In short, you’re right pretty well across the board and Ubuntu have made a mistake here (although I’ve faith – based on their track record – that this will be corrected shortly). Hence, my post.

But in Ubuntu’s defence the 9.04 release is not a ‘stable release’. Ubuntu have prided themselves on having all their releases quite stable but they also put out a Long Term Stable (LTS) release every 2 years which is then supported for 3 years. The LTS releases ‘just work’. A non-LTS is supported for 18 months.

If I was the French government I would be using the LTS release. Moreover, you’d pay for support, as any business does with their Mirco$hit software.

“9.04″ is meaningful, it stands for April 2009. By contrast, that’s much better than the Linux kernel which is now at version 2.6.29.3.

And wasn’t there a recent update for Safari which broke some things? My point being that even Mac fucks it up sometimes. Also Mac’s control their content FAR more than I’d like them to. Remember, what’s important is that Linux is free as in free speech (not free beer).

I pretty well don’t use the command line. Those days are well behind us… but the option is there.

Ubuntu do set benchmarks and they meet them very well. They have a commitment to release a new version every 6 months – a very tight time line – which had advantages and disadvantges. Linux and related OS stuff has done very well with the ‘release early, release often’ philosophy which means that problems are run into but generally fixed very quickly because the community responds immediately.

There’s also the issue of ‘blame’ here. The problem is with Intel’s driver, not Ubuntu. Ubuntu’s mistake was to use the newer driver without testing it properly. And that’s the thing about Mac’s – they have the advantage of writing software for a very specific set of hardware components. Neither M$ or Linux have that luxury.

Anyway, in short, as I see it (this little blip aside) the ONLY thing that is now difficult to use with Linux is installing it – something you can’t physically get around. I’d also suggest that Ubuntu is by far the easiest Operating System to install – a LOT easier and user friendly to install than Windows. It is a viable alternative these days and I’m happy to come over and install it for anyone anytime.

Shut up Mac Fan Boy

Why not set benchmarks? They are very important when attempting to achieve something. I whole heartedly agree that any Micro$oft app or OS is not something to aspire to, it did hurt a little when you included MAC OSX in your post… why oh why complain about the most usable intuitive OS interface seen in the history of personal computing? Sure, Apple eats children and charge$ through the teeth, which ultimately leads to class war and the apocalypse, but their human – machine interfaces are by far, the best, beyond any doubt. There are many usability studies that identify what visual and interaction elements are successful. I guess my main argument is that the MAC OS treats the user like an adult. The day to day actions are easy, there’s a terminal for the hardcore, and there now support for gamers. Non-PC users are unfortunately not treated like equals in the business place.

Could the biggest hurdle be something as simple as the definitions of a supported version. You refer to products by their version name… which means nothing to a basic user. If i get an app or OS, like you I expect it to work. Maybe there should be greater management of the definition of the various versions and which type of user they are best for. Apple have very successfully increased their market in home computing and have made their product based around that.

ok, back on the good foot. Oh man, I hope Ubuntu gets its act together. It’s a given that developing an Operating system is not simple, easy or straight forward. MS have nearly 90k employees (wikipedia page on MS) working on their products. The way in which Open Source development communities is amazing!!!

I hope Open Source is competitive for a few reasons:
1. The greater good: more democratic and open societies and communities are better for everyone
2. Open Source solutions are both flexible and innovative in ways that propriety apps can’t.3.
Propriety owned stuff is limiting and you feel like your at the kids table whenever decisions are made about the direction of development. I deal with vendors everyday and they do treat you like a sh1t eater. OS needs to improve, if only so we can hurt the thing that they care about $$$.

All in all, there will always be a need for:
– easy home use
– limited and secure (whatever the fvck that means – sorry I’m a mac user) business machines
– access and equity
I don’t believe that one solution can meet all these needs.

I love your(s and all other linux contributors) passion Ham. Open Sauce is Sourcy!
t

Disclaimer: I’ve only superficially used Ubuntu and do not and will not ever use a command line for anything. sorry, i just don’t care enough about the workings behind stuff. I just wanna get using.