Comments on: The BBC takes on Ubuntu Linux

By: Yaro Kasear

Yaro Kasear — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 01:45:51 +0000

These mistakes are purely Ubuntu mistakes, NOT Linux mistakes. Almost all of them have to do with GNOME and Ubuntu’s frankly frightening shortfallings. If someone sent him a laptop with a fully configured Arch Desktop running KDE he wouldn’t have had any of those problems.

I definitely don’t want Linux to behave in any way like Windows on purpose. If Windows users want to whine that Linux doesn’t bend over backwards for them, let them use Windows, Linux is too good for them.

Honestly, Linux is more than flexible enough to fit everyone to a tee if they simply take the time to set it up.

By: pmlxuser

pmlxuser — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:50:17 +0000

I care less what this journalist say for the following reasons
1.he says linux boot 40 seconds better than windows non the less pathetic, In comparison with what? if he wa for real he could have recognized the difference and said what he was supposed to say .. GOOD

2.Background was offensivily brown: well its not offensive to brown people like me since we are used to see brown (in my part of the word brown is the default color). if he is used to blue why not just change it.

3. “struggled to see other machines and devices on my network.” well i can see all the machine on my network without changing any settings, but of course the machine says windows network, may be that why they don’t see my machine

4 Ahh any way this is pointless, i fell in love with linux the moment my lecturer introduced it to me as another OS. and the moment i set my eyes on ubuntu, i use it or its descendants for fun and work….. and to think i started using a computer in second year in college…

the thing is i think the reporter is not “open minded” … “linux is open source, people who want to enjoy it must also be open minded”

you know people from America think American cars are the best and people from britain think british cars are the best so do people from Japan .. if you disagree with me check the BBC program “Top Speed”

By: Machiavelli

Machiavelli — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:35:55 +0000

with all due respect, I coulden’t careless what the mainstreams press has to say about linux.

linux being somewhat “underground” is what makes it so cool, without any unnecessary pressure for it’s existence.

By: jorge del cid

jorge del cid — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:15:09 +0000

The problem with Linux distributions, is that there are so intuitive to people as it is at this time windows when a new user, a child, elderly, turn on a computer, “the culture windows” make sense that the controls, bars, menus, icons are familiar to most people. But everything changes when you turn on linux, maybe not ubuntu and other distros can look “more or less windows” for ease of use? When I boot into linux with ubuntu, suffered a lot at first, and I think not being the only ….
I think too many people deserve quality open source software but, versatility, usability and graphical appearance of high standards and leave behind the troll, intellectually linux that does not have to provide those benefits, we are supposedly so powerful and wise not we need the ease of Windows user, but children, old and new if needed … linux for humanity? perhaps we want people not entitled to a free software, easy to use and versatile? if we all need linux to have a system that is as versatile as Windows users to lso, it is so easy to learn and use.
and that when installed as efficient as windows, not to forget that not necessarily all our software is to pay, or free, if not, we also need to promote and require that companies like Adobe to develop payment software for linux, that admittedly a lot of free software does not equate to payments and someone complains of ubuntu is normal and understandable bajemonos of our ivory towers and have more humility until you convince a person with little or no computing experience will not be linux for humanity …

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:21:38 +0000

I have tried Ubuntu and as a long time window user it is hard to navigate but the most irritating thing is installing software.

On windows if I want to install some software I download and install it - job done. On Ubuntu I have to download the software the Ubuntu developers have decided I should use which could be a year or more out of date or not very useful e.g. the default media encoder. Otherwise I have to download a tar.gz file make it? ( hopefuly I have permission to install it ) and other operations to try and get it to work. I am not interested in this; the purest say you should learn how a computer works to apreciate it properly but why make more work for your self ?

I tried to get php installed and running but had problems. I was told Linux has a lot of help forums but after a long time searching I could not find one that told me where to save files and run them. I found loads telling me how to download and install php and loads of technical crap but nothing telling me something simple. In the end I have XAMPP installed on my windows PC and guessed what to do on the Linux machine.

I think Linux in general still has a long way to go in this respect and no matter what is said windows introduces more people to the PC than Linux even if some move on to Linux later.

By: Hans Dirkse

Hans Dirkse — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:32:44 +0000

I (almost) fully agree with the BBC journalist.

I’ve been using Ubuntu since 7.10 or 8.04, and I still am completely confused as to most of its workings.

Wine is absolutely sh*t. I’ve tried about everything, including installing PlayOnLinux to install my (legal) copy of Office 2003 and Age of Empires II. Both installed, but neither worked! I’ve tried many other Windows programs as well, but until now I’ve never had any luck in getting something to work.

The colour scheme indeed is extremely drab, and it seems getting worse with 9.10. Not that I care much, but it’s definitely Web 0.0 instead of Web 2.0 or 3.0.

I don’t care about load time: my Windows Vista laptop takes a lot longer to load than my Ubuntu 9.10 PC.

Getting printers and scanners to work is an ordeal. It’s so bad that when buying my last printer, I first checked which printers might work before going to a shop. And even then I needed Avasys ImageScan! to get the scanner working.

Although the printer driver seems to be able to address all functions of my Epson RX585, the GUI definitely needs a mayor overhaul to make it something that comes near “user friendly”.

I hate it that Ubuntu doesn’t install “complete”, i.e. including Flash, Java, all video codecs etc. I can understand that there may be licensing problems, but there is a simple solution for that. During installation a screen pops up that explains why you would need Flash, offers “Accept” or “Decline”, and then continues the installation.

Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE UBUNTU ever since I bought this PC with Ubuntu pre-installed. But I also think that a lot of things could be simplified. For me a computer is like a car: I love to drive, but I am not interested to look under the hood. It’s all about the programs.

I was mightyly annoyed that after the upgrade to 9.10 I had to wait for several weeks before some “bugs” were ironed out by some of the upgrades. I had to find a solution to speed up Firefox 3.5 because its responsiveness degraded rapidly. And I also had to look myself for a solution to get sound in YouTube videos. All of this takes a lot of time that I really don’t want to spend on this kind of tinkering.

Another annoyance is that (writing on a regular basis in Dutch, Spanish and French) I have to search for a solution to get accents on my letters in OOo Writer: it should come pre-configured with this. Really, there ARE other users than just Americans and English.

Again, I don’t think I’ll ever change to Windows on this PC. But at the same time, I will never-ever install Ubuntu in my Vista-laptop: as things stand now an average user CANNOT live without Windows.

And by the way… maybe, just maybe, in a few years time I will buy a Google Chrome OS netbook and throw away the rest. If there’s ONE thing that I like, it’s to turn the key and start driving. And that’s just what Google seems to be promising.

By: Kilgore Trout

Kilgore Trout — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:58:54 +0000

Do any those morons really know why they have the brown offensive background in Ubuntu? It is a test to weed out the dummies. Either you want to change it and are willing to do it right away or you are lazy and stupid and will give up. Nobody wants a bunch of lazy cretins using Linux, they have high standards.

By: Mithun

Mithun — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:25:49 +0000

Hi,
I think this problem comes when we try something new. I had similar experience with windows vista, although I can use XP very well.
My shift to ubuntu was much better experience than shifting to vista .

By: Frank Kalf

Frank Kalf — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:13:05 +0000

Folow up on BBC technology:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8326264.stm

By: Fank Kalf

Fank Kalf — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:06:50 +0000

This guy was slightly biassed, using what he did and the way he did it.
But there are more serious matters than his complaints to attend.
Have a newby install something simple as Frostwire or play a mp3 and that’s it. He or she probably never wants to use Linux again.
The required java6-jre , java-common, encoders, decoders, ffmpef, libdvdcss etc makes the average Joe to startup Synaptic and how does he gets past the authentication.(wtf was the password Jane !@!)
Well, for starters Ubuntu needs to include a extra startup script by which users can agree to several agreements before they add medibutuu, google.dl etc to their repos and have the according launchpads installed WITH a key
I’m in the process of making my living with support for Linux, and I know service to converted Win users will eat up a part of my income!
Oh well…

By: Andyh

Andyh — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:55:32 +0000

I must say that the guy brings up valid arguments.
I think the difference is the product cycle -MS are normally on a 5ish year cycle (unless they release a dog), apple a 2-3 year cycle, ubuntu on a 6 month cycle so issues become non issues quite fast.
Some of the problems are hard to fix and blaming the DMCA is not going to cut it.
Maybe ubuntu and Linux in general should stop aiming for the lowest common denominator and just continue refining the linux experience for enlightenend user.
Oh and before I get the elitist tag - who are the people that someone comes to when the are looking for a new PC - this problem sorts itself out over the longer term in my view as we get to a stage where all OS,s provide the same basic functionality and then the cheapest wins.

By: karlzt

karlzt — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:01:06 +0000

this is the kind of thing that makes me want to change of distro

By: D Roque

D Roque — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:07:36 +0000

You may want to borrow from Pres. Obama’s book. This is a teaching moment. Certainly this wont be the last mainstream tech writer/broadcaster who will try Linux. Sending an advisor to download flash and some codecs isn’t the solution.

Grown ups who will try Linux for the first time should take some time to learn it. Read the manual.

If somebody is happy with whatever operating system they’re using, great, we should leave them alone.

By: The Dave

The Dave — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:23:34 +0000

It’s interesting to see the way kids and adults act when presented with something new. I work in a school district that is predominantly Mac, with some windows machines and several labs running Ubuntu 9.04.

In my own non-scientific observations, I noted that the kids didn’t have any problems and there were few complaints. The kids sat down and began doing what they do, (mainly watching videos and trying to find ways around my firewall to get to myspace and facebook…) BUT the teachers nearly rioted. In my case, I was lucky and had support of the administration and suggested a 30 minute training on Linux for the teachers. Since then the lab has been bomb proof.

I think the article is telling. Linux still has a ways to go and as a community we need to figure out how to make it a) easier for normal people to use and provide out of the box support for things like managing pictures, connecting to mp3 players etc. while b) keeping linux lean, stable and secure.

Remember, everyone is not like “us”. People fear change and don’t like it when change is forced upon them.

By: Francois Botha

Francois Botha — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:40:29 +0000

This is an opportunity. Show him the power of open-source software by fixing his issues in Ubuntu 10.04. If we can do that, it would attract more newbies, we’d get more feedback and it would make Ubuntu an even better product with a less steep learning curve.

By: Reine

Reine — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:41:04 +0000

That bloke at the BBC must be A jerk.

By: Jim C

Jim C — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:00:53 +0000

@Edward yes my points where trivial , but so were theirs.I refer you to my post further up which gives my opinion of his “test”

@Makurosu I mostly agree with you, however if you read the original post on the BBC web site the comments offered by Linux users were supporting sane and helpful with venomous comments interspersed by windows “fanboys”

why cant we all just get along

By: Makurosu

Makurosu — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:47:43 +0000

Edward, I agree with your reasoning generally, however Linux is reaching a critical mass where I don’t think we have to worry about not being able to find most drivers in the future. In fact, I find installing most hardware to be more effortless than in Windows (which isn’t saying much). It’s pretty much plug and play with Ubuntu.

I just hate to see us becoming a bunch of drooling fanboy Linux evangelistas planning the revolution from our parents’ basement. Okay, that’s laying it on thick, but Linux enthusiasts remind me of the cult of Apple sometimes. I don’t see why we need to educate this BBC journalist. If he wanted to be educated about Linux, he would be. Clearly, he prefers Windows and that’s fine, though I think that his attitude isn’t very appropriate for a journalist covering a story, but that’s his problem.

It’s a big enough world for all the major OS’s to have everything they need. However, I agree with you that the journalist makes some valid criticism that we should not dismiss if we want to make our product better.

By: Edward

Edward — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:54:32 +0000

Makurosu, I agree that whether others use it or not doesnt really have a direct impact on us, but it actually does have an important indirect benefit. If linux becomes more mainstream, we are more likely to recieve drivers and software/games that would otherwise be unavailable for us. At the moment I’m stuck dual booting or running games through wine because linux is too small a market share for developers to care about. In addition, with more people using linux, there will likely be more casual programmers around to program amazing applications and software for linux.

Jim C: I’m a huge fan of linux and its my main OS, but I would disagree on the points you make. First of all almost no-one is a first time windows user (i.e moving from linux to windows) so its not a problem that Microsoft needs to worry about.
Second, windows no longers says ‘start’, it uses the windows logo for the main menu.
Third, I have to install codecs to play DVDs on ubuntu aswell, so there is no difference. Infact believe win7 can play DVDs from install (correct me if I’m wrong).

We should’nt focus on putting down and criticising windows, rather we should focus on improving ubuntu so that it cannot be criticised.

By: Chad

Chad — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:49:10 +0000

I think for the average computer user Ubuntu is very friendly. The average computer user being someone that mostly just surfs the net, maybe does some light office work, and listens to music. But yes, I think there is a learning curve, as with anything. But once you get it, Ubuntu is easy to use.

My wife, who not a computer techie person at all says that she prefers Ubuntu and finds it much more user friendly than Windows. Granted I had to show her a few things at first to get around, but once she got a few things down it has been smooth sailing for her.