Ubuntu
October 4th, 2005 by Eshin
Open source continues to grow in popularity and business interest. Linux has always been a strong favourite for server usage but hasn’t enjoyed that popularity so much in the the consumer environment. Part of that problem is that Linux takes time to install and configure, and it usually helps to have a computer science degree handy.
Well, that’s the perception.
Perhaps Linux distributions like Ubuntu (based off the Debian distro) that promise easy installation and support will make the OS more available to people. Might try it on old computer… although I usually find the blood, sweat and tears invested into the OS usually yield results much later (well, I found that for Linux…).
Well it’s kinda already been tried with Linspire. Waste of space really…
Linux’s strengths aren’t really exploitable in these watered down versions. However, stuff like Ubuntu may be better (I haven’t tried it). Installing and configuring Linux isn’t actually all that hard: it’s just time-consuming, and the learning curve is very steep (not that I’m anywhere near an expert).
If there were usable GUIs for most Linux apps, the average Windows user wouldn’t find it much more difficult to use.
The Man Himself
I haven’t tried Ubuntu yet nor tried installing Linux on a desktop. Even if Linspire tried it (and maybe failed), it still good to see people being proactive in developing it as a viable system. Gotta start somewhere…
It would be good to see three alternative OS’s to choose from – Windows, Mac, Linux.
http://www.ubuntu.com/newsitems/uklosa