One of those traditional "I'm a user of abc, trying out xyz" articles. This time, a Mac user tries Ubuntu 8.10, and concludes: "Linux has come a long way, but it's not totally ready for the mom and pop folks, in my opinion. In the two days of testing, with two occasions it refused to load the graphic drivers and I could not enjoy Compiz. I found a tutorial which taught me how to modify xorg.conf to load XGL (I suspect that messing with the resolution of the second screen might have overwritten the xorg.conf file). Even so, I'd say Ubuntu 8.10 is a fantastic operating system. I guess it may take a while to tweak an Ubuntu installation to perfection, especially for more demanding users. I will recommend Ubuntu to everyone who can't afford a Mac, are not into heavy media content creation or hard-core gaming."
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Member since:2007-02-17
This is true. OSX 10.5.2 had a pretty severe bug where the system would create a kernel panic when you connected a Firewire audio interface. It was a known issue and Apple did not acknowledge the issue until after evry hardware manufacturer pretty much pointed at Apple and said it was their fault (which it was). Ofcourse with 10.5.3 the issue went away and Apple neatly covered it up and only threw out a on-liner in the changelog. Apple has a history of not acknowledging issues with their OS and quietly fixing them and sweeping the damage under the rug.
When there are issue with Ubuntu(or any oher Linux) you can rest assured that there will be plenty of resources (and general whining) in forums, bug lists, and workaround tutorials.
Member since:2008-11-18
Sadly that is not absolutely true.
Installing applications in Ubuntu is easy using the Manager. However, uninstalling it is not.
Many library dependencies and files are left in places you are not even imagining. The same happens with preferences.
Besides, all Linux applications seem to have an installing process. Other OSes do not have that.
And the manager does not keep only high quality apps. You can find lots of trash there and beta programs with no maintenance.
Member since:
2008-05-22
Nice to see each review of this sort is counting Ubuntu closer and closer to Mac OS X. Very obviously it's only a matter of time until advantages of Ubuntu & friends appear which a Mac can't match. I've spotted some of them already:
- Ubuntu's application store. Unlike a Mac, you can install as many apps as you want, for tryout, for long-term usage, all for free. No need to download custom installers or to read installation howtos and if you clean up after finding your favorite, no cruft is left, the system is kept tidy. Ubuntu developers take care installer/packages do their work as expected.
- Ubuntu's bug tracking and fixing system. I know, there's much discussion about how they could do better, but did you ever try to get a glitch fixed in Mac OS X? Be assured, there are glitches. If you're hit by them, you're almost left alone.
Good luck in finding a channel to even report the bug. If you've found it (bugreporter.apple.com), good luck in getting the bug fixed. Discussions about the flaws are held to a really minimum, all bug reports are top secret and don't even consider doing more serious debugging or even fixing: Apple won't let you.