Is lack of proper support holding back Ubuntu?

[arnab_das]

Is the lack of proper after-"sale" services affecting the growth of Ubuntu? I know Canonical provides support, but frankly its on a minuscule scale. How about having support teams scattered all across the world?

Thoughts?

[madjr]

yes, support is a factor

but most using linux today, know where to find a linux geek.

same with windows, families depend on their windows geek to setup stuff, track down viruses and reformat


anyway am not sure what you mean by "after sale", where is linux being sold?

[arnab_das]

yes, support is a factor

but most using linux today, know where to find a linux geek.

same with windows, families depend on their windows geek to clean viruses and reformat


anyway am not sure what you mean by "after sale", where is linux being sold?

thats why i put the quotes on "sale". i mean after buying a pc with ubuntu installed. what happens then? what if the person isnt in the UK, then he/she will find it very difficult to find proper support.

[snowpine]

Is the lack of proper after-"sale" services affecting the growth of Ubuntu? I know Canonical provides support, but frankly its on a minuscule scale. How about having support teams scattered all across the world?

Thoughts?

And how much would you personally pay per year for this service? :)

[arnab_das]

And how much would you personally pay per year for this service? :)

well if i had proper service people around, i would pay them. (i had to when i had windows)

if canonical manages to put in service teams in essential locations (outside the UK), i think a lot of people would think of ubuntu as a proper usable OS. most (still) think of it as a Linux OS only meant for nerds.

[jkxx]

if canonical manages to put in service teams in essential locations (outside the UK), i think a lot of people would think of ubuntu as a proper usable OS. most (still) think of it as a Linux OS only meant for nerds.

Would http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/04/24/1556239/Ubuntu-Linux-Claims-12000-Cloud-Deployments this qualify as after sale support?

And also http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/04/07/2152206/Ubuntu-Claims-12-Million-Users-mdash-Before-Lucid?art_pos=8 doesn't make it sound like only nerds are using it (yes lots of 12's in there, I know..)

Someone who is familiar with Canonical's internal support structures might be able to shed more light on what they are doing specifically but I believe they do offer support.

As for what it's holding it back, at least in the US many large chains have anticompetitive contracts with Microsoft which require them to keep Linux offers under the radar. That's probably why there are specialty shops like System76 for this kind of thing.

Just my understanding of things as it is and I might be wrong so if someone is better informed, please don't hesitate to correct me.

[cariboo]

Why would Canonical have to have offices all over the world, here in North America when we call customer support, we never know where the call will end up, just recently I've talked to people in India, The Philippines and Costa Rica, the experience for the most part was quite pleasant, especially with the ladies from the Philippines and Costa Rica. My problems were resolved to my satisfaction in all three cases.

[barney385]

Umm...I think Ubuntu support far exceeds any support Microsoft has to offer by far.

If you'd like to have to call your "techy" on a daily basis, I suggest you go back MS exclusively.

[arnab_das]

erm maybe i wasnt able to explain the situation.

say someone has an imac. what does he do when something breaks? he calls up apple customer support and they take over from there. similarly, ubuntu should have customer support centers which will help to, lets say fix things (not talking about call centers). its not that one should have problems daily, it should be a paid service, but just that every user should know that there's someone to fall back on if something goes wrong. eg. say if something breaks while upgrading to the latest version, there should be someone to fix it up. currently ubuntuforums is doing a fab job (even fab is an understatement) but frankly, this isnt really the ideal customer support system. i mean there are many unresolved problems/threads here which is not exactly ideal if ubuntu is to succeed as a mainstream OS (bug #1). most new users are completely at sea if something goes wrong. people in developing countries may not have an 'always on' internet connection, now thats a real hindrance especially since one cant access ubuntuforums then (and what if its an offline PC in some remote area? a phone call to lets say an ubuntu certified service center would be the ideal situation).

granting franchise rights to tech centers/showrooms/etc. in various countries might be a way forward. this wont happen overnight but it has to happen.

[jflaker]

It seems that Linux has much more support than windows.

Example...run into a problem with windows....bring it in to a repair depot or call Microsoft....either way, you are forced to spend some $$$ unless you have a techie friend....

Run into a problem with linux, you go to IRC or this forum and almost immediately get support.....

Linux has as much, if not MORE, support options for other than the business user than linux. I hear all too often that windows people spend money on a support call for a simple problem

You can also buy a support contract for your system and be a phone call away...same with WIndows.

Where is there NOT support?

[murderslastcrow]

For business? Yes. In general? No.

Just think of all the pirated copies of Windows running out there that can't get support due to legal issues. I think, all in all, Linux is comparable to the features people desire in Mac OS X, of course with many improvements and a different history and a wider range of benefits.

And, except for gamers who won't use another OS than Windows for obvious reasons (it's more like a game console than a personal computing platform for many people), most people I know would gladly accept a free, compatible version of Mac OS X and use it.

Also, excluding the Adobe Suite, Linux in many cases has more vendor support than OS X (there are many programs made for Windows and Linux and not OS X, for instance). So really, it's a matter of exposure to combat the FUD that people constantly slander Linux with.

[speedwell68]

It seems that Linux has much more support than windows.

Example...run into a problem with windows....bring it in to a repair depot or call Microsoft....either way, you are forced to spend some $$$ unless you have a techie friend....

Run into a problem with linux, you go to IRC or this forum and almost immediately get support.....

Linux has as much, if not MORE, support options for other than the business user than linux. I hear all too often that windows people spend money on a support call for a simple problem

You can also buy a support contract for your system and be a phone call away...same with WIndows.

Where is there NOT support?

Today I installed Lucid. I had a couple of problems after installed, two Google searches later and the problems have been rectified, both issues were well documented on these very forums.

[arnab_das]

Today I installed Lucid. I had a couple of problems after installed, two Google searches later and the problems have been rectified, both issues were well documented on these very forums.

what if someone doesnt have access to the internet?

[speedwell68]

what if someone doesnt have access to the internet?

I don't know. But IMHO running a modern computer with a modern OS is going to be pretty damn difficult without the internet.

[madjr]

well if i had proper service people around, i would pay them. (i had to when i had windows)

if canonical manages to put in service teams in essential locations (outside the UK), i think a lot of people would think of ubuntu as a proper usable OS. most (still) think of it as a Linux OS only meant for nerds.


@arnab_das

ok i get you now

i have experience in what you're saying, i've been tech support for lots of distros and also had an offline pc shop and linux internet cafe

support is crucial indeed, but progress is being made


1st - linux will have a built in rollback/snapshot system (gnome + update manager + grub integration), that will cut support by a ton. You could say it might become noob-proof

check it here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1462054

Fedora is the one trying it right now, but Ubuntu needs to adopt it to lower support requests, btrfs is the future of linux filesystems


2nd - At my shop (in a third world country) i was the one giving linux support.

When you buy a car, you don't call Toyota, you call the dealer first, then toyota as last measure.

same happens with computer shops, you call them first. They should either have technicians and/or a support contract from Canonical, to solve your issue.

The more shops sell linux, the more technicians will be trained and/or support contracts will get purchased

if it's in your guarantee period, is free, if not then you have to PAY $ $ $ $ $ $

it's a BIG business, people will give you all the support you want as long as you PAY


our friend jflaker is correct:


It seems that Linux has much more support than windows.

Example...run into a problem with windows....bring it in to a repair depot or call Microsoft....either way, you are forced to spend some $$$ unless you have a techie friend....

Run into a problem with linux, you go to IRC or this forum and almost immediately get support.....

Linux has as much, if not MORE, support options for other than the business user than linux. I hear all too often that windows people spend money on a support call for a simple problem

You can also buy a support contract for your system and be a phone call away...same with WIndows.

Where is there NOT support?

[Lightstar]

Support = this forum.

I don't think ubuntu is lacking tech support really.
Linux in general is lacking hardware / software support.

[Khakilang]

So far most of the tech support is in this forum but of course I have to understand what they talk about. If you buy a computer pre install with Ubuntu than the support is only on the hardware from that vendor. I believe Canonical provide support for a small fee but so far I have not subscribe to it. Since this forum has provide much support for me. When a product is stable you hardly need any support.

[jflaker]

Support = this forum.

I don't think ubuntu is lacking tech support really.
Linux in general is lacking hardware / software support.

It isn't the fault of Linux *(any distro)....

Put the fault on the hardware manufacturers who feel it isn't necessary to support Linux as an OS.

Especially in the video card market where there are trade secrets...Open drivers will be non-existent. However, closed driver support is available for nVidia (from experience) as an example

Before anyone flames Linux for lack of software or hardware support, please refer back to the vendors. I have a brand new Lexmark printer which is a paperweight under Linux and per Lexmark, they have no plans on supporting Linux at any time in the near future.

[doas777]

in the OEM case described, most preinstall agreements require the OEM to take over the support obligations of the software manufacturer. when I install a copy of windows for someone on a new build using an OEM licence, I am required to agree to provide the support as needed.

[Random_Dude]

All the support I ever got was this forum and other Ubuntu geeks.

I don't think that anyone who doesn't known how to do a google search is going to have any interest in Ubuntu.
The professional support is small because there are few Linux users, and 90% of the ones that exist known how to search for the answers. So it's probably not a very profitable market.

Cheers :cool: