Editorial: 60 days with Ubuntu

[ThinkBuntu]

60 Days With Ubuntu (http://jyquentel.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/60-days-with-ubuntu/)


"Well, the initial impression remains: this is one damn fast OS."
Clearly coming from Windows!

"No, I won’t switch to KDE. One, because speed is very important for me so, if I have to switch, I’d rather go to XFCE."
KDE and GNOME are pretty much the same for speed, weight, etc.

"I hate the file-based access rights management that Linux uses. I hate it. Remember, in Windows, you don’t care about that stuff and I really haven’t done so since CS classes 15 years ago. I am thinking of just giving root its own password and using it as my main account, I am so pissed about having to sudo this, sudo that because I can’t write to usr/share/games/whatever."
Anyone need a new credit card? Don't mind if it's in the reviewer's name?

"It is too bad the Ubuntu team seems a bit shy about adding more stuff to the initial distribution."
Funny, in comparison to our "Is Ubuntu too fat?" thread.

"So this is it: I am staying in Ubuntu/Linux/GNU. No going back: this is a great OS and I am spreading the word around me. The single greatest strength is the social engine of Ubuntu and it does change the way one looks at an OS and at one’s computer."
Good to have another user on our side!

[starcraft.man]

Interesting, good to see some folk actually trying Ubuntu and not just bashing it on everything (I've seen some sites and man they make it look so easy...).

I uh, am equally perplexed like thinkbuntu by his comment about the file limitations, in using a root account with unrestricted access he kinda defeats the purpose of sudo/security entirely... >.>.

Overall it seemed fair, though I am curious about his last negative, I don't think theres that much religious zeal going on in discussions (maybe he went out of his way to find it?), they might get a bit heated but thats the nature of discussion anywhere. It's certainly a lot more civil on these forums (in general) than on TV shows like the dreaded CrossFire on CNN (thank Jon Stewart for telling them all how they hurt America :p)

Oh and on a related note to CrossFire: *clears throat and speaks in deep Protoss voice* Tucker Carlson, if your reading this (it could happen :p) your on my list of bad (stupid, horrible, idiot also can fit) people, for bashing Canada to no end on every show you sit on. Go pick on another country, or better yet, come up here and live in it for a month (if you last that long :p).

Oh and if you don't get my reference, search CNN and Jon Stewart on youtube :).

[aysiu]

I hate the file-based access rights management that Linux uses. I hate it. Remember, in Windows, you don’t care about that stuff I also remember in Windows all the spyware I used to get. So now when I do run Windows at work, I use a limited user account.


It is too bad the Ubuntu team seems a bit shy about adding more stuff to the initial distribution. No, it's not too bad. It's Ubuntu. Ubuntu is committed to being a one-CD distro with simplicity in mind (one application per task). There are plenty of other distros that try to cram in just about everything they can find (Blag and Knoppix come to mind).


I am generally uncomfortable with some of the religious debates that even users like me get pulled into on forums. Why is Automatix bad, again? Who cares if this driver is free or not? Unrar is an example: I don’t know if I want the free Unrar or the unfree UnRAR, i just want the one that works. I understand that on some theoretical level, free is important , but I am just a user and I do not want to have a theological argument every time I open a .pdf. Ubuntu is about Free software. Freedom is important to Ubuntu users, to its developers, and to its founders. If you want a "just works with proprietary" distro, use Linux Mint, Blag, Mepis, PCLinuxOS, or Linspire.


Well, the initial impression remains: this is one damn fast OS. It may because of its specific architecture; it may be because developpers are not trying to reinvent the wheel every time they develop a feature that is already implemented somewhere in a library and thus reuse exiting stuff; or it may be because I do not have to run anti-virus software, a desktop-based firewall, defragmentation, anti-spyware software, etc., thus saving computing cycles for the task at hand. I don’t know. I just know it boots in seconds, shutrs down in seconds and is generally fabulously responsive! All of those explanations could have something to do with it. I've found that when Windows isn't running all the anti-malware applications (and doesn't run the malware applications themselves either), it's quite a bit speedier than Ubuntu or Kubuntu on the same machine. Same can't be said for Xubuntu or IceWM, though.

[starcraft.man]

I also remember in Windows all the spyware I used to get. So now when I do run Windows at work, I use a limited user account.


Really? Are you referring to Vista (I know its mostly easy on Vista) or XP and older? Cuz I've tried to do limited on XP but its almost impossible given the few apps I still use, they all (almost) expect you to be admin, you found some special work around I am missing or your apps are just coded better?

[aysiu]

Really? Are you referring to Vista (I know its mostly easy on Vista) or XP and older? Cuz I've tried to do limited on XP but its almost impossible given the few apps I still use, they all (almost) expect you to be admin, you found some special work around I am missing or your apps are just coded better?
I'm referring to XP for two reasons: 1) I've never used Vista and 2) the blog post said Remember, in Windows--"Remember" seems to invoke the past, as opposed to the future. Vista may be in my workplace's future, but right now the only Windows I remember are XP, 2000, ME, 98, 95, and 3.1.

Yes, running a limited account in XP is annoying, but running malware is worse.

[starcraft.man]

I'm referring to XP for two reasons: 1) I've never used Vista and 2) the blog post said Remember, in Windows--"Remember" seems to invoke the past, as opposed to the future. Vista may be in my workplace's future, but right now the only Windows I remember are XP, 2000, ME, 98, 95, and 3.1.

Yes, running a limited account in XP is annoying, but running malware is worse.

Oh well... I agree malware is worse... I solve it just by keeping my XP partition's network connection disabled except for weekly updates (no access = nothing getting on). Why couldn't windows have been refined like linux/unix multi user control all these years? More importantly, I really have to wonder what on earth took me so long finding Ubuntu? *remembers all the nights of bashing own skull into wall getting windows working* I might have to start a blog about that...

Anyway, we both digress (shame on both of us) back to topic at hand :p.

[aysiu]

If you'd found Ubuntu earlier, you might not have been happy with it. It's grown a lot these past two years.

Feisty makes Hoary look like a joke in terms of usability and visual appeal.

[starcraft.man]

If you'd found Ubuntu earlier, you might not have been happy with it. It's grown a lot these past two years.

Feisty makes Hoary look like a joke in terms of usability and visual appeal.

True, but I felt very comfortable using the CLI right out of the gate (for some reason, perhaps irrational one, I like it much more than my old DOS 4.x days). Plus, I've had an innumerable number of headaches from things that I just couldn't do/happened in Windows over recent years (and I have done many manual tweaks in windows myself which were major headaches) >.>. Anyway, I'm sticking with Ubuntu now thats what matters :).

We are still digressing btw, will no one else on the forums post on topic? :p.

[prizrak]

If you'd found Ubuntu earlier, you might not have been happy with it. It's grown a lot these past two years.

Feisty makes Hoary look like a joke in terms of usability and visual appeal.

Hoary, ha! Ever tried getting an ALPS pointing device to work right on Warty? Yeah.... I'm a veteran :) Though I must say over the years Ubuntu has taken anything I threw at it. A Toshiba Satellite designed for XP? Sir, yes sir! Random collection of parts I call a desktop? Sir, yes sir! Random collection of parts designed for Windows ME (roommate's desktop)? Sir, yes sir! A Thinkpad? Sir, yes sir! An Acer tablet? Sir, yes sir! It's the frigging Terminator of an OS. :)

P.S. Other than the Acer and the ThinkPad none of those systems were ever bought with Linux in mind.

[prizrak]

We are still digressing btw, will no one else on the forums post on topic?
The author is retarded for thinking that the sudo model is bad! Otherwise, glad to see him on the side of good. :)

[starcraft.man]

ROFL @ prizrak. Way to make me feel nooby real fast, I started late Edgy :p

I guess we are hopelessly spammers/digressees (sp? that a word?) :D