So we were just having a discussion about Linux and someone mentioned that nobody cares about Ubuntu. While that may be true for the vast majority of folks, I’m wondering if it’s true of our readers. Please discuss.
Software
Gizmodo Is Hiring a PHP Developer!
Take pride in writing clean code? We’re looking for an autonomous PHP developer to join our rapidly-growing team at Allure Media. Apply within.
Large part of my Linux deployment is for Web servers running WSGI applications. I have to say that Ubuntu really is an excellent server distribution. I honestly don't see how people can use RedHat or derivates as a server side platforms.
Linux desktop to me is a myth, realising that it's gotten better of the years, I still can't see main steam adoption of Linux desktops. A great developer's desktop may be but for me OSX wins there.
Not anymore. I used to use it with good old Gnome 2 but now I think I'd rather use Windows 8 than Unity. These days I'm stuck with Windows (7) because the programs I use have no Linux alternatives.
I think Ubuntu is trying to appeal to non Linux nerds which sounds like a good thing for Linux but I'm not really sure that it actually is.
I care about Ubuntu.
I never did before.
But now I've tried Windows 8 I need to switch to a new OS and Ubuntu is probably the best option
Ha! Ha! Ha!? Good luck finding any useful software to run on it. Only an idiot would choose his OS, rather than his applications.
Last edited December 9, 2012 10:25 am
I can write letters, edit images, do spreadsheets, presentations, play every media imaginable, send emails and of course browse the web. That covers my needs.
I can do all that on my phone. If that's all I used a computer for, I wouldn't have one at all. But I do need one - I earn my living on it, my band relies 100% on it when we are on stage (every sound is either generated by it or processed through it) and I could not do either of those things effectively with Linux because neither the industry-standard applications nor those I personally prefer to use have Linux ports.
well there we have it MotorMouth, the world is a wonderful place full of individuals with different needs. Ubuntu is a great option for me but clearly not suitable for you. You may personally prefer no to use Ubuntu but that doesn't mean for many people it's not the right choice.
Precisely what I hoped to illustrate. Well picked up.
Last edited December 10, 2012 1:34 pm
988steve, if you've tried Windows 8 and need to switch to a new OS, how about Windows 7?
Last edited December 9, 2012 7:27 pm
mrman - yes you are correct - I will be sticking Windows 7 for a while longer. It's just that for the first time I see my long term future away from MS and Ubuntu looks like the best bet.
Seriously? Windows 8 is about 99% the same as Windows 7, plus a whole bunch of new stuff you can completely ignore if you want to. If you've upgraded to Win8, why woudl you even bother reverting to an older, slower, more resource-hungry version that works more or less exactly the same? It's nuts.
My point was that it seems most of the people who complain about Windows 8 do so like it's a compulsory update from MS. They should just continue to use Vista or Win7 like they probably are already rather than jump ship to Linux or OSX just because Windows 8 was released.
I use Ubuntu at work and i've gotten quite comfortable with it. I've even gone through the transition from Gnome to Unity and although it was a bit annoying to change at first, I got used to Unity.
Sidenote: I'm also using Windows 8 on my desktop and really enjoying it, so you could say that I'm quite easygoing when it comes to user interface changes.
I dual boot into it, just got into the Steam Linux beta, which was made with Ubuntu in mind. I like it, but I've changed from unity, it's nice but I prefer other guis.
pretty cool pair of cycling bibs.
Every time I install a Linux distro I find myself coming back to Windows no matter what. Sure Linux is fast but the support for Windows is like no other.
Unless you mean driver support, I seriously find a lot more resources getting stuff to work how I want with Linux. Anything's better than relying on Microsoft's knowledge base articles, I had a colleague spend forever today working out how to get IE10 back onto a customer's ultrabook because it had disappeared, because unless you had IE9, it seems Microsoft didn't want you to have it.
Rubbish! What hardware can you buy that doesn't ship with Windows drivers? You don't need to consult any databases, you just grab the disc that comes with the device and install the Windows drivers (or download them if you need to). That's assuming Windows doesn't already have drivers for it. A hardware company that didn't support Windows would be shutting itself out of 90% of the computer market. IE is not Windows, so if that is the best example you have, you really don't have a leg to stand on.
My two points should have been separated by a space. Windows stuff just works, unless it doesn't, in which case it's either a case of factory restoring or giving up, generally speaking.
It was also odd how IE10, the customers preference in this case became uninstalled and why Microsoft made it so unintuitive to get it back on.
I've been trying to use Linux since the 90's but kept coming back to windows. tried Ubuntu and it's really good, but if you want to be more productive and without the hassles, windows is still the king. Ubuntu is really getting better and better though but not sure with the windows' transition to touch and people getting used to it, Linux/Ubuntu might have catching up to do again.
...probably not enough to wear that outfit.
But I still care about Ubuntu.
Buntu' is a good OS. Quicker and cheaper than all. People do care.
Cheaper than other Linux distros?
^ (Not sure if that is sarcasm) Most linux distros are free.
Last edited December 9, 2012 11:51 am
It was sarcasm, but saying Ubuntu is cheaper than all is kinda silly.
I was referring to all Linux
Well you only said 'Buntu, so I did not make that connection.
Great on servers, not so much on a desktop.
I did and originally even switched my whole house (including my wife's pc to ubuntu) but since unity I've really stopped caring. I'm currently moving everything over to Linux Mint and couldn't be happier.
Yes, very very much because it is the leading Linux brand in terms of spreading the word and attracting people who have never used Linux, due to its user-friendliness and outward similarities to existing OSes.
Case in point: Dell, Lenovo, ASUS and HP are all now shipping hardware with Ubuntu pre-installed.
( Source: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/ubuntu-pc-sales-skyrocket-in-2011 )
The idea that the "geeks" or Linux traditionalists look down on it and certainly don't use it is irrelevant; the more people using any distro of Linux, the better things become for the community in general.
Written on a Dell studio1555 running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Ubuntu is used for a lot of other distros and helps drive non-techs to try things and find answers. I care.
Can we have a similar post about Blackberry?
I stopped caring about Linux a long, long time ago. I tried it on and off during the late '90s/early noughties but once WinXP came along I stopped putting myself through that pain, realising that you choose the applications you want to run and then find an OS that supports them all. Right now I cannot think of a single application that I use on a regular basis that's been ported to Linux and open source "equivalents" are generally a joke. There are exceptions, like GIMP, but mostly Linux is a wasteland of half-arsed, half-finished garbage, unless you want to spend serious money on things like Nuke or Maya. Even then, the learning curve to switch from the things I use now is just too high (for Maya, in particular) for me to even contemplate it.
I dual boot windows and Ubuntu. I use Ubuntu for quick jobs like web browsing, word processing, emailing and listening to music and I use windows for games, video and photo editing and presentations.
I've tried several versions of Ubuntu, with the latest installed being 12.04, but I keep coming back to Windows too. When my laptop runs for 6 hrs no worries on Windows 7 but struggles to make 2hrs on every Ubuntu I've tried (and Zorin OS) then it's a clear cut case which I am sticking with and that is without the missing Linux software ports or native Linux hardware drivers.
And if you want to see why Linux could never take over from Windows, search the web for the process to install a screen saver in Ubuntu 12.04. Whilst we on this forum might be happy to jump to a terminal window, I'm just picturing trying to explain that process to your parents over the phone.
I care about Kubuntu.
Ubuntu is just like the younger cousin thats always experimenting with brady-bunch drugs.
Interesting, but not everybodies cup of tea.
Kubuntu FTW for browsing and filemanagement / editing of my photos, because I like the simplicity of the tools and freedom of the software.
It's interesting to learn some bash or pearl or something *if* you want to make the OS do something a bit eclectic, without some weird 3rd party 50Mb .exe from a creepy site.
Installers and updates are surprisingly small, and free bandwidth on my ISP.
Long term updates are every 5 years, with minor fixes & updates released all the time, so my "need to update is not yearly, and not driven by "YOU WANT TO USE OUR NEW PRODUCT - PAY HERE".
A live-DVD to use in emergency, or on a borrowed PC, or for diagnostics, or demonstrate to newbies, or for zealots who feel any installer with no GUI is beneath them.
Inbuilt mirroring and partition management tools mean being completely unafraid to reinstall the <5Gb OS. And then being able to trivially mount my personal data into the OS is very excellent. It's like dropping a new motor into my old car. Not that I do these things often, but being able to makes life easier when shit happens, and my data is almost completely independent of the OS.
For me Windows is for playing games. Thats it. Rebooting clearly separates my playtime from my not-playtime.
In theory this principle means that I play games on an OS thats only for games, so it keeps the registry lean. I do everything else on an OS thats lean and mean, optionally set up for maximum tinkering and personalised doing, but is otherwise operated the same as any other 'desktop' that we all know how to use.