Note: "ptoye" makes some valid, and strong points. Every user will have a different experience and one aspect will be the type of equipment that person is using. How many of us "shop" for Linux friendly computer equipment ? Four years ago my system of choice, for Ubuntu was an AMD 64 based mobo. With full intentions of dual-booting. Ubuntu was great, forget Windows at that time ! And the first wireless, WiFi card installed was a real challenge. Ubuntu and Canonical are ethical in the extreme, no pirated drivers, or proprietary software, yet we use said drivers, how does a "newbie" figure this out. All distos are not the same, some will simply use purloined drivers and software. Is Ubuntu the right choice for a new Linux user ? Perhaps. We know it works, the word is ''robust". What is needed, on occasion is telephone support, on a volunteer basis. And I strongly support Canonical's pay to use support. see: Canonical Global Support Services | Ubuntu<http://www.ubuntu.com/support/paid> Allen
On Feb 12, 2008 4:05 AM, ptoye <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I regret that I have to agree. I've been in IT for about 40 years, and > have just decided to have a play with Ubuntu Linux on an old system box. > No problems installing from the downloaded CD, but things just don't > work out of the box. > > > "Video mode not supported" on my monitor during the boot process (I think > there's meant to be a splash screen there). That I can live with, but would > scare the unsophisticated user. > > "Failed to construct test pipeline..." on when trying to get my USB > sound card to work. The forums (fora?) are very useful here, but again > the "normal" user would be completely at sea. With Windows, it just > worked. > > And looking through the forums and help files, getting a wireless LAN > to work needs a couple of doctorates. I've not dared try. Again, it just > worked with Windows. (That ndiswrapper isn't included with the distro > doesn't help - how can one download it without access to the net?). > > The forums are very helpful, but the solutions usually tell the user to > issue commands as a sort of magic spell, without any guarantee of their > success, or how to regress if they fail. Personally, I'm very cautious > about issuing commands (especially with sudo) unless I have some > understanding of what they do. > > For any Linux to get a foothold, things just have to work out of the > box. If this needs manufacturer support in providing drivers, that's > where effort should go. Although this forum is dedicated to Ubuntu, and > it's the only one I've tried, I suspect that many of the problems occur > with other distros. > > To sum up, Microsoft.Windows has many faults, but manufacturers are > prepared to invest effort into overcoming them, which makes it possible > for unsophisticated users to buy a box in the knowledge that most things > will work OK. Linux is still too geeky to make this possible. Some large > customers can afford the effort to use it. Small ones can't, so they > won't. > > -- > Microsoft has a majority market share > https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1 > You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber > of the bug. > > Status in Computer Science Ubuntu: Confirmed > Status in Ichthux - Linux for Christians: Confirmed > Status in JAK LINUX: Confirmed > Status in The OpenOffice.org Suite: Confirmed > Status in Launchpad Translations: New > Status in Tabuntu: Confirmed > Status in Ubuntu: Confirmed > Status in Source Package "bum" in Ubuntu: Invalid > Status in Source Package "casper" in Ubuntu: Invalid > Status in Source Package "djplay" in Ubuntu: Invalid > Status in Source Package "firefox" in Ubuntu: Invalid > Status in Source Package "ubuntu-express" in Ubuntu: Invalid > Status in The Breezy Badger: Invalid > Status in The Dapper Drake: Invalid > Status in Baltix GNU/Linux: Confirmed > Status in Source Package "linux" in Debian GNU/Linux: New > Status in Tilix Linux: New > > Bug description: > Microsoft has a majority market share in the new desktop PC marketplace. > This is a bug, which Ubuntu is designed to fix. > > Non-free software is holding back innovation in the IT industry, > restricting access to IT to a small part of the world's population and > limiting the ability of software developers to reach their full potential, > globally. This bug is widely evident in the PC industry. > > Steps to repeat: > > 1. Visit a local PC store. > > What happens: > 2. Observe that a majority of PCs for sale have non-free software > pre-installed. > 3. Observe very few PCs with Ubuntu and free software pre-installed. > > What should happen: > 1. A majority of the PCs for sale should include only free software like > Ubuntu. > 2. Ubuntu should be marketed in a way such that its amazing features and > benefits would be apparent and known by all. > 3. The system shall become more and more user friendly as time passes. > -- stop junk mail,look here: http://www.ambysoft.com/ideas/reduceJunkMail.html -- Microsoft has a majority market share https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is the bug contact for Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
