disadvantages of ubuntu

[poollard]

i have a report to write about the advantages and disadvantages of ubuntu i have done the advantages but cant think of and disadvantages at all im aiming rearly for the weakneses of it compared to MS vista. and for the use of computer specialist people and non specialist users.

thankyou

[Vince4Amy]

Updates Can Break Things
Uses A Lot Of Resources (Compared With Other Distros)
Has Old Bugs Some Which Haven't Been Fixed Yet

[Temposs]

Ubuntu has relatively little support from hardware vendors. You have to be careful and research which hardware you buy beforehand, or be patient enough to tweak Ubuntu to work with your hardware.

Most of the most popular games and other software created for computer OS's today only have a Windows version, and only (maybe) work in Ubuntu/Linux through a hack(WINE).

[Dekkon]

You have to wait for the next release before it updates your software to the next stable version. Seriously, WTF, gotta do it manually, and find packages for it.

[diablo75]

Since you're looking for help with your homework, you might as well post what you wrote in as being advantages of using Ubuntu so we can perhaps point out others you may not have mentioned.

Disadvantages that I can think of:

- Not all Windows based software can run on Ubuntu (via WINE)
- In some cases, Ubuntu alternatives to Windows software is not satisfactory (however, the opposite also occurs sometimes)

...and that's all I can think of short of starting a flame war with others who would disagree with other "disadvantages" that might be worth mentioning.

[kk0sse54]

Quick list of a few of my own personal opinions and most could definitely be seen as advantages for some people
-Ubuntu package management in general
-6 month release cycle
-init system
-heavier than some other distros
-ubiquity installer

[theDaveTheRave]

I think a lot of the issues come from the fact that it is based on Debian.

Not that there is anything wrong with debian. It is just locked down rather heavily from a sense of hardware connectivity.

I think to get an idea of how easy/hard any OS is you should make a point of reviewing the instalation procedure (if you are able to justify the cost of an official disk with vista on that is ;) ).

Having done a fresh install of XP on a few terminals at work I certainly feel that the Ubuntu install was less problematic.... But then I've never really used windows that much, I've been on linux since 1994 - just as windows was begining to take off with win95, in fact even now I have difficulty getting my way around the windows OS (the software however is a different matter), and performing administrative tasks!
David.

[chucky chuckaluck]

it's too hard to remove stuff you don't want. if you don't want evolution, for example, when you remove it, it removes 'ubuntu-desktop'. that doesn't really affect anything until you want to run autoclean. then, you're screwed. i understand that a lot of bloat in ubuntu is due to it trying to be a distro that a lot of average users can use, but i do see not being able to easily remove large programs that one would never use, as a problem. other than that, i don't really see any disadvantages for their target audience.

[cariboo]

Updates Can Break Things
Uses A Lot Of Resources (Compared With Other Distros)
Has Old Bugs Some Which Haven't Been Fixed Yet


I think you misunderstood, the OP was asking about Ubuntu disadvantages, those are all Windows disadvantages. :)

Jim

[FuturePilot]

Updates Can Break Things


Not specific to Ubuntu. That can be said about any OS. I've had Windows updates break things before.


Has Old Bugs Some Which Haven't Been Fixed Yet

Again, that can be applied to any OS.

[Vince4Amy]

I think you misunderstood, the OP was asking about Ubuntu disadvantages, those are all Windows disadvantages. :)

Jim

No Ubuntu Disadvantages. Why do you think I use other distros AND Windows.


* Updates Can Break Things

Not specific to Ubuntu. That can be said about any OS. I've had Windows updates break things before.

True, but I've had Ubuntu break things more frequently than any other OS. Fedora has broken less things for updates than Ubuntu has and Fedora is not supposed to be a stable distro.

[PythonPower]

Compared to Windows Vista:


Ubuntu's support for some mediums is poorer.
The majority of games only work on Windows XP/ Vista.
The Linux version of Firefox isn't on par with the Windows version.
Some elements of the theme aren't up to Vista's aero standard.
Hardware support is sometimes better in Windows.

[yther]

Off the top of my head, here are a couple of big ones. They probably apply to most other distributions as well as to Ubuntu in particular.



Printing is confusing. I'm not talking about the back-end; I like CUPS and consider it a good thing. However, on Windows or a Mac, 99% of applications present you with the same, standard print dialog when you want to print something. On Linux, not only do you have Gnome and KDE versions of this, but GIMP has a different one, Acrobat has a severely crippled one, etc. Different programs set different insane defaults (double-sided, stapled labels, anyone?) even though you have configured things correctly in CUPS.
Too many choices. (That's right!) Most of us long-time Linux users consider that a good thing, but especially to new users it makes decisions difficult and communication a nightmare. A simple question like "How can I activate my webcam?" can be hard to answer because of this.


Anyway, without turning this into a rant, there are a couple from me. ;)

[mangar]

1. Broken release cycle:
a. Locked down versions - software is updated in 6 months interval.
b. Because of #1 - new set of regressions that can't be worked around every six months (you're stuck with all the new bugs for the next half a year).
c. regressions in hardware support every 6 month.

2. Limited set of professional software:
No functional equivalents for photoshop, autocad, sibelius, fruity loop, etc.

3. Fragmentation on the userland layer: multiple competing toolkits, with limited interoperability, makes for inconsistent use experience.

4. Flagship OSS project (firefox, openoffice) are noticeably slower, unstable, compared to competing platforms.

5. Problematic support for consumer peripherals: printers, cellular phones, secondary monitors, webcams, joysticks and controllers.

6. Broken sound system (PulseAudio).

...
Damn, that list is ultra negative.

[Dekkon]

Not specific to Ubuntu. That can be said about any OS. I've had Windows updates break things before.



...and I've had Linux updates break things before. You know? I'm starting to understand why Apple loves to lock people to the same type of hardware. ;)

[dmizer]

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Thank you :)