Spiff Up Ubuntu 6.06
Someone over at the TAZ Forums has posted a stellar article for achieving a tip-top setup of the latest version of Ubuntu Linux. Similar to my Ubuntu for novices article, this post extensively details the steps for properly updating Ubuntu, setting up vital drivers, running Xgl and more.
Speaking of Ubuntu, two prominent Mac advocates publicly stated their switch from OS X to Ubuntu. Particularly, they cited examples of DRM mechanisms and proprietary file formats in current and upcoming versions of the popular Unix-based operating system, OS X.
Thanks man. Been running Dapper with KDE since Jun1, and I’ve finally gotten that DVD to play.
One should keep track how long it will take them to switch back to Mac OS X. I ‘d say a fe w months, at best.
I ‘ve switched from Windows to Linux (Desktop) and back again for over 100 times, if not more. I would get frustrated with the ugliness of Windows ( among other things) and lured by the coolness of Linux, and jump to (ubuntu|Mandrake|Suse, you name it ). I would feel great for a few days and then I would jump back to Windows, because most things wouldn’t work, I would get tired of messing with configuration files, tolerate the GUI ‘incompatabilities’ betweem the various desktop managers.. So on, so forth.
As far as I am concerned, Mac OS X is the only choice for those who respect their time and sanity status.
it’s interesting that Mark talks about switching back and forth and an intolerance of messing with config files and so on. i’m a long time programmer/analyst/sysadmin (like since the days of punch cards…) and i feel the same way. i was running mandrake on an old p166 doing nothing but sharing old Grateful Dead shows and found that the fiddlyness of it all was not a good thing.
as far as seriously switching from Windows to Linux full-time, i really can’t go….yet. with the sheer volume of software i’d have to replace (multiple video editing/production tools, audio production tools, photo editing tools, etc.) where there seems to be insufficient quantity/quality/variety available on Linux, well, i just can’t abandon my investment…yet.
however, i am seriously looking to move from Windows, full-time. i won’t upgrade to Vista because i see two problems: the cost of upgrading/replacing all of those applications i own and the potential that Vista will be forcing the user base to permit the imposition on them of the “trusted computing” architecture. the whole “trusted computing” thing leaves me to wonder why MY COMPUTER and MY SOFTWARE will no longer TRUST ME?? i bought and paid for it! i will be choosing not to participate in that orwellian mess, thanks.
no, as we move forward i know that Linux will be the future OS of choice for me. i know things are better than they were but Linux, to be the OS of choice for the less technical users, needs lots of work to overcome the perception that it is a pain in the keester to administer (…as opposed to Windows which we all know is the very pinnacle of Ease of Use… somebody got a small crowbar or nail puller? i gotta pry my tongue outta my cheek…).
the big question is this: will Linux be able to get to the point of zero-admin for the noobs and be useful “right out of the box”?
I really doubt Linux will be(come) much better than it is today. It is nearly impossible to get all those independent (or not so independent ) efforts united under a single banner. For, say, KDE has its own way of doing things as opposed to what Gnome or Enlightenment or [any desktop managerhere] guys choose to do. Rest assured, its not a just a matter of different desktop managers. Its about software packaging (rpms, t.archives, pkgs..?), conflicts in ideas and implementations all over the place.
The biggest issue here is the lack of standards. Standards that should have been put in stone. Standards for interoperability between applications running on the desktop (drag’n'drop?, compliance to a set of HIGs?) as well as the way one application is aware of the existence of the other and utilizes its data or exposed functionality (example: iLife media browser on Mac OS X). There will never be a day where Linux users won’t have to go ahead and edit this and that file to get their applications to work ( unless they are super lucky and/or they use very few , very well supported apps ), nor there will be a day when everything will ‘just work’.
Unless some sort of organization decides to start working on something from scratch and everyone else be willing to follow its rules and guidelines, there will be no solution to the chaos of the Linux Desktop.
I ‘ve been using Linux since the early 90’s for just about everything ( development, deployment of services .. ) and I couldn’t have been happier. Yet, there is a huge difference between being a geek or professional who deals with that stuff, and an everyday user who has to deal with the chaotic world of Linux Desktop.
I hope something will indeed change the course of things, but, as I said, I doubt it.
As an Ubuntu user, I can definitely say that it is pretty much ‘zero-admin for the noobs’ right out of the box already. If you haven’t tried it out and happen to have an older machine lying around doing nothing — absolutely try it out because the abundance of articles written on it don’t really do it justice.
Ubuntu finally lured me into Linux because of its ease of use. I ran the live CD to “test the water” and it recognized everything, and it all just worked. All the programs that non-techie users need are either installed, or can be installed with the package managers very easily. My wife doesn’t complain when I have Ubuntu running and she has to use the computer. She knows nothing about computers, but just clicks on the Firefox icon and checks her mail, just like on Windows. I have been using Linux for 2-3 months, and I am getting pretty adept at it.
Anyone who thinks Windows “just works” hasn’t used windows. I have had to look online for so many issues with programs. My only qualms with Unbuntu are that it doesn’t have out of the box support for WMA or MP3 files, and that there aren’t many major games that are published for Linux.
Linux does have many different distrobutions with few set standards, but the real key is that there are soooo many people involved and everything is so transparent that it is possible to fix problems. I am to the point where I use Ubuntu for everything except gaming. In my current situation that means dual booting which is also very easy to set up. -Cheers-
Though I think Ubuntu is heading in th right direction of “out of the box” functionality for beginers it’s still a long way off. Mac OS X just works. I am a very technical person, and have spent many an hour trying to configure Ubuntu to dual boot on my Windows notebook. For starters, the root and swap partitions needs to be assume the appropriate size based on RAM. any additional configurations can be an advanced option. Sure it does this if I choose to wipe the entire HDD, but this should automate even when using only a portion. I Choose the overall size and then it determines the partitions. Secondly, I had many issues with trackpad tapping, CD/DVDs that wouldn’t auto mount and wouldn’t let me mount them from a command line, multiple issues with media files, incompatibilities with external devices such as Mp3 players, HDDs, burners, and printers, and the inability to access network drives.
In Ubuntu’s defense, it’s much better than the *nx I used back in the 90s when Mac OS X wasn’t available. The auto connecting of Wi-Fi is a definate benefit as I had to configure nothing. I wasn’t expecting that!
I really like where Ubuntu is heading with what seems to be a “just works” philosophy, despite it’s early stages. I hope they continue down this path and even though they have a much harder path since they need support so much more hardware, I do hope they continue to use Apple’s OS X as a model of functionality.
I spend my entire work week dealing with technical issues that when I get home I really don’t want to spend my time tweeking my own machine.
Re: Mark Papadakis - I really doubt Linux will be(come) much better than it is today.
You’ve been using Linux since the 90’s, and you can honestly say that we have reached the peak of usability? Come on! After trying out a few distros, namely Red Hat, Gentoo and Fedora, I have just installed Ubuntu for the first time. It installed faster and easier than an XP install. I havn’t had to do a manual install for any software, except for Subversion, which I doubt a home user will be using anyway. Could I install Red Hat in the 90’s and have my sound card, CD/DVD rom auto detected, and plug in my MP3 player and it auto mount and work perfectly? I don’t think so!
Linux is gaining more momentum than ever, and as Windows becomes more expensive (in terms of hardware and software), Linux is becoming more and more appealing both on a business level and consumer level because its usability is increasing. This in turn is driving more software developers to put out linux version of their applications, and in turn will further increase its usability. Not only that, but for people that want to, Linux allows you to dig into the depths of your operating system.
I have a hunch Linux will always be behind Windows in terms of features as its development is more focused on trying to lure customers where as Linux features are derived from need, but its getting to the point where most people are willing to trade those extra features for a wooping $0 install / update fee as charged by Linux.
Ubuntu may not be perfect, but at least its perfect in one aspect - its price, which is more than you can say for Windows.
I had been wanting to try out linux for a while and was recomended I give Ubuntu a try. I had my desktop for all my everday stuff and my old Toshiba Satelite laptop from 2002 was mostly collecting dust so I decided to give it whirl.
Thus far I have enjoyed it. Very easy and quick install, I was up and running in about 45 minutes and it is far less of a resource hog than XP Pro was, specifically the background processes. There was quite a bit of tweaking to do that required me to look up quite a bit around on the Ubuntu forums with various files and programs. That’s a strong point I think; the community backing Ubuntu seems very reliable and more than willing to help. If it hasn’t been documented or posted in the forums yet, someone out there can help.
I would also say thats the weak point. The common computer user isn’t willing to research what it takes to fix a problem in Windows; and I think there is more of that with Ubuntu. Not that Windows doesn’t have problems… but as far as installing a program and having insta operability with files (say installing Winamp to listen to an MP3) I say the consumer market has an easier time with it. But that is the nature of the Ubuntu I think, it doesn’t come with a lot of preinstalled stuff as they leave that up to the user to decide.
As far as getting what I paid for (absolutely nothing) I think its an awesome OS and I forsee it staying on the laptop for a while and possibly setting up a duel boot on my desktop.
Hope that helps, cheers!