Why Ubuntu isn’t for New Linux Users
I was getting a bit tired of saying the same things over and over to friends on the net. I was getting tired of repetitiously posting in forums the same sentiment over and over. Yet, just like getting a second wind in a long and tiring race…my tiredness melts away and I find myself feeling refreshed and anew. What the subject of this rant has to say and what I have to say in the paragraphs below are NOT written to start a flame war. I am a user of Ubuntu and a strong supporter of all Debian based distros. This article is written to allow insight into where I believe Linux needs to go to succeed. I’m not out to win any popularity contests…I’m not out to garner a bunch of page hits to generate ad revenue. I’m just out to help the Linux community and rant a bit when I find a subject that strikes a nerve. The subject at hand is Why Ubuntu is NOT New Linux Users.
Notice that I say New Linux Users as apposed to just New Users. A new Linux user would be one that is new to Linux on as a whole. A new user would be one that is trying Ubuntu for the first time not crossing over from another distro or another *nix OS. So let’s be real clear up front that this isn’t about those that have Linux knowledge trying Ubuntu for the first time. This is about your mother-in-law or grandmother or aunt/uncle who, if they tried Linux, would be doing so for the first time ever. This is about my Wife, who tried Linux for the first time ever last year. This is about all of those people who possibly haven’t even heard of Linux before. This is the target audience. This is who all programmers and application designers should keeping right in the middle of the bullseye. Not convinced? Let’s chat a bit more about it.
We can only move forward toward acceptance if we allow everyone, no matter what their preconceived level of experience with technology is, to understand Linux. Apple understands this. Google understands this. Both companies offer easy to use interfaces to their software and if you look under the hood what do you find? *nix. That’s right. Unix and Linux. Novell is a company that is beginning to get it. But why aren’t individuals? Why aren’t more distros?
The target audience for Linux to gain acceptance on the desktop…that is, to make it mainstream..is to appeal to even the most technologically challenged user out there, and make Linux as easy as point and click to operate.
Ubuntu is making great strides toward making Linux good for the desktop. There are others out there that one could argue are doing a fine job…PCLinuxOS, OpenSuse, Mandriva. However, when someone hands a new Linux user a disc, most likely it is Ubuntu or TheOpenCD. Are you doing that person a favor? I don’t think so.
Ubuntu isn’t a distribution that is set for any new user. The average user wouldn’t be able to tell you how to clear a cache, let alone what spyware or adware is. Don’t think I’m right? My wife asked everyone in the office where she works why they don’t use Firefox as a browser. None of them even knew there was something called Firefox that was an alternative to IE. And that’s just one part of open source. Imagine what else they haven’t heard of!
The average computer user does not possess the technical expertise to drop to a command line and issue commands…nor should they be asked to. Yet that is exactly what Ubuntu demands to allow its users to do simplistic things such as surf the net.
For example, say that a webpage requires JRE to display correctly. Windows and IE offers an auto download or manual with double click install. Many distributions of Linux come with Java already installed. For Ubuntu…you have to drop to a command line and sudo to install it. What new Linux user is even going to know to do that? What new Linux user is going to feel comfortable doing that? Of course, let’s say that the new Linux user is sporting a nice Ubuntu 5.10. That’ll fix that sudo stuff right? Wrong. Automatix be damned…you still have much command line stuff to do.
Needless to say, until Ubuntu can provide an experience that is only one or two clicks away, it will forever remain second best to distros such as PCLinuxOS and SimplyMEPIS. It simply cannot compete against distros that work right out of the gate for new Linux users. Remember, new LINUX users…not just new users in general.
In closing, if Ubuntu works for you…that is great. I’m glad you’ve found a good distro. Ubuntu works great for me as well. As for my mother-in-law, wife, sister, uncle/aunt, etc…when they decide to give Linux a try and I want to really showcase how easy it is and how fantastic it works…you can bet that I won’t be showing them Ubuntu.
NOTE: For those of you emailing me constantly about Automatix being the save all for Ubuntu…remember one thing. To install Automatix, you have to drop to a console/shell. Enough said eh? The resolution seems to be part of the problem. I also really think the URL for the Automatix package is about the most non-professional URL that I’ve ever seen a debian/ubuntu package hosted on. I highly doubt my mother-in-law would be hyped up to visit that URL.
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Just to add a review i am new to linux i tried ubuntu ….did dual booting with xp ..i am doctor not a computer guy installed automatrix bingo everything is ok now ,i have multimedia,java ,flash everything working updates are good
and now i learn and play with linux to get to learn new things every day
Well, I am going to have to disagree with you on this. There is one level where I do agree, but let’s not assume that people are “totally” stupid. If I didn’t have the ubuntu WIKI I would be in the same boat. However, search just about anything in the WIKI and you are going to not only find and answer, a How To explanation, but also a “copy/paste” solution for use in the terminal. If people are too dumb to even learn how to open up a terminal…well good grief…you’re gonna have to learn at least something sometime. Do you know how much money I have made reformatting virus ridden Windows computers for customers that didn’t even know how to reinstall their own installation CD’s? Pretty soon we “will” need fingerprint recognition because people won’t know how to use a “on/off” button.
I started out using Mandrake in 1998 and then moved on to Mandriva only trying ubuntu and then Kubuntu this past year. I have gotten further, gotten more things working, with Linux using the ubuntu distro than I ever did using anything else. Why, the size of the community supporting ubuntu, that fact that I could ask questions in the forum without someone making me feel like an idiot and flaming me like some of the other forums with other distros have done. Linus himself warned of dumbing down things too much.
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/1445
A fellow geek made a comment to me a while ago to the effect of “it’s only a computer fer chisake, it’s not rocket science.”
Uh, well, it IS rocket science, and I’ve met some rocket people that had trouble, too.
Generally speaking, if it’s easy to get going, it’s hard to run. If it’s hard to set up, once you get it going it works like a charm. But, either way, at some point in the process you need access to someone slighty smarter (or better informed) than a rocket scientist.
Windows is kinda like crack in that respect. Real easy to set up, but then once they have you hooked, the problems start. Page the guy who can just ‘make it go’.
Linux, OTOH, needs the geek at the outset, but once it’s cooking you can mostly just forget it.
Opinion aside, I did a brief experiment at work the other day. I had my laptop on the wireless in windows and it was having an ‘issue’. A couple of the guys (who’ve never even seen linux) wanted to go online and look at some hockey highlights from the game they had ust finished watching on cable (go figure).
So, I rebooted into Ubuntu and hit the firefox icon and told ‘em ‘have at’.
They surfed what they wanted, hoorahed over canadians with sticks, closed the browser and said thanks.
I caught up with them later and asked if they’d noticed anything, well, different. They looked at me like I was from mars, and shook their heads.
They didn’t even notice that it wasn’t windows. They pointed, they clicked, it worked…and that was all they wanted. And, when something doesn’t work, what do they do? They come to me, because I’m the rocket scientist who understands all this stuff.
Disclaimer: I’m a (relative) Linux noob, and mostly use (U/K/X)buntu. Mostly I work with Winblows, and do support for the prisoners of Redmond.
I don’t think this article is even relevant anymore. I’ve only been using Linux (mostly Ubuntu, but I’ve tried tons more) for about a year, and I’ve been surprised at how much things are improving. I suggest trying a new version and/or distro, then making another article.
You did notice the date on the link right?
I don’t just take down old blog posts because they’re not relevant…just like you wouldn’t erase a diary entry just because it’s a bit long in the tooth.
However, this is still valid…Ubuntu STILL isn’t the best choice as a crossover distro for people who have no idea about Linux.