I will be damned if anybody is going to tell me how/when/where I should use it.
- aragon127, on 10/12/2007, -10/+48Apparently I fell asleep and Ubuntu is the only linux distro available any more...
- FallibleDragon, on 10/12/2007, -5/+41Linux distros like Ubuntu and Debian have THOUSANDS of apps. Way more than windows comes with. And yes, you can go hunting for more online, just like on Windows.
What's more, it's all free, because the developers care about you and want you to have access to software, and to be able to share your work with others, without the other person having to pay for software just to use what you make. - toodamfast, on 10/12/2007, -5/+36Soon I will stop fixing friends windows boxes. I'm tired of dealing with friends who "lost" their windows disk but need their XP reinstalled. PITA. Linux is catching on like fire and I'm doing all I can to help spread the word. (until some lawsuit will make using linux in the U.S.A. illegal..)
- Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28Yes.
I would guess that an Ubuntu fanboy dugg you down for pointing out that there's nothing here to recommend Ubuntu over, say, Suse, or even OS X. - jonnyeh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25You can't just use a corporate key with Vista this time. Corporation will need to setup a license server instead.
- giociampa, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23"It's extremely frustrating and complex to simply step into the OS without any prior knowledge of how it functions."
Sorry - but that comment applies just as much to Windows if you've never used it before. - latova, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24Already done. I'm running Ubuntu, and dual booting with xp to play the odd game. I'm loving it too.
- makingme, on 10/12/2007, -7/+27Microsoft can officially kiss my ass.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20 I agree as well.
I use Linspire Linux,which does have a lot of extras in it. But alas, no version of Linux can do everything, but I hope that that will change over time.
I moved to Linux because I found the direction Microsoft was going to not be the direction *I* wanted to go in as a computer user.
- Yeyui, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Why put in the all the effort to learn to walk when crawling is so damn easy?
- ClassicJBC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17I'm not a Linux purist, though I do use it for web development work, and I recently set up my first Ubuntu machine on a friend's old PC--painless installation, by the way. In general, I like a lot of what Microsoft has been doing lately in terms of software, but the DRM, WGA, and licensing is absolutely out of control. In the back of my mind, I'm already trying to find the Linux analogs to all the programs I'm using now.
That being said, I think the strongest statement people can make to Microsoft is not to upgrade. Despite its flaws, I quite like XP, and I certainly don't mind staying with it. And if Microsoft sees Vista sales plummet, they might connect the dots and patch these god-awful software policies. If they don't, then I'd love to see them lose more market share to Linux or, to a lesser extent, Apple. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19"that will never happen" ....Ha!
You DO read the news, don't you? I wouldn't put a damn thing past this government. Outlawing all technology freedom is in fact something they are looking for an excuse to do right now: "Internet addiction" "Internet dangerous because terrorists can learn bomb-making" "Free Software like communism" (last one's running right now on dzone, to my disgust) "RIAA MPAA, etc."
FOSS will become the next marijuana. Illegal, prosecuted, and reviled everywhere, impossible to stop anyway. And much more relaxed outside the United States.
You've heard of "They hate us for our freedom?" Take a look around at these flamers. They vote. - snurfle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15I can't help but wonder... If Microsoft got rid of the WGA, Kernel protection, activation, reduced-functionality mode, and the whole host of all the other anti-copy anti-transfer crap they DON'T tell us about... How fast and stable do you suppose Windows would become?!
- webcrumb, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19Applications, Add/Remove applications.
I for one like the CLI. It's faster when you know what you want. But for novices, GUI is the way to go I suppose. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Has anybody thought of it yet? Free/Open Source software gives you certain liberties and even guarantees they can't be taken away. It levels the playing field so that anyone's system can be successful.
Open Source is democracy for technology. - Stemp, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18«In Ubuntu though, you have to figure out that you need to go to the console and enter "sudo apt-get install program"»
You had to do that ? Why ? Synaptic was not working ? Please stop telling BS.
The only reason why you may find commands like sudo apt-get is because it's easier and shorter to copy and paste these command rather than explaining to open Synaptic, etc, etc.... - dcherryholmes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Why does this come up over and over again? You can't, on the one hand, complain about the nine-millionth Ubuntu and/or linux post, but then on the other display such total ignorance of the most basic capabilities of the OS. It just makes you look willfully uninformed or a troll.
- felyduw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13@Teaboy
You do realize that what you're asking is extremely specialized. I would say most people don't even know what Nuendo is. The point is, there are great applications that run on linux that would be able to be as or more productive than the windows counterpart in most environments and yet businesses buy windows licenses (or pirate them) just to have windows. It's idiotic. I know of a company group privately held which one of the owners said to me straightly that "buying licenses will never happen". Linux usage would soar if the licensing fees would be enforced.
And if that happened more commercial apps like photoshop or niche apps like nuendo would get ported and games would run also on linux.
There are people like you, Teaboy, that really still don't have a choice. And that's unfortunate. - HMTKSteve, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I think the biggest thing Ubuntu is doing right is their support.
Their website is awesome for getting answers to common problems.
Every time I encounter a problem I go to their forums and search. I have always either found a solution or a link to a solution. - dcherryholmes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Ubuntu is getting a few things right that previous distros didn't. Some of it is marketing, some of it is technical. One of the things linux in general must struggle against is the "network effect" advantage that windows and, to a lesser extent, Macs already have: there is value in using what everybody else is using. Ubuntu is beginning to capture some of that value, and it is certainly amenable to a snowball effect.
- Mejogid, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19Right... seeing as the article's about Ubuntu, we'll use that as an example.
You can go to Applications -> Add Aplications, and search or check the box for a commonly used app.
You can, for example, download the .deb for Opera, double click it, press install and type your password. No wizards or any such crap.
You can use synaptic to search potentially tens of thousands of packages, and install any number with a few clicks. You can also add third party package repositries to extend the number of packages.
And then, when you've learnt how to type, you may even find typing 'sudo apt-get install abiword' to be a pretty quick way to install things. - Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12From the article: "There has been a lot of hype over Ubuntu Linux lately."
Exactly. HYPE. That's all it is. Well put.
This article should be renamed "The best reason yet to use LINUX".
Stop putting Ubuntu on a high pedestal.....it doesn't belong there. No SINGLE distro alone belongs there. - FallibleDragon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12@wootery: actually, window's way sucks. It's completely inappropriate to have things install just because you happen to click on a web link that links to software. If you want to install software, go to the program that manages your software, and knows what you've got installed, and knows what you allow it to install, just like windows is TRYING (but failing to do, since windows 9x) with add/remove programs. Linux does it MUCH better, and when you get used to it, you'll never laugh at the windows approach. And then there's all the windows checks to make sure you're not a pirate. Windows is ridiculous. It's the driving equivalent of a scooter: anyone serious at what they do just won't put up with it.
- antoniojvr, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16I agree with the apps, but another thing: Linux needs to grab new users. For someone using Windows their whole life, Linux is not very easy to understand. They need to market Ubuntu or any other Linux distro to the older generation and make it easy to use.
- brhad56, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10@Mejogid
Many proprietary codecs, drivers, and application programs, such as legal DVD decryption, and Linspire's CNR (click and run) service. - FallibleDragon, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12You don't get it. Those commands exist on Windows too. Some people just prefer the commands, and talk about them, instead of pointing you to the very user-friendly GUI apps that manage your software.
The difference with linux is... ALL of your software can be managed from the SAME friendly UI. There's none of this competition between companies for space on your desktop -- Free/Open Source software distributors cooperate, rather than competing, so your desktop stays unified. Want to install some new program? Go to the package manager, and click it. Want to uninstall? Same process. Want to find an application for some purpose? Go to the package manager and search. Want to upgrade a program? Click upgrade on the package name. Want to upgrade EVERYTHING on your system (as opposed to windows itself, as windows update only allows)? Click upgrade on the toolbar.
Windows? The best option available is to manually look through websites, find software, install it, join a mailing list to be reminded of updates, or add it to a crappy windows feed reader (Akregator is easily the best RSS reader I've used on any platform), and manually download/install the updates, or let the software install its own updates... except that won't work, if you've went through the manual process of bringing windows security to something remotely close to what automatically works on Linux.
Windows is what grannies and disinterested managers by from a shop, not what's best. - snurfle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7ummm... not so much.
At least in my case, what came out of it was Mandrake / Mandriva. If XP hadn't been so much of a hassle when it came yo upgrading my hardware, I never would have had to look at alternatives!
So be sure to thank Microsoft for making Linux more popular! - dcherryholmes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9It's been said a million times, but I guess it merits repeating: you don't need to use a command line to do much of anything anymore, at least not the types of things the average end-user will want to do. It's just that, if you are going to help somebody install or configure some software over the net, it is far more precise to say "cut and paste this line of text into a terminal" than it is to verbally navigate them through menus and mouse clicks. The fact that linux detractors willfully overlook the fact that you can do it either way, as suits your tastes, and that this is a great strength of linux, really pisses me off.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13yeah, because vista made a change in licensing UBUNTU is what i should use instead. What kind of crap is that, there are a million different distros, sure ubuntu is user friendly- but no more user friendly than suse or mandriva. It's coming from a site with just a LITTLE ubuntu bias.
- dcherryholmes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I think calling you a "dumbass" was way out of line, and I dugg that down. But I'm having a hard time seeing your complaint as genuine. Copying and pasting obviously isn't a problem.... people do it with URL's, email addresses, and bits of text documents on windows all the time. So, the main problem was that you didn't know where to go to find the terminal application? How hard could you have really tried? You mentioned something in one of your posts about how windows is more intuitive, so let's just work from there. Well, the terminal is an application..... let's see.... there's a menu that says "Applications". Was getting that far hard or easy (honest question..... I suppose some people would find it a challenge but at some point you have to stop holding the OS responsible for difficulties). OK, now we have our applications. From here, I could see that it could be a little confusing, but there's only 8 or so menu entries for sub-categories of Applications, and not that many apps in each category installed by default. Also, you should have been able to rule out several right off the bat, e.g. it isn't a Game, and it's probably neither an Internet app or a Sound/Video, or a Graphic app. The likely categories I could see would be Accessories, Programming (from a new's POV), or System Tools. Turns out it's Accessories, and it's labeled "Terminal".
So, I don't want to call you stupid, and I don't want to call you a liar. But there are a lot of astroturfers and trolls and willfully biased fanboys out there. I think there are things that are legitimately unintuitive and hard about linux still, and if you'd complained about any number of those I would not call you on it. But to say "finding the terminal was hard" just sounds like somebody looking for an excuse to diss it. - daedal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Alright guys, I think we all understand that there's an application that allows you to easily download new software. Please stop the redundancy; I must have simply missed it. Fatas, you get a cookie for calling me a dumbass though. Congratulations.
However (oh yes, there's a however), telling me "not to think like a Windows user" doesn't seem logical. Basically, OSS is trying to get people to drop Windows and switch over to Linux, or at least it was in my case. 'Switch' being the keyword, of course people will be thinking like Windows users. And yes, I know some of you are Uber-Linux guys and have always been working with it, and hell I respect that but I'm not and as a newcomer, the transition to Ubuntu wasn't as straightforward as I expected. So you can moan and wine (oooh, wordplay) at me all you want but that's my opinion. If you have something tangent to add or something I may have missed, then please do say so. If not, I'm done with this and the fanboys can mod me down some more. - CoolWind, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12@Mejogid : "And then, when you've learnt how to type, you may even find..."
When you learn not to talk down to people then you'll begin to be an effective communicator. Some of us PREFER a GUI interface over a command line interface for MANY many valid reasons. You happen to be too dense to appreciate the difference. Dugg down. - wastern, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11sure, there are lots of apps for linux, but not all the ones I want to use...photoshop, iTunes, etc.
Granted most of the apps I use are cross platform, free or open source. But there are those few killer apps that will make me go to one platform over another in certain situations. And of the average user they won't know the names or know where to look. They won't know what Gimp, Gaim, frostwire, even Gnome mean.....
I have 2 macs, 2 linux, and one XP (as of 12 hours ago...hadn't used it in over a 2 years at home). Each has its strenghts and weeknesses - FallibleDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9You're thinking like a windows user. Windows does it the stupid way. Just go to the menu, choose the software manager (Synaptic, but I think it's also labelled "Software manager" or "package manager" or something really obvious like that), run it, and choose the software you want. Think of it as the Add/Remove windows components thing in windows, but for all the software you'll ever need, instead of just what microsoft sees fit to make it easy to get at. Software from LOTS of companies (not just ubuntu themselves) is in there, and installable at the click of a mouse. You DON'T go searching websites; it's all there for you. However, there are extra packages you can add to the list en masse. You do this by adding "repositories". Just add a single repository line, which tells your package manager about a new software website, and then the app will find thousands of new programs listed on that site.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"Ubuntu does what those other distros did not.
They made people feel welcome"
This is not true.
Other Linux forums do make people feel welcome and are very helpful: including SUSE,
Linspire/Freespire and PCLinux.
Lurk on their forums for a few weeks and you will see what I mean. - jsusanka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I tried windows but it didn't have the software that I was use to - like it didn't come with office, ssh, apache web server, perl - python - zope middleware, firefox web browser, application firewall security (i.e apparmor, selinux) , and only one desktop environment that was very limited in how I could modify it. I don't use my computer as a glorified xbox I actually use it to store and retrieve information so I need a reliable and secure platform at a reasonable price.
so I switched back to linux. - nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6note to Windows users who aren't part of "the masses": I know there are computer savvy people who like and use Windows, I am not talking about you here so don't be offended. I realize there are legitimate reasons to like and use Windows and I don't fault you for it. The people I am talking about are the ones who confuse their GBs of memory with their GBs of disk, then ask what the difference between memory and storage is.
- bitswapper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Fast enough to use, stable enough to use regularly. I put XP on a not-so-old thinkpad, and with all that and the obligitory AV, it crawls so slow I feel like drilling my teeth.
- SteveMax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I found the complete opposite. The Ubuntu community was the worst one I've seen, specially if compared to Gentoo and Slackware.
Any kind of criticism about the distro is met with anger, if it's not simply deleted from forums. The users' elitism (as seen on this article, which implies that Ubuntu is the only alternative to Windows Vista) is even worse than Debian: Debianers at least give some reasons to be elitists. The Ubuntu fanboy are plainly irritating.
I know I'll get buried for this, but it has to be said. You may be attracting some users, but you're losing others. - juraj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5More like communism.
(just kidding! just kidding! I'm writing this in firefox running on dapper! and I dugg you!) - rootcomputing, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The thing that gets me is the people who feel that Linux is too hard. "Well I would switch if it was easier..." Come on now, last time I checked when I found something new I had to take the time to learn it or at least let the information sink in. I use ubuntu on my server and have another box that I use daily. No one says anyone has to switch.
The author does make a good point though. These restrictions as far as not being able to move your OS to another system is pretty ridiculous. For those complaining though, you have no right. If you have a illegal copy how is that anyone else's fault, either you pay for a copy or you don't. No one can complain about prices when in fact there are FREE options out there. Good ones at that.
Linux isn't for everyone, that's why a good portion of the users continue to use Windows. For the longest time I had a problem with Microsoft and their techniques, but I their nothing more then another corporate America company. Out to get your money, but their doing it well. If you're willing to learn something new, Linux is it. Well worth it. - rorian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Isn't this just as good an argument to continue with WinXP as to use Ubuntu? Honestly, the only thing that the new EULA makes me think is that I don't want to use Vista.
Of course, Ubuntu is free, runs well, finds all my hardware properly and has thousands of cool apps, especially for software development and general hackery / tinkering that I find so fun on PCs. If only it had a really good Softice clone, I'd use it forever :) - puffarthur, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I am sorry but when I open the "add applications" in Ubuntu, I do NOT see a list of every piece of software ever made for Ubuntu or that I could want. I have to go around looking for what repositories to add and then figure out how to add them, and that isn't all that convenient or noobie user friendly. People always forget to mention this. They always respond with a blanket statement "durr just go to add application and choose the app you want! whole world at your fingertips!"
- truck87bp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5My Windows friends, Here is all you have to do.....you know the old computer sitting in the closet, get it out, load Ubuntu on it, play with it for a while every now an then and learn its basics. If your have a wired router at home, it hooks to the net automatically if your already on line with windows with your new machine.
Then, when MS decides to kill XP like they are doing right now by stopping some free software from working on it, you will be somewhat educated on Linux and the switch won't be as painful as you thought. Already, my Linux machine has saved me once. It's not bad at all and if your like me, the gaming thing wears off in a few years and Ubuntu seems to do everything else just fine...except the microphone...somewhat problematic on "older equipment". Not a big deal if I finally make the switch to Linux.
Try it Mikey, hey Mikey likes it..... - Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Ubuntu has support because of its huge fanboy-base.....mainly because 75% of the users don't even know there are other options out there.
Then again numerous other distros have excellent support as well....Ubuntu's may appear "better" because it's larger.
Bigger != Better - Xinex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"I agree with the apps, but another thing: Linux needs to grab new users. For someone using Windows their whole life, Linux is not very easy to understand. They need to market Ubuntu or any other Linux distro to the older generation and make it easy to use."
Say it with me, Linux is not windows. It's not supposed to be and it's not trying to. There are some distros that make it easier to migrate, but they are not the same on purpose. There are definitely a few shortcomings in certain areas (graphical and a little usability), but these things are coming. -
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