In reply to my last Ubuntu post…
I received some responses to my last post on my decision to dump Ubuntu. They can be read here and here. I replied to all of the comments posted on my site, which took me a while. I’d like to add a few overall points here.
First, there is a difference between having a lot of available software and having access to a large percentage of software. It is true that there are thousands of software programs available for Linux. However, if you pick any piece of software you can find on Windows, chances are you won’t be able to find a Linux version. This difference won’t matter if you’re looking for an internet browser, an email program, or a text-editor, but when it comes to some select software that’s only available for PC or Mac, you’re out of luck.
And yes, you can run Windows XP as a virtual machine inside of Linux, but doesn’t that help prove my point? Linux requires a virtual Windows box to make it useful enough to use. By moving from Ubuntu to Vista, I’m just cutting out the middle-man.
Second, when I pointed out the hardware issues I was having, I don’t want to imply that everybody will have the same issue. However, I think my situation can be used as an example of the problems that are possible if you try to switch your computer to Ubuntu. And if you look at the hardware support of Linux compared to Windows, I think your chances of having problems with Linux are much higher than Windows.
I don’t want to ruffle so many feathers, I’m just giving my honest assessment of Linux and my time with it. It’s fine if you prefer Linux, but let’s be honest about what it is. Perhaps part of the problem is that I bought into the hype that it was ready for the desktop. If I knew how far it was from being ready for the desktop, I wouldn’t have bothered to try it. Now I don’t think I’ll ever want to go back.
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Ubuntu experiment over
A couple months ago, I wrote about my decision to try Ubuntu. I thought I could squeeze some more usage out of my old computer, and I was always curious as to how well Linux would work. Well, today I reached a conclusion: Linux is a waste of my time and energy.
There are lots of reasons to avoid it. Here is a quick, top-of-my-head list of reasons why I’m done with it:
1.) It’s hard to install programs. Even though Ubuntu provides a relatively-easy way to install programs from their list of supported software, installing one program often requires looking through their repository for multiple libraries. And if you want to install a program outside of their list… good luck. It’s never as simple as double-clicking an installation file and letting it take over.
2.) It’s very hard to find drivers. You can’t just pick up any hardware from your local Best Buy and expect it to work on your system. You’ll have to search (and hope) for some possible way, or perhaps some driver that will work… kinda. Example: My laptop had some ATI graphic card that would render the desktop, but drawing basic images on the screen took a lot of work for the machine. I know integrated graphics aren’t great, but it didn’t take two seconds to load an image on a web page when I was running XP.
3.) The selection of software for Linux is bad. If you’re on Windows, you can use practically any program you can find. On Linux, you’ll have to hope. This one in particular drove me nuts. Two or three times, I’ve found some program that I want to use, but I’d have to make a note to install it on my work machine or my wife’s computer because I couldn’t use it on my own machine.
4.) The “alternative” software for Linux is not as good as the Windows counterparts. You’ll probably be able to find some alternative program for every program you can’t run on Linux. If you can’t have Photoshop, you can use GIMP. If you can’t have Office, you can use Open Office. If you can’t have Outlook, you can use Thunderbird. These alternative programs can be used, but it’s like they’re not as fleshed-out as the more popular programs. For example, Open Office opens Word documents… most of the time. GIMP can edit image files, but good luck with the GUI. Thunderbird will check your email account, but it’s missing a lot of options and compatibility that Outlook has.
5.) You have to edit config files with a text editor. The last time I had to manually edit a configuration file was in junior high when I’d have a separate set of autoexec.bat and config.sys files to make each of my games work in DOS. I thought that was over with Windows 98. I don’t think I’m being spoiled when I say that I shouldn’t have to touch files like that anymore. Computer software should be moving forward, not backward.
6.) You’re still one tweak away from destroying your GUI. Yes, you can make backup config files and just copy over them, but why? Why should anybody have to deal with it?
7.) It doesn’t look as nice. Yes, I know Ubuntu has Aero or Beryl or whatever library that makes the windows wobble when you move them, but it’s just not as polished as OSX or Vista.
Can Linux work for some people? Yes, if you’re willing to work at it. Personally, there are things I’d rather do than spend hours trying to make my computer compatible with the rest of the world. Things like spend time with my wife. Write on my blog, or read other people’s posts. Read a book. Watch a movie. Sleep! Just do something more productive than Google for a possible way to do something that’s a simple double-click on other operating systems.
Today, I bought a laptop running Vista. I love it. I can use the Objectivist Research CD. I can finally burn a DVD of my wedding video by just dragging the video from my camera. I can see all websites, including my bank’s site. I can run Visual Studio. I can finally check out my local library’s program that will let me borrow audio books. I can do… anything!
My advice to anybody who might take a look at Ubuntu or Linux for their next computer. Don’t waste you time.
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Ubuntu
I’ve been busy for the past two weeks, mostly on two projects. One is a top-secret project that I definitely won’t be able to open-source. It won’t be finished until after dar-gtd, but I’ve had to spend some time studying up for it now. I’ll announce the details of that project later.
The second project is trying out Ubuntu Linux. I have an older laptop with a burnt-out cdrom, battery-charger, and a hardware-interrupt issue that would make the machine lock up for half a second every five seconds. The machine is still fast enough to function well to run the internet and basic office applications, which is all I need for the small office I set up in my new basement. I’ve been putting it off forever, but last week I finally taught myself how to use network booting to get a new operating system installed. I decided to give Ubuntu a try. I’ve had mixed results.
First, the positives. The machine works faster and better on Ubuntu than I remember, even when it’s new. The hardware-interrupt issue went away, so I can actually type blog posts like this again. Most of my non-programming computer time is spent online, so it’s like I have a new computer.
Now for the negatives. Things have gotten better since my last experiment with Linux over three years ago, but I still don’t see a real attempt to shield the user from the inner workings of the machine. It is easy to use, but as soon as you want to do anything that did not come off the default cd you have to go back to typing command-line operations, downloading packages and editing text configuration files. Unless you are a very competent computer user you probably won’t be able to do perform many basic tasks. Or much worse, you could make a small change to a configuration file that might break your system (which I did). I was able to get my wireless card working, update my video card drivers, and get the system to a point where I don’t think I have to update it for a while, but I know that most people would not be able to follow the steps I took.
I’ve heard all about how Ubuntu is the easiest Linux distribution, but if this is as good as Linux has come then I really wonder if Linux is ever going to be a viable alternative for the average computer user. I’ve only been using it for a few days, so I’ll give it some more time.
Tags: [ubuntu]