Linked by Howard Fosdick on Mon 18th Jun 2012 05:29 UTC
Over at the Goodbye, Microsoft web site, Brad R. takes Ubuntu to task for abandoning dial-up modem users. Apparently Ubuntu no longer includes the GnomePPP dial-up package in the distribution, without which you can't get online via dial-up. It gets better: if you do have some way to connect, when you download something from the Ubuntu repository, the first thing Ubuntu does is update its 16+ megabyte repository index. Happy waiting! Brad concludes that "Ubuntu is for broadband users only."
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As far as I know, you can still order free copies of the CD if you don't have a way to download and/or burn them.
Which default (installed from the CD) programs require broadband internet access specifically? Email, basic web browsing, instant messaging, and posting to blogs can be accomplished very well on dial-up speeds. OpenOffice/LibreOffice, games, graphics programs and such do not require internet access at all to function properly. Even simple online games like MUDs and multiplayer strategy games can be played via dial-up. I used to use my phone company's backup dial-up line when the DSL service went down to play World of Warcraft back in the mid 2000s, and I never had any issues except in really large raids.
Speaking of, we didn't have DSL in our area until 2001, and cable broadband until 2003. And that's on the outskirts of Atlanta, one of the largest and most tech-friendly cities in the U.S. Not everyone was flying the broadband skies in 1998, as apart from businesses no one needed it. Broadband only became really popular around here due to Napster and other P2P services.
That's actually a great idea! Ubuntu turns its back on dial-up users, they definitely should find a distro that still caters to their needs. We all do that anyway, right? I use Arch because it suits my needs better than Slackware did. I don't hate Slackware, I just rarely use it anymore.