Why Should I Use Ubuntu?

[zealibib slaughter]

I remeber when i got my first ever Windows PC.

I was so unsure how to use it, for the first two weeks or so it was never on for more than 1/2 an hour.

My point is that it wasn't not user friendly, it was just hugely unfamilar. I did not know how to use it.

Are you sure you're not suffering from this ?

I picked up the various Linux desktops much quicker than i did Windows.

The time consuming thing about Linux is learning the terminal, a job not required for almost all tasks on a fully featured desktop.

For me now every time I have to use windows I get lost for a while. I still know how to use windows and many tricks the average user doesnt know but it just feels alien now. If I spend a few days on windows Ubuntu will feel Alien for a few minutes.

[oldos2er]

My major question is why should I continue using this (relatively) complicated software? The main reasons I'm supporting it is because I like the idea of free software to the masses. Besides that though, I don't find much pleasure in it, besides kind of feeling like a wannabe hacker when I have to manually type in commands. I'm finding Ubuntu to be incredibly difficult, not user friendly at all, and its forcing me to spend precious time learning how to do basic things...like create shortcuts on my desktop.

If Unity isn't your cup of tea, there are many other graphical environments you can install and play with. Here's a breakdown of some of them.

[MPeezy]

Cool...well you guys definitely convinced me to give it the time to grow on me. A lot of what you all said still sounds foreign to me, but I'm sure I'll get it with time....thanks to this thread though, I have some great starting points to go and learn from. Perhaps I'll see the light after all...lots more noob questions to come

[squakie]

Easiest answer to your title? Why not? But everyone here has expressed some good points, but the strongest are:

- give it time - it is "different" - doesn't mean "difficult", just means "different"

- forget all comparisons to any other OS - each is an animal onto itself, and each has good points, bad points, strong believers, ordinary users, and of course haters.

- above all: don't be afraid to try. Remember that there are many, many experts here to help you with any questions you may have as you go along, and remember there is nothing bad about not knowing or asking for help - no question is "stupid".

Good luck on your journey!

[jglen4902]

At work, I use Windows, basically because I have to. I actually don't mind using Windows - with the possible exception of Win 8, and simply because I get sick to my stomach just looking at it. On my own machine I run Kubuntu, and I can literally do anything on it that I can on the Windows box; but that's just the nature of the work I do

Initially, I ran an old RedHat (5.2, pre-enterprise) on a corner of our family Windows 95 box. Eventually, I moved through various other Linux distributions and even a couple BSD-based installations. I settled with Mandriva for a while, but the whole Mandriva thing started getting kinda flakey (the OS itself was fine), so I moved on to Ubuntu, then tried Kubuntu - just because I liked the DE and the whole KDE environment, it just seemed more interesting in the look and feel department than Gnome.

I've pretty much stayed with Kubuntu since version 6-something. The unified experience of KDE was fine, until "the powers that be" started experimenting. The first thing to go was Amarok; I think version 1.3 or 1.4 was probably the last good version. The the whole KDE PIM combo got really tied in knots with the Akonadi/Nepomuk/Strigi insistence on indexing everything. I'm still with KDE, but I've tossed Amarok and use Audacious or sometimes Smplayer. The KDE PIM is gone, and I use Thunderbird with Lightning, along with Jpilot since I still use my Palmone Zire 31. And everytime I run across an Akonadi-based app, I dump it; just replaced Knote with Leafpad (coulda used kate), and while I use Dolphin still, my browser of choice is Firefox. So I've pretty much ended up with a mutt - just like my real life dog, not a purebred, but a lotta fun!!

So what does this have to do with Ubuntu? Everything, because Kubuntu is essentially Ubuntu with some different branding. And that's a good thing, because that's what Linux is all about