When is anything ready for "Prime Time"?

[original_jamingrit]

The idea of whether or not ubuntu being "ready" for the normal user is one that I've seen expressed a lot. It's an idea that is so vague that it, to me, seems kind of redundant. In my opinion, ubuntu is more ready for the normal user than vista is.

This is by no means an attempt at flame-bait. This is just an open-ended question, I just want to hear some of your ideas and discuss them. What will happen when ubuntu is ready for prime time? Will there be parades? Will everyone and their cat suddenly decide to get a linux box? Will the skies open up and God decides that everyone automatically gets into heaven?

It's just that my own opinion is that linux and ubuntu already "ready". It's not perfect, but nothing is, not even XP. So, what will make gnu/linux, and ubuntu in particular, "ready"?

[SomeGuyDude]

Ubuntu is ready to be Ubuntu. I love it as it is and don't want it to change in order to achieve some mythical "prime time" status.

That's about all I can think.

[idealist61]

Here's my two cents, as an English-major type who did use Ubuntu for a while, with mixed feelings:

The majority of people don't WANT to know or tinker more with their computer than they have to. For them, everything should be simple, intuitive, and "just work." A second group does enjoy tinkering with the settings a bit and knowing the difference between ROM and RAM and when the salestwerp at Best Buy is BSing you, but we DON'T have the inclination/ability/patience to obtain the help-forum equivalent of a comp-sci degree simply to install a printer. The final and smallest group--which probably includes most of the participants on this forum--actually knows about things like C++ root commands, and they like to reply to desperate posts from newbys here statements like, "Well, first, obviously, you need to reintegrate the decromulator, then use your R-DENT command to invectify your mod packaging" (never mind that the original posts begin with statements like, "I'm an absolute beginner at this, so PLEASE skip no steps, however obvious they may seem to you, and PLEASE avoid all technobabble."

Anyhoo. The rule of thumb for prime-time readiness?

The rule is this: if you EVER have to use the Terminal for ANYTHING but VERY esoteric and optional tasks (think of OS X as the model here), then Ubuntu (or any other flavor of Linux) is NOT ready for prime time. Most of us do not even want to know what the Terminal IS or where to find it, and our brains will substitute the phrase "sudo apt-get" with "Please bring me more Excedrin." Moreover, user forums should not need to be consulted more than once every...oh, let's say every four to six months. And finally, most any problem should be something your 13-year-old could fix.

THAT is the level of simplicity and "self-explanatoriness" you will need to achieve (at least without the rest of us rolling our eyes and firing up our user-friendly, hand-holding mainstream boxes).

[tdrusk]

It will be ready when Flash is fixed in my opinion. It's my only beef with Linux.

[aysiu]

I just got an Eee PC, and everything just works (the wonders of preinstallation--that luxury that Windows and Mac users have had for so long now). Out of the box (literally), Flash works, embedded video works, webcam works, suspend works, special keys work, wireless works. It all works. This is what normal users need for "prime time," a preinstalled Linux computer that has been tweaked well.

[joshdudeha]

Meh :| I love Ubuntu as it is.

I'm 13 :] I can fix my way on Ubuntu ^_^

[idealist61]

Ok, I eat my words. I EAT THEM! :) I just installed 8.04 rc1, and it is a thing of beauty. Very polished, and much easier to use than my last stab at Ubuntu (version 6.x). The help pages actually helped. Everything "just worked."

Nice job, y'all!

(Note: we will conciously ignore the ugly 7.x fiasco, with its apparently incurable freezing problem. :) )