"just working" Which OS does ?

[weasel fierce]

The recent thread on linux having to "just work" made me think (before it went nasty)


What OS out there "just works" without having to do anything ? MEPIS ? OSX ? Ubuntu doesnt, but its fairly close, Windows sure as heck doesnt, though you can usually find a driver for what you need, if you have internet access.

So, what are the criteria for "just working" ?

Out of the CD ?
After installing 3rd party drivers ?
Changing configuration files ?

[TrailerTrash]

The only distro that "just works" is PClinuxOS (everything is working out of the box). Its one mighty fine distro.
Mepis is ok...Xandros is easy to get working...And yes...even Linspire (but i hate CNR..its not stable for me)..Ubuntu takes a little more to get going, but when you do..it works fine.

[xequence]

In my opinion an OS that just works is one that you can install and within 5 minutes from the log in screen be doing what you want to do.

To me ubuntu just works. Yes, there is adding extra repositories most people do, but you dont need them unless you want to apt-get, which you most likly will, but you could get away without it.

Basically right after a fresh install of ubuntu you are set to do whatever you want.

[bored2k]

The only distro that "just works" is PClinuxOS (everything is working out of the box). Its one mighty fine distro.
Mepis is ok...Xandros is easy to get working...And yes...even Linspire (but i hate CNR..its not stable for me)..Ubuntu takes a little more to get going, but when you do..it works fine.
Not everyone will get the experience you got with it. This question can't really be answered. Ubuntu might recognize everything for me but not for you. Same goes to Mepix, PClinux, VLOS, Xandros, and every other distro. Also, depends on what you call ´just works´. For you just works might mean java flash and other nonfree apps installed while to some just works means having build-essential and wireless support installed out of the box. You will never be able to answer this correctly.

[Knome_fan]

I have yet to find one that does.

And let's not forget that it largely depends on what hardware you use.
I've had linux installs that really worked out of the box and I've had installs where a lot of work was needed to get things working.

And while we are at it, though OSX clearly works quite well on Mac hardware (what a surprise), you also might run into issues with peripherals that are not, or not easily supported.

[poofyhairguy]

Not everyone will get the experience you got with it. This question can't really be answered. Ubuntu might recognize everything for me but not for you. Same goes to Mepix, PClinux, VLOS, Xandros, and every other distro. Also, depends on what you call ´just works´. For you just works might mean java flash and other nonfree apps installed while to some just works means having build-essential and wireless support installed out of the box. You will never be able to answer this correctly.


Yep.

[xequence]

I have yet to find one that does.

And let's not forget that it largely depends on what hardware you use.
I've had linux installs that really worked out of the box and I've had installs where a lot of work was needed to get things working.

And while we are at it, though OSX clearly works quite well on Mac hardware (what a surprise), you also might run into issues with peripherals that are not, or not easily supported.

Yes, if you want something that is guarenteed for your hardware, get OSX :P

[az]

I can set up Ubuntu for my needs and the needs of most people who ask me to set up a computer for them the easiest.

My sister-in-law set up my mothers computer with windows XP and it took her three days to get it working (office suite and so forth.) Since she paid for it, I had nothing to say about it - only that I could have put ubuntu there with equal functionality in about 71 hours less time.

Ubuntu/linux/Floss is getting better and better. If it does not "just work", file a bug report.

[Kvark]

Any OS that comes preinstalled with the computer just works. Any OS that doesn't come preinstalled doesn't just work. But some come pretty close. Ubuntu happens to be pretty close for my specific hardware mix, only graphics drivers from the repos needed.

Well, there is many programs that have to be installed afterwards with synaptic. But if you want both the OS and all the programs you happen to want to just work then you'd have to install the OS, install the programs, adjust your settings, then make a full backup. Restoring from that backup will just work.

[tseliot]

I've never tried but (I've read some reviews of the betas) Open Suse 10. which is due on the 6th of october, will allow you to install and do almost anything without using the command line. Even nvidia proprietary drivers can be installed in a graphic interface (Yast?) and it's only a matter of clicks.

I'll try it as my 2nd distro.

[poofyhairguy]

I've never tried but (I've read some reviews of the betas) Open Suse 10. which is due on the 6th of october, will allow you to install and do almost anything without using the command line.

Yep. Thats SUSE for you.

[TrailerTrash]

Not everyone will get the experience you got with it. This question can't really be answered. Ubuntu might recognize everything for me but not for you. Same goes to Mepix, PClinux, VLOS, Xandros, and every other distro. Also, depends on what you call ´just works´. For you just works might mean java flash and other nonfree apps installed while to some just works means having build-essential and wireless support installed out of the box. You will never be able to answer this correctly.



Ok..ill clear myself up....PCLOS has worked the best for me out of the box..Others have had problems with my hardware...(even Windows have had problems on my box) I know...that sounds silly! ](*,)

[tseliot]

Ok..ill clear myself up....PCLOS has worked the best for me out of the box..Others have had problems with my hardware...(even Windows have had problems on my box) I know...that sounds silly! ](*,)
PCLinuxOS worked for me too on my "old" (bought in may) and uncompatible computer (I've bought a new one today whcih works with everything and left the previous one to my father as it works fine with windows). BTW it's quite a good distro.

[aysiu]

Any OS that comes preinstalled with the computer just works. Any OS that doesn't come preinstalled doesn't just work. This I can definitely agree with.


The only distro that "just works" is PClinuxOS (everything is working out of the box). Its one mighty fine distro. I tried PCLinuxOS, by the way, and it didn't "just work" on my computer. A fresh install couldn't load the CUPS printer driver database.

There's always the risk of something not working if it's not preinstalled. And, you know what--sometimes even when it is preinstalled, it doesn't work... like the errors I get when I log into the Guest account of XP on my computer.

[TrailerTrash]

and left the previous one to my father as it works fine with windows.

NOOOOOO! Take those windows off! [-X \\:D/

[aysiu]

Others have had problems with my hardware...(even Windows have had problems on my box) I know...that sounds silly! ](*,) That's not silly at all. Both times I did a fresh install of Windows (not recovery CDs--actual installers) were on made-for-Windows PCs, and both times, it was hell (a lot worse than any Linux install I did... well, except Libranet 2.8.1).

[tseliot]

I've only Ubuntu on my computer. My father sticks with Windows xp and swear at it every time Norton antivirus reports an intrusion (made by my father himself!?) and prevents him from reading his emails in outlook and things like that. Windows is terribly slow (on a amd64 3500+ with 2gb ram) while my Ubuntu is as fast as hell (mine too is an amd64 3500+ with 2gb ram).

[aysiu]

People who think an OS "just works" mean it works fine most of the time, and when something goes wrong, "that's odd."

People who think an OS doesn't "just work" mean they expect everything to work all the time, and when the first thing goes wrong, the OS is somehow bad.

[phen]

my mobile phone has an os that just works. because it is especially made for that one kind of mobile phone. same with my calculator... pc operating systems will never work out of the box on all machines (i think). i was lucky with ubuntu, though :-) it did a great job!

[drizek]

Yep. Thats SUSE for you.

ya, suse is awesome. i had some trouble with RC1 though cause i had a corrupt 5th cd, but beta 4 was perfect on first boot.

before suse, yoper was my fav distro. i could have a fully working system with 3d and everything in 20 minutes or less from Enter at the install screen to working kde bootup.

[escuchamezz]

SUSE is nice but it's more bloated than that fat b**** Rosie o'Donnel, Queen Latifa and Missy Elliot put together :???:

[drizek]

not really. its pretty fast on my end. same operational speed as ubuntu although it starts up slower.

yast is kinda slow though, but it looks like they will be moving away from that for package management with super, so tis not a big deal.

[KiwiNZ]

SUSE is nice but it's more bloated than Rosie o'Donnel, Queen Latifa and Missy Elliot put together :???:

Please no insults about peoples weight .

[aysiu]

I've found just about every Linux distribution to be fast except Mepis, which is a real shame because Mepis has a lot of stuff that people complain about Ubuntu not having. I happen to like Ubuntu better, but if Mepis were just a bit faster, it'd be perfect for a lot of the complainers on these forums. Does anyone know if Mepis-LITE is any faster (faster to boot, faster to use)?

[darkmatter]

I find that the various Linux distro's 'just work' when compared to proprietary systems like Windows and OS X - with the posibility of one exception...

QNX is the only proprietary system I've seen that works right out of the box, even Open GL (though you have to manually specify the driver to use). Installs fast and dirty, with a wickedly speedy boot-to-desktop time. The evaluation copy is good forever as long as you don't install Momentics (crippled after 30 days, but the RTOS will still run).

If only it had CD burning support (no apps that I've seen), it would be good as gold.

[TrailerTrash]

I've found just about every Linux distribution to be fast except Mepis, which is a real shame because Mepis has a lot of stuff that people complain about Ubuntu not having. I happen to like Ubuntu better, but if Mepis were just a bit faster, it'd be perfect for a lot of the complainers on these forums. Does anyone know if Mepis-LITE is any faster (faster to boot, faster to use)?


To me Mepis Lite feels the same as Simply Mepis..Both are slow on my box. But..YMMV..Give it a shot!

[aysiu]

To me Mepis Lite feels the same as Simply Mepis..Both are slow on my box. But..YMMV..Give it a shot! No, I'm cool with Ubuntu. Maybe in the future...

[TravisNewman]

Simple question, simple answer: none.

[skoal]

So, what are the criteria for "just working" ?
Video, networking, and sound (in that order) - without further driver configuration (since it's all probed and managed during the install automagically)...

\\//_

[TravisNewman]

Video, networking, and sound (in that order) - without further driver configuration (since it's all probed and managed during the install automagically)...

\\//_
you want to play videos before you can even hear them?

EDIT: oh you meant as in video card, I'm slow tonight.

[drizek]

Video, networking, and sound (in that order) - without further driver configuration (since it's all probed and managed during the install automagically)...

\\//_
well mepis, suse, ubuntu, yoper and probably a bunch of others take care of all of that(at least on my hardware). suse and yoper are the only ones to have nvidia drivers though.

[aysiu]

well mepis, suse, ubuntu, yoper and probably a bunch of others take care of all of that(at least on my hardware). suse and yoper are the only ones to have nvidia drivers though. I seem to remember Mepis have Nvidia drivers, too.

[drizek]

I seem to remember Mepis have Nvidia drivers, too.
they are a post-install option, and for me they didnt work correctly. but yes, its there, sort of.

[jbrader]

OS X comes the closest to "just working" of all the OSs that I've used, but of course it's custum designed to run on specific hardware so...
Ubuntu comes pretty damn close too. I can do a clean install and have everything working the way I like it within about an hour of my first login, and that includes setting Gnome up the way I like it and apt-getting all my favorite apps and what not. And I can put it on damn near any machine so I think that extra hour is very worth it.

[XQC]

For me, Ubuntu comes pretty close to be working-out-of-box (= gfx, sound and multimedia)

Windows XP (re-)installation: 2 Afternoons
Ubuntu Installation + ubuntuguide.org: About one hour.

[weasel fierce]

for me and my particular hardware, Ubuntu was pretty much there, I just had to set the monitor synch ratings, and fiddle with the printer driver (crappy lexmark to blame)