Experiment 1.5: Ubuntu 5.04 “Hoary” Final Rating

Linuxblog Introduction: We took an average windows user, gave her a handful of distributions of Linux, and forced her to use each distro for one week. We gave her alsaconf, email servers, and mounted her windows partition to the fresh install. Then, we faded away and quietly watched her in her new environment. You too can join us by reading on…

1) Look/Feel – I was impressed with the desktop. I think it has something to do with Gnome because Fedora looked similar, but I like the look of Ubuntu better. It’s professional looking and it makes me feel like I am using something very official. It has that cool and sleek design that I want in a desktop–one of the best looking distros I have seen. (Score – 10)

2) Performance – I have no issues with performance. Everything seemed to work as it should. It’s not slow or anything. We’re cool here. (Score – 10)

3) Hardware/Software – All of my hardware was detected properly. There are not many software choices with this distro, as was the case with Fedora. I’m told this is a Gnome thing. So this is a definite down side of Gnome for me. I like choices. Remember, downloading new programs and such is out for me for the most part, unless I can get someone to help me…which I’m not doing for these reviews as to maintain new user status. (Score – 5)

4) Upgradeability/Security – I’m just guessing that everything is okay. Same situation as before. (Score – 10)

5) Documentation – Their website is very nice and organized. There seems to be the same attention to detail and documentation as with Fedora. But as before, it’s not a whole lot of help to a new person like me, right off the bat that is. I am sure with lots of time a work I can figure somethings out but this is not what I am here for. I want easy answers, just like every other average person. (Score – 9)

6) Installation – Installation went okay, it was text only and involved a lot of blind guessing, but I made it through. But after the install was done, I was instructed to take out the cd and it would automatically restart. Well I was then bombarded with text flying everywhere and I didn’t know what the heck was going on. Then after about five minutes I was sure I had done something wrong so I consulted the guru and I was informed that this was part of the install. Whah, hey? It would have been nice to have some sort of warning as to what was about to happen. I thought the install was over but no, evidently I was now watching the software being installed FOR TWENTY FIVE MINUTES!!! THEN a boot screen appeared. That whole ordeal was super annoying. If I had not had someone to consult, I would have probably pulled the plug after ten minutes. I need graphics, I need explanations!! This has been the worst install yet because I was totally convinced that something had gone horribly wrong and I was ready to write it off right then and there–but I didn’t. (Score – 2)

And now…once again…it is time for my criteria…

My Criteria:

1) Mail – Easy install. Evolution is a nice program. Images are kinda slow to load but everything else was okay. Which by the way, it was Evolution in Fedora that gave me such a hard time. This leads me to believe that the problem is not with Evolution but with Fedora. –So the zero I gave Fedora in the email department is really justified. I wonder why it was so much better with Ubuntu? Anyways . . . (Score – 9)
2) Internet – My website doesn’t render, AGAIN. Plugins are not automatically installed. Flash was a snap with Firefox…but java is pretty much an instant replay of what I’ve been through with all but two distros. This aspect is really starting to bother me. If they can make it so easy in some distros, why can’t they do it with others? If people think that making it easy makes it too much like Windows, that’s just stupid. It’s like shooting yourself in the foot and I thought the idea was progress people, huh? But no one has to listen to me, it’s not like my opinion really matters anyway because I have no REAL knowledge or REAL desire to learn according to some people. The thing that bothers me most in this experiment is people telling me to just “learn” how to do things. Well I would, if I were not busy playing the part of a new user with each and every distro. I don’t think some people realize how much effort I put in to being an actual new user every time. I actually have to refrain from doing things that are too advanced and have to remind myself how I was using Mandrake (the first one I tried). I have to constantly keep that frame of mind without dumbing myself down too much. It’s not that easy. How many casual PC users know to go to forums and ask questions about how to install or use a new program. How many Windows users do you know that go to forums to find out how to install Java or Shockwave? Big fat zero, why? Because it’s already done for you. That being said, who is going to choose the hard way when the up side may be saving some cash but the down side is spending six months learning how to get your computer to the point that in Windows would take a few hours? Most people either figure it out on their own or not at all. That’s the bottom line, sorry to step on your toes folks but this is how it really works with us dummy’s. –Whew, I needed to get that off my chest! (Score – 2)
3) Listening To Music – I have no time for players that don’t play mp3s. I could not find a single player that would play my mp3s. I have over 5,000 mp3s and I am not about to change my format now. Nor do I have the knowhow to “just install this, it’s easy as pie”. –Yes, I am getting bitter, let’s just say it’s a good thing we are at the close of this experiment. (Score – 1)


4) Download Music/Files - Again, no programs by default and again I am not advanced enough to download the programs on my own. (Score – 0)

5) Burning CDs – Wow, this is a first, no burner comes with Ubuntu. WHY? How is this new user friendly? Editors Note: Ubuntu does come with the Gnome burner, but it is not easy to find. Also, when Mrs.Devnet put in a CD it did not pop open like so many of you keep telling Linux Blog it does. Nothing happened. This being said, the burner will still score 0 because it is no use to Mrs.D if she can’t find it and if it doesn’t work. (Score – 0)

So I have asked the question, how can a distro that looks absolutely fantastic be so useless? Well, the answer I sort of half understood, it had something to do with the fact that it was Gnome based and there is some sort of space issue. So okay, you want it to be compact and all but how is this attractive to a new user or a Linux convert? Um, it’s not. There has got to be a way to have both, to some extent. I really wanted this to be an awesome distro, but while it held up to standard expectations, it obviously fell short of mine.

Mrs.Devnet

Ubuntu 5.04 “Hoary” Scores: 4 out of 10

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  • index.php devnet

    No…I won’t change what she typed. THAT would be a bad thing. I can’t just go in and change it because she is the one that typed it. It was done entirely by a new user with 0 edits from me. Sometimes she asked me how to spell something…but that is about it.

    Even if it is inaccurate, it’ll have to stay unless she goes in and changes things. As far as she is concerned though…I’m sure she’ll see no problems for what she did. She looked for a program, couldn’t find it, inserted a CD, and nothing happened. To her, that means nothing is installed.

    So despite us (you and I) knowing that there is an actual burning program…her interpretation is factual because she used what she knew and wrote as such. By me going back in and editing things, I’d be taking away her experience with this distro. I wouldn’t do that.

  • Anonymous

    I wasn’t suggesting that you change it but that she does, in the sake of accuracy.

    Someone reading that is going to a) assume that Ubuntu/Gnome does not come with CD burning software, which is false or b) assume that since the article is so wrong on this point, then how can the rest of the reviews be trusted.

    I only suggest that for the sake of accuracy and information, that she (not you) edit her comment saying that it didn’t include CD burning software to she couldn’t find it and/or figure out how to use it.

    Leave the score at 0 for the item, because in actuality, she couldn’t burn CDs, but as a follow-up note, correct the inaccurate statement of no burning software.

    Her reviews of the various distros are very good, but it would be easy to dismiss them if they have inaccurate information (just look at the thread the Ubuntu review generated). It would be a shame to dismiss them, because there is very good food for thought in them, regardless of one’s distro of choice.

  • index.php devnet

    Correction added as an editors note with comments.

  • Robert

    First of all, there are pre-made scripts and even an unofficial Ubuntu Addon CD that comes with everything she is missing. It’s quite easy to install and get all the plugins imaginable for multimedia. That one CD makes it better than Mepis and a lot of other distros by filling in the missing blanks. I won’t go into the reasoning behind not including MP3 support or Java since that’s been mentioned several times. Ubuntu is not just for the USA.

    Second, you’re comparing all distros against Microsoft Windows which comes with NONE OF THE PROGRAMS YOU MENTIONED!!!!!!!!!! Does Windows come with MP3 support, Java, Microsoft OFFICE, CD Burning apps out of the box? If you take that, and a bunch of other things into consideration that I can’t think of, a “base” Windows installations by your definition takes far longer to install and hundreds of dollars later.

    Third: Notice you didn’t have to install any spyware removers or antivirus and constantly keep them up to date.

    Fourth: Yes, I consider Windows easier too. I run Windows XP mainly because it has all the apps I need, but it wasn’t cheap.

    Fifth: Nothing against PCLinux or Mepis, but you can’t expect a distro to always include the exact programs you use. What if you needed just one, ONE extra program in the future AND had to install & configure it? The forums of Ubuntu and Fedora are invaluable. Try get support on a little distro when something goes wrong.
    -RObert

  • Erhard Weissenstein

    I use Ununtu and i think its great. However i have to admit many of the problems you stated are true but yet again
    all you need is about one hour time to get things like Java to work and Mp3s to play.
    Please take a look at this guide:
    http://www.ubuntuguide.org

  • centered effect

    I am an Ubuntu user myself, and I can say, Ubuntu is NOT the easiest distro OUT OF THE BOX to use. What would happen if god forbid, the screen resolution was stuck on 640*480, as my system had may times (and others, see the forums at ubuntu), you would think it would be a simple click at the monitor resolution and fix that? From a Windows user point of view, it should work that way, of course I know differently, but I am using one example. The point is, a Windows user, like myself and almost everyone else at one point migrating to Linux, wants a change and sold by the eye candy and the software that comes with it. The software that comes with it, from a Windows mentality, should do what you need it to without configuration. Winamp for example, doesnt need x,y and z codecs to play mp3 or video, it just works. When a player, WMP or Totem (using media players as an example) is bundled, then it should work as well right? I agree that research and understanding what you are using as you use something will be benificial, but if I never used Linux before and I was coming from a Windows environment, which comes with next to nothing, Linux has all of what one would need right there, it should work. That to me is the point of this review.

  • /

    I am impressed you just stepped up and tried.

  • Chessman

    ok … one thing that I think needs to be pointed out … Windows comes fully installed and preconfigured (and often already setup with Office) on the vast majority of PCs that “normal” users purchase. Not to mention the added cost of the “windows tax” … Microsoft is passing the cost of all those licensing fees (for things like DVD decryption, and MP3 playing) on to the customer, they just don’t notice, because it’s included in the cost of the computer.
    If a company (like Dell, for example) wanted to take a linux distro, and add all the “proper” multimedia features to it, then do it legally, and pass those costs on to the customer, I’m sure that THAT pc would be quite easy to use for most “normal” users.
    Personally, I have built several computers for some of my friends and have installed linux on them. Before they got the machine, I would make sure that it was in a “usable” state (ie. all the needed plugins and multimedia apps etc. were already installed and configured). Once I’ve done that, the box I’ve made them is essentially just like a PC SHOULD be if it were to come with linux pre-installed. Most of them now wonder why they were stuck in a “Windows World” for as long as they were.
    Now … what I have just stated says nothing about if a “normal user” just decided one day to switch to linux. Those cases are different, and not that common. If a new user wants to switch to linux, without ANY prior knowledge of it, then yes, they will encounter MULTIPLE problems … to have any success with it, they would have to be pretty ambitious/determined. Especially if they’re only used to Windows (which is most likely).
    I have Ubuntu installed and fully configured on my laptop. I let my 15 year old sister borrow it for a few weeks while traveling over the summer. She had never used linux before. When she came back, she told me she thought it was better than Windows … and wondered if our step-father would consider swiching over on his PC (when she’s home, it’s the one she uses most often).
    While I do think that my stepdad would be WILLING to switch over, I do not think that linux is quite ready for him yet. He does use a number of windows only apps for which there is currently no suitable replacement (Quicken, for example … and yes, I know about gnucash). And I know that I could run most of thos programs through Wine, I do not think that he should have to learn how to do that. Yes, I could teach him, I guess, but I’m barely ever ‘home’ anymore and would just dread to try and walk him through something like that over the phone.
    Anyway, if my little sister can fall in love with a fully configured linux PC, then yes, linux is ready for the desktop … but what major PC distributor is ready to step on Microsoft’s toes?

  • http://www.lobby4linux.com Helios

    He does use a number of windows only apps for which there is currently no suitable replacement (Quicken, for example … and yes, I know about gnucash)
    I have exhausted myself on this topic months ago although I think its a fantastic thread…for two reasons. One: some good points were made. Two: It indicates just how many people refuse to actaully read what the whole thing was all about in the first place. talk about missing the boat. whew!

    That’s the thing about Linux…Ya gotta keep up. GnuCash is way out of its league when it comes to business and personal finance. Two other programs match or exceed quicken for funtion and form. On the free side, the new release of KmyMoney is astounding and readily a drop-in quicken replacement. On the proprietary side, there is MyBooks Pro from appgen. It can import all working data files from quicken/quickbooks without errror and it costs about 50 bucks.
    Ya gotta keep up, if you don’t you’re going to post things that make you look like you don’t know whats happening in the world of Linux.

    helios

  • kandalf

    Has anyone ever tried the “eLive” linux distro? Works great for me, easy installation, bleeding edge Window Manager; enlightenment and like I said, installation was a snap. Detected my NVIDIA card, and sound card and installed appropriate drivers. Comes with an Online radio player (internet radio), and plays mp3s right away! I configured nothing! It just works. videos in web pages work as well.

  • http://www.lobby4linux.com helios

    I will be culpable in the off-topic post above…Yes, we at Lobby4Linux with cooperation from Tuxmachines.org tested Elive and you are correct…this is an amazing work in progress. The suprise was not E17 but how they have configured E16 upon install. Not quite stable enough yet for everyday use as we have found a couple showstoppers, but the developer has assured us that these will be fixed in .4

    Amazing work Elive…might wanna keep an eye on it.

    h

  • joe

    this score would have been much higher had automatix been installed. it installs mp3 codecs, dvd ability, frostwire(limewire), java, and everything else you would ever need by selecting what you want and hitting a single button.

  • http://linux-blog.org/index.php?/archives/209-YALB-A-Look-Back-after-Three-Years.html Yet Another Linux Blog

    Quietly and without fanfare, Yet Another Linux Blog has reached the ripe old age of 3 years. I started it small and
    hosted at home during May of 2004. Back then it was hosted on a domain called fatalfame.org (since expired). In
    December 2004, I switc

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