Why are you using Ubuntu - Newbies only

[corbypete]

I've always had a thing for linux succeeding due to the fact I'm always the black sheep in the bunch, I like change and I like to try to find things better than the mainstream

So, I've messed with linux over the years, jumping to Linspire once completely...only to return after bugs.

I'm back again the last week or so, as I have a vista only laptop, xp wont function on it and vista is running real slow - it annoyed the hell out of me.

So, after trying all the new distros, I settled on Freespire 2 because it works.. or seems to be this week.

Ubuntu worked great, and Mint too.. however some weird wireless problems forced me to move over.

When freespire after much hassle with other distros went on flawlessly I kept it.

Now, a few days on, I'm running vmware just so I can run my web apps and MS Visio to edit docs on the server, and kinda asking myself why I'm not just running vista!

Its doing most things vista did, probably more securely, faster and without spyware, but I'm tempted to ditch linux again and go back because my desktop doesnt quite works as sweet, join the dots as nice (firefox looks terrible), downloading is flakey (stalls all the time), and new apps like 4OD/iPlayer dont do linux, windows shares crash freespire - i have to ftp to my w2k box

Cost wise, MS costs me nothing for the Os as it came with the laptop, and apps I have already. Antivirus works fine and spyware blaster keeps stuff out too. so, I guess vista is fine for me


I'm sure if i had crummy old hardware Id run xp, or may look to linux. OR say use it for web only but Im a bit of a power user who has apps I like (netobjects fusion for exampe). Web cafe etc. i guess could be good usage, or just browsing etc.

So, that's my story, Im using linux not because its any better but because i fancied a change,
I'm not sure why Im using linux, but why are you?

[jtrink]

Trying out a new OS. Just to change it up from the usual boring windows. Plus linux seems to have a lot more customizable features that are cool to mess around in. I started becoming interested in linux because I just got done taking a Unix class in college. Commands in the terminal seem similar.

[ByteJuggler]

join the dots as nice (firefox looks terrible), downloading is flakey (stalls all the time), and new apps like 4OD/iPlayer dont do linux, windows shares crash freespire - i have to ftp to my w2k box

Ok, just some observations as I couldn't resist:

"firefox looks terrible" - what do you mean? Have you installed the mst core fonts (and a few other font) package(s)? What version of firefox are you using? Firefox on my Ubuntu looks pretty damn good IMHO, if different to Firefox on Windows.

"downloading is flakey" - using what app, what protocol etc? And what do you mean "stalls all the time"? I generally actually find downloading on Linux more reliable using BitTornado, wget or several other downloader apps. I don't tend to download big files with e.g. firefox, whether on Windows or Linux due to the potential for a connection drop to kill the download (causing something aking to a "stall.") But there are many download managers which are pretty reliable, both on Windows and Linux.

iPlayer - you are aware that it's now also available via Flash, which consequently works fine from Linux? (4OD can't comment, haven't ever tried it.)

Windows shares - well, I've got shares going both ways (shared from my vista box and mounted on my Linux server the other way around) without any problems. It sounds to me like you've got potential networking issues of some sort to be honest...

Anyway, I guess this is not a terribly helpful post as you weren't exactly asking for help, but since many of the issues to me seems easily fixable (or it's prehaps not fully clear what the nature of the issues you've seen is) I thought I'd just well, post/ask/stick my oar in. :-)

[corbypete]

Ok, just some observations as I couldn't resist:

"firefox looks terrible" - what do you mean? Have you installed the mst core fonts (and a few other font) package(s)? What version of firefox are you using? Firefox on my Ubuntu looks pretty damn good IMHO, if different to Firefox on Windows.

"downloading is flakey" - using what app, what protocol etc? And what do you mean "stalls all the time"? I generally actually find downloading on Linux more reliable using BitTornado, wget or several other downloader apps. I don't tend to download big files with e.g. firefox, whether on Windows or Linux due to the potential for a connection drop to kill the download (causing something aking to a "stall.") But there are many download managers which are pretty reliable, both on Windows and Linux.

iPlayer - you are aware that it's now also available via Flash, which consequently works fine from Linux? (4OD can't comment, haven't ever tried it.)

Windows shares - well, I've got shares going both ways (shared from my vista box and mounted on my Linux server the other way around) without any problems. It sounds to me like you've got potential networking issues of some sort to be honest...

Anyway, I guess this is not a terribly helpful post as you weren't exactly asking for help, but since many of the issues to me seems easily fixable (or it's prehaps not fully clear what the nature of the issues you've seen is) I thought I'd just well, post/ask/stick my oar in. :-)


Im on freespire currently, which Is based on ubuntu but still has may bugs of previous releases!

And yeah, Im sure my wireless isnt happy on linux, never had any issues on windows - freespire, suse and pclinuxOs the only ones that have been ok. ubuntu shares worked ok so why not in freespire! :(

firefox is also a fresspire special, been doctored a bit, lots of spaces everywhere.

wget does improve downloads, but i could download gigs on vista no problems - again wireless issue maybe.

Either way yeah, these thigns out of the box not great, so in real trms dont require 'fixing' in windows.

[ByteJuggler]

Im on freespire currently, which Is based on ubuntu but still has may bugs of previous releases!

And yeah, Im sure my wireless isnt happy on linux, never had any issues on windows - freespire, suse and pclinuxOs the only ones that have been ok. ubuntu shares worked ok so why not in freespire! :(

firefox is also a fresspire special, been doctored a bit, lots of spaces everywhere.

wget does improve downloads, but i could download gigs on vista no problems - again wireless issue maybe.

Either way yeah, these thigns out of the box not great, so in real trms dont require 'fixing' in windows.

Well yes, wireless is a problem area, especially inasmuch some wireless chipsets are either not supported, or the drivers aren't finished. It sounds to me like a lot of your issues are actually related to wireless, in light of which I can understand many of your comments.

I actually have some wireless issues too, which I've mostly fixed by using the Windows driver with NDiswrapper (the Linux driver for the chipset in my laptop isn't finished and doesn't work reliably at a distance.) This is again not a cure-all fix, but is usually worth a shot if one is using a half-finished/poorly Linux supported wireless chipset You should perhaps try Hard Heron beta if you're interested, wireless is continually being worked on and already apparently works a lot better in Hardy than in previous releases.

[Northsider]

I despise Windows. Yes it "works" fine, but all the little things that bug me just add up. Plus the software is freakin expensive and I am tiring of the warez-scene. The community support here with Linux/Ubuntu is unrivaled anywhere I have seen. Plus I think it's just cool to say that I use Linux.

[kneewax]

corbypete, I like you have messed around with Linux for a long while - several time installing dual-boot - only to go back to ******* and reclaim the space bieng used by the second OS. Like you, I enjoy being a bit different - and linux seemed to offer that - but that was never enough to keep me using Linux - I always ended up going back to *******, because I knew it better.

About 3 weeks ago I finally got fed up tihe WinXP Pro, Like so many MS OS's before XP got slow and buggy not long after the release of it's successor - I'm not suggesting MS does anything untoward in those update packages but the same thing hapen to Win2K when XP came out. I discovered VirtualBox and realised that the 2 apps I need that won't run it Wine, can run there (in seamless mode, so it looks like a normal app).

I use Ubuntu and although the last version I tried (6.10) before this install (7.10) had issues with wireless - this install worked perfectly - Ubuntu not only looks a lot better than ******* it runs better, makes more sense (once you get out of the MS mindset) and requires a lot less maintainence.

For years I have argued that linux's reliance on the command line is a weakness that keeps people away. However I am slowly coming to the conclusion that it is a strength. It allows you to perform powerful operations, simply and easily.

The biggest boon about moving to Linux you are already using. This community and the others like it. It is no longer one man and his Windows box desperatly searching for answers, The community aspect of Linux means that we can share problems and solutions.

I for one am not going back.

[scouser73]

I've been using Ubuntu 7.10 for about three weeks now. What happened was I inserted the Live CD and silly me, I actually wiped the Windows XP partition.

I have never looked back since, infact I wish I'd made the jump to Ubuntu a lot sooner.

I like its ease of use, the sheer fact theres no crap installed. Don't get me wrong, Windows XP was working great for me, this works so much better I find.

I'm enjoying getting to suss out all the new features, and the themes, now this is something well worth mentioning.

Currently I'm using the Ubuntu Studio theme which is beyond perfect, I like the way in which software can be added without any fuss.

I will be trying to convince my mates to make the switch.

[nadanil]

I made the switch because:

I first tried to partion two OS's (XP Pro and Ubuntu 7.10) but it didn't work. So I figured "To hell with it, goodbye windows, I'm not even going to back you up, screw it." Twenty minutes later I was a brandnew Ubuntu user.

The reason why I, rather spuriously, decided to switch was that I was fed up with windows popping up system messages EVERYWHERE and ALL THE TIME, "Warning! Your system may not be protected, click me to fix this problem" or "There are some desktop items you may not be using, click me to get rid of them," or


"Blah, blah blah, I am a windows app and I've come to take over your screen and NO you may NOT turn me off in anyway, I will ALWAYS disrupt whatever it is you may be doing, so learn to love it buddy."

In the end I felt like I was going to show that little annoying windows app who's the boss, and I did. Goodbye windows, goodbye antagonizing 'annoying-ness'.

I've been happy with Ubuntu, its alot of work to learn but I am doing my best, plus it keeps me occupied. All of the work is just 'teething pain'. It's way different than windows but oh well, who knows it may make it 1000x better (and I'm believing that the differences really do make it better), and at any rate it ISN'T ANNOYING.

I would hate to figure in how much of my life I have spent clicking the 'X' on those bugging little pop-up boxes that showed up all the time. Ubuntu has a few, but at least they're very few and very. very far between.

~Peace.

[scouser73]

I made the switch because:

I first tried to partion two OS's (XP Pro and Ubuntu 7.10) but it didn't work. So I figured "To hell with it, goodbye windows, I'm not even going to back you up, screw it." Twenty minutes later I was a brandnew Ubuntu user.

The reason why I, rather spuriously, decided to switch was that I was fed up with windows popping up system messages EVERYWHERE and ALL THE TIME, "Warning! Your system may not be protected, click me to fix this problem" or "There are some desktop items you may not be using, click me to get rid of them," or


"Blah, blah blah, I am a windows app and I've come to take over your screen and NO you may NOT turn me off in anyway, I will ALWAYS disrupt whatever it is you may be doing, so learn to love it buddy."

In the end I felt like I was going to show that little annoying windows app who's the boss, and I did. Goodbye windows, goodbye antagonizing 'annoying-ness'.

I've been happy with Ubuntu, its alot of work to learn but I am doing my best, plus it keeps me occupied. All of the work is just 'teething pain'. It's way different than windows but oh well, who knows it may make it 1000x better (and I'm believing that the differences really do make it better), and at any rate it ISN'T ANNOYING.

I would hate to figure in how much of my life I have spent clicking the 'X' on those bugging little pop-up boxes that showed up all the time. Ubuntu has a few, but at least they're very few and very. very far between.

~Peace.

Well said nadanil, it's great once you make the switch welcome aboard mate.

[Airpowered]

Why have i switched, and why Kubuntu....basically i get fed up with spending hours a week looking for and trying to remove all the damned spyware, virus's, having my system hijacked for the umpteenth time, constant updating of the software, finding out that the firewall had been disabled along with the anti virus software that reduced the system to a crawl as it monitored every bloodything and missed almost all of the crap being thrown at the browser on the quiet.
Oh and the crashes.....god did i love those, the kids ended up with such a locked down system that they could hardly see anything online, couldn't play games online etc etc etc.
For me the upside is i can still do my work (spreadsheets and databases )with little or no difference to what work sees, my music plays and i can watch the news online as before (does seem a little smoother tho).
Why kubuntu.........i'd tried a few live cd's over the last year and it came down to ubuntu or kubuntu, and the latter was the one that installed with no problem at all (they both did really but Kubuntu was the one i found 1st LOL)

[Holonet]

I'm surprised as a power user, you're ok with Vista... One of the things that steamed me most about that was that you can't do anything... Couldn't even set anything besides IE as the default web browser... Everything the way Microsoft sets it... And if there's a way to do stuff like that, it involves cumbersome software or process--I wager deliberately. I felt more like a powerless user. I tell my computer what to do--not the other way around.

That's the main reason I finally gave up windows completely...a lot of it principle. Linux actually has better support in my opinion...just only starting to look that way because the companies don't want to make Linux drivers. Even considering that, they're right on the coattails. Not only do I enjoy Linux so much more because there are no corporate motives and it shows...but I think it deserves to be supported and used as a statement against those who charge a hundred bucks for materials which cost $10 (on the generous side). Even if Ubuntu were not fine competition for Windows, I would still use it because the more people that use it, the better it will get, and the less people who charge extortionate prices for things that are, essentially, inferior will get away with it.

[Mazza558]

I didn't mind Vista too much until it gave me BSODs on restart...

[March Felloworthy]

I've been meaning to play with Linux for years; the closest I got was an attempt with an early distro of Red Hat back in the late nineties. Didn't have much luck or patience at the time.

Recently I've been getting frustrated by the sensation that Windows (I'm running XP) isn't the securest of platforms. I rebuilt my PC around six months ago only to have it suddenly decide my 300+GB hard drive only has 130GB (something to do with the SATA drivers I was using, I think); on top of that, I'd rebuilt my PC because I suspected that a piece of malware had hidden itself on my hard drive and was making my browser experience a pain (both IE and Firefox were being interfered with; I knew it wasn't an ISP issue because my wife's PC on the same home router wasn't having problems) and within a couple of weeks of the rebuild the problem was back again. Virus and spyware scanners continually fail to find anything.

I credit my recent renewed interest in Linux, though, to the Cory Doctorow novel, Little Brother, which I snagged a copy of a couple of weeks ago. It paints programming, encrypted communications, Linux and the open source movement in a favourable light, and I want to learn more. I nearly lost heart when I tried setting Ubuntu up on my Windows PC as a dual-boot. Apparently Ubuntu doesn't support my hardware configuration (also something to do with my hard drive setup); it flashed up a warning message then refused to load the partition manager beyond 46%.

Thankfully, I got my hands on a hand-me-down PC (actually, one of my old builds which was given to my wife and then to a young relative who now no longer needs it) a few days ago, and Ubuntu 8.04 is installed and running on it with no problem. Both PCs are under my desk and running off the same screen (my Windows PC attaches to its DVI port, while the Ubuntu PC is attached to the VGA port).

So I'm using Ubuntu because I want to:

broaden my knowledge of non-Windows operating systems,
run a system which has better odds against viruses and malware than Windows,
get stuck into computer security on a system which I can really get into the guts of,
learn how to program on a system which I can really get into the guts of, and
use and get involved with open source software.


I'm still using my Windows PC for most day-to-day stuff at the moment. In theory it's a pretty decent gaming rig too, but in practice I'm doing most of my gaming on my Xbox nowadays. I guess I'm also curious as to the Linux gaming scene, too.

[ourioni]

I am using linux because I discovered that Ununtu means: Crane that eats your MDR! That's REAL noob for ya...I DL the iso and turned it on--I actually like what i could work of it...and it is a powerful teaching tool, i can see that.
I'm probably too old and slow to ever be able to use ut like i should--but as soon as I get a stable sys. back, I plan to build a sm. system just for the Linux experimentation. (but i shall never mix Ubuntu and Linux together again...I have learned my lesson.
Lastly: Because Linus is anarchy--I'm not sure if the documentation is flawed or just too plentiful...but i like the chase so far.
ourioni

[ourioni]

correction: Post should: read I shant mix Linux and Win. together again.
ouri

[andras artois]

My XP edition decided it wasn't legal anymore about 2 and a half years ago and I had been reading about linux and found that Ubuntu seemed the simplest and easiest to setup so I gave it ago. Since then I've had a play around on a few other linux distro's because there were a few things in 7.04, when I upgraded it, that messed up so I switched to openSUSE for about 2 months. Youtube and installing mp3 condecs was a breeze on it but it wouldn't support my wireless which it REALLY needed to. It randomly crashed for no reason as well a few times. So I reinstalled Ubuntu and after looking on here a bit and messing with a few things everything works fine. It runs faster, more bug-free and generally less stupid pop ups than windows as well.

:)

[Flynn555]

just for the sheer curiosity.

well i had vista on my machine for about 2 months i think...one day i was forced to reformat ( i dont know why) so i thought i would try something new...and i have been loving it ever since. ;)

[Paddis]

I've been using Ubuntu for about two days now and I love it. You see, I've always wanted to use Ubuntu, but I've always heard alot of bad things about it, and it was also quite incompatible with games. Then, a couple of days ago, I got a legal copy of Windows 2003. Most of the Windows versions I've used have been... well, not so legal. Anyway, I found out that my soundcard was in no way whatsoever supported in Windows 2003. I really thought this was great since it gave me an excuse for installing Ubuntu again. Yesterday, I installed Wine and WoW almost on my own, so I think I'm getting the hang of things quite fast really. :P Anyway, now that I can play the only game I play pretty much, I see no reason to ever go back to Windows. Wow, this is a long post, I hope someone reads all of it... My first post on these forums after all. :)