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Ubuntu sucks. I hate Linux!
(Click here to watch my short video version.)
I slumped over my keyboard, frustrated and defeated. After an untold number of attempts, I finally came to the realization that I could not salvage my dying laptop with the tools at my disposal. Windows XP had become corrupted after numerous freezes and could not be booted, and my every attempt to copy the files was met with further freezes. Desperate, I turned to an operating system that to date I had never even contemplated based on what I had heard about it – Linux. I downloaded and burned a Live CD of Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron), and inserted it into the disk drive. I had no idea what was in store for me.
———-
I am a fairly technically-minded person; like many people who grew up playing computer games at a young age, I learned to both tweak my machine to eek out as much performance as possible, and play around with the nuts and bolts of my operating system (DOS, at the beginning) and my hardware. Computer gaming was, and remains to an extent, synonymous with being a computer geek, in that what drives computer game players to succeed in the games themselves tends to drive them to gain an edge through manipulation of their technical environment.
A gamer takes an avid interest in hardware and software because computers are not standard; they are built with different hardware that provides different performance and non-standard features, so software does not always work on all configurations. New games push the performance envelope, and thus the gamer is by necessity encouraged to become an expert on the latest hardware and software, and is financially incented to learn how to, if not build a machine from the ground up, at least be able to upgrade pieces of it by him or herself. As a part of this, gamers tend to take to new applications like fish to water, learning them by playing with them, in a process very similar to enjoying a new game.
So it was with relatively little trepidation that I approached running a new operating system for the first time. I learned DOS, Windows 3.1/95/98/NT/ME/2000/XP, and older versions of Mac O/Ss, so how hard could Ubuntu Linux be? My first experience was a positive one, from the standpoint of someone using a new tool to accomplish a task – save my computer. The live CD of Hardy Heron had my dying Hewlett Packard Pavilion ZE2000 purring like a kitten, even running off of the CD Drive. I had no wireless, but I didn’t care because everything else worked perfectly; even viewing NTFS data without a hitch. I quickly salvaged all of my valuable data, stored it on an external drive, and began playing with the new OS. As a tech geek I loved the power at my fingertips, and as a PC owner I loved that my laptop stayed alive through the process, overnight, and into the next day. I decided then and there to install it and not look back.
As I shifted focus to evaluating Ubuntu from the standpoint of everyday use, my first impressions were very different. Tasks that I found to be very simple in Windows seemed very cryptic in Linux. A lot of things relied on the command line interface, or were actually easier to accomplish with the CLI than with the various graphical user interfaces also available. There was no commercial support available to me – to find help I joined a forum full of eager amateurs, but finding information when I didn’t know what I was looking for was like, if you will forgive the cliché, finding a needle in a haystack. Things often didn’t work straight away, and required tinkering within the terminal once specific instructions could be found to address the problem. Sadly, one of Linux’s greatest strengths, the fact that you can achieve one task in a myriad of ways and with a variety of different applications, left me feeling lost and confused. I had no direction, no idea where to start; I did, at one point, think “Ubuntu sucks, I hate Linux,†out of frustration.
There has been quite a bit of debate recently about whether or not Linux should become more like Windows. Linux is gaining some ground in a market in which it has not traditionally done well; on the desktops and laptops of more casual users. With the realization that it can indeed compete against Windows and Mac operating systems comes debate over how to grow its market acceptance. Observers have suggested that Linux development has to recognize its differences from Windows and bridge that gap. The Linux community has been understandably up in arms at this suggestion; Windows represents the antithesis of the open source movement, and the community wants to celebrate the differences between Linux and Windows rather than marginalize them.
On the other hand a strong argument can be made that the casual user won’t even bother to try Linux, much less adopt it, unless this gap is reduced: The argument is that Linux will never gain the market share it deserves unless developers acknowledge this. Each distrubtion of Linux has a different focus, and another strength of the community is that distributions become diversified, meeting different needs. Companies like Canonical (developers of Ubuntu) have recognized the Windows-Linux gap and are tailoring their distributions so that new users can more easily make the transition. There seem to be very few drawbacks to steering individual distributions toward a very Windows-like look and feel. If a Linux user does not want this Windows-like experience, there are plenty of distributions to meet their needs, including the ability to build their own Linux operating system from scratch.
I believe that asking “Should Linux become more like Windows?†is asking the wrong question. I think it is clear that Linux has never had a better opportunity than now to make huge strides in the market. With the abject failure of Windows Vista, Microsoft seems more vulnerable than ever. Most distributions of Linux are free, and major hardware manufacturers are ramping up support for Linux. Netbooks and mini PCs seem to be a special area of interest for Linux developers; Linux takes advantage of system resources much better than Windows, and takes up much less overhead.
The question that Linux developers should be asking is not how to become more like Windows, but how to address the specific needs of average Windows users in adopting Linux as their everyday operating system. The majority of computer users are familiar with and comfortable working within Windows. However, Linux is not Windows. Linux will never be Windows. Users simply will not have an experience like moving from XP to Vista in moving from any version of Windows to Linux.
Having said this, the casual computer user has needs that can be addressed. John and Susan Jones from Champaign, Illinois are less interested in the wonderful features that their computer has to offer than they are having the computer just work for what they want to do. They don’t want to have to mess around with technical support, detailed configuration or programming, or installing and working with drivers. Ideally, they turn on their computer and it instantly works for them to complete whatever task they wish it to complete. For the casual, average PC user, simplicity and reliability are top priorities.
The computer that just works in all things is a panacea, and unlikely to be realized in the near future. So users who need to take more complex actions or are faced with more in-depth situations can, and should, be addressed through better education. While Linux will never be Windows, the Linux community can provide documentation that is geared toward Windows users. Currently there is a wealth of information gathered to describe how to do things. A casual user wants to know more than just how to do something – he or she needs some direction on what can be done and why to do it.
Fast forward from my struggles with XP to the Linux shangri-la I find myself in today. I have moved completely off of Windows to Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) on two of my household’s PCs, including my ill-fated Pavilion (which is now running strong thanks to Linux) and my file server, and have set up dual-booting with Windows on four others, including my primary gaming rig. As a technical user my investment in learning how to install, configure, and work with Linux has been returned ten-fold. I can’t think of a single task other than high-end gaming that I can’t do in Ubuntu that I could do in Windows, and it is far more secure for things like web browsing (browsing with javascript turned off in Windows can be very frustrating, even if necessary). I guess you could say I am a true convert.
If I had approached Linux with the mindset of a casual user, I can’t say I would have moved past “Ubuntu sucks, I hate Linux!†I can see why the Joneses would be put off in attempting to use Linux, but I don’t see it as a lost cause. I think a focus on the following areas would greatly enhance its potential for market acceptance:
Continued development of Windows “look & feel†distributions. Ubuntu is a great example of a distribution moving toward being “easy†for the Windows user to accept. The ability to run off of a Windows drive, dual-boot, boot from a Live CD, the packaged software, and the familiar interface are all factors that make Ubuntu a great choice for the casual Windows user.
Creating documentation/guides to address what someone can do with Linux and why to take actions, not just how to take them. There is an incredible (and overwhelming for the new user) amount of information on how to do various things. What could help casual users be more accepting is a focus on explaining what is possible, and why he or she would choose each of the various options available to them to perform any specifc task. Also useful would be readily available, in-depth looks at what someone would do each day in Windows juxtaposed with the what, why, and how of doing the same things in Linux.
Providing a GUI to address each task that can be done in the CLI. Casual Windows users do not want to learn bash, or learn anything about the CLI. In Windows using the CLI is a last resort. Windows users are oblivious that their comfy GUI hides files that perhaps could be manipulated more easily in a CLI, and they like it that way. While many Linux users would find that a GUI just gets in the way and adds unnecessary overhead (and will always have the CLI as an option), for casual Windows users the lack of a GUI for basic tasks is a huge detriment. Additionally, guides that rely on CLI commands are confusing to Windows users.
Support teams dedicated to Windows users. Linux has a very large support community, and specifically places like www.ubuntuforums.org have teams dedicated to helping new users. Recognizing that the majority of new Linux users come from Windows due to Windows’ market share, and creating teams specifically geared toward Windows’ users unique needs, should help their adjustment to Linux.
Keep it simple – focus on having things just work. Apple may not have captured much of the PC market, but their simple, functional devices have become synonymous with digital audio players. A PC will never be as simple as an iPod, but moving toward simplicity and working without issues is a worthy goal. In many cases getting things to work in Linux is already easier than in Windows…but when they don’t, it is much more difficult. If hardware support as a starting point works without any input from the end user, Linux will greatly benefit.
Linux is a wonderful operating system, and Ubuntu has epitomized its move toward acceptance with new users. The time is right to tackle the Windows market, and with a little help, Linux is poised to make great strides.
Nixie’s Ubuntu Linux – A Travel Guide for Visitors from Windows
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I have worked with computers since 1964. I just purchased a Dell Mini 9 running Ubuntu 8.04. I am new to Linux. It is proving to be a pain to get it connected to the internet and do DVD’s. I have ideas regarding how to address this problem. I am talking with others regarding my solution – that is a little different from proposed by Nixie. Is there a forum for moving these ideas ahead?
This is exactly the mindset ‘we’ (Ubuntu developers / users need to gain a decent share of the market! You might want to scroll thru http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=962077 to see the opposition to these kind of ideas…
I agree.
I follow u on twitter.
Thank you for the comments! I find the Linux community’s reluctance to move in this direction understandable, but very short-sighted. The beauty of Linux is that it can be many things to many different people, and even though one distribution can be more “user-friendly” and have GUI options to do what the hard-core Linux user base would do in the command line, the command line would still be there, even in that distribution! So really this seems to be a question of principle for the community, rather than practicality.
Perhaps the Linux community needs education, as well?
If Linux EVER becomes to much like windows I will stop using it and use nothing at all. Linux is for smart people and I don’t like my simple minded friends thinking they are free from viruses just because they use Linux like me. Linux is mine! Windows is for children.
If your so smart do you think you can perform open heart surgery? No? Well I can assure you that the surgeon who does probably uses windows on his home computer. Keep clinging to your notion that being a snob makes you special you small little man.
I have no idea how you cant get the wireless to work, it is as simple as turning it on by clicking the “connect to wireless network” setting
-AuToFiRE
Linux does not have the best support for Wireless NIC, you may have to buy another NIC that Linux supports.
“Creating documentation/guides to address what someone can do with Linux and why to take actions, not just how to take them.”
Agreed! That, I think is one of the bigger problems when new users go through how-tos on the ubuntuforums. At least it was for me. I was fine with copy/pasting commands in the terminal, and I acknowledged that it actually could be a lot easier and more effective than following some GUI-guide. However, I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, or why I was doing it. This is bad, because then you don’t really learn anything from the guide.
Anyway, what I wanted to say was just that when people write a guide, and include terminal commands in it, they should try to be explicit about what the commands mean.
Nice blog btw, geek gamer chicks are hawt
I used Ubuntu for nearly 2 years on my old system, and found it to be excellent.
While I haven’t yet had the chance, I do plan on installing the latest version on my new machine some time in the future.
Excellent article
I have been using Linux for many years and if I used a windows pc I may struggle a bit until I got the feel for how it works my kids use Linux at home windows at school and don’t struggle with either.Linux is actually everywhere you are using it and not realizing it on so many appliances for instance my flat screen tv came with the gpl licence as it uses Linux! Thats not hard to use is it? I work for a large uk electrical retailer and there is more Linux there than there is windows or mac only people don’t realize It.You can also buy netbooks there with Linux. So at least Linux users are starting to get some choice which is all we want!
Alright… so I’m getting ready to take the plunge and looking heavily into Ubuntu.
Do you still hate it, or has time made things better? Also, what would the pros & cons of server as opposed to desktop be?
Hi – I never really “hated” Ubuntu, I was describing the first reaction I had to it based on my expectations. I don’t hate it at all, I love it, or I would not be using it on a daily basis.
The server version of Ubuntu has specific features that are not necessary for the average desktop user. I guess the first question I have is – what would you want to do with a computer set up as a server? Knowing that, I can help you understand if installing the server version is for you.
@Neal Scogin:
Does your computer, by any chance, use an Atheros wireless card? It took me forever to get Internet (wireless) working with one of those, but here’s the only guide I’ve found that works: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/Atheros
I’ve found that ease of use for Atheros cards is SEVERELY lacking in Ubuntu, but every other card works perfectly fine (thus far!)
If you love Ubuntu so much — and as it’s the distro, not counted sucky Red Hat 5.1, that introduced me to GNU/Linux, I understand why 8~) –maybe you should take a look at Linux Mint and Crunchbang Linux. They’re both Ubuntu-derivatives, except Crunchbang is scaled down for older hardware, with smaller apps and OpenBox instead of GNOME & company, while Linux Mint is designed to be even more “Just Work”ish than Ubuntu itself is.
Linux Mint configured the Belkin Wireless FSD7050 v4.00 USB adapter I have in seconds, all automatically, whereas in Ubuntu I had to install the firmware myself first, and had to wrestle with it for several hours on Debian.
I can see the frustration in the community when they attempt to trouble shoot and help people. It’s simple really, you see you read comments like these and it’s plain as day. People complain that there are no manuals for common apps and commands etc. If you had bothered to read the manual even on a command line you’d fine that it’s quite simple. Take bash for example (your terminal if you will) I want to burn a cd from the command line, gee how does that work? “man cdrecord” presto a manual if you would on common usages and they almost always provide examples as well. Or in your pretty gui which uses the same app but with clicky buttons for you, just click help or visit the apps website. As far as wifi goes that has squat to do with ubuntu. If your card isn’t supported which it likely isn’t then you need to complain to the hardware vendor for not writing the drivers. Or better yet, have some nerve and don’t buy those products. There certainly are cards with linux driver support. I never bought the usually cheaper ati video cards for years..why? nvidia supports linux quite well and actively fixes bugs and drivers. Nvidia gets my dollar and they understand how this works. Now since amd bought ati things are changed but that is just about the best example you could ask for. Frankly this whole culture of “just works” and “out of the box” is spawned from years of bs marketing and lazy users. Fat, complacent and not willing to lift much more than a finger to do something for themselves. I work in tech support personally, and the same complaints that most people have when they attempt to use linux are the ones they have in windows. The poster is correct in the aspect of the perfect system does not exist, however most people forget about the “perfect user” Ie: someone with a natural enthusiasm for tech that is willing to read and make the system work. We all forget that Linux distros and the software that runs on them including the linux kernel itself are all things that are worked on in a very community spirited environment. Similar things have drastically changed our world that worked in much the same way, for example I recommend reading up on how the internet came about. Essentially just a bunch of requests for comments from a bunch of people who saw the potential use and growth of mass networking. Did it happen overnight? nope. Did it happen with people moaning about how the rfc’s were too slow and that it wasn’t “just working” nope. It worked by people testing it, and contributing. As far as the direction different communities sic different distros take that’s their choice because it’s there time being spent and in the case of ubuntu especially it’s their money. Let’s not forget that quite a bit of financial pull is in this particular distro as well as time. In short, posting youtube videos and blogging about how things suck won’t fix them. Hundreds of Americans bitch about taxes every year but no one is gonna do anything about them except for maybe cheat on them, or write a letter to an editor. Contribute positively and you will gain ground. Then when the time comes that Linux as a whole starts making those changes in the way we network and gain ground in productivity, you will all have something to be proud of.
I don’t think Kenneth actually read the whole article. I don’t actually think Ubuntu sucks, nor do I make videos or write blogs to that effect. I have identified ways through which Linux can meet more desktop users’ needs, and calling them “bs marketing” and due to “lazy users” is simply a prime example of the elitist arrogance that many Linux users have.
The only way to reach new users who are unwilling to do more than turn on their PCs and expect them to “just work” is to move away from this attitude. There is nothing wrong with distributions that focus on that, and then the elitists can still install distributions that need to be built from the ground up or compile their kernels from source.
I would rather have Linux be accessible to your average new user (who is moving from a safe, comfortable Windows environment) than to have a Linux that only arrogant people can be “proud of.”
I installed Ubuntu on my 6yr old Intel Centrino IBM Thinkpad last week. I am currently at this stage of the Linux switch:
“If I had approached Linux with the mindset of a casual user, I can’t say I would have moved past “Ubuntu sucks, I hate Linux!—
Your article is good. I am having problems with performance and am not getting much help from the Ubuntu geeks in the forums.
I feel that the worst factor about Ubuntu is that the basic GUI is not even close to Windows. If they want users to switch…u gotta make the default GUI as close to windows as possible. I was SO uncomfortable with the default GUI that I had to customize my GUI to look like windows just to test out Ubuntu. This is as close I got…
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y56/irfan_mailme/Screenshot-2.jpg
I would make it closer if I could…but for now, it’s tolerable. Linux is not Windows. But Linux doesn’t have a chance in hell of converting windows users if they don’t make the conversion easy for them.
Fact: Make the Ubuntu GUI as close to Windows XP as possible, and you will get your market share for Ubuntu.
I think Linux builders should put together something BETTER (MUCH BETTER) than windows. Start from scratch and revolutionize the OS! As opposed to evolving something.
I much prefer Linux (Ubuntu in my case) to Windows but I know it could be better. Linux could offer something for (nearly) everyone. It could be easy for windows users to migrate into, and it could also offer something new, different, exciting, and revolutionary to those brave enough to try it.
You’re a Gnome geek aren’t you? I like your site. Do you code?
How did you use the Jaunty CD to fix your notebook computer?
I am running the Jaunty live CD and I would like to be able to access the partitions on my hard drive.
Can I do it by opening a terminal window? Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Maybe the solution is “Ubuntu Windows Migration Remix”.
It’s basically Ubuntu with a meta-package “windows” on top. The meta-package installs lots of GUIs and scripts and icons to make the user feel safe and Windows-y. If the user gets confident enough, they can do “apt-get purge windows” to turn it into regular Ubuntu. If not, no worries.
Good idea? Old idea? Or complete rubbish?
EEEWWW Ubuntu
GENTOO Linux Rules!!!!
gentoo.org
wtf ubuntu sucks
I just installed brand new. Went online and tried to DL one file. FAIL some partitions are full or some shit. WTF?? this is a brand new install and I gave ubuntu 50gigs all to itself?!!
FUCKING LINUX, and I’ve really wanted to like it for years. Everytime I try to use it, it sucks.
I keep trying to like Linux and have tried many distros including a few versions of RedHat, Fedora, and Ubuntu, and they’re still garbage.
Ubuntu 9.04 64bit. How fucking difficult should it be to upgrade Firefox 3.0 to 3.5? Command line? That’s so 1986. Yes, I did use the CLI/Shell on my A500. Make it a 1 click operations and people will start thinking differently. The current “leet” attitude needs to go.
Tasks that I found to be very simple in Linux seemed very cryptic in Windows.
“How fucking difficult should it be to upgrade Firefox 3.0 to 3.5?”
-Syanaptic? Downloading from Mozilla’s site?
“wtf ubuntu sucks I just installed brand new. Went online and tried to DL one file. FAIL some partitions are full or some shit.”
-This simply does not happen, so I’m guessing you’re lying, or you purposely screwed up the installation in order to spread FUD. At least name the distribution and say you used the automatic partitioning feature or something.
I am running the Jaunty live CD and I would like to be able to access the partitions on my hard drive.
-4 seconds in google (i’m feeling lucky even, although could be skewed to personalized search)… “mount hard drive live cd”
-http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=316580
Maybe you didn’t know what “mount” means.
“If they want users to switch…u gotta make the default GUI as close to windows as possible. I was SO uncomfortable with the default GUI that I had to customize my GUI to look like windows just to test out Ubuntu.”
-now I know why no one uses Mac OS X
You know the whole point and click philosophy is a great perspective — That’s what most of the ‘commerically’ devel’d flavors of *NIX based Cloned OS’s are aiming at. Granted, it’s not a bad thing to make it as ‘user friendly’ as possible — like fetch my beer and go get the mail…. Yeah, that’s the method to the madness — A good flavor of linux is hard, “So screw it, I’m going to use Ubuntu cuz it eeezy , but it suck so bad.” same with my experience in the Army, pretty much the same with some of the guys there — “This is hard, I’m going to find a way out.” Seems like people forgot how to use their brain to figure things out and are more worried about where they’re going to get their next hand out. blah..
Forgive me, this is just a rant on the microsoftization of a great kernel, os, community.
Ubuntu/Linux is broken… It does not work out-of-the-box. It requires hours upon hours of tweaking just to get your computer running. Now, go buy a copy of Windows and install it. Guess what? IT WORKS! It is 100% compatible with all known hardware and you don’t have to be a software engineer to use it.
The money you spend on Windows will be worth the time you’ll save.
AHHHHH HA HA HA Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha……..
<<>>
chuckle…. snort….. gasp……
AHHHH HA HA HA ha hahahahahahahahahah…….
SNORT………. Gee, Thank You for such a good laugh………..
Now then….. do you honestly believe your statement,
“Now, go buy a copy of Windows and install it. Guess what? IT WORKS! It is 100% compatible with all known hardware and you don’t have to be a software engineer to use it.”?
Really? Let me guess, you have an IT person that maintains tour windows system for you?
Windows may be compatible with most, if not all hardware, IF YOU ARE WILLING TO SEARCH for the correct drivers, find the missing dlls, resolve the IRQ conflicts, etc…… Of course, SO IS LINUX!
In fact, Out Of The Box, (OOTB) most distros of Linux have BETTER hardware recognition and BETTER driver support than Windows…… I have to go looking for compatible drivers in windows more frequently than in Linux.
As far as reliability….. I have two (2) boxes at home running Puppy Linux that are used for distributed computing. Neither has been rebooted in over 6 months.
Take THAT and stick it in your Windows pipe and smoke it!
A ‘yeah, what he said’ to valvehouse,
I have been trying to install Ubuntu 9.04 on a 64 bit quad core gaming system. Tore the whole system down to CPU, GPU, 1 stick of Ram and 1 HDD. Tried a dozen times in a newly formatted 200 Gb WD harddrive. No luck. CRC error. Forums suggest Ram errors or bad ISO burn. Memtested overnight with no errors. So now make an ISO image at 1 or 2x. I can’t. My CD burner’s slowest speed is 8x. The reason to change teams has always been better security, open source, free and gosh darn it, it’s just better than Windows. None of that matters if I can’t get it to install. I’m giving it one more try when I get the 2x ISO burn back from my Linux-user colleague. If that doesn’t work it’s not worth trying anymore since I have no security issues, I’ve already paid for Vista, don’t care about open source and it’s not better than Windows. Windows actually installs! Linux has along way to go if you don’t have your own resident fanboy. I feel a lot better now.
You go, girl. As you can tell from the replies, most folks don’t quite “get it” with what you see. However, you have hit the nail on its head – dead on! Linux can still be “cowboy” country when something doesn’t quite work right, but this year the offerings are so much better than last! And there is a light-year or two distance from even a couple of years ago. Linux is finally getting to the stage where “it just works”. Halleluja.
One thing you might mention – or keep in mind, is the age of the available online advice. There is tons of advice on “how-to” in Linux. But so much of it is already obsolete. Example: ipchains-iptables vs running a firewall today. You don’t need to know how to CLI write an iptables script to use a firewall in Linux today. Good news for the very users you have described, yes? But a quick search on Google for “firewall linux”, and out of the 1st five links, 3 are for iptables and even the outdated ipchains (posted in 2000!). Only one was truly relevant today, and that was a direct link to firestarter. What is that but TMI!
Good luck, and keep at it!
For everyone out there having trouble with Linux(Ubuntu) I suggest you handover your hardware to the nearest 13 year old. Chances are good they will fix any problems you might be having.
I recently installed Ubuntu on both of my nieces laptops’. At first they were not impressed. Then I turned on compiz. Both were amazed at the eye candy and exclaimed I had ‘pimped their laptops’ and rushed off to show there friends.
I was a bit worried that they would have some apps(ipod connection etc) that they would miss and I would end up installing Vista again. That was a few months ago and they are still running Ubuntu. My oldest niece has begun to master the terminal. At one point she asked my why some things had to be typed. Still thinking of how her lap top was pimped I explained, “If you drive a normal everyday car you can work on it with simple tools, but if you drive a custom car sometimes the tools themselves are a bit more difficult to use.” She seemed to understand and without complaint continued to install themes with the terminal. She almost seem proud that she could install stall stuff with a terminal and when here friends tried to copy the command in windows all the got were error messages.
My nieces had the advantage that I did the dirty work for them. I checked hardware lists and even goggled some of the hardware knowing that “supported” can sometime = headache. I was sure there weren’t going to be issues before I ever started the installation.
For everyone out there having trouble with Ubuntu just remember. If you try really hard maybe on day you till will be as smart as a 13 year old girl.
I have a 5yr old dell laptop. I recently installed ubuntu 9.04 on a whim. Bellow are some snips of my expereince to date:
Installing and getting everything to run seems fine, but the sticking point became getting my wireless card to work. I tried several methods of getting it to work. Ubuntu updated itself, then my card was visible under hardware drivers and now it works.
I installed wine and attempted to install a few windows programs….then wanted uninstall those windows programs. Using wine was not quite as seamless the process I was lead to believe.
I consider myself an above average computer user. The commmand line stuff is archaic, but I get it.
I also own a desktop. It has boiled down for me that because of specific software I use with windows for work (and the games), Ubuntu will never ever become an OS replacement for my desktop.
But since it runs tidy on my older laptop, whose hardware cannot handle any work or game software I currently use, I think I will keep it on the laptop. I currently use Open Office and Firefox anyway. I like GIMP. I am not on the go often so this setup would serve its purpose for a while.
Number one thing in my opinion would be to standardize software installation from 3rd party vendors. In Windows one gets a click and install. I tried installing a music studio software package and I went into so many dependencies (about 500) that in the end I was lost on where I was at and just abandoned Linux.
@James: the dependencies are used to make uninstallation simple without leaving all the unused libraries and software on your computer. In reality, windows software doesn’t quite do this very well, so you’re stuck with some dlls and programs that you still don’t use.
@Nixie: I 100% agree with you, but I’m one of those “1337″ users that don’t prefer Ubuntu. But once set up, anyone in my family “just gets” how to USE linux. The setup is the only part that can be confusing, but the control is amazing!
I just installed ubuntu 9.10 and was impressed with its ability to get my old garage pc I built back in 2002 running like a new one again. The installation went flawless and was easy. However after an hour of playing around with it just trying to get nvidia drivers to work I formatted it and returned to xp. The video resolutions available were horrible unless your legally blind. I missed my icons on the desktop and hated having to type in a password for every system change I wanted to make within it. Having to find repositories to download available programs could be daunting for the average user who just wants to click and go. I like linux and I will continue to play around with the various distros because that is what my garage pc is for, playing. Man if they can get the feel and ease of use like windows has, whew, I would jump on it quick and let my buddy Bill Gates shed a tear.
For all those who say Ubuntu is crap because they can’t get the install to work, let me tell you a story…
I’ve been around computers longer than my sister has been alive. (I still have the shell from our first machine!) I still remember playing Reader Rabbit on the Win 95 in our basement. I even remember my dad bringing home a Commodore that he borrowed from someone at work. I was raised on Windows, but when I started going to school, they had Macs. I was very disappointed to find out how little I could do with them. For years in school, I was the lone kid who preferred the complexity of Windows over the limitations of the Macintosh.
When we go our second computer, a Gateway 2000, we also got Win 98 (a real install CD! remember those?) for all I could tell, the transition was seamless. They looked exactly the same to me. We used that same machine for the better part of 7 years. During that time, I had built my own desktop [twice actually] and installed 98 on them as well.
When we finally got a new computer in ‘04 (a gift from my grandfather), it came with XP. In effect, I inherited the Gateway. Even as I type this, that machine is going strong, managing a great deal of torrents and a huge library of music without a hitch. (Okay, one hitch: there’s no green on the display, but that’s because of the age difference between the hardware and the monitor) Now remember, this a Gateway 2000, built in 1996. 13 years later, it’s running Windows XP pro quite comfortably.
In mid 2008, I bought my first laptop. A used Compaq nx6110. -from my best friend. But it had Linux on it. (7.10 Gutsy Gibbon to be exact) When I first heard it had Linux, I was a bit skeptical. I had one friend who was a very avid Linux fanboy. I had always argued that there was nothing he could do that I couldn’t with my Windows machines. I felt like a pretty advanced user. (I once hijacked Skifree from an old church PC with 3.1 using DOS commands) I had built up a suite of programs that I wanted to use on my laptop, and what was I going to do with Linux?
I resisted. After all, it said “Designed for Microsoft Windows XP”. I asked him if he could put Windows on it. He explained that he had tried, but the hardware didn’t work right. If I wanted Windows, I’d have to sacrifice the wireless and sounds (other than the system beep).
Music was the make or break for me. If I couldn’t listen to my music, the computer was useless to me. Throwing caution to the wind, I went ahead and took Ubuntu for a test drive. I was quite impressed to say the least. It opened up whole new doors of possibility. I was no longer limited to watching videos in DivX avi. The live CD was just amazing. Somehow they manage to fit a fully-functional OS with /applications/ and a simple, comprehensible setup process all into 698MB!
Rythmbox was great: the simplicity of iTunes without the bloated software and overpriced DRM store.
GIMP was fantastic: I’d taken a Photoshop class, but there were so many features that it was overwhelming, and being as expensive as it is, not exactly something I could practice at home. GIMP could do anything I needed, had similar controls, superior format support, and it was free!
Needless to say, I was sold. Adding more applications was easy as well, and I soon had it doing everything I had wanted it to do- and more!
Sure, there were a few bumps along the way. I was perfectly happy with 7.10, and when I had tried to upgrade to 8.04, it catastrophically disabled my wireless, so I backed up and returned to 7.10. After 7.10 support dropped, I made the (semi-fatal) mistake of accepting unsolicited advice and ran a malicious script which proceeded to erase my boot sector and a portion of my documents folder. Luckily, I had backed up my files some weeks previously in anticipation of installing a larger hard drive, but neglected to actually install it. I re-installed 7.10, but was unable to add the programs which had been removed from the software channel. This time, I installed 8.04 from a CD (after consulting my friend) and he helped me get the wireless set up again. However, I went with dual-boot alongside XP in case of emergency.
A few weeks ago, it came in handy, when carelessness on my part left my Ubuntu boot sector damaged beyond repair. (I grabbed the case in a hurry and ran out of the room without zipping it closed -crash!) Given Windows’ disregard for Linux permissions, I was able to copy the files to the larger HD, and a little research allowed me to keep my preferences too.
All in all, I am very happy I discovered Ubuntu. I was even pleasantly surprised to see that the after-school program I volunteer at uses Edubuntu in their computer lab! If you can’t get any currently supported versions of Ubuntu to work for you, you’re probably not qualified to use a computer. (Honestly, you probably shouldn’t be operating motor vehicles either…)
Sorry for double posting, I wanted to keep my success story separate from my comments.
“The money you spend on Windows will be worth the time you’ll save.”
I’m sorry, but this is just not true. You couldn’t pay me to use Vista. And Windows has never been a ‘time-saver’. Ubuntu may give you some trouble at the beginning, but once it works, it stays working. Windows will always become progressively slower each time you install a new application. You may notice that while a fresh install boots quickly, by the time you install the applications you need to use it, boot time has doubled -or even tripled! Ubuntu has everything you need for general computing right from the start, and I have never noticed any increase in boot time, even with all the extra programs I have.
“wtf ubuntu sucks I just installed brand new. Went online and tried to DL one file. FAIL some partitions are full or some shit.”
I have a feeling you don’t realize Live CD=/=Installed on the HD. And of course you can’t save files to a partition that isn’t mounted!
“EEEWWW Ubuntu
GENTOO Linux Rules!!!!”
This is exactly why Windows users get turned off by Linux: We get hung up on infighting about which distro is better. Nobody will want to leave Windows behind when the alternative is tangled up in a civil war.
Oh my!!! Your “technical” yet Ubuntu gave you problems?!?
Ubuntu is shit. Linux is shit due to people like Shuttleworth trying to make linux as “user friendly as windows”. And you’re shit for for the destruction of linux not being “user-friendly-enough”.
People like you are the reason that that linux sucks…
I too have encountered some geeky snobbishness because I prefer a pretty graphical interface and click-and-go convenience. I want to run my applications, not my operating system. Is that so bad? I ranted about that snobbishness here:
http://robinzrants.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/one-more-linux-rant/
But one of the best newbie-Linux rants I have ever read was written by a totally non-geeky 13-year-old:
http://www.linuxforums.org/articles/non-geeky-girls-love-linux-too-_368.html
One superb newbie-friendly distro that doesn’t get the love and attention it deserves is SimplyMepis! Based on Debian Stable (Ubuntu is built from Debian UNstable, except for the long-term-support releases which are built on Debian Testing), it’s rock-stable but very newbie friendly.
You’ve got such a cool blog here that I wanted to contribute. Keep up the good work!
I point and click every once and a while… like now, when I am on the web to watch some flash movies but other than that what’s the point?
What is the fun in being like a Rat? moving your arms around and pushing for a reward? No, for me I prefer the good old style of writing commands .. It’s much faster and with little to no graphics work gets done because you have no distractions. Not too mention your system runs at jaw dropping speed without the eye candy of a window manager or X.
I’m not against PAC but I don’t think LInux should focus on becoming a PAC system either it’s power was built from the command line.
I’m in the same boat as you were. I turned an old office PC running XP into a Ubuntu media center and there are things I love and things that are frustrating. As an XP vet at work and OS X user at home there’s some things to get used to. Like Robin above said, simple point and click is good enough for me. I’m guessing I’ll get the hang just like I did with the one button mouse.
Came upon your article out of pure frustration. I installed Ubuntu 9.10 and had a go, even managed to get VMWare server up and running.
Webmin is a joke, I installed it, it worked great, restart the machine.. nothing dead as a doornail, reinstalled it working, restart the machine.. dead..
Thought ok, I can deal with some quirks right, left the machine on, woke up this morning.. black screen with a mouse cursor but nothing else.. nothing.. dead.. restart the machine.. my virtual disk in VMWare server screwed.. I can only assume due to Linux’s piss poor handling of files.
Ok so here is my breakdown after a few days:
1. If you have a widescreen monitor (or god forbid two monitors) don’t use Ubuntu or Linix at all.
2. If you want to virtualise something, this is the worst product you could choose to use a virtual platform.
3. Security permissions are a joke, your guess is as good as mine as to what permissions are going to exist at what time on your files.
4. Installing anything that is outside of the “Ubuntu Software Center” is completely not recommended.
Its still better than a Mac tho.
I have dabbled with linux over the years, trying various distro’s such as redhat/fedora and ubuntu. The biggest hurdle I have come across is the installation of 3rd party software. For this reason I have gone back to windows, where you just click on .exe and sit back and watch. I even dual booted between linux and windows, but I never really bothered with linux and just got rid of it.
That is until this year, when my PC died on on me, I Spent a bit of money and upgraded the thing and reinstalled XP, fine except it couldn’t see my broadband router, even though it is attached by ethernet cable. So out came a live cd with ubuntu and no trouble at all. The biggest surprise to me is, I even managed to install software without any trouble what so ever!
There are annoying little things like tarball’s and some software only comes with .tz etc on the end. But I will get there in the end.
The other thing on my mind is, having come from the DOS/Windows environment is computer security, people I have spoken to, including Nixie, is the the consensus is, it is not a problem, I have to get use to the idea of not having any anti-virus software on the computer. It feels like I have left the front door wide open with a big sign inviting all the undesirable people in and help themselves to my hard drive etc.
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Will I ever go back to windows – you got to be joking.
One of the key problems with linux is that often turn to read to meet our needs reason why many fail to use linux because they are very comfortable and not seek to solve the problem
Your an idiot. Ubuntu is the best OS out there. Ubuntu rocks!
I want to have sex with you on your Ubuntu boxes, damn girl you fine.
I use Slackware myself, why? Well because that’s what black people use, but more importantly it’s stable as a rock and I got my first computer with it pre-installed (by my uncle).
It’s weird but I found Windows confusing when I first used it.. the idea of being able to make a text file executable under any user condition by just changing the file extension baffled me… Silly windows, you’re going to get broken.
Not to mention learning the whole c:\ c:\windows\system32 and what not…
I’ve never liked Windows for anything but games to be honest… It’s not that I think Windows is bad.. I simply believe that everything is confusing.
Am I always root? what do I control? … what files have what permissions? … why does it have to be so long to check permissions? … why can’t I switch between users in CLI? … How come I can’t exit shell to cli?!
More power to those people who “get it” cause I sure as hell don’t.
I came across your video on youtube about scanning your windows system for viruses through linux. I had to rescue my brother’s computer since I did a virus scan for him and windows deleted the virus and then decided it would not want to boot again. Luckily for me a long time ago I once tried doing a mega boot system of Ubuntu 8.04, openSUSE, XP, Vista, and hackintosh. That didn’t last long once I realized Sony is retarded and my hackintosh dreams were thwarted by sony restricting my bios options. I fired up the Ubuntu Live Cd and the rest was history. His old computer ran like a hot knife through butter. I was able to get it to read all the NTFS files and 4 hours later, backed all his stuff up. I’m going to format his drive to only use Ubuntu and maybe 10gb of XP with a common Fat32 drive. Your tutorials are great I looked through most of them and can’t wait to show him how he can put his OCD to use with Compiz. You are a great asset to the linux world!
I can’t recommend Ubuntu for newcomers to Linux anymore, because in their more recent releases, they have included Beta software by default! That’s fine for experienced Linuxers who don’t mind experiemnting, uncovering bugs and helping to fix them. But newbies?! No way! It’s unconscionable to make “laboratory rats” out of newcomers by defaulting to Beta software in a Linux distro that’s supposed to be “newbie friendly” and “Linux for Human Beings.”
See http://robinzrants.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/intruducing-newbies-to-linux/
As for “market share,” I think the best way to go is for ‘nix developers to get together with some hardware makers and help write FOSS drivers for printers, wifi cards, etc. But going after “market share” is nothing that should really matter to ‘nixers other than having it hardware-compatible.
-Robin
Linux Mint is the best out of the box experience you’ll get. It’s just like buying your computer all over again.
Puppy Linux is the best distribution for a computer that is older.
When you are ready to study operating systems closer, install Slackware in virtual or on an old machine.
For Linux in general always stay with an older version. Research before.
I am a recent convert to Ubuntu, and I really like the way it works. It is really set up nice and I find it easy to use. With a couple of exceptions. Networking is way too hit or miss. It seems that everything set up fine, but it isn’t consistent whether its going to work this time or not. More so with network printing than file sharing, and more so between windows and Ubuntu (they really don’t play nice). And second of all. I think the main thing that holds back Linux is software. I love free software as much as the next person, but quickbooks is a must have for the small business owner, and Linux doesn’t have anything comparable. There are other examples as well, quickbooks is the big one for me. It keeps people from being able to completely switch over. Ubuntu really needs to work on the networking, and Wine really needs to work on quickbooks.
I would like to like Linux (Ubuntu) but I don’t. I have a lot of hardware that Linux doesn’t support, like my scanner, USB TV and video card. Ubuntu doesn’t see my scanner at all. My video card has a composite output that I tried getting to work for over a month but the best I could get was a black and white picture. Most of the time, I got garbage on the screen. I eventually gave up trying and put XP on the machine which supports the video card, scanner, and a host of other hardware I have. Then there’s my USB TV receiver. MythTV says it will work with it, but after trying to get it to work for many weeks, I gave up. I think MythTV is properly named. It’s a myth that it will work. Then there’s all the applications I’ve downloaded. They sound good in “Synaptic Package Manager” but they either crash or simply don’t do what they are supposed to do. There are a lot of software packages that require you to edit all kinds of configuration files. Don’t make a typo or you could blow away the operating system! In Windows, the same setup is done with a few mouse clicks. Lately, I’ve been trying to get the serial port on the back of the computer to work, but after searching for hours, I haven’t found a command like the DOS “MODE” command. Maybe there isn’t one. You would think such a simple function like setting the baud rate, parity and stop bits would be available. They say the serial port is in /dev and starts with “tty”, but there are 69 of them and there isn’t any kind of hardware manager like in Windows to tell you what hardware your computer has or what the hardware ports are called. The operating system is free, but having to buy all new peripherals and possibly a new computer will cost you a fortune. Then there’s the command line. What a crock! I have a notebook of many cryptic commands that I’ve run across after searching the web for hours and hours. Clicking a mouse is a lot easier than trying to remember hundreds of commands, and many commands don’t seem to have anything to do with what they really do. For example “more” lists a file to the screen. “More”??? More what? Yes, there is a “less” command. “Less” seems to do more than “more” does. ??? Then there’s the Ubuntu forums. What a joke. Someone mentions a problem and then you have a bunch of “me too” messages complete with a billion lines of nonsense code pasted in from Linux users all over the planet having the same or similar problem. More often than not, there isn’t a solution given or the solution is to throw away your hardware and buy from a limited list of Linux compatible hardware. I’ve tried to get Ubuntu to do what I expect from a computer, but it appears that it isn’t capable of doing what Windows does. They say, “Linux, it just works.” I would add a word and make it, “Linux, it just barely works.” Until it works, I’ll stick with Windows.