Slashdot Mirror


After Ubuntu, Windows Looks Increasingly Bad

mrcgran writes "Sys-Con has a look at some advantages of using Ubuntu over Windows. 'My recent switch to a single-boot Ubuntu setup on my Thinkpad T60 simply floors me on a regular basis. Most recently it's had to do with the experience of maintaining the software. Fresh from a very long Windows 2000 experience and a four-month Windows XP experience along with a long-time Linux sys admin role puts me in a great position to assess Ubuntu. Three prior attempts over the years at using Linux as my daily desktop OS had me primed for failure. Well, Ubuntu takes Linux where I've long hoped it would go — easy to use, reliable, dependable, great applications too but more on that later. It has some elegance to it — bet you never heard that about a Linux desktop before.'"

5 of 774 comments (clear)

  1. Is it Linux that failed? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...or the user?

    "...a long-time Linux sys admin role puts me in a great position to assess Ubuntu. Three prior attempts over the years at using Linux as my daily desktop OS had me primed for failure."

    If a Linux sysadmin can't use Linux on the desktop, it must be a terrible desktop OS! Right? Right? *looks around frantically*

    Come on, man. There are plenty of people who have been using Linux as their daily desktop. That would be why there have been so many "desktop" versions of Linux over the years.

  2. Re:It's all true... by jimstapleton · · Score: 3, Interesting

    huh?

    1) buy all the thing

    Yeah, I bough all my hardware, theft is usually frowned upon, even if you are using FOSS...

    Or were you talking about software?
    *Looks at The Gimp icon on his desktop*
    *Looks at the Open Office Icons*

    Yep, paid *so* much for those! They cost me all of $0.00, I'm gonna go broke!
    Seriously, finding free software for Windows is trivial.

    2) install them ( each app in another way )

    Yep, I have to install stuff to use it. Darn. Whoda thunk.
    Oh wait, I install stuff if I use it in Linux. Sometimes by the package fetcher, sometimes by a downloaded package + manager, sometimes by source. Oh, looks there's lots of different ways there too.

    In Windows it usually just involves wisards with extremely similar interfaces, where if you want you can put in the CD and keep clicking "next" until done, only having to agree to a EULA. But like Linux, there are the oddballs where you have to go outside of the norm.

    3) update them, after paying for the possibilty of update Windows

    Yes, because if you have Linux installed, with Xorg 6.9, you will *never* have to upgrade to 7.x to use version 7.x! It's *magical*

    Seriously, every complaint in your rant is *just* as applicable to Linux as it is to Windows. The only caveat is that you /have/ to pay for Windows, but you don't have to pay for Linux (you can if you want!), and there's probably more commercial software (but not much less free software) for Windows.

    Some people find that Windows and some of that commercial software over the free alternatives. I know, having had a lot of experience with both, I prefer Windows to Linux, Corel Photopaint to The Gimp, etc.

    It's all a matter of what you use, how you use it, and you method of looking at and solving problems.

    Also, there are some games that will run in windows but not Wine, that's another reason some people use Windows...

    People won't always agree with you, get over it.

    (And if you try to counter me with that one - I never once said people shouldn't use Linux, I simply said that there are reasons not to use it, which may be valid for some users).

    --
    34486853790
    Connection too slow for X forwarding? Try "ssh -CX user@host"
  3. Re:who are ... by jedidiah · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You're right. When 99% of computer users out there hit a snag with Windows they have their local Linux user come over and fix it for them.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  4. Ubuntu Rescued our T40 by endofoctober · · Score: 3, Interesting

    After our warranty ran out on our ThinkPad T40, I decided to give Ubuntu a try, and am so far very pleased with it. The install was pretty straightforward, configuration was smooth, and we had no hardware/driver issues to speak of. Connecting up with our wireless router was a breeze, and really the only glitch has to do with our CUPS-enabled printer.

    Frankly I was glad to find Ubuntu this easy to install and use because I thought our laptop was done for. Like the author, we had a corrupt Windows partition, and had to start from scratch. After we got everything installed and configured (less than an hour), I was on the deck working on docs and getting things done.

    Anyone with a T40 or similar should give some serious thought to at least trying out Ubuntu. While it won't do everything a Linux admin would want, it's more than enough to keep users productive.

    --
    - Jack
  5. Re:Popup / flash / whatever alert by suv4x4 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Upon visiting this site, firefox started attempting to visit 255.255.255.255 on UDP 67 (BOOTPS).

    I wonder of one of their ad providers actually infected me with something. Worst site ever.