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MattBD
December 15th, 2010, 11:21 PM
I noticed an interesting article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-kors/why-im-returning-my-imac_b_796104.html) via BoingBoing today about someone who's taking back their iMac because they find it's a pain.

I suspect it's probably somewhat less than serious, but it made me think about how many people make strikingly similar comments about the usability of Linux - the usual "Until Linux runs every Windows application ever perfectly, gets rid of the command line completely and works perfectly with every third-party device, and Apple start making iTunes for it, it will always be completely unsuitable for EVERYONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD!". Yet very similar complaints look utterly ridiculous when made about Macs.

Now, when I first started using Ubuntu in 2007, I was still very much a newbie. I'd discovered Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice a few months beforehand, which for me were the gateway to the whole open-source software world, but I knew very little about computers in general. Yet I didn't have too much trouble adapting to it (apart from getting my wi-fi connection working, which was a little fiddly). Since then, Ubuntu has come on in leaps and bounds and I've not had any problems with subsequent versions of Ubuntu. Yet plenty of people come out with the same old complaints about it.

If anything, it's easier to move from Windows to Ubuntu than from Windows to a Mac (I've got a MacBook and I found the desktop environment required more relearning of skills than with Ubuntu), and there are plenty of tasks that are easier on Ubuntu than on a Mac - installing PyQt, for instance, was one command in the shell on Ubuntu, and could also be done graphically using Synaptic, but on a Mac requires compiling from source or installation of a third-party package manager.

So why do you think people persist in making some of these downright daft statements about Ubuntu's usability?

Simian Man
December 15th, 2010, 11:29 PM
So why do you think people persist in making some of these downright daft statements about Ubuntu's usability?

Because the things they want to do with their computer are different from the things you want to do. Just the fact that you are installing PyQT tells me that you are not a typical user.

KingYaba
December 15th, 2010, 11:51 PM
This guy must be computer illiterate if he can't work a Mac. ](*,)

That or he's trolling.


I had an article to write, but the only word processor I could find on my iMac was TextEdit, essentially a stripped-down version of Notepad. The program had an excellent array of font options, like "Bigger" and "Smaller." It didn't take long to become frustrated with the iMac mouse too. It limped across my desk, the "on" switch, which is located on the belly of the mouse, scraping the mahogany of my desk as it went. Before I could finish my first letter, I began to miss my old, five-button mouse.

The only word processor he could find. Well damn what's stopping him from using Google Docs or Open or Libre Office? It's not like his Windows machine came with Office preinstalled.

And TextEdit is not a stripped-down version of Notepad. Notepad, arguably, is the featureless text program. TextEdit is quite useful. He can type his article with it. It has spell check, he can change the spacing and margins.

And of course he doesn't have to use the Apple mouse... plug his old one and enjoy.

This guy is a troll.


As I delved into an ocean of Mac dork chat boards, hoping to learn how to migrate over my Thunderbird mail and address book, I started wondering why I had converted in the first place. Even moving over my iTunes playlist, I soon learned, was going to take intricate coding tweaks\

What a dumbass.

Dustin2128
December 15th, 2010, 11:57 PM
....

So why do you think people persist in making some of these downright daft statements about Ubuntu's usability?
Because a new (well, newly more usable than windows, IMO) OS that could ever possibly upset the status quo scares people deeply.

MattBD
December 16th, 2010, 12:00 AM
Because the things they want to do with their computer are different from the things you want to do. Just the fact that you are installing PyQT tells me that you are not a typical user.

Yeah, fair point, but it's a great example of why usability is not an absolute. There are plenty of things that are easier to do on a Mac than on Ubuntu, and plenty of others that are easier to do on Ubuntu than on a Mac. And some things may actually be easier on the new OS, but because they require a new method to be learned they appear harder.

MattBD
December 16th, 2010, 12:05 AM
Because a new (well, newly more usable than windows, IMO) OS that could ever possibly upset the status quo scares people deeply.

I have a pet theory that the people that are most resistant to change are those that have only ever known Windows. Those of us such as myself who had at least tinkered with 8-bit or 16-bit home computers to some extent (no matter how minor) before Windows became ubiquitous are perhaps a little more prepared to make the necessary adjustments again.

Simian Man
December 16th, 2010, 02:03 AM
Yeah, fair point, but it's a great example of why usability is not an absolute. There are plenty of things that are easier to do on a Mac than on Ubuntu, and plenty of others that are easier to do on Ubuntu than on a Mac. And some things may actually be easier on the new OS, but because they require a new method to be learned they appear harder.

Oh I agree. I'm a programmer and would never willingly program on Windows again, hence I use Linux most of the time. For my wife, however, Linux would be a nightmare. What I'm saying is there's way more people who use computers the way my wife does than the way I do.

kaldor
December 16th, 2010, 02:24 AM
Ubuntu/Linux in general just doesn't cut it for some people.

I think Ubuntu and lots of distros are perfect for some very computer illiterates. If all they want to do is check email and use Facebook/search stuff on the web, Ubuntu's a great choice. But, If you'd be replacing that same person's OS when they're used to some other software, it can easily be a problem.

handy
December 16th, 2010, 03:29 AM
Horses for courses.

I think that the prime function of an OS, is to run applications that the user wants/needs to use to get something done.

So using whatever system allows you to get the job done is the bottom line.

If you can't do what you need to with a distro, or under OS X, then you have to use Windows.

OS X, is easier than the other two, & unlike Windows, it needs no additional security software, but it too certainly has some core problems that have needed addressing since it was created.

Khakilang
December 16th, 2010, 04:35 AM
The on board camera take his picture and send it to match.com? There is some serious privacy issue. Anyway as an armatuer photographer, I came across many Mac user happily editing their photo without much complain. He could easily contact Apple to solve those issue.

MisterGaribaldi
December 16th, 2010, 05:08 AM
I'm with Forest Gump on this one: "Stupid is as stupid does."

Austin25
December 16th, 2010, 05:58 AM
Because a new (well, newly more usable than windows, IMO) OS that could ever possibly upset the status quo scares people deeply.

Right. This is a very good fear to face, as with change comes progress.

handy
December 16th, 2010, 07:08 AM
Right. This is a very good fear to face, as with change comes progress.

Apart from the relief of boredom.