Will ubuntu ever be easy?

[arpalermo]

I just dont get it. How can anything be so impossible. I love the idea of open source and only use open source software on my windows pc. But i cant get ubuntu or any other distro to work. Ive tried it on about 6 computers ive owned, maybe 20 computers i work with... i work with computers so im not completely computer illeterate but i just dont get ubuntu. Every day theres some problem, i have to do this, do that... it never just works. Is it just me? Or does ubuntu just suck? Will anyone ever bother to make it simple and easy, or at least as easy as windows?

[mali2297]

Do you have some particular problem that you can't solve?
Please specify and we will try to help.

[mellowd]

It as just as easy. If you are having a specific problem let us know and we can try and assist

[Bastardbugger]

It really depends upon your perspective. From time to time I'm asked to fix or build computers, I find installing Windows incredibly tedious and time consuming. The neccessary service packs and updates can take forever to download and install.
Finding and installing codecs in Windows difficult never mind the necessary virus scanners and anti-trojan programs and such like.
From my point of view I find Windows hopelessly difficult and long winded to install.
I find Ubuntu incredibly easy and quick to install. No problem at all with codecs, just use medibuntu. The updates and fewer and seamless to install. And as for Microsoft viruses and Trojans ....... well it's Linux !
I think it all boils down to what you are used to. If you are flexible in mind and willing to apply yourself to learning a new operating system, you will never look back.
After all if an old duffer like me can manage it I'll bet you can ....... if you try.

[defishguy]

I'm like you in that I wish it were a perfect world. I could install XP right now on my laptop and the video, audio and network drivers would have to be located and installed before it would be usable. I'd have to deal with virii, spyware, and updates that exceed the bits that were on the original CD to begin with. I could choose Vista, or as I like to call it "ME Second Edition". I have a flash drive that is sixty days old that doesn't work in Vista at all, but it does in XP or Gutsy. I could use ME Second Edition and accept the fact that to delete an OS placed shortcut on the desktop I have to be tolerant of [ ] Cancel or [ ] Allow questions. I could install Vista and tolerate shorter battery life, and slower performance than Gutsy gives me.

I love the idea of open source too. I have to virtualize XP to get somethings done. But even though Gutsy isn't perfect (I have to hold tinfoil during the light of a full moon on a Thursday to get power management to work somtimes) you have to appreciate that all operating systems suck. They all do. OS X is by far the best example of usability as long as it's usable on a Mac. Ubuntu isn't really all that different than Windows as far as functionality and reliability. Don't believe me? Check out the MS knowledge base and you'll discover a veritable cornucopia of bugs.

We all hope that we can get a better Ubuntu in the next release. It sucks. But it sucks LESS than the alternatives do and it has the perk of freedom with it too! We'd like to help you with the problems, and we'd like to have you as part of the community.

In short you are absolutely right and if Ubuntu doesn't work for you today then by all means use anything you want to. Come back every six months to see what's working and what isn't and some day you'll discover that everything will just work.

[tetrafuran]

That's the way it used to be for me when I started using windows 3.11. Every day something was wrong and I had lots of problems. As I learned more by the years, I began to understand how to modify the system and solve most of those problems. Then came the year 95, the era of ISDN cards, 3d graphics, semi-eternal load times and blue screens. The number of problems doubled once again. After living with it and it's followers for several years I slowly began to get accustomed to it and eventually felt like home I even forgot how terrible it was in the beginning.

Today I'm writing the same story, with the exception that windows is replaced with Linux. All new things tend to cause problems at first before you learn how to deal with it. Learning to live with a new thing takes time. When I started using windows some time in the 90's everything was hard, strange and unknown. At that point I didn't have any background knowledge so everything was new and filled with problems. Fortunately years of stubborn computing payed off eventually. Also my windows experience wasn't entirely wasted when I started using Ubuntu. Some things work the same way, but a lot still remains to be learned. Computers just are this way no matter if you are using Ubuntu or windows. Both have their weak points so patience is needed. Don't be blind to either one's weaknesses or strengths.

Doing basic stuff tends to be easy in both OS's and going below the surface gives the real challenge no matter which OS you are using. Both require knowledge and logics. In windows you can get really far with only logics, but going deeper into linux requires more knowledge IMO. Once you get the necessary level of knowledge you can do really nice things in linux, but this won't happen just like that. It takes time and effort just as it took learning to properly utilize windows.

[toupeiro]

Yes, please define "work" You can't install it? You can't get it on a network? You can't find an application for your data? If you're trying to sell us that its more difficult than windows to do any of these things, I'm afraid you're selling to the wrong audience. We would be happy to help you, but you have to be more clear.

[robrmd9]

Yea, whining about Ubuntu won't help it get better, and it certainly won't help resolve your problems. You made a thread in "General Help," so please post your problem so we can assist you!

[teasum]

But i cant get ubuntu or any other distro to work.

Point of logic: If you can't get any distro to work, isn't the problem your computer rather than Ubuntu? My mom has a laptop that is somehow linux-intolerant--OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, even Puppy linux all fail to run.

Ive tried it on about 6 computers ive owned, maybe 20 computers i work with... i work with computers so im not completely computer illeterate but i just dont get ubuntu.

So, do other linux distributions work on these computers?

Every day theres some problem, i have to do this, do that... it never just works.

Such as....?

Is it just me? Or does ubuntu just suck? Will anyone ever bother to make it simple and easy, or at least as easy as windows?

Ok, now you're just trying to provoke us. Not gonna happen. Ask for help, and you'll get it!

[toupeiro]

. Both require knowledge and logics. In windows you can get really far with only logics, but going deeper into linux requires more knowledge IMO. .

I respect your opion, but my opinion strongly differs. I've managed thousands of windows systems and UNIX/Linux systems alike over the last ten years, on servers and at the desktop, and I've had to get pretty deep into all of them several times. From almost every facet, UNIX/Linux problems have quicker, and easier resolutions, and generally fewer problems.

For example, In windows, I find no logic in something as non-relative as a GUID.. a.k.a. {AC76BA86-1033-F400-7760-100000000002}, as being the pointer for the operating system to Adobe Acrobat 7.0. You have to KNOW what to look for.

There is very little that is logical about windows under the hood. You've either gotten used to it, or have honed skills at finding needles in haystacks, but there is little logical structure to it anymore. If you have supported both for a length of time, you will come to appreciate the ease and logic that linux brings back to the game.