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Stories and comments across the archive that link to freecontrib.org.

Comments · 54

  1. Re:Turns out the whole reason for the attack was.. by xenocide2 · · Score: 2, Interesting · on Ubuntu Servers Hacked

    And up until last week the most frequent answer on the Ubuntu forums for many questions was "use Automatix". Possibly because web forum software is horrible on all fronts. It caters to a narrow, dangerous audience of experienced people who should know better. People who's been using the internet for long enough to know what a "web forum" is, but aren't familiar with mailing lists and IRC. So the forums were never planned for, but it eventually it was felt that the forums should be intergrated rather than continue to grow and divide the community.

    Automatix in particular is a fantastic story of why I avoid forums. Automatix began life as a bash script under a different title by someone other than "arnieboy", and shared by a sticky forum thread. A marginal step up from guides telling you what commands to run to enable various things, etc. Based on a fundamental misunderstanding of copyright, licensing and the GPL, Automatix was born as a fork of this script, featuring numerous dubious personalizations that might be okay for arnieboy to accept but aren't good suggestions (such as enabling a root account). The forum admins have regularly played an active role, playing favorites amongst the various tools. Automatix at one point had it's own 3rd party project sub forum, where apparently traditional Ubuntu Code of Conduct did not apply ("his forum, his rules"). Eventually automatix was blamed for the failed upgrade of a number of users, and some people took to abusing a "popular searches" front page widget to advertise the phrase "automatix sucks", which was eventually fixed by telling the software that "automatix" was too common a word to search for, I think at the author's request.

    As things stand now, Automatix has it's own forum and remains mostly antagonistic towards criticism. It's functionality has been largely dupplicated though it still serves a purpose, to commit copyright infringement via w32codecs etc. Ubuntu has tools that function very similar to Automatix' normal behavior, and in some cases improve upon it. The codec detection stuff in totem is helpful, as you don't need to know about Automatix to learn how to make things work, though it doesn't install w32codecs. And the most significant, repeated complaint has not been solved: Automatix has scheduled for themselves a single week with which to test all bugs and upgrade flaws -- they plan to release one week before gutsy is published.

    A number of forum posts relating to this history have gone missing, which I disagree with. The proper thing to do in the face of misconduct is confront it and denounce it, not hide it by deletion. You might have the right to be offended by what people say, but not the right to erase history. Instead of the forums, use mailing lists and IRC when you feel like being sociable with other linux users, and launchpad's bugs and answers services if you have a problem.
  2. Re:To AMD: by Tteddo · · Score: 1 · on AMD Backs openSUSE with Huge New Infrastructure

    I have the same laptop and everything (except for the modem..) worked on the first install of Edgy, and and upgrade to feisty. The wireless just worked, then used EasyUbuntu http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/to get the better ATI drivers among other things. I was able to get WPA working great with Wicd http://wicd.sourceforge.net/. I don't do anything fancy though.

  3. What about EasyUbuntu? by Bazman · · Score: 1 · on Automatix 'Actively Dangerous' to Ubuntu

    http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

    Seems to have the same goals - but does it have the same issues?

  4. Re:Hrm... by tastygroove · · Score: 1 · on Too Many Linux Distros Make For Open Source Mess

    The fragmentation of Linux distros has nothing to do with it being slowly accepted as a mainstream OS; lack of specialized apps, shaky hardware support and the usual suspects are to blame for that.


    is this still true? in my experience it isn't. i've installed ubuntu on a dozen or more very different computers (old laptops without cd-drives to brand new dell pcs) now and i've been amazed at how well it 'just worked'. the install is brainless, and once its running you have a full featured computer system complete with multimedia apps, office software, etc. i typically just have to spend a few minutes installing java plugins and mp3 support, but there are now packages http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/ which do that automatically too.

    that's the beauty of the linux community. if there's something you need, chances are someone has provided it and a quick google search will get you there. that's the utility of all of the different distros. as has been said, most of them serve very specific purposes. for the non-linux user words like redhat or ubuntu are synonymous with linux anyway, so there probably isn't even any confusion.

    i will say, the one thing that i still feel is missing on linux is support for gaming. there are some capable open source games out there (warsow is a fun UT type multiplayer shooter) and some games have linux installers (i had to resort to installing neverwinter nights) but when a new commercial game comes out linux users are left high and dry. good thing i have my 360.
  5. Re:Automatix? Ugh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative · on Seven Essential Tips For Using Ubuntu Feisty Fawn

    I agree - I cringed when I read that - irresponsible!

    I've used EasyUbuntu and the MediUbuntu repositories to get all the same jobs done safely - I would recommend those options instead of Automatix

  6. Re:Linux users coming on too fast for Dell... by ElleyKitten · · Score: 2, Informative · on Dell To Linux Users — Not So Fast

    Ignore the other poster, some people like to make things harder. Just get EasyUbuntu (just download it and double click to install) and when you run it it will have a number of checkboxes (for Flash, Skype, stuff like that). Check the one that says nvidia drivers. Click apply. You might have to enter your password somewhere in there, but it's pretty straightforward.

  7. Re:Ubuntu...the new super-distro? by jalefkowit · · Score: 1 · on Canonical and Linspire Make a Deal

    Ah, but by default Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu et al do not ship with anything but Free software. If you want things like Flash, media codecs, etc. you have to figure out how to set them up yourself, or use a helper script like EasyUbuntu.

    This is, IMHO, the biggest weakness in the Ubuntu/Canonical strategy -- they have two desires ("a distro for Linux newbies" and "a 100% Free-as-in-Freedom distro") that in many ways are diametrically opposed. (And I say this as a happy Kubuntu user.)

  8. It's like EasyUbuntu, but it's US-legal by Darkforge · · Score: 1 · on Linspire's CNR Goes Multi-Distro

    apt-get won't let you purchase, download, and install a US-legal DVD player, legal MP3 player, legal Windows Media Player, and so on. Linspire has paid royalties to the owners of these technologies so you can legally use CNR to install this proprietary software on Linux. You can also use it to purchase/download/install other Crossover/Cedega/Win32 software like World of Warcraft, Quicken, etc.

    Sure, you can use EasyUbuntu and get a lot of that stuff illegally for free, but because CNR is legal, it's actually feasible to sell a consumer desktop with, say, Ubuntu + CNR pre-installed. You can't sell EasyUbuntu in the United States (or most EU countries) without expecting a serious lawsuit.

  9. Re:These aren't the big issues at all by arkhan_jg · · Score: 1 · on Is Ubuntu a Serious Desktop Contender?

    Did you install the binary video drivers? Licence issues prevent these being distributed as part of the default install on most linux distros. The default X drivers are very like the default windows XP video drivers - slow. That may be what caused your video playback issues, as I playback video all the time in gentoo and ubuntu, and both run fine in any player.

    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowt o is a good place to start, assuming you didn't already. http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/ is another good place to go to get the binary-only and non-free packages that make life easier, which can't be distributed with the main distro for legal reasons. Did I mention software patents suck?

  10. EasyUbuntu by Penguin+Programmer · · Score: 1 · on Giving the Gift of Ubuntu Linux for Christmas?

    I would suggest using EasyUbuntu post-installation to install the various non-free packages that make Linux nicer to use. You can be sure that your friends and relatives won't want to keep using Linux very long if they don't have Flash, Java, WMV codecs, etc installed. EasyUbuntu makes it not look like doing this is an ugly hack.

    Automatix is also a good choice, but I've heard some stories about people having problems with it not backing up their config files and such.

  11. easy ubuntu site ddos'ed? by TheRealRamone · · Score: 1 · on Upgrading to Ubuntu Edgy Eft a "Nightmare"

    I tried to upgrade my ubuntu box for the past 2 nights but the installer gives up when it can't connect to http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/. I'm not interested in upgrading if it means the non-free codecs stop working. Anyone else run into this? --Hc

  12. Re:I had the same experience by williambbertram · · Score: 1 · on Fedora Core 6 Review

    Yes some work better than others. I have tried deploying Red Hat Core and Ubuntu to non-tech users. Ubuntu has worked out much better for them and me. The Java and Acrobat can be easily installed with "Easy Ubuntu" ( http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/ ). No rpm needed. I do apologize if that came off as a flame. I agree that Red Hat Core is an excellent distro.

  13. Re:Non-geeks? by Skrynesaver · · Score: 1 · on Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks
    Setting up codecs etc is handy enough, just visit easy ubuntu and there you are.

    Terms and conditions apply, you may not use this linnk if you live in a country with fscked software patenting laws

  14. Re:Vista, Meet Linux by massysett · · Score: 5, Insightful · on Slashback: What Dell Knew, China's Fusion, Vista

    but until that command line is 100% optional, the masses will not accept Linux, period.

    Not sure why you needed the CLI, as Ubuntu has Synaptic. Plus now there is EasyUbuntu to get multimedia stuff working.

    That said, I don't think "the masses" have the strong anti-CLI bent that geeks like to suggest they do. Many people who fit into "the masses" once used text-based programs--remember WordPerfect? Lotus 123? Just a few years ago all the students at my university used Pine for email, and nobody whined about how hard it was to use--maybe because it wasn't hard to use! Library catalogs all used to have text-based interfaces. Even now, many people use computer systems at work (ever heard of BPCS?) that have text-based interfaces. I've seen law librarians use the old text-based interfaces to Westlaw and Lexis.

    If "the masses" hate CLI, why do they use Google? That involves formulating queries, typing them in. Why didn't they prefer the old Yahoo Directory way of picking from a menu of choices?

    "The masses" have the same realization that geeks do: many GUI programs are designed for newbies. The problem is that you're not a newbie for long, but the GUI keeps you stuck in newbie mode. Long before I was a geek, I was frustrated when public libraries switched to GUI catalogs. GUI and web-based catalogs are easier to use when you're new, but you're not new for long, and after you're experienced clicking around with the mouse is very frustrating. That's why the law librarians use the text-based Lexis.

    I often find CLI based programs to be easier to use, and I don't think "the masses" are any different.

  15. Re:The sad thing is . . . by ElleyKitten · · Score: 2, Informative · on How Linux and Windows Stack Up in 2006
    And where's the central repository of knowledge that tells me what's the best text editor of the 9,000 available for Linux? The best media player, the best burning software?
    Look, I know you're used to Windows which comes with a bare-bones text editor, a bloated pos for a media player, and no dedicated burning software, but Linux distros tend to come with decent programs to do all those things. If you're willing to use whatever some random guy uses too, then why not just stick with the perfectly usable defaults?

    Installing in Windows just as easy as installing something on Linux. Frequently it's a heck of a lot easier to set up due to gui set up, rather than having to use config files.
    Config files? No, on Ubuntu it's just point and click. Ok, type in something to search, but on the whole, less clicks than Windows installers.

    Even with its package manager I had to trudge through the forums to find out what program does what.
    It says what it does right in the description. What more information did you need?

    Not to mention the fact that in order to replace my Windows setup I need to add repositories that aren't in there by default. I know why there no there to begin with, but it's a pain to add them for every install, and every tutorial I've seen just uses the command line anyway.
    You don't have to use the command line, people just like it because it's more straight-foward. You can add them through Synaptic (forget where, not in front of my ubuntu box, sorry) or you can get EasyUbuntu, which will install mp3, flash, etc, as well. Or you could get Mepis.

  16. Re:What is Linspire's Value Added? by Daengbo · · Score: 1 · on Linspire Makes Click and Run Free
    I've been using Linux since 1997, so take the following statement as a true and honest feeling: I was always disappointed with the speed of the GUI until recently, but then I:
    • Wiped and installed Xubuntu,
    • Used EasyUbuntu to install all the codecs and etc. that I need to watch media,
    • Ran FasterDapper, which does prelinking and some other minor stuff, and
    • Enjoyed the speed of my laptop for the fist time in a long time.
    I'm very happy with straight GTK without the Gnome libraries on top of it, though the file manager really needs a Samba share browser. It's coming up soon, though, so maybe I'll get one in Edgy.
  17. Re:Distro ladder by notjim · · Score: 2, Informative · on First Impressions of Freespire 1.0

    or use easy ubuntu: http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

  18. Re:It's about time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on An Early Look at Freespire Linux
    From the description, it sounds like a killer distro: I'd love to have proprietary codecs and the like installed out of the box.


    If Freespire/Linspire is not to your liking, give Ubuntu along with EasyUbuntu a look. I'm not trying to be a zealot here (actually I run Slackware), but for people who just don't want to screw with things EasyUbuntu grabs the most oft-requested add-ons with very little fuss and muss.

  19. not exactly packaged with the distro... by tlacuache · · Score: 3, Informative · on An Early Look at Freespire Linux

    ... but EasyUbuntu accomplishes the same thing (at least as far as the codecs and drivers go, I didn't RTFA) for Ubuntu and is as easy as the name suggests.

  20. Re:Obligatory Linux Plug by �berhund · · Score: 1 · on Options for 'Fixing' A Pirated Copy of Windows
    Does [Ubuntu]: Play DVDs out of the box? Play MP3s out of the box? Work with Microsoft / Apple DRM music files out of the box?


    http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/ will take care of most of that for free. As for buying DRM encumbered music for a music player that will handle MP3s, well, I'm told there are ways to handle that, too. But so far, DRM is mainly a tool to lock you into buying from the same place.

    But we can play the same game with Windows:

    Excuse me for a second.

    So, Windows costs quite a bit.

    Does it: View and edit MS Word and Excel docs out of the box? (OpenOffice) High quality image editing? (Gimp) Instant Messaging? (Gaim) Email Calendaring? (Evolution) Desktop Publishing? (Scribus)

    No. It doesn't. For something to be even considered useful, it needs to be able to do the above things. Or else it's WORTHLESS IMO. Sure, you can drive to CompUSA and shell out another thousand dollars for all that stuff. ($230 just for MS Word?! WTF?)

    And what about my hardware? Every other driver I install adds some annoying program to my system, which runs something at startup.

    And Windows makes it *so* much easier for programs to simply run themselves. So now I shell out another couple hundred dollars for antivirus, antispyware, firewall, etc. And my system still gets infected! If I'm lucky I can get it off with help of my Windows guru friend, but eventually I have to reinstall the whole thing just so I can stop being a spambot.

    While I understand that Windows is eaiser because people are used to it, usability is FAR less than what people are willing to admit. Windows has a LOOOOONG way to go before it's ready for prime time on the desktop. If you disagree, try testing the 2 OSes on people who have never used either.

    For a server? Hell, no. Desktop? Questionable there, too. Yeah, I just love supporting all my Windows friends and family every time the get another fracking virus. I've taken to telling most people that I'm a Linux guy, and don't know much about Windows.
  21. Re:Obligatory Linux Plug by doodleboy · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Options for 'Fixing' A Pirated Copy of Windows
    Excuse me for a second. So, Ubuntu doesn't cost a dime. Does it: Play DVDs out of the box? Play MP3s out of the box? Work with Microsoft / Apple DRM music files out of the box? No. It doesn't. For something to be even considered useful, it needs to be able to do the above three things. Or else it's WORTHLESS IMO. Sure, you can bring up Ubuntu, find some site, download XMMS with the MP3 plugins.

    http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org./ Takes a couple minutes to run, installs pretty much every codec out there along with apps to use them with. It's crushingly difficult. And so hard to find too--it took almost a whole minute to find the link on the Ubuntulinux wiki.

    While I understand how much better Linux is because of security, usability is FAR less than what people are willing to admit. Linux has a LOOOOONG way to go before it's ready for prime time on the desktop.
    Which linux distributions have you tried? How much have you used them? Because I'm sensing a lack of familiarity. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Stick with Windows if you're more comfortable. Just don't assume that what's right for you is right for everyone.
  22. Re:Seems unlikely by MirrororriM · · Score: 1 · on End of Win 98 Support May Boost Desktop Linux
    Ok, I'm going to try to help.

    First things, first - if you're looking for programs to perform a certain task (play mp3s, webcam, etc), try using the "search" feature in Synaptic. You can search by program name, program name and description, and a few other criteria. These two are the ones I use most.

    Anyway, with that out of the way, let's go down the list:

    Of course, I also told him I would install the MP3 support

    I've installed all sorts of Linux variants on dozens of machines and Ubuntu was a fair share of those. I never had to "install mp3 support", I just installed xmms. I can't remember if it was installed by default or if I had to apt-get it...either way, that takes care of that. As far as OGG goes, I just don't use it. I know...what kind of geek doesn't use OGG, right? ;)

    Another thing was Webcam support, yep, I connected a Genius webcam NB and it detected it automagically, unfortunately there is NO program to capture video or at least see it.

    I'm assuming you're talking about no program in Windows to capture or see video. I typically use camstream in Linux. I know there are several more options out there (again, search in Synaptic), but this is the one I'm used to.

    But, what I wanted to show here is that there ARE those small annoyances that just keep getting across the way, until those are not solved it would be difficult for the "normal" people to migrate.

    Yeah, there are small annoyances here or there in Linux, just like there are in Windows. For example, I have a HP PSC-1209 printer/scanner. Windows automagically "found" a new printer attached to the USB port. The drivers that Windows automatically installed didn't work. I then grabbed the HP install CD so I could install the correct drivers after uninstalling the drivers that Windows was nice enough to install...without asking (you know, so the printer would "just work"). In Ubuntu, I just clicked on "Printers" -> "Add Printer" -> selected my printer model from the list -> waited a few seconds for drivers to kick in -> done (no reboots either!). Overall, it took me 25 seconds to install the printer on Ubuntu Linux, and about 5 minutes in Windows.

    Overall, one tool that helps Ubuntu users out quite a bit is EasyUbuntu. That'll take care of quite a few of your issues.

    Ubuntu really isn't that difficult, even for new users. Heck, my 11 year old daughter uses it on an AMD 450Mhz machine with 256MB of RAM and she used XP for two years prior to Ubuntu 5.04. I don't get calls for "Daaaaaad! Where do I find X" or "Daaaaad! Do I send this error report to Microsoft?" any more either, which is quite nice. The Gnome menus just seem to make more sense than a Windows menu to find the programs you want to use. Anyway, good luck to you and your friend - I hope this post helps out.

  23. Re:I tried to switch, but... by Fallingcow · · Score: 1 · on Nerds Switching from Apple to Ubuntu?

    The great part of all of this is that you never even need to edit your X config manually to get the official Nvidia drivers working. A quick search with relevant terms on the Ubuntu forums will lead you to EasyUbuntu (click to download it), which is a graphical program for installing things that the Ubuntu team can't legally include (official graphics card drivers, DVD support, non-free codecs, etc). Just unzip it, click on the executable inside the folder that results, and follow along with the prompts. It does everything for you. Basically the same thing that you'd have had to do to get your video working properly in a fresh installation of Windows.

    Also, resizing Windows partitions is a terrifying prospect no matter what. Even the commercial resizing programs (that run under Windows!) are notorious for breaking things. You are VERY lucky that the partition's boot record was all that got broken. Maybe there should be some kind of scary-looking warning message before Ubuntu lets the user try something like that.

  24. Re:unlikely by vinohradska · · Score: 1 · on Nerds Switching from Apple to Ubuntu?

    I guess you haven't heard of http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/ ? libdvdcss is just a few clicks away.

  25. Re:unlikely by Poppler · · Score: 4, Insightful · on Nerds Switching from Apple to Ubuntu?
    Try telling the average computer user that .mp3's, aac's, or any other proprietary media format won't play out of the box and see how they react.


    If installing Automatix or Easyubuntu is too hard for this hypothetical "average computer user", they're probably not going to be the one installing the OS.
  26. Re:ubuntu is getting stronger by the day by jimcooncat · · Score: 1 · on Red Hat Not Seeing Microsoft, Ubuntu as Threats

    I guess you should have spent your ten minutes installing EasyUbuntu to get your mp3's working. There's a reason why they don't play "out of the box".

    I haven't seen much about Ubuntu being used for clusters, though, but I'm sure its possible to do. I wonder why they brought it up in the article?

  27. Re:Dapper is good, but it's not there yet. by advocate_one · · Score: 3, Insightful · on Ubuntu 6.06 Reviewed
    It's not ready for grandma to use,

    whoah... let's kill this "It's not ready for grandma to use" meme... I'm a grandparent and I have absolutely NO problems with Linux at all... If Grandma can follow a recipe in a recipe book, or follow a set of knitting instructions (and I'm pretty sure very few of you could), then she's perfectly capable of following the instructions for doing easyubuntu or automatix... although looking at Arnieboy's thread for automatix... even I'm confused... trying to work out where to start with it

    and the easy ubuntu page of instructions, while simple, fail to mention that you have to copy and paste each line at a time into a terminal... durr... come on guys... switch on... some people require very explicit step by step instructions to do this...

    mind you, recipe books assume a lot of basic knowledge and so do knitting patterns...

  28. Re:MEPIS: (K)Ubuntu with codecs by cquark · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Ubuntu 6.06 Reviewed

    Ubuntu doesn't incorporate MP3 and other codecs as part of the distribution because of legal issues, but you can install support for MP3s and most of the other software you want that's excluded with a few clicks of the mouse by using EasyUbuntu.

  29. Re:Dapper is good, but it's not there yet. by ozmanjusri · · Score: 1 · on Ubuntu 6.06 Reviewed
    I was talking about every day hardware support and MP3/video codec support.

    Just run the script. Easier than chasing codecs... http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

  30. Re:Dapper is good, but it's not there yet. by soundoff · · Score: -1, Flamebait · on Ubuntu 6.06 Reviewed

    If you want to get mp3 and video codecs quickly and easily, use Easy Ubuntu. That really is simple enough for Grandma! Some versions of Windows XP now comes without Media Player as standard, so I guess those people have to search on the internet for both a media player and codecs. For people without a clue, the Ubuntu package manager should be a lot easier than telling people "Go to www.google.com, type "VLC media player" in the search bar, go to the first website on the list, then to the download page, download it, double-click on the .exe file you've just downloaded..." Ubuntu is slightly different, and therefore I agree it's not as useful for people who have already gotten used to the silly way XP does things (ie: rely on people using a third-party search engine to find updates to critical third-party system applications). However, using this approach, everything is in the same place. It's more intuitive and it's much easier to update everything. Have you ever tried installing XP on a system it did not come pre-installed on? Driver issues are often rampant- on an old laptop I booted into XP and the display was in 2 colours- the display drivers were long discontinued and unavailable anywhere. It kept blue-screening too. Ubuntu came along and my only trouble was the wireless network card.

  31. Re:torrents by Knuckles · · Score: 3, Informative · on Ubuntu 6.06 'Dapper Drake' Released

    Automatix is considered unsafe. It overwrites system files, forces potentially dangerous operations, etc. (At least it did at one time, the author got a lot of advice and has changed things, but I still wouldn't trust it.)

    Easyubuntu is a better option.

  32. Re:EasyUbuntu. by syphax · · Score: 4, Informative · on Ubuntu 6.06 'Dapper Drake' Released


    Just checked here:

    Get EasyUbuntu!

    Stable Release
    The 3.0 release supports:

            * Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu
            * Breezy/Dapper
            * x86/powerpc/amd64

  33. Re:Automatix?? by delire · · Score: 2, Informative · on Ubuntu 6.06 'Dapper Drake' Released

    You are best to use Easy Ubuntu, reccommended by Ubuntu developers and package maintainers over competing scripts.

  34. Automatix by tecker · · Score: 3, Interesting · on Ubuntu 6.06 'Dapper Drake' Released

    Automatix is also highly talked about similar to easyubuntu but if you compare the features in easyubuntu.

    Pick for yourself but after trying ubuntu and the multimedia fiasco trust me and WMF, you will want one of these.

  35. EasyUbuntu. by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Informative · on Ubuntu 6.06 'Dapper Drake' Released

    After installing dapper, I highly reccommend grabbing easyubuntu - it's a little package to get mp3s, wmvs, flash, java, crappy non-free nvidia/ati drivers etc all automagically installed.

    Takes one of the niggles out of ubuntu.

  36. Re:Some Basic things are just missing. by donnz · · Score: 1 · on Can Ordinary PC Users Ditch Windows for Linux?

    That's your experience and being so is perfectly valid for you. My recent experience was instal Ubuntu, click on a link to "easy ubuntu" - http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/ and use t he GUI interface to select and install all the things you mentioned. It was very easy.

    Now compare this to a couple of recent experiences I had on windows - one was trying to burn a cd of photographs and the other was trying to get photographs off a digital camera onto a laptop. I couldn't work out how to do either. Never been a problem in Linux, it just, well, happens. This sort of little niggly thing is becoming more and more frequement when I am forced to use Windows.

    So I conclude that Windows is way too hard and will not work for the average user. QED.

  37. Re:If my daughter can do it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Can Ordinary PC Users Ditch Windows for Linux?

    The fact that your daughter has been using Linux since she was ten doesn't mean anything. (BTW, I use Linux (only)). Children are much better learners, they'll obviously have no trouble using Linux. Those users whose minds have been permanently damaged by using Windows for a long time will find it near-impossible to switch. Users who are new to computers or haven't used computers much will not have much trouble using Linux, as long as someone sets it up for them for the first time (the installation of a modern distro such as Ubuntu is pretty easy, but there are still several steps to perform to get flash,mp3,and DVD playback working (licensing issues). EasyUbuntu helps, but one has to still download and run the script — it's only four lines at a terminal that they'll have to ever type, but I can imagine average users being put off by that.)

    I don't think we can hope that any longtime Windows users will switch to Linux in a hurry (unless they are young and energetic and taken in by the Free Software philosophy or something), but I think new users can very well use Linux without much trouble.

  38. Re:If my daughter can do it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Can Ordinary PC Users Ditch Windows for Linux?

    The fact that your daughter has been using Linux since she was ten doesn't mean anything. (BTW, I use Linux (only)). Children are much better learners, they'll obviously have no trouble using Linux. Those users whose minds have been permanently damaged by using Windows for a long time will find it near-impossible to switch. Users who are new to computers or haven't used computers much will not have much trouble using Linux, as long as someone sets it up for them for the first time (the installation of a modern distro such as Ubuntu is pretty easy, but there are still several steps to perform to get flash,mp3,and DVD playback working (licensing issues). EasyUbuntu helps, but one has to still download and run the script — it's only four lines at a terminal that they'll have to ever type, but I can imagine average users being put off by that.)

    I don't think we can hope that any longtime Windows users will switch to Linux in a hurry (unless they are young and energetic and taken in by the Free Software philosophy or something), but I think new users can very well use Linux without much trouble.

  39. Re:Can it play MP3 out-of-the-box? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Looking Forward, Ubuntu Linux 6.06

    Automatix is extremely dangerous. Please use Easy Ubuntu instead.

  40. Re:Ubuntu's There by krewemaynard · · Score: 1 · on Looking Forward, Ubuntu Linux 6.06

    Ditto for Easy Ubuntu. And it seems to do a better job of installing the media codecs, especially for the browser. But, Automatix is good too, and it was there when I needed it. :)

  41. Re:Money talks by dsginter · · Score: 1 · on Bruce Perens on UserLinux and Ubuntu

    Money talks indeed.

    My primary concern is how it will begin talking from the other side of the table. Case in point, intellectual property. Now, I'm no fan of the state of our patent system but this discussion was interesting because not a single person brought up the issue of legality. Now, Ballmer recently hinted that Microsoft are putting together an IP war against Linux.

    I work for a pretty large company so management is very conservative (side note, I do realize that those aren't mutual - its just the norm). One of the big items on the agenda is the outcome of the SCO/IBM litigation. Simply, management have pinned their decision to implement Linux *bigtime* on the outcome of this case. If SCO loses, then Linux gets a big customer. If SCO wins, then Microsoft maintains their existing customer. I would imagine that many other large businesses fall into this same boat.

    If SCO loses, I'll bet that Microsoft will unleash a war on Linux. If this happens, I would like to see the ducks in a row. How much would it cost me to *buy* a version of Ubuntu with complete support for MP3, video, flash and all that other crap? The only reason that I use Linux at all is because EasyUbuntu makes it painless. Yes - I realize that I could go buy Mandrake or Suse but neither of those appeals to me like Ubuntu.

    Yes - it seems easy enough to uncomment a few lines and claim that I'm a local resident of Catalunya, but it would be nice to see someone putting money into this side of the equation.

  42. Re:Have you really looked at what it does? by Red+Alastor · · Score: 1 · on Automatix Kicks Ubuntu into Gear
    There's still Easy Ubuntu : http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

    And Easy Kubuntu : http://olwin.free.fr/

    It does the same job as Automatix. It's safer. But it offers less options (no Opera for instance). But for codecs and the like, it's perfect.

  43. Don't Believe the Hype... says the great rap song. by Quash · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Automatix Kicks Ubuntu into Gear

    First things first. Automatix is aggressively marketed and I'd be careful of the hype. But, in fairness, the person who does it is also very accessible and is quick to work out bugs, so he deserves credit on those fronts. Ubuntu Guide at EasyLinux I prefer the new Ubuntu Guide at http://easylinux.info/wiki/Ubuntu. It is a simple command-line driven guide that *anyone* can contribute to and which gives you all the same options, if you want to do the apt-get work yourself. Instructions are easy to follow and by the end of it, you know what you've installed, how you did it and, if you'e a newbie, will feel they've learned a lot without much effort. EASYUBUNTU If you prefer the "Just Works" approach and don't care about learning a little about Linux, Apt and the command line (nothing wrong with that, so ignore the Linux snobs that say criticize you) I'd suggest trying EasyUbuntu instead of Automatix at http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/. UBUNTU IS NOT THE MOST USER-FRIENDLY SYSTEM OR THE MOST REFINED LOOKING I use Ubuntu. I love Ubuntu. But, Ubuntu is no easier to install than Fedora or SuSE. In fact, I'd argue they are easier to install and more complete in their installation options. As well, they are slicker and more professional at the intallation level and on the desktop... by a longshot. They are far more refined. Anyone who disputes this is probably caught up in the Ubuntu hype a bit too much. It's the trendy distro of the moment. Don't underestimate how that clouds people's perception of it. But, I prefer Debian-based systems, so have gravitated to Ubuntu and left Fedora and SuSE, although both were better a recognizing and setting up my monitor and printer. And I say the above as someone who loves Ubuntu.

  44. Some words on the installer and Easy (K)Ubuntu by ickeicke · · Score: 3, Insightful · on Automatix Kicks Ubuntu into Gear
    Kubuntu (and i am pretty sure Ubuntu too) will have a graphical installer for the live cd; Espresso It will even include a GUI tool to resize and edit partitions and the default option is no longer to format the entire harddisc.

    And when Automatix is concerned, EasyUbuntu has the advantage of being able to install ATI drivers (or at least they claim so) and it works for Edubuntu and Kubuntu too (though unsupported).

    But you to get it to work on Kubuntu, you need some Gnome packages, so you might want to take a look at Easy Kubuntu :) .

    And lastly, some explanation about all these install-apps by (one of) the maker(s) of Easy Ubuntu:

    keyes
    11-15-2005, 04:10 PM

    If you use Kubuntu please use Easy Kubuntu (created by Olwin and Anbreizh from Ubuntu-fr in collaboration with me, they help me creating Easy Ubuntu and I help them to create Easy Kubuntu, source code is very similar). Automatix is a fork of Easy Ubuntu written by arnieboy (from ubuntuforums). Automatix is more complicated but have more features than Easy Ubuntu, it's the good choice for advanced users. Begginers must use Easy Ubuntu, it's a very easy way to set up correctly Multimedia, web and other needed things. Easy Ubuntu is very safe and don't change the default applications and behaviors of Ubuntu.
  45. Re:Automatix by idonthack · · Score: 4, Informative · on Automatix Kicks Ubuntu into Gear

    Easy Ubuntu supports PPC, and is safer to use than Automatix.

  46. Re:Not Troll, I Swear by ZephyrXero · · Score: 1 · on Automatix Kicks Ubuntu into Gear

    To answer you question, Yes....with distros like Ubuntu, it's almost that easy. The installer holds your hand and guides you through everything you need to do, and you can even keep your old Windows partition in case you're not ready to commit ;)

    As for jumping through hoops to configure things, this is exactly what Automatix, or Easy Ubuntu (which I personally prefer) are there for....so you can get all the proprietary/non-free drivers and whatnot installed with little to no hassle.

    So, there you have it, Linux is ready for you....are you ready for it? ;)

  47. Re:I had none of the problems mentioned by ZephyrXero · · Score: 5, Informative · on Automatix Kicks Ubuntu into Gear

    Easy Ubuntu's pretty nice as well....

    For anyone who doesn't know, since the Slashdot article doesn't even explain what these two programs do, they setup all the restricted/proprietary stuff for the user that Ubuntu can not legally distribute by default like 3d video drivers, mp3 playback and such.

  48. DONT USE AUTOMATIX! by FunnyLookinHat · · Score: 5, Interesting · on Automatix Kicks Ubuntu into Gear

    Has anyone here been to the #ubuntu channel on irc.freenode.net? YOu will find that Automatix is regarded as THE WORST option for ubuntu users. It has huge security holes, overwrites configs, and uses very risky command line options. Instead you should use easyubuntu. http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

  49. Re:Question? Answer. by mr_sas · · Score: 5, Informative · on Mark Shuttleworth Proposes Delaying next Ubuntu

    Don't use automatix. It uses --force-yes to force package installations which will downgrade packages and override any pinned packages, without prompting the user about unsigned repos. Just google automatix problems for more detail.

    EasyUbuntu is better and much more in keeping with the Ubuntu way http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

  50. Re:Question? Answer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Mark Shuttleworth Proposes Delaying next Ubuntu

    Check out http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/ or http://easybreezy.robotgeek.org/ as automatix will eat your Ubuntu installation.