99.999% ready? My comment.
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| Author | Content |
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| Bob_Robertson Apr 09, 2006 10:31 AM EDT |
Interesting that the majority of the “bugs” you mention have to do with hardware manufacturers not playing nice and providing clear specifications for their devices. I’m not saying that’s not a bug, but I will assert that it is not a *Linux* bug. It’s not that Linux-based systems are 99.999% ready for “the desktop”, the fact is that 99% of the users are ready for Linux systems. Looked at under the same microscope, and (as with Linux) with spotty hardware manufacturers support, Windows SUCKS in comparison. |
| richo123 Apr 09, 2006 1:07 PM EDT |
Well I am a Ubuntu user like the blog author and have lodged perhaps 30 bug reports in bugzilla and taken part for a long time in the forum (I have around 900 posts there). I think the analysis is spot on. There are a lot of minor but to the end user very annoying bugs that can dog you when trying to get something done.
Examples:
1) I use the krusader file manager. If I click on the modified tab it crashes. Supposedly a qt3 error fixed in the next release (1.7.0)
2) In open office 2 if I do a presentation screenshow X locks up. Again fixed in the dapper release.
3) eog is very slick but sometimes crashes mysteriously while opening files. Again this is fixed in a later version. On the other hand there are several apps that I _never_ have any issues with and which make me very productive. lyx is an example. These apps tend to be quite old and have had all the bugs shaken out. My suspicion is that the main issue here is time. Many apps are a lot more stable than they were even 12 months ago. I use abiword all the time now but would not touch it with a barge pole 18 months ago because of random crashes. So linux is 99.999% there but will be 100% there in 2-3 years is my guess. |
| Scott_Ruecker Apr 10, 2006 12:49 AM EDT |
I use SuSE instead of Ubuntu but it only took me about 2-3 weeks to get my system up to snuff, but then again I am not the average user. None of us are average users. Most people will not want to change to Linux just like they have not wanted to change to newer versions of Windows. Every weekend I talk to people who are replacing Windows 98' machines with the XP stuff they are still schlepping out to the masses. There are a serious amount of people who have yet to upgrade from 98' or 2000, forget all the people who have bought several computers over the course of time. Ubuntu is ready just like a ton of other Distro's are ready. Its the users who decide if they are ready, not the flavor of Linux they choose. |
| keithcu Apr 10, 2006 8:18 AM EDT |
I put Ubuntu on my Dad's computer a few months ago. I set him up with firefox, thunderbird (he was using crappy webmail), openoffice, configured his printer and sound and now he's happy! I had to do something because his windows box got so corrupted with viruses and it was so slow to surf the web that he didn't use it anymore. He kept insisting that I install a virus scanner on Ubuntu, but I kept telling him he wouldn't need one :-) My dad only uses basic functionality and so I knew it would be fine for him, but the rest of my family I don't feel confident recommending it to yet. My brother works in an office with a bunch of other people. I think he'd be scared to use OpenOffice. He should start by using that on Windows and if that goes well, then he could probably make the switch. I do agree with Bob and people are ready to switch--we just need to make Linux ready for them! I believe that FireFox + Thunderbird + OpenOffice + multimedia & accessories is all that is required to convert people. Most people don't use more than that, and many don't even have Office because its so expensive! Linux can provide much more with apps like Inkscape, Gimp, Audacity, educational games for kids, etc., but we just have to meet the minimum bar first. And again, I just think there are weirdnesses to be fixed, as richo123 mentioned. We all have our own list, but the list isn't that large and it just needs to be done. Fixing bugs is grueling work, I know. It could take 2-3 years, but that is a long time in the 21st century. Google is only 7 years old. Linux is gaining momentum, doing very well on the server and in the embedded space and I believe it is at an inflection point on the desktop. We just don't realize it because Windows and Microsoft have been such a dominant force in computing for so long. I hope you found my article some food for thought, -Keith |
| Bob_Robertson Apr 17, 2006 1:12 PM EDT |
My mother recently was wrestling with her laptop, and said, "My next computer you can install Linux." I told her, "No problem. When you're sick of Windows, we'll make *this* computer your *next* computer by installing Linux." Her favorite game runs under WINE already, it's trivial to test the rest of them first. :^) |
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