OSNews

No, he went about his trial exactly how it should have been; from the perspective of someone who does not know the limitations. Linux cannot progress if it has a continual list of limitations that people are expected to know.

Would you be disappointed if your car's Stereo didn't work every second time you started the car, and you go back to the salesman and he tells you that 'you should have known that limitation before ordering'.

Linux will only progress by admitting bluntly to any shortcomings, and addressing them. Mark Shuttleworth seems to have his head firmly screwed on, unlike RMS.

No, he went about his trial exactly how it should have been; from the perspective of someone who does not know the limitations. Linux cannot progress if it has a continual list of limitations that people are expected to know.

Maybe it's just the techy in me that looks at a product before ordering (ok he didn't order, but still) - the same can be said for ordering a PC with Vista, or an OSX Apple machine - I'd expect to do a little research to understand what I'm spending my hard earned on. I think I'd probably do the same if I was loaned an expensive laptop for a while

Of course we would. But who never has any similar problem with Windows? Especially this kind of problem... Let's talk about the X configuration, complicated sound problems, video editing softwares if you really want to talk about SERIOUS problems. Those are just the everyday little problems of every OS. I can write the same article about XP or Vista honestly. Or the same article explaining that Ubuntu is nicer to use than Vista, based on a few nicely chosen examples.

That's a bit too short to me, sorry. I think people go beyond the first look, they are not stupid, he says it. So they know you will need some time to use a new system. But I'm confident most of them can simply do it.

If you reread the (poor) review, you may notice that these shortcomings are not linux's. They are about proprietary content formats (mp3,dvd with css) or proprietary devices (ipod) that require some effort to be used to circumvent legal limitations.
The current legislation worldwide is protects corporate interests, not users.
That's, IMO, the shortcoming.

I don't think we'll see elected people representatives push for legislation that helps free software.
That won't happen when voters are media influenced and media are just corporate money making machines ...

No, he went about his trial exactly how it should have been; from the perspective of someone who does not know the limitations. Linux cannot progress if it has a continual list of limitations that people are expected to know.

Exactly. This has been my thought since the beginning of using Linux for me. How's it going to improve if all you have to go by for improvements are a bunch of geeks that know how to work around its quirks?

I don't agree. I don't think the goal of the Dell Linux deal is to get normal user feedback, but to extend the range of users interested. If we can agree that two of Linux's main setbacks from being a viable alternative are support from hardware vendors and a lack of gaming support, this is not going to change until there is a large enough userbase for those companies to make the platform a priority. Linux is not going to just one day be "ready" to be unleashed to the general public, and if Dell marketed Ubuntu like that now, there would be more people who would try it, get aggravated, and never go back. Dell's marketing Ubuntu to “advanced users and tech enthusiasts”, which IMO is the right strategy. These are people who may not have used *nix's in the past, and may not have previously been in the Linux demographic, but are also aware that it's not ready. But by extending the user base and shipping it through a major provider it's a step in the right direction to getting the support from third party vendors, which IMO is the goal of the Dell agreement much moreso than trying to pass it off as a windows replacement at this time.

yeah, stupid "normal" people, gosh

While I may have found the review a little poor, it does provide a great resource for focusing efforts.

Yes but at the same time what he says about windows (which one, XP{home/pro}, Vista{Home,..n} )should be taken with a grain of salt.

Windows XP for instance doesn´t play commercial encrypted DVD´s by default. You get a warning message about a proper codec not installed. With Ubuntu on the other hand you get at least an opportunity to download the codecs.

To get the computer to recognize my Kodak camera and Apple iPod, I had to reboot it several times.

Should be familiar as average Joe from a windows platform. You have to reboot for almost anything

Although i welcome any experience anecdotes from all kinds of users i get the feeling here the author drops his actual skill-set in the article in order to get a more trustworthy undertone.

But open source is a two-edged sword. While it draws on smart developers from many places, nobody is ultimately responsible for the quality of the product, and open-source developers often have an imperfect feel for how average people use software.

How will he know he is average Joe. And if he isn´t than his article is prejudiced in the first place.

I would rather prefer real user feedback how bad the outcome maybe. Rather then a hidden or not MS showcase.

Edited 2007-09-13 13:04

"This is a "normal" user in every sense of the word - the sort that we sit here and rant about all the time. He just wants to get on with things, and has provided a list of what's important to him. That is the one serious strength that will come from big hardware manufacturers shipping a non-Windows OS - "normal" user feedback, something sorely needed to polish applications, control panels, system services and how things work. You just can't get that sort of feedback from us geeks who quite like the quirkiness of their daily OS."

That's not true. The reviewer is a geek pretending to be a normal user, in the same way any geek can:

"I evaluated it strictly from the point of view of an average user, someone who wouldn’t want to enter text commands, hunt the Web for drivers and enabling software, or learn a whole new user interface."

I.e., he is a computer journalist perfectly capable of downloading a driver or installing a codec, but pretended he was not for the sake of the article.

I'm not arguing that a whole load of polishing that would not improve Ubuntu, just that the idea that geeks don't find missing codecs or non working hardware irritating is a myth. It's resources to fix the problems that are lacking, not the desire to do so.

I wish there was a GUI option to turn off touchpad clicking. On my Sony it's extremely easy to accidentally tap the touchpad while typing. 99% of the time I don't even feel it. It's highly annoying.

Won't the Xorg 7.3 addresse this concern? It should improve a LOT the hotplugness (if the word exists...) of the system. Including input devices. Maybe you can easily turn on/off the touchpad? Should be possible very easily soon otherwise.