Interesting Article - "Ubuntu made me quit college!!"

[Andrew Mathenge]

This story has really started a very interesting conversation. It's
happened before though and not unfamiliar.

Even though I'm an Ubuntu user, I still think that Linux has a long
way to go to convince users that everything you can do in Windows you
can also do in Linux. There are some things (e.g., AutoCAD) that you
can't do in Linux but there are some things that you can't do in
Windows either.

For this particular student, there is really no reason why she
couldn't have been given better advice. For what she needed, any
operating system, Windows, Linux, Mac would have been fine. It all
boiled down to comfort, and user experience. I've worked with Macs and
I think that they're beautiful.

Linux has a reputation of being an operating system for techno-geeks.
For the advanced computer user. Most Linux users can't comprehend why
Windows users don't want to switch to Linux. To most Linux users, the
decision is almost a non-decision. Why even bother thinking about it?
After all, you can comfortably replace Microsoft Office with Open
Office, Internet Explorer with Firefox, and so on. Why bother using
Windows at all if it's the applications you're after.

The same question applies on the other side. Windows users are asking
themselves, if I have everything I need in Windows, why would I bother
switching to Linux? Why? After all, I have the money to pay for a
decent Windows machine and every vendor under the sun makes Windows
compatible software. So why bother?

The "free" price tag doesn't cut it.

Linux documentation, including Ubuntu documentation is severely
lacking. I know I might get flack for this, but I've tried to
participate in the Ubuntu documentation project, in an attempt to make
Linux/Ubuntu more attractive from a non-cash discussion. Talking about
things being free just doesn't cut it. People will pay money for
Windows. That's the bottom line.

I've been using Linux since the mid 90's and I know that it's matured.
The early days of Slackware and Red Hat weren't that pretty, but take
a look at Fedora, or SuSE or Linux Mint, they're really pretty, easy
to install and a lot of fun to use. However, I still feel that there's
a lot lacking in documentation. I still feel that simple problems take
a lot of work to solve. The simple act of synching your iPod isn't
that easy. Playing different types of media or getting nice looking
fonts. All of this can take work on certain systems.

But let's keep the conversation going because it's a healthy one and
one that's worth having. I wonder how the Mac people feel?

Andrew.

On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 8:59 AM, Bran Everseeking
<bran.everseeking at sasktel.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:33:41 -0500
> Alfred <alfred.s at nexicom.net> wrote:
>
>> I read this story! There is some truth to it! Even though it is a bit
>> offencive to Linux.
>
> college student that cannot read advertising copy written for 5th
> graders.
>
> yep there is hope.
>
> --
> "The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being
> overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and
> sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege
> of owning yourself." -Nietzsche
>
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