Every time I tried giving the latest Linux distro a go, I've always been disappointed. My most recent attempt was last week when I wanted to install Ubuntu 10.10 on my work-station to use as a VMWare host. The install went fine. It detected all my drivers. All except my 2 monitors connected via USB adapters. I started googling for the right drivers and hit the same problems I always do when I turn to linux: hit upon 50 different forums with references to the problem, but all relating to slightly different versions of Linux, or slightly different symptoms, or describing vastly different solutions, most of which don't work. After messing around for 3 hours trying to get things to work, I turned back to Windows 7. Installed the OS in half an hour, and the 2 external screens 'just worked'. Had the VMWare player running and my guest VM spanning 2 of my 3 screens within the hour.
Ubuntu/Linux is great in theory. A free, stable and secure OS. And it almost works. But it's that last 10% or 5% of things that you need to jump through a thousand different hoops to get going that drive people away. Also, the collection of apps available range vastly in aesthetics and quality. There's some good stuff out there, but there's also lots and lots of crapola that will drive anyone but the most devoted geek up the wall with config files, recompiling modules, package dependencies and all that crap.
For very basic use (i.e. one screen, simple apps like web browser, OpenOffice and maybe a paint program), Linux is fine. But then again, almost any OS is fine for these things. You can put Android on a netbook that does this. Or MeeGo. Or probably even the new BlackBerry tablet thing. Or iOS. Or OSX. Or Symbian. Or whatever custom crap you can dream up of.
Slashdot Mirror
Every time I tried giving the latest Linux distro a go, I've always been disappointed. My most recent attempt was last week when I wanted to install Ubuntu 10.10 on my work-station to use as a VMWare host. The install went fine. It detected all my drivers. All except my 2 monitors connected via USB adapters. I started googling for the right drivers and hit the same problems I always do when I turn to linux: hit upon 50 different forums with references to the problem, but all relating to slightly different versions of Linux, or slightly different symptoms, or describing vastly different solutions, most of which don't work. After messing around for 3 hours trying to get things to work, I turned back to Windows 7. Installed the OS in half an hour, and the 2 external screens 'just worked'. Had the VMWare player running and my guest VM spanning 2 of my 3 screens within the hour. Ubuntu/Linux is great in theory. A free, stable and secure OS. And it almost works. But it's that last 10% or 5% of things that you need to jump through a thousand different hoops to get going that drive people away. Also, the collection of apps available range vastly in aesthetics and quality. There's some good stuff out there, but there's also lots and lots of crapola that will drive anyone but the most devoted geek up the wall with config files, recompiling modules, package dependencies and all that crap. For very basic use (i.e. one screen, simple apps like web browser, OpenOffice and maybe a paint program), Linux is fine. But then again, almost any OS is fine for these things. You can put Android on a netbook that does this. Or MeeGo. Or probably even the new BlackBerry tablet thing. Or iOS. Or OSX. Or Symbian. Or whatever custom crap you can dream up of.