wkowtv.com — this is the update to the earlier post about the girl that was so close to becoming a rocket scientist that she had to drop out of school because her laptop had Ubuntu on it. Now the problem is now all us Linux users out here that are just haters, make your own call on this.
Jan 15, 2009 View in Crawl 4
wicketrJan 16, 2009
If this girl is an "idiot" because she doesn't understand Ubuntu and the fact that Office and Verizon software can't work on the OS natively, then I'd venture to guess that 90% of the population is "idiotic" by your standards.
biznarieJan 19, 2009
The breakdown of the OS's? ok maybe market share but the linux install base is much more then just computers sold with linux.
andrewfennJan 19, 2009
I think it depends upon where you go. If your experience is based on news websites and debating then you're probably going to encounter more unfriendly people then you would in the communities themselves. I've never seen bad people on the Ubuntu forums or wine mailing lists for example and there really are some smart and funny people out there.You must understand that there are over 10 million (pulled out the air) Ubuntu users. You can't just group them all under one banner and make a blanket statement saying they're all bad.
squashpupJan 19, 2009
Wow. Everyone dropped the ball on this one. BTW, before anyone gets angry at me, let me say, of the four computers in my house, only one runs Windows (in a dual boot that is rarely used). All run Ubuntu/Debian or variants thereof.First, the girl dropped the ball for not getting help. If I paid a bunch for a computer, I would be insisting that someone at Dell help me get it going, especially if they told me it would work. And if it didn't, I'd be taking it back. A computer is a lot of money. She should be getting what she thought she was paying for.Second, for Dell making it seem like no big deal to transition to Linux. It is. That's not to say it's hard, because it isn't. But, the time to learn a new OS is NOT at the beginning of a semester when there is important work to be done. I wouldn't put a person on a Mac at the beginning of a period where they needed to do a lot of computer intensive activities, either. But, plain and simple, if this girl was sold Ubuntu when she was expecting Windows. Not only does this not help the girl, it doesn't help Linux either. The last thing I would want to do is put Linux in the hands of someone who might struggle with it, then abandon them to try to figure it out themselves. Granted, there are a lot of people out there who could have helped her, but how would she even know who to ask? Third, the journalists who covered the story. This isn't Ubuntu's fault. Ubuntu, in the hands of someone who knew what to do, could have done what she wanted it to do. But, when you read a line like "Ubuntu contains Linux", you just want to smack your forehead.Fourth, and this one is the most important, because this is the one that we actually have control over....the reaction of Linux users to the girl. Shameful. I think Linux users have gotten so used to doing things one way that now, it seems easy to them, and they can't understand why other people might not be able to get it. I can understand being upset at the media, but being upset at the girl isn't excusable. I can say that coming from Windows to Linux is not something that can just be done in a day, and if someone told me I had to get important work done on my first day, I'd have been screwed too. Fifth, Digg users that echo the "she's an idiot" statement in this thread. Give it a rest already. These are the same people who later say, "This is the year that Linux is accepted on the desktop!" then wonder why it doesn't happen.
kelchmJan 19, 2009
I realize its technically correct... I just found the wording a bit awkward. On top of that it could be easily misinterpreted by the average reader.
keegangraysonJan 19, 2009
and it was a bad article, not news, and she should have been responsible for herself... let's stop with the freebies
incubiJan 20, 2009
Well, after atheist fanboys. If you can call them fanboys.
bzaksJan 22, 2009
I'm a little late in the running, but that was not an update.. the was basically the TV station saying we're a bunch of jerks for harassing this girl for giving our **** bad publicity.
bittergourdchnFeb 7, 2009
i wouldn't blame her for not being able to use ubuntu. i was a pure noob a few years back. but i do consider myself stupid if i ignore the obvious, much easier alternative that will quickly solve the problem.
bittergourdchnFeb 7, 2009
"can you give me a free copy of windows?... no no, you don't understand. i already paid for the computer... get me a windows, or i will tell the story to the local news..."
bicepMay 12, 2009
Totally felt your pain... and then found a way to fix it:<a class="user" href="http://www.humans-enabled.com/2007/06/verizon-dsl-doesnt-support-linux.html">http://www.humans-enabled.com/2007/06/verizon-dsl- ...</a>