Is Now the Time to Move to Linux? Pat says yes

[greggh]

http://tuxmachines.org/node/11628

http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/54583.html

The biggest reason for migrating to Linux is freedom, said Patrick Davila, co-host of an online Linux talk show. Linux is not owned by anyone and is the ultimate community project. "In many ways, the community reminds me of the early days of computers," he said. "People are willing to share information and help others. All one needs to do is ask."

[Tsuroerusu]

The biggest reason for migrating to Linux is freedom, said Patrick Davila, co-host of an online Linux talk show.

Amen to that!

[Judland]

"Sometimes they are challenged by the time that it takes them to refamiliarize themselves with the nuances of the graphical user interface. Similar applications, features or utilities may have names or operations that are not familiar to the user," he said, adding that it might take some time to adjust.

This isn't a problem if they tried something other than Ubuntu all of the time.

Example: Mandriva One keeps the basic install down to a minimum... one application for each use (with the odd exception here and there) and has a control center that most people can understand and relate to.

Last month I held an installfest and installed Mandriva One on about a half dozen home PCs. None of the newbies have commented about any confusion of what clearly labeled applications did or what something like "Set up the printer" meant in the Control Center menu.

So, getting familiar with something designed for the novice users, like Mandriva One, would take less time to adjust to than something like Ubuntu. And KDE also seems to be easier for them to adjust to than Gnome. At least, that's what my new users are telling me.

[Tsuroerusu]

And KDE also seems to be easier for them to adjust to than Gnome. At least, that's what my new users are telling me.

Don't tell Miguel!

[mowestusa]

This isn't a problem if they tried something other than Ubuntu all of the time... So, getting familiar with something designed for the novice users, like Mandriva One, would take less time to adjust to than something like Ubuntu. And KDE also seems to be easier for them to adjust to than Gnome. At least, that's what my new users are telling me.

My family is not very computer savvy at all. Yet they have never had an issue with KDE, XFCE, Gnome because all they care about is where is the Firefox icon, Abiword icon, and games. Taking five minutes on any of those desktops solves the interface issue for my family. Now that they have been using Linux for two years they know what the icons look like, and they are similar in all of the desktops for the most part.

I don't really get the slam on Ubuntu because it also only has one app for each task, and it has Administration menus and Preference menus that are as easy to access as a control center. In fact the stock install of Ubuntu has a limited number of menus and programs so as not to shock the new user. Ubuntu has also gotten flak for renaming things so that a new user would immediately recognize them. They don't call it CUPS, but "Printing". I'm not saying Ubuntu is better than Mandriva, but I don't believe your +'s for Mandriva are unique to Mandriva, at least the ones you listed.

I'll be the first to admit that Mandriva must be good even though I have never used it because a number of people seem to like in this forum and it is popular on Distrowatch. If someone told me they wanted to try Mandriva, I don't believe I have a single reason to tell them to install Ubuntu instead. Same goes for Fedora Core. Now if they want my help afterwards, it would be easier for me if they used a distro that I have installed and used in the past. Typically when people ask me to recommend a distro without having unique requirements like a really really old computer or other special needs, I tell them what I have used and am using, then I tell them. "Go to Distrowatch and learn about the first 10-15 distros in the sidebar and try one of those that looks interesting to you. If you don't like it, you can always try another one."

[Judland]

I just mentioned Mandriva because the author of the article was quoting comments that addressed things like application names that don't say what they're for and also recommended Ubuntu.

If newbies are finding that it is taking time to adjust to Ubuntu, I'm suggesting that using a "simpler" distro. may help reduce the learning curve. I've had good experiences and feedback in this regard with Mandriva. That's all I'm saying.

My apologies to the Ubuntu-Linux-God-Almighty for not throwing myself at it's mercy.

[hellonorman]

The article suggests that Ubuntu is making the adjustment to linux easier. It's not suggesting that people are having a hard time adjusting to Ubuntu.

[Tsuroerusu]

The article suggests that Ubuntu is making the adjustment to linux easier.

I think I can speak for both David and myself right about now, but when we read that sentence you indirectly quoted there, to us it seems like "Ubuntu is becoming Linux" in the sense that nothing else is something normal people could use, it's like Ubuntu getting all the credit for something. Ubuntu this and Ubuntu that, I'm starting to get sick of it, sure it's a nice distribution (I'd prefer them respecting the GPL more than they do), but am I the only one getting a little sick hearing about how "Ubuntu is so wonderful and nothing else can match it's level of perfect" ???

[Wally Balljacker]

The article suggests that Ubuntu is making the adjustment to linux easier.

I think I can speak for both David and myself right about now, but when we read that sentence you indirectly quoted there, to us it seems like "Ubuntu is becoming Linux" in the sense that nothing else is something normal people could use, it's like Ubuntu getting all the credit for something. Ubuntu this and Ubuntu that, I'm starting to get sick of it, sure it's a nice distribution (I'd prefer them respecting the GPL more than they do), but am I the only one getting a little sick hearing about how "Ubuntu is so wonderful and nothing else can match it's level of perfect" ???

Well, I think Ubuntu has proven itself as being the ideal distro for new users for a number of reasons. You've got the robust Synaptic package manager with somewhere around 15,000 packages (it may be more, I haven't used Ubuntu in awhile), which makes installing software even easier than on Windows. You only need one CD, which cuts down on time and confusion, and Canonical will even send you one for free, which is very enticing for potential switchers. I think their decision to ship only one desktop environment, and a trimmed set of applications has been a good move, since most users don't want five different text editors and five different window managers. Their stance on proprietary drivers may piss off Free software purists, but people will never switch to Linux if they can't use their wireless cards, or graphics cards without trouble. When you step back and look at it, Ubuntu has really made all the right decisions, and their massive popularity is evidence of that.

[mowestusa]

But am I the only one getting a little sick hearing about how "Ubuntu is so wonderful and nothing else can match it's level of perfect" ???

I'm an Ubuntu user, but it is mostly because I am lazy. For me I have found it really easy to take the free Ubuntu CD from the LUG meetings, drop it into my computers and have it work. With Easy Ubuntu I get all of the multimedia stuff I want or need. The forums tend to be well organized and easy to search. Questions on the forum are usually answered quickly and with respect from the community members. I thought I would miss KDE because I really enjoyed that desktop under Kanotix, but Gnome has grown on me, and I have not bothered to install KDE under Ubuntu. I also had zero trouble with the install. I have not upgraded from Dapper yet, and I may not for a while because I having things set up and don't want change rightnow.

Now I believe from what I have read in this forum that at least 95% of what I said above is true of most of the distros in the top 10 on Distrowatch. I have nothing bad to say about any of them. In fact I just did a Debian Etch install, and I really enjoyed the install, and tweaking things afterwards has been fun. I have found great how tos, and a lot of my Ubuntu knowledge carries over to Debian. So I agree that it would be nice to hear about other distros too, but when Ubuntu is as popular as it is, at least it is getting Linux into the minds of desktop users. Perhaps it will even get them over to Distrowatch and they will find all the amazing distros that Linux offers. No distro is perfect, even Ubuntu proved this with the troubles people had with the upgrade to Edgy. We are going to be hardpressed to see as much coverage of Slackware, Studio64, and DSL outside of the Linux community. The larger and general tech news sites are going to talk about the most popular distros or the most popular and not really explore all the other goodness that is out there.

[Judland]

You only need one CD, which cuts down on time and confusion.... I think their decision to ship only one desktop environment, and a trimmed set of applications has been a good move, since most users don't want five different text editors and five different window managers.

For me I have found it really easy to take the free Ubuntu CD from the LUG meetings, drop it into my computers and have it work.

This all differs from Mandriva One in which way?

My point was, I've given Mandriva One CDs to several people and have installed it on many newbie PCs (these are official CDs from Mandriva as well... it's just that they provide them to me for free in a different manner than the way Ubuntu does - and of course it's the latest and greatest release of theirs). Usability didn't seem to be an issue, as most who sat down to use it seemed to recognize the toolbar, application menu, and what many of the applications did - due to the generic labeling.

They also were impressed with the 3D desktop environment that came "out of the box". Having both nVidia and ATI support in the product (and able to detect which one to use) was very cleaver on Mandriva's part, if you ask me.

You say Ubuntu, I say Mandriva. In the end, it's all Linux. I just prefer Mandriva (the company) and the product they produce.

[hellonorman]

This all differs from Mandriva One in which way?

The horrible mandriva website and confusion over different versions have been explained quite a bit.

If all you wanted to say was that you think mandriva is just as good then all you had to do was say it. No need to misrepresent an article and make sarcastic comments about Ubuntu gods.

[Judland]

The horrible mandriva website and confusion over different versions have been explained quite a bit.

I'm not sure how this relates particularly to Mandriva One.

If all you wanted to say was that you think mandriva is just as good then all you had to do was say it. No need to misrepresent an article and make sarcastic comments about Ubuntu gods.

I did say just that in my first reply... which got "mis-interpreted" as a slam against Ubuntu. There was no need for that, either.

[hellonorman]

If all you wanted to say was that you think mandriva is just as good then all you had to do was say it. No need to misrepresent an article and make sarcastic comments about Ubuntu gods.

I did say just that in my first reply... which got "mis-interpreted" as a slam against Ubuntu. There was no need for that, either.

No, you spoke as though the article was citing Ubuntu as the cause of the problems it speaks of. When the article is actually suggesting that Ubuntu is eliminating those problems.

[dann]

The article suggests that Ubuntu is making the adjustment to linux easier.

I think I can speak for both David and myself right about now, but when we read that sentence you indirectly quoted there, to us it seems like "Ubuntu is becoming Linux"

Wait a minute, I thought Linux was Ubuntu????

but am I the only one getting a little sick hearing about how "Ubuntu is so wonderful and nothing else can match it's level of perfect" ???

Get it right, pal, perfect strives to rise to the level of Ubuntu. So your statement should have been "Ubuntu is so wonderful that perfect strives to match the level of Ubuntu."

Now when you are finished messing around with inferior Ubuntu wanna-bes like SuSE, Mandriva, and Slackware get the world's best OS back on your system - Cause Brown is No longer Flushed Down.