browndog
May 10th, 2006, 07:21 PM
We all know that an operating system has two main purposes:
1) Run/control computer hardware and 2) Provide a base for installing applications people want. Ubuntu (and Linux in general) is stuck in somewhat of a dilemma: to become more popular Ubuntu has to continually provide superior hardware support and have many helpful, productive, and fun applications. However, to have that kind of hardware compatibility (i.e. major hardware manufacturers providing linux drivers) and that kind of software selection, it has to be popular. Companies won't create new software and drivers unless it's popular, and it won't become popular unless it has software and drivers. Do we see the "catch 22 here"?
I think the answer lies in the Ubuntu community ITSELF diversifying and exploring new Vistas (pardon the pun). What we have to do is provide BOTH. To get our Ubuntu into the mainstream we need to organize and provide both superior hardware support and a superior range of quality software titles. No easy task, but I see these things as needing to happen concurrently and by the same entity, before Ubuntu will receive the widescale acceptance it so richly deserves. Additionally, I see gradual but slow acceptance of Linux by the hardware industry, due largely in part to the small market share Linux holds, and so I think it will be a long time before we see any real and meaningful efforts on their part.
Finally, in addition to hardware and software support / compatibility / availability, increased specialization in local software packages is the one other critical area of focus. As much as I have my personal reasons for disliking Wal-Mart, I have to admit that they have regional specialization down to an art. If you walk in to a Wal-Mart in San Diego you will most certainly find many products of interest to the Southern California and Latin American communities; these two groups provide the majority of Wal-Mart's customer base in SoCal. If you walk in to Wal-Mart in New York City, you will absolutely find a huge selection of items wanted by New Yorkers. Let's apply this to Ubuntu: we should consider the software needs and computer habits of computer users all over the world, and make Ubuntu a little easier to customize. Ubuntu already possesses superior language support and an outstanding package manager...how about we create something similar to "Service Packs"? I don't necessarily mean for security updates, which are done automatically. For instance we could have the multimedia Service Pack, which would install all of the multimedia features users so commonly desire, and their dependent packages. The bottom line here is that there has to be a much greater level of user friendliness in getting Ubuntu to do what most want it to do. A small community in a developing nation may not know or want to know anything about which missing libraries are causing Ubuntu to function improperly...they are just looking for a safe and stable alternative to paying a fortune to use the other operating system.
Just some ponderings as I sit here and think about Ubuntu, my OS for life.
BD :rolleyes:
1) Run/control computer hardware and 2) Provide a base for installing applications people want. Ubuntu (and Linux in general) is stuck in somewhat of a dilemma: to become more popular Ubuntu has to continually provide superior hardware support and have many helpful, productive, and fun applications. However, to have that kind of hardware compatibility (i.e. major hardware manufacturers providing linux drivers) and that kind of software selection, it has to be popular. Companies won't create new software and drivers unless it's popular, and it won't become popular unless it has software and drivers. Do we see the "catch 22 here"?
I think the answer lies in the Ubuntu community ITSELF diversifying and exploring new Vistas (pardon the pun). What we have to do is provide BOTH. To get our Ubuntu into the mainstream we need to organize and provide both superior hardware support and a superior range of quality software titles. No easy task, but I see these things as needing to happen concurrently and by the same entity, before Ubuntu will receive the widescale acceptance it so richly deserves. Additionally, I see gradual but slow acceptance of Linux by the hardware industry, due largely in part to the small market share Linux holds, and so I think it will be a long time before we see any real and meaningful efforts on their part.
Finally, in addition to hardware and software support / compatibility / availability, increased specialization in local software packages is the one other critical area of focus. As much as I have my personal reasons for disliking Wal-Mart, I have to admit that they have regional specialization down to an art. If you walk in to a Wal-Mart in San Diego you will most certainly find many products of interest to the Southern California and Latin American communities; these two groups provide the majority of Wal-Mart's customer base in SoCal. If you walk in to Wal-Mart in New York City, you will absolutely find a huge selection of items wanted by New Yorkers. Let's apply this to Ubuntu: we should consider the software needs and computer habits of computer users all over the world, and make Ubuntu a little easier to customize. Ubuntu already possesses superior language support and an outstanding package manager...how about we create something similar to "Service Packs"? I don't necessarily mean for security updates, which are done automatically. For instance we could have the multimedia Service Pack, which would install all of the multimedia features users so commonly desire, and their dependent packages. The bottom line here is that there has to be a much greater level of user friendliness in getting Ubuntu to do what most want it to do. A small community in a developing nation may not know or want to know anything about which missing libraries are causing Ubuntu to function improperly...they are just looking for a safe and stable alternative to paying a fortune to use the other operating system.
Just some ponderings as I sit here and think about Ubuntu, my OS for life.
BD :rolleyes: