What has using ubuntu taught you?

[mamamia88]

using ubuntu has taught me to actually address my problems rather than restarting my computer and hoping they magically go away what about you?

[MikeTheC]

Taught? Nothing.

Demonstrated? That "desktop" Linux is viable.

[Bölvaður]

It has though me a lot which ranges from dark corners of mbr to the glorious heavens of gnu/linux.

[cookieofdoom]

I learned that my computer is much more useful to me when it does what I tell it to do, I hate watching Windows guess what I want it to do and get it wrong 93% of the time.

[Joeb454]

I've learnt all sorts. I've become pretty quick at using the CLI now too....though I'm still learning :)

[malspa]

That GNOME isn't as bad as some people say.

[cmay]

that a computer can be programmed. before i started using linux(ubuntu) i only used a computer for writing a letter once in a while and print it. i used to hate computers and the internet before i started to use linux. i found out that i have strong feelings about the free software commmunity and i found that i am as a computer user more a political individual than just a computer user. i also found out how to make a program and that there is more than just compiled languages to choose from :)

i also found that the internet is not all evil after all. as long as i can apt-get something i guess its not all that bad.

[ThePinkPoo]

Patience is a big one. But I am now a lot better at troubleshooting errors with google and what not.

[Messyhair42]

that an OS can have a community that is dedicated to it's users and that messing with the things that make the computer run isn't that hard and can lead to a better computing experience

[bsharp]

Too much to put here, so you'll have to take my word that its alot.

[Sealbhach]

That I don't like brown (among other things).


.

[-grubby]

Linux, Programming, open source, some more things

[eragon100]

That there is a lot of professional quality software available for free!

No, I don't care about the so-called "politics" of using linux. Blah blah blah...

[wykedengel]

...patience!!!

[richg]

Ubuntu and Linux in general has taught me that it is very trying. Try this, try that.

Rich

[smartboyathome]

Well, Ubuntu and Arch together taught me that you should use what works for you, not what someone else tells you to use. If nothing works for you, find something that comes close and customize it to your needs.

That is one lesson among many, of course. ;)

[Dragonbite]

Maybe not Ubuntu directly, but my use of Ubuntu has taught me that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to home computers/network stability! ;)

So I finally made the decision for an all-Ubuntu home network (desktop, laptop and server) and so far it is working alright, though I still need to update the desktop to 8.04 from 7.10.

I am so glad to not have to worry about the system running alright, or that my wife or my kids will have problems!

Currently I have a safe "sandbox" (2nd hard drive I can easily plop into the laptop for playing and demonstrating at the DACS SIG meeting without having to install a ton of things I'll only use once!

I wanted something hands-off where I could spend more time doing things ON the computer, rather than WITH the computer.

[uberdonkey5]

using ubuntu has taught me to actually address my problems rather than restarting my computer and hoping they magically go away what about you?

I am in no way a power user, but linux brought me back to the time when we actually have some control over our computers. Ironically the more 'user friendly' a system becomes the more disengaged we get with what the computer actually does. Ubuntu does an excellent job of having a user friendly interface which is just enough of a pain to require some tweaking, and introducing you to a world of versatility.

With windows, if it didn't work I'd accept it didn't work (for example my avast antivirus now ALWAYS asks me to update. This is something I just would not accept from my ubuntu system because I expect much more control. If its not doing what I want, I will find how to change it!!!)

[Dragonbite]

Microsoft Support, the 4 'R's
Restart the application
Reboot the computer
Reinstall the application
Reinstall Windows

and my favorite 5th 'R'
Replce Windows with Linux!

[phrostbyte]

It thought be a lot about Linux and given me very valuable experience. Honestly I probably would have dropped out of college if it weren't for Ubuntu and Linux in general sparking my interest in computer science. What really interested me is not so much the technology but the philosophy of freedom and community that follows many FOSS projects. I feel a strong connection to it personally.

[Grant A.]

That ClamAV is baaaaaaaaaaaad. Damn thing locked up my boot-file.

[ghindo]

Ubuntu was my very first Linux distribution, so it's pretty much taught me everything I know about open-source software.

[jmejedi]

............ its taught me that... Windows isn't the only 'thing'....

[jrusso2]

Don't panic !

[Noblacktie]

Ubuntu has taught me to be open-minded enough to see what prejudices and preconceptions stop me from seeing.

My only previous experience with Linux was with Mandrake and SUSE in 2001. Couldn't figure out nuts, gave Linux up as 'crap that only hackers and sysdamins will bother with'.

I only wished I had learned this in 2007; then I wouldn't have wasted two years trying to convince myself that Microsoft Vista 'isn't as bad as they say'.

[samjh]

using ubuntu has taught me to actually address my problems rather than restarting my computer and hoping they magically go away what about you?

It taught me that Linux is a viable operating system for daily use.

[barbedsaber]

That GNOME isn't as bad as some people say.

who are these people you speak of. They must be delt with quickly and descisivly. nah, screw that.
THIS MEANS WAR. (again)

[jimi_hendrix]

the ways of the force

[revleo]

well i cannot speak for anyone else and speaking for myself usually gets me in trouble but here goes i have learned that ubuntu (and its derivitives) have given me not only a voice but a choice and a way to see computing for what it can be not what i am told it should be or the cookie cutter mold of software that is pawned off on us from on high

[ithanium]

ubuntu learnt me not to be lazy :)

[handy]

What a broad question:

Technically?

About community?

Disto wise?

Financially?

Compared to the MS, Apple way?

About the lack of commercial software?

About the lack of viruses & mal-ware - security?

About politics both within Ubuntu & international?

About society & culture?

About chauvinism in humanity?

If I had the talent & the desire, I could write a book using this thread's title question as a multifaceted foundation.

[ghindo]

About chauvinism in humanity?Ubuntu? Chauvinism? You lost me. :confused:

[Kopachris]

Oh, Linux (mostly Ubuntu, as that's what I started with) has taught me more than I can count. Mostly, the open architecture and large amount of documentation has taught me how a computer should work, not how most computers do work. In Windows, everything is messy and closed to prying eyes. In Linux, the monolithic kernel with Unix-based architecture is very clean and tidy and is as open as a museum. Linux From Scratch has also taught me a great deal about *nix architecture, but Ubuntu came to me first, and it was there (here?) that I learned the command line. It started with using sudo gedit to edit the Yaboot menu on my Mac. Then it advanced to using the LiveCD as a rescue CD for a tempermental external hard drive that had my backup on it. Then it went to doing more research, for both solving my various problems, and simply reading Wikipedia for fun. Then, before I knew it, I started Linux From Scratch and started learning a lot more about devices (for instance, /dev/null's permission mode is "666", thought that was kind of interesting...), permissions, file systems (learned a lot about formatting when I had to recover formatted data on my Mac!), etc...

Oh, you were talking about philosophically? Well, everyone who runs any form of Linux on their desktop computers know the importance of FOSS, so that doesn't count for me. Plus, I've been interested in programming all my life, so FOSS has always been big for me.

[Sorivenul]

It has taught me that this community is second to none.

[hoopz23]

I don't have to be stuck with Windows. (I'm Mac-illiterate so I hate Macs) :p

[Kopachris]

I don't have to be stuck with Windows. (I'm Mac-illiterate so I hate Macs) :p
Hmm. That seems to be the number 1 reason for people hating Macs. It is different, but if you can learn to use Linux coming from Windows, so can you learn to use Mac OS X. Though, it's illegal to use a hackintosh, and Macs are very expensive. Those of us fortunate enough to own one (I still love my 17" PowerBook G4) view them as a luxury item, and thus worth the high premium.

[wolfen69]

it taught me just how horrible windows is.

[etnlIcarus]

Ubuntu has taught me that not only am I too lazy to try, "a real linux" (loosely defined as anything more complicated to get working than Ubuntu), but that I am, in fact, too lazy to even use Ubuntu properly.

There's maybe a 2-hour window a month where I'm in the mood to fix or build something. I've been pointlessly pulling awesome-wm from git for several months now, never having actually gotten around to checking it's dependencies so as to build. There's also a couple of other apps I want to try that I just haven't been arsed to download, let alone build.

Conclusion: one day soon, I won't even have the mental stamina to press a button. Hopefully by then, someone will have invented an accessibility interface which reponds to muffled grunts as I will have no doubt grown tired of speaking by then as well.

[adamlau]

That Ubuntu is different than VectorLinux. And that a default Xubuntu install is not exactly a speed demon.

[handy]

Ubuntu? Chauvinism? You lost me. :confused:

I find chauvinism (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chauvinism) wherever I go, the Ubuntu forums is full of it too.

When the BY forum was alive it was the prime focus for chauvinism in the Ubuntu forums, which would have been the reason that the BY was closed.

[mihai.ile]

Didn't read the entire topic, usually do so but don't had the time right now.
Well Ubuntu taught me to open my eyes and notice the importance of freedom, and people's rights. If it weren't ubuntu maybe other great distro could showed me that but as I learned it using Ubuntu I think it's right to post it here.

[toupeiro]

Ubuntu ultimately reinforced to me that you can never satisfy everybody, no matter how good something is.

[handy]

Ubuntu ultimately reinforced to me that you can never satisfy everybody, no matter how good something is.

If you could, then that would be the end of creativity.

[Giant Speck]

Ubuntu taught me that patience is a virtue.

[Eisenwinter]

Ubuntu taught me that Linux is about choice, in the sense that it comes bloated with gnome and all the applications I never used, so I just went and removed it altogether, put on Openbox, and only had what I wanted to have installed.

Nowdays I'm on Arch anyway, so the bloat thing is no longer an issue at all ;)

[etnlIcarus]

Nowdays I'm on Arch anyway, so the bloat thing is no longer an issue at all ;)Meanwhile, the amount of time you spend getting your OS to do something simple exponentially increases - at least at first.

[xpod]

Ubuntu taught me that patience is a virtue.

Thankfully i`d been married 16 years and had 5 kids before i ever really touched a computer & indeed Ubuntu.That and the few months i had prior to discovering Ubuntu had taught me all the patience i could possibly need by time i got here....and then some.:D



Re: What has using ubuntu taught you?

Something else to try the wife`s patience:D

[Liviu-Theodor]

Ubuntu taught me how an operating system should work today, how should I install programs, and remebered me of how should one learn to use a computer (with joy, not frustration of some thing does not work). When othrs will understand this also? Also Ubuntu taught me that software should not be closed, but open: how one would learn if the software is closed and nobody but the producer understands how it works?

[amitabhishek]

It taught me sudo is not a martial art:p.

[Kopachris]

It taught me sudo is not a martial art:p.
Hehe... are you sure? :twisted:

sudo - can mess up stuff if you're not careful.
martial arts - can mess up stuff if you're not careful.

Aha! Sudo is a martial art!

[hessiess]

Linux in general has torght me almost everything I know about computers and programming.

[sp0nge]

I've learned that there can be a reasonable, user friendly Linux desktop. Ubuntu has also taught me to get comfortable with the command line. I have even started using the command line in windows more often than not thanks to discovering when and why it can be more efficient to use the right tool for each specific job.