Technology Today: Linux — A new user’s review
I have been a Microsoft user for a majority of my life. I started out with a 66 megahertz computer running MS-DOS on a very fancy black and green monitor. However, I recently became a self-proclaimed Linux lover. For those of you who might not know, Linux is an open source operating system that competes with Microsoft Windows and Apple’s OS X. My first experience with Linux left me with a bad taste in my mouth, but the distribution of Linux known as Ubuntu 7.10 (aka “Gutsy Gibbon”), the version prior to the current version of Ubuntu, has impressed me enough to convince me to completely switch my personal computer to Linux. It has been a fascinating adventure, and I’ve learned a lot about the inner workings of my computer.
Even though I work in the technology industry, I have never considered myself to be a “real” computer geek, and I feel this puts me in a good position to review Linux from the perspective of a less technical, more typical PC user.
Pros:
Customizable:
Linux is highly customizable. Unlike Windows and Mac, you have total control over the user interface. I have my desktop setup to look like a mash-up of Mac and Windows, taking the best from both interfaces, while my mom’s Linux laptop is setup to look and feel almost exactly like Windows. There are numerous websites you can download themes from, or you can use the customization tools to create your own. It also has a lot of built-in “eye candy” so you can make your computer as flashy or plain as your heart desires, all controlled by simple on/off switches.
Price:
Ubuntu Linux is absolutely free. There is no astronomical licensing fee as with Windows or Mac, and a majority of the programs available to run on Linux are also free. This is made possible because Linux is an open source program. This means the source code or backend is open to programmers to use and manipulate and is not created for profit. The open source nature of Linux also allows for free software, because developers don’t have to pay fees to access the source code when creating their software.
Program Installation:
Installing programs on Linux is an absolute breeze. There is a very easy to use program that comes standard with Ubuntu called Synaptic Package manager, which allows you to search for programs by name and install them with the click of a button. It also manages dependent programs and ensures that they are installed at the same time. This makes adding new programs quick and painless. And because Linux is open source, there are a wide variety of programs available that will allow you to do nearly anything you could ever want.
Updates/Support:
Because Linux is constantly under development, it is constantly being improved and updated. As new features become available or security updates are completed you are notified and installation is as simple as clicking a button. Also, Linux has an amazing online support community. Because the primary users of Linux are members of the technology community, there is an abundance of people who have experienced and solved problems that might arise.
VirtualBox/ wine:
Using a combination of VirtualBox, a program used to run virtual instances of operating systems, and wine, a program that allows you to run Windows programs natively in Linux, I am able to run any Windows programs I still find necessary. While I have found open source programs to replace a lot of my Windows applications, there are still a few that I rely on, including Microsoft Money, Picasa, Adobe Photoshop, and Dreamweaver. Having Virualbox and wine allows me to have the best of both worlds.
Stability:
Linux is an amazingly stable operating system. It is a rare occasion that I have to restart my computer, and unlike Windows, Linux rarely crashes. I have been able to leave my computer up and running for months at a time with no loss of resources.
Cons:
Compatibility:
Because Linux is an open source program as opposed to a commercial offering by a large corporation, there are sometime compatibility progoblems. Often new programs and applications are not developed for Linux in the first round of production, if ever. While there are usually open source alternatives available, sometimes you just want to use a program you are familiar with that has all the features you are looking for. In addition to compatability issues with software, sometimes very new or vendor-specific hardware is not as well supported. However, common or even older hardware is usually very easy to use with Linux.
Availability:
For non-computer-geeks, migrating to Linux can be difficult. While it is becoming more common, Linux is not often installed on computers from the manufacturer. This leaves users to intall the new operating system themselves or with the help of their local computer geek. For someone who operates from the “plug-and-play” mentality, installing your own operating system can be very overwhelming.
Learning Curve:
For Windows users especially, Linux is a very different operating system. It is based on a different file structure, which can make navigating the folders and files on your computer difficult at the beginning. With the myriad options that come with customizing your Linux install, it is also easy for new users to become overwhelmed. While it allows you to set up your user interface in just about any configuration you desire, it can be time consuming wading through all the options and deciding what works best for you.
Conclusion:
All in all I have been very impressed with Ubuntu Linux 7.10 and would recommend it to anyone who is willing to learn a new operating sytem. There was just recently a new version of Ubuntu released, 8.04, which improves further on the current iteration, and I hope to upgrade soon. I cannot imagine ever returning to Windows and look forward to the future as Linux becomes even better supported and more widespread.
June 8th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Good overview of Ubuntu Linux. This should help some newbies looking for info on what Linux is and what it’s strengths and weaknesses are.
We need more good, positive reviews of Linux, and less zealotry. Again, good review!
I’m a fairly long-time Linux user, started with Red Hat 5.1 back in May of 1999. I’ve used most major Linux distros over the years, and settled on Ubuntu back around the 5.10 days. As an FYI, I’m a computer professional, specializing in Unix and Linux.
June 8th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Good article, might push a few people over to the linux side. To me it all comes down to comfort. People tend to not want to leave their comfort zone and will put up with the MS problems/quirks. I’ve tried keeping tabs on how often I have to hit up google on a windows problem compared to googling a linux problem and the gap is narrowing considerably. (side note: It may just be me, but I find the linux probs a lot easier to find solutions on most time compared to windows) I’m not a big ubuntu fan, but I do like people exploring other alternatives and seeing the power in using linux. Linux is what you make of it. If you take the time to tweak it to your needs, you’ll be pleasantly suprised. If you just want email and surfing, it may not be a big deal to you if you try it out.
June 8th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
You might be intersted in the Linux version of Picasa. http://picasa.google.com/linux/
June 8th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
@Carl - Sorry for the confusion, I am actually using Picasa for Linux, but it makes use of wine. Before they added the capability to upload to your Picasa album through Linux I was using it in windows, but now that they have added that feature I run it in Linux exclusively.
@MrChilly - I was very reluctant to switch over to Linux at first myself because Windows was familiar, but once I got a chance to play with it and set it up in a way that works best for me, I never wanted to go back. It is an amazingly dynamic operating system that seems to work well for a wide variety of people.
@Howard - Thank you! I am fairly new to *nix, but have really enjoyed learning to use it. It has been especially rewarding learning to compile programs from source code. It is a lot more fulfilling than just clicking install.
June 8th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Having started a first-of-its-kind business, that business being the installation of Linux on home and business computers, I commend you on your article. However, I need to make a point that may not be extremely popular with some.
It’s been my experience that the Brand New Linux User does better on other distros than the ‘Buntus. In that we install Linux on some fairly old hardware, we are finding bugs that the developers have ignored for two and in some cases three releases. When a computer refuses to operate at a resolution no higher than 800×600 on their old viewsonic 21 inch screen, then immediately “Linux sucks” We simply return and install another distro. And no…I won’t name the distos that are out-performing in the eyes of new users…I’m not here to start a flame war, only visit with kindred spirits.
The only reason we put Ubuntu or any derivative on the machine is because they asked for it. If they don’t want to listen to our warnings, we just put it on and hope for the best…and then return to install another distro when they find they don’t like it.
Without a bit of advertising, we are doing anywhere from two to ten installs a week. That’s not to include the installs we do for our charity via The HeliOS Project. In all though, the end justifies the means. Those with an intrepid spirit such as you will stick with the Ubuntu distro and slog it out…I salute you for doing so…and for helping others make the switch.
You might find an upcoming effort fairly interesting. We are converting and entire town. Sorry for the long url…we’re in the middle of fixing that.
http://faq.fixedbylinux.com-a.googlepages.com/lindependence2008-bringinglinuxtothemass
helios
June 8th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
>Installing programs on Linux is an absolute breeze.
Thank you.
I just read some idiotic article recently about how you had to know how to use the command line to do this.
Installing programs is TOO easy. My retired mother installed EVERY game she found in the repositories on her PCLinuxOS distro.
Good article for a newbie. Only thing I would do is mention to people that you can try most distros with a LiveCD which means they dont have to install anything. Telling someone ‘install this’ takes a big leap of faith, A LiveCD makes the leap small.
Maybe explain the three main choices for desktop GUI that come with Linux (KDE seems to be by far the favorite when I give Windows converts a chance to experiment. XCFE also but thats mainly because people want to give new life to their P2-P3’s.)
I think the difference in KDE and Gnome are really more dramatic than the difference between distros.
And you have to mention the eye candy like Compiz in one quick line because people see eye candy as some indication of bleeding edge technology.
June 8th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
What does it say about me (or whoever else) that the only thing that struck me differently was a feeling of incongruence when finally making the connection between the picture and the article? Well, ok, the blog title raised half an eyebrow as well.
Now it is sort of a well-established political uncorrectness that the intelligence bell curve for males is wider (more morons and more geniuses). However, computing has become so ubiquitous that one should think that 50% of females should easily fare better than 50% of the blokes that nowadays can be found meddling with computers.
And yet, the quotas are such that I get double-takes on something like that.
Sorry if this is not actually a response on your blog article but sort of an independent rant: you’ll probably not be overly surprised that quite similar reports have been commonplace for a long time. They are not really exciting when one does not actually know the person in question.
For example, the monstrous editing platform “Emacs” has had its share of users without any computing or mathematical background do amazing things. And when you digged into the background of the people, you’ll invariably find them to be linguists or specialists in ancient philology.
There is seemingly more than one sure-fire way to warp one’s brain.
June 8th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I dumped Windows years ago, because the “comfort zone” was becoming more and more uncomfortable:
Every three months or so Windows torpedoed itself requiring a reinstall, and a reinstall of all the other software which was a two week exercise.
Every time Windows had to be reinstalled all MY music that paid for and I ripped from MY CDs with Windows Media Player were unusable and had to be ripped again. Thanks a lot DRM.
Paying the yearly security tax from Symantec that also made the system run slower.
Three months was my threshold for pain. It was when Windows killed itself a week after having been reinstalled that I called it quits.
June 8th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Great article, and I am happy that you are enjoying Linux, and the corresponding freedom from the use of Microsoft and collaborator products. Your choice of Ubuntu was excellent, as a beginner-friendly distro that is easy to use. The other great thing about it (contrary to some other’s opinions) is what you experienced when you went to install new software - the extensive on-line software library in the repositories! I think Ubuntu/Kubuntu have the largest list of free software for any distro, and that is a huge advantage to running it right there. And this is not mentioning the fact that running the most popular distro also means the largest user base contributing tips and step-by-step how-2’s to the help forums, which gives you basically instant access to information on doing anything with your new Linux computer. As an ex-Windows user, you may find that the KDE desktop (Kubuntu) is more what you are used to when you upgrade to 8.04.
I have used Linux (many distributions) for over 5 years, and usually run Kubuntu on my main machine and laptops as a great all-purpose reliable OS. OpenSuse makes a great open source home or small business server (Samba, NFS) which plays nice with Windows and Linux systems, if you are interested in NOT using a buggy and insecure Windows Home Server. Your choice of VirtualBox as a virtualiztion product is also a good one…from my own experience it seems like one of the best.
Thanks again for the great article.
Don
June 8th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Thanks. This was a refreshing article.
Regarding the high level definition of what is open-source software. I am not aware of such official definition. I would describe open-source software are «raw material», that many of us help out in developing, whether it is individuals or employed programmers. The premise of open-source software is that anyone can use it without restriction to make products or provide services, without having to pay royalties/licenses.
If one has the skills, they can go all the way and have everything for free. However, this does not preclude the commercial use of open-source software, as many companies do (Sun, IBM, Redhat, Novell, and many more).
Open-source software makes basic software a commodity, which is good for the economy.
June 8th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
it’s great for you that you started that late… the 66mhz machine with the green monitor (hercules) is years after years newer than the very first pc-s. i used to have a 4.77mhz xt (8086, not even 8088) machine running msdos 1, no 2.0, but still had a color graphic (cga) card and monitor. ram was great too (512kb!
lol - of course, there was no windows by that time and you had to save the source code editor buffers quite often because the machine would often crash (with memory parity error). every single time (after a reboot) you needed to enter the date… qute, huh? 
well, those times are long gone (you should have seen the mainframes before, runing nt kernel grand father - rsx 11)
so, i’m not gonna argue for an operating system or another (i know better now after all these years) but i would actually argue for something way more important. and that is… BE HAPPY! use what you like best and don’t forget to LIKE IT
BE HAPPY,
Daniael
June 8th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
My recommendation: stick with Ubuntu 7.10 until they have release the next point release. It is quite buggy at the moment, for many people it is inferior to 7.10 in terms of functionality (but these issues will soon be solved)
June 8th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
As a Writer/Blogger who loves linux and dabbles in it often, I have to say that Ubuntu is NOT the best Linux distro available. The three best Linux distros now available are Fedora 9 (the evolution of Red Hat Linux, fedoraproject.org,) Debian 4 (Ubuntu is based on it, debian.org,) and openSUSE 11 (the basis for SUSE Enterprise Linux.) I highly recommend both new users and veterans to use one of these great distros rather than Ubuntu. My blog is at linuxglobe.wordpress.com, if ANYONE would like a Starter Kit based on Fedora 9 or openSUSE 11, please contact me, I will mail a CD to you, if you live in USA!!! I can only send 2 a week, so just leave a mailing address with your name and address, and within a couple of weeks, you WILL have your own Fedora 9 or openSUSE Live CD that will let you try out LINUX without installing it! This is my way of giving back to schools, libraries, and small businesses who care about the future of America! I plan on finding other Writers who want to try out Linux and write about it. The ultimate goal is within a year or so, a print magazine will be published in North America for $5 an issue with a FREE Live CD attached.
Vote this November and Support Open Source Software!!!
June 8th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
the site to download openSUSE is at opensuse.org, sorry for not writing that before…
June 8th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
I made the jump from XP to Gutsy, been happy ever since. Customizable and fast is why I stayed. Gnome-look.org is a great site for tweaking your look just how you want it.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:48 am
For an replacement of Microsoft Money use Gnucash (http://www.gnucash.org/) also available in the repositories. Once you have used it you will never go back to Money. It’s excellent.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:15 am
I use Ubuntu because i have many packages in the repositories,the apt package manager and because of comunity support. If i will change from Ubuntu i will try Debian or Debian based distribution that have many and updated packages. This is what is the best for me, for others Fedora or OpenSuse or Mandriva or any other distro can make them happy.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:35 am
@ helios and @Markus McLaughlin
I find it strange that some of you just can’t get it through your heads that new to Linux users find Ubuntu easy to use. How many reviews by new users of Ubuntu do you have to read before it sinks in? Anit-Ubuntu posters show up at just about every Ubuntu article written. They always know that is better than Ubuntu. Or that the latest version of Ubuntu is buggy (it’s not - I’m using it in an office environment without issues).
Please just go and write your own articles about your favorite distro and leave the happy Ubuntu users alone.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:35 am
I fell in love with real computing on various UNIX GUI workstations back in the mid 80s, and didn’t use an x86 until Slackware on a multiple floppy install on a 386 back in ‘93.
At the time it was a real geek system, but could still offer a GUI interface light years ahead of Windows 3.1. I used it with the GIMP and a SCSI scanner, and could get fvwm to give me enough desktops with zero edge resistance to stretched a scanned in graphic so that one screen pixel equaled one scanned dot.
This was a huge advantage over any other system as one could see the effects of shading on the real image before printing, instead of the compressed version shown on a Windows PC. Add that to the fact that Linux and the GIMP were free, and that costly test print outs were unnecessary, and apart from my glee at the superior GUI, I had excellent cost benefit reasons to dump Win3.1.
These days I refurbish older hardware with Linux for the digital divide. I have a nice machine at home where I can use installed versions of the latest distributions. I also install versions in a VirtualBox with limited RAM and Video memory so that I can see how they may perform on older hardware. Lastly I test the systems, using 10 of my non geek relatives aged from 10 to 70, to see how easy they are for uninformed users.
RedHat used to be the one they all liked, then SUSE, then Mandriva, but since Feisty Fawn, Ubuntu has been the favourite. And what are six reason why they prefer it?
1. They can install it themselves on their friends machines in seven easy steps and feel really smart.
2. The package manager never complains about. missing libraries when they click apply.
3. From the user oriented Add/Remove tool, they can install codecs to play all their media.
4. The Add/Remove tool has rating stars and easy categories to find new stuff.
5. There are 23,000 packages shown in the manager.
6. They like the jungle drums when they turn it on.
As you can see, all of the above are just the sort of thing you would expect uninformed newbies to notice.
For the initial test I install each distro as dual boot with Windows. After 2 weeks of testing Ubuntu, everyone got me to delete Windows. They had not requested this with any other distro. This is why I install Ubuntu on my digital divide machines.
One of them did install KDE after about a month of GNOME but it didn’t give them services they were used to on GNOME so that got un-installed. Obviously what you get used to as a newbie is what you stick with.
Funnily enough, they used to email me about problems they were having, but since Ubuntu, they email me after they have solved it. The only time I got a call was to install the drivers for an Epson MFP scanner. They even got their iPods going themselves.
I think Ubuntu is doing me out of a job.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:01 am
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ubuntu-help/85685-ubuntu-nightmare.html#post433364
And herein lies the problem with Linux…the “distro wars” are more damaging than anything Microsoft can levy against us. Instead of jumping up and defending something out of blind loyalty, you should be banging on the developer’s ears to fix some of these long standing problems. Really nasty, show-stopper problems. Sure, you didn’t encounter any from the sounds of it, but man, you should see our complaint logs…70 percent of them are Ubuntu-based. Complaints we just don’t get with the other two distros we install commonly.
You will note I took great pains not to compare one distro over another. My intent was not an attack against Ubuntu, rather a simple observation that needs examination.
Again, between our HeliOS Project which supplies Linux computers and internet services to under-privileged kids and our HeliOS Solutions enterprise, I personally install 40-60 systems a month and I am here to tell you that Ubuntu gets more complaints and return tech support calls (read replacement OS installations) than any other distro. Fix these persistent problems and then Ubuntu will merit the praise you and so many are ready to heap upon it…the numbers don’t lie.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I gotta agree with this helio guy. While I don’t have the experience he(?) has, I can relate to his experiences step by step. I have to give Ubuntu credit though…if I hadn’t heard aboiut Ubuntu, I wouldn’t be a linux user today. Getting into the Linux community gave me the chance to find out about better distros, hence my use of Mandriva. I guess it’s all in what works for you but if I hadn’t been consentrating on ditching Windows, the problems I encountered with Ubuntu would have driven me back to Microsoft.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Not to take anything away from this fine blog, I will compare distros for newbies:
Ubuntu - very popular and the latest release always has almost the most recent features. This is very convenient for newbies and helpful because a working Ubuntu system is quite comfortable compared to a mal-ware-infested/sluggish system running that other OS. Ubuntu is released on schedule which may mean it has more bugs than other distros which are released when ready, so to speak.
Debian - less popular distribution on which Ubuntu is based. Most of the code in Ubuntu comes from Debian who get it from thousands of FLOSS developers. Debian comes in several flavours: testing which is similar to Ubuntu in features ( and bugs), and stable (tested about two years, lately) are popular. Stable tends to have very few bugs because they are mostly fixed in the testing stage. Debian is a cooperative product of the world and runs on many types of hardware, old and new, PPC, AMD64, x86, Sparc, etc.
Mandriva - very popular in Europe and South America but used all over the world.
Fedora - the testing distro for RedHat which has recently declared less interest in the desktop, but very smooth and widely used.
and hundreds more with particular areas of interest or philosophies that may appeal to the newbie. This wide choice is great for the newbie who feels that other OS is impersonal/bloated/unresponsive. They can find a distro that suits them and how they use a PC. see http://distrowatch.com
My favourite is Debian. I like the social contract at http://www.debian.org and the world-wide organization. It is very open. See http://bugs.debian.org/release-critical . Users of that other OS probably cannot imagine life with so few bugs in 20000 packages on a dozen architectures.
A newbie should kick the tires and try to find the distro that suits them. Many distros are easy to install and to use. These days, many PCs come with GNU/Linux installed so installation is no problem at all.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:45 am
>> http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ubuntu-help/85685-ubuntu-nightmare.html#post433364
>> And herein lies the problem with Linux ….
I read the thread. The impression I get is that Ubuntu is going a bit fast and leaving behind little bugs.
The case there involved at least two issues.
[A guess:] Both probably came from scripts (config file generators) that dumped the wrong info into the config files they were building up. In one case, probably stderr or something like that was piped along with stdout into the beginning of the sudoers file. Sudoers is a config file for sudo.. which is one aspect of Ubuntu that is not shared by most other distros hence the lack of peer review. Stdout is just the name used within programs to send their output into a well-known location. Here the idea was probably to dump the contents of the file into “stdout” which would be “attached” to the sudoers file. However, it’s not that difficult to have errors effectively also be sent along to stdout (when stdout == stderr). These apparently were stuffed into the very beginning of the config file, making it unreadable.
The other case involved a corrupted etc/hosts file. This file is important for anything that has to do with network connectivity, which is a lot and includes frequent activities like installing packages from the Internet or browsing the web. Also potentially affected are many other things you don’t even notice because you don’t need a real network for these things but Linux handles them as if an internal network existed.
Both of these are very important config files that you don’t want corrupted because they affect almost everything on a Ubuntu system. The positive of this is that these are simple to read configuration text files, so many people can help find and fix the problems (in fact, this mini guess is only possible because someone printed out the contents of those files and I could take a good guess; with Windows, you need Monopolysoft Employee Clearance or 10 PHDs to perhaps possibly maybe solve the problem).
The sudo example might hint at why Ubuntu has so many little issues (I don’t use it, but I’m going by some of the comments I see). When you mess up anything that has to do with sudo, you can greatly affect the ability to use the system. The alternatives to sudo are better established and more commonly used in nonUbuntu Linux systems. Su is proven and simple. Root is well-established/core and well-maintained. sudo is niftier (and *arguably* safer) but more complex and less used, hence, the greater problems with it.
For those that didn’t read the thread, the conclusion was a happy ending, and I think the person with the issues was surprised and happy (perseverance paid off).
Perhaps the main problem with Ubuntu is that people think Ubuntu=Linux. Shuttleworth and co might like that some, but it’s not healthy. Ubuntu is not Linux. As long as people realize there is a lot more to Linux than just Ubuntu, everything will be fine.
To the author of the blog (aka, owner of “admin” account?): It’s a GREAT point you made in the comments about compiling from source being interesting (empowering). Not that people should be forced to resort to that, but it’s great to have that power so accessible and so relatively easy to accomplish for any application. The next step is to actually change the source code around some, before compiling/building, to see what happens.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:57 am
>> hence the lack of peer review
I didn’t mean that. I meant “the diminished amount of peer review (as compared to other *nix features used more widely).”
Those behind sudo really like it. It essentially adds more flexibility to administration for Linux (more flexible access control lists), but the cost over the status quo is more complexity. Similarly, SELinux adds flexibility and power but also a lot of complexity, so it is used even less than sudo.
Canonical and friends are trying to help develop a sudo approach more. This may/should have long-term benefits but will mean short-term that Ubuntu will be more unstable than say Debian with which it does share a lot of things (but not the pervasive sudo approach).
June 9th, 2008 at 11:59 am
>> To the author of the blog (aka, owner of “admin” account?):
Just noticed the beckymckimmy domain… d’oh!
June 9th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Thanks for the excellent article.
I started using Linux in 1995 and moved exclusively to Linux in 2001.
Sometimes it’s easy to take the Linux advantages for granted until you are faced with running Windows again (where are the other desktops).
I routinely have 6 desktops occupied by multiple Internet browsers (each have multiple open tabs), a word processor, a media player (TV, video, music or streaming content), a bittorrent client, a couple filesystem browsers/editors, a number of open terminals (running command line applications) and IRC/IM clients - try running HALF that load on a Windows OS on 5 year old hardware!
Enjoy the journey,
Bar
June 9th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Having used Linux for 11 years I had grown comfortable with three concepts:
1) KDE is better than GNOME
2) GNOME is infected with MONO (a.k.a. .NET)
3) GNOME will drive newbies away from Linux because it lacks adequate mimes.
Your article proves that #1 is just a choice. But, I still prefer KDE
I proved to myself by checking 800 some configs in the GNOME tree that MONO was not required for Ubuntu to run.
Your article destroyed my last … shall I say prejudice. However, I still prefer KDE based distros, my favorite being PCLinuxOS 2008 MiniMe, but I will no longer disparage Ubuntu.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
@helios
If you look at the first posting on the link you referenced you will find the reason that person had such a problem. He/she used automatix. It is well noted all over the web that automatix will most likely mess up your Ubuntu install. So, that link is not an example of problems with Ubuntu. I have installed Ubuntu (not Kubuntu) on numerous systems and other than the expected issues with some wireless chipset have had almost no trouble with it.
In fact almost all the systems I have installed are using the 64 bit version with low trouble rates. And everyone knows that 64 bit versions have the most problems. Even Skype gives me video conferencing.
Now, if memory serves me you are a fan of KDE. Please correct me if that is not so. I wonder how many of the “Ubuntu” instalsl you have done where people had such issues were related to using Kubuntu rather than Ubuntu?
I don’t agree with having Linux distro wars. The whole point of my posting was to comment on how every article written by someone using Ubuntu seems to get comments saying they are using a distribution that is not for newbies. And yet so many of these article are by Linux newbies. And they have succeeded. Why tell them they should look for a different distribution if they can use what they have?
June 9th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
And I would also like to add my congratulations on a good article.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
[…] Technology Today: Linux — A new user’s review All in all I have been very impressed with Ubuntu Linux 7.10 and would recommend it to anyone who is willing to learn a new operating sytem. […]
June 9th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
>> If you look at the first posting on the link you referenced you will find the reason that person had such a problem. He/she used automatix.
I noticed that too yet didn’t make the connection that this might have been what polluted the config files instead of Ubuntu proper being the culprit.
It’s funny/sad because I think the person (KevL) was resolving the problem and decided once again install automatix. http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ubuntu-help/85685-ubuntu-nightmare-2.html#post433449 This threw me off, thinking that perhaps automatix wasn’t the problem since the thread died soon thereafter.
“pcdoctor” also went through headaches with Ubuntu installation. One problem there was supposedly a Google Earth installation (which I think would be closed source and maybe even running on wine).
Another thing to mention is that this event occurred over a year ago. In the Linux world, that is the equivalent of roughly one and a half ice ages.
Compare gasoline prices then to now. YMMV .. or more accurately .. your milage WILL vary.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Great blog post Becky. I’m glad that you finally warmed up to Linux. I remember when I first told you that you should give it a try and you were still pretty leery of it. You’ve come quite a ways since then.
It seems that everyone has a preference when it comes to the KDE vs. Gnome debate. I’ve used both and as a relatively technologically savvy person who was not that familiar with either I found my experiences to be comparable. There were times with both I had issues I had to resort to the command line to fix, and each has its quirks when it comes to the programs that are a part of the desktop environment.
I think that both have made tremendous strides in usability for newbies, especially if they’re not looking to do anything more complex than a typical user that surfs the web, checks email, listens to music, and plays around with digital pictures.
I’m just glad to see that so many distros are making inroads with more “average” users and that Linux is finally starting to be seen as a viable alternative to closed-source operating systems.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
@self-proclaimed Linux lover:
Welcome to the world of Free and Open Source Software!
June 10th, 2008 at 3:02 am
Having changed over eight years ago, I have a good idea what you’re going through. Still, the world has changed quite a lot. We didn’t have Mplayer yet (only Xanim), KDE was only at 1.1 and Star Office wasn’t comparable to Open Office now.
I understand that you’re still using some Windows programs. Don’t worry, so did I for a while. I even needed a dual boot for some purposes. I can just recommend that you find Linux equivalents for your Windows programs and familiarize yourself with them task by task. E.g. resizing and cropping I did in PaintShop and I used the Gimp filters and tools. That may seem awkward (and it is), but it will allow you to get the work done and slowly switch to the Linux equivalents bit by bit.
80% functionality I had the first day and I crept up to 99.99% the following four years. What about those last tenth promille? Holland is still an MS shop and sometimes I need 100% MS compatibility for documents or presentations. There are a few DOS games and Windows 3.11 multimedia CDROMs that still don’t run under Linux (they wouldn’t under modern Windows as well ;-), but that is sustainable.
The nice thing about Linux is that you can take your entire computing history with you. I can still run ancient ZX Spectrum programs, DOS programs (DOSemu, DOSbox), Windows 3.11 (DOSbox and QEMU) with more than acceptable performance.
Good luck and get me an update when you’re one year running!
Hans Bezemer
June 10th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Good, balanced and down to earth review!
I have 6 (very different) boxes running Ubuntu 8.0.4 without any major issues so statements that Ubuntu is buggy do not accord with my (admittedly still limited) experience.
I have also been a regular bug reporter for developmental versions of Ubuntu over the past 4 years (roughly 200 bugs reported). My experience has been that all critical/show stopping bugs have been attended to. In my experience only minor or upstream bugs have been ignored. I have also had a very positive experience in interacting with the developers. Many times I have tried new kernel versions or recompiled source code and have had that effort rewarded by developers patching the kernel or upgrading source to remove problems.
One thing about Ubuntu has been the enormous interest from newbies. This has been good overall for linux in my opinion but it has tended to overwhelm the developers on the QA side. The number of bug reports by non technical and frustrated users on launchpad can be a daunting experience for developers.
My only criticism of Ubuntu developers is that some can be rather elitist/ivory tower/rude toward new users. Perhaps that is connected to my previous point.
June 10th, 2008 at 8:28 am
@helios - I had one of those “Linux sucks” moments when I was first introduced to Linux, I believe it was an old version of Mandriva, but Ubuntu 7.10 has really blown me away.
@Rob - Good call. I had meant to mention the live cds but neglected to do so. I actually started out playing with Ubuntu that way and once I decided I liked it installed in on my computer.
@Don - I have really loved being able to find so many useful programs and easily install them on my computer. And since I run VirtualBox in seamless mode on its own desktop, I usually forgot I am even in Windows.
@burt - Thanks for the recommendation. I will definitely check that out. I tried Money Dance but ended up just going back to Microsoft Money.
@Cabreh - Since I am relatively new to the online Linux community I was surprised by the, as you say, Anti-Ubuntu outcry. I am a big fan and recommend it to as many people as I can. I even convinced my mom to switch over. It really is very user friendly and great for a new user. Thanks for your comments.
@jose_X - My name is Becky as I see you noticed from my URL. I need to go in and update my blog so it actually says my name as opposed to Admin…Thanks for reminding me.
@GreyGeek - I am glad to hear my article had a positive effect on the Ubuntu community. I haven’t yet had time to checkout any of the other distros, but as a newbie I loved Ubuntu. Thanks for your comments!
@SirYes - Thank you! I have been amazed by the response I have gotten so far. Despite the distro wars it seems like a very welcoming community.
@Hans - I have noticed myself switching over to Linux based programs little by little. However, there are a few programs like Dreamwever, I am a web designer, that I just can’t go without. Hopefully I will eventually be able to run programs like that in wine and not have to use my VirtualBox.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Very nice article.
However the *buntu’s are much more geared to moving from Mac.
After starting with ELX [pre lindows now linspire] the KDE is much more reflective of Windows.
Personally I install either MEPIS or PCLinuxOS on my customers equipment.
June 10th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I switched from XP to Xubuntu Hardy about six months ago. I used Fedora at uni while I was finishing my computer science degree so luckily I was already familiar with Linux.
At first I used a dual boot with XP because I missed a few Windows applications. It didn’t take long for me to get tired of booting into XP so I just let myself get used to Linux alternatives. Now there is nothing to entice me back to Windows. I don’t use any pirated software now since everything is available as open source if you look hard enough.
I changed to Linux because I was increasingly frustrated with m$ and their anti-piracy/DRM stance. Windows Update got more and more draconian. Then I had to start serving some Vista machines. That was the final straw. I love Linux now and could not ever go back.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Wonderful article and welcome to Linux. I do installs, and training for people in my little town in country Australia, most of the people I have running Linux (Mandriva, in my case) are 50 plus, mostly women. The feed back I get is that it’s really quite easy to use Linux, and the system seems much more stable than what they had before.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Hey Becky,
I love that you are now a syndicated columnist/blogger. There should be another job in there somewhere.
I remember when I got my first system with no OS loaded. All I had was a freeDOS disk and a will that I would learn how to use Linux. I started out with Mandrake and it worked pretty well except for the main thing I wanted it to do–connect to the campus LAN. I found with my version of ALSA I could not get my CD player to play audio CDs without another internal cable that Windows had solved with a software workaround.
I stubbornly continued with the help of my fraternity brothers, but my father bought me a copy of Windows because even he couldn’t believe I was unable to connect to the LAN. Since then Mandrake has become much better and has changed its name to Mandriva. I appreciate that it uses RPM Package Manager and KDE. I don’t think I could handle Linux without a package manager. From my investiagtions of Ubuntu, I yhave learned of its Synaptics Package Manager and that there are flavors that run KDE.
My biggest problems with Linux continue to be with audio and video. That might not sound like much, but since I use Skype and like to listen to podcasts they are important to me. Helix is still not as good as the Windows version of RealPlayer and I still don’t get along with ALSA very well.
Oh, I second the person who suggested GIMP. I love GIMP. As a professional I can see why you would use Photoshop, but for most functions GIMP works just as well.
Cheers,
Josie
June 17th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Hey awesome blog! Know anyone who would be interested in part time admin’ing a Linux box? Hit me up!
June 17th, 2008 at 3:49 am
great review and Congrats,
you have been featured in the Ubuntu weekly newsletter
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Issue95
June 17th, 2008 at 4:28 am
a few suggestions
it’s ok to use what you’re used to, but in case you’re looking for alternatives you can use linuxappfinder (has the biggest database)
http://linuxappfinder.com/alternatives
for photoshop replacement i use “Krita” (ps like interface) and gimp
also on the Cons “availability” and “learning curve”:
Installing Ubuntu is as easy as installing a windows program thanks to Wubi. Ubuntu 8.04 has “Wubi” included. Also, many videos on youtube.
To make the “learning curve” extremely easy i suggest you hand out Linuxmint (an ubuntu derivative, but easier for new users). It even comes with codecs by default.
http://www.linuxmint.com/
oh and remember that if it’s not in Synaptic, you can grab many programs at http://getdeb.net/
Cheers and enjoy your cup of ubuntu
June 19th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
[…] Les technologies d’aujourd’hui : Linux - Ce bloggeur est devenu un adorateur de Linux autoproclamé. Après la revue d’usage des pours et des contres, il ne retournerait sous Windowws pour rien au monde. […]
August 24th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I’m always into discussions on anything organic, so this read made me feel at home.
I’ll bookmark the site and subscribe to the feed!