The Ubuntu website

[DrMega]

What's happened to the Ubuntu website (www.ubuntu.com)?

The home page makes clear Ubuntu's affiliation with Dell, which could be a good thing, but it now looks like Ubuntu is a kind of annexe of Dell.

At the bottom right of the home page, there is a list of the different flavours of Ubuntu, with no mention of Ubuntu its self, and no details about what the different versions are about.

When you follow the links to the other versions, the Kubuntu link takes you off to a news page about the versions that have been released, but no info for prosective users to tell them why they should choose it. Similar is true for Xubuntu, and Edubuntu takes you to a page that is almost empty.

Perhaps the site is under construction?

I think the Ubuntu site is generally good, especially if you already know what Ubuntu is, but there is clearly room for improvement, so if the website developers are reading this, here's my suggestions:

1. Under each of the links to the different flavours, give a short, one line summary describing what that flavour is about. E.g. "Xubuntu - functional and lightweight, ideal for older machines"

2. Make it clear that Dell has adopted Ubuntu, but don't limit it Dell (other large organisations use Ubuntu), also don't make it look like Ubuntu is Dell's poodle.

3. Make it clear that all the flavours of Ubuntu are still Ubuntu underneath (to the unknowing potential user, it could look like there will be compatibility issues between versions).

4. When linking to pages specific to the other flavours, make sure that the pages linked to are a) informative to those that don't already know what they are and can't be bothered to read the whole page and b)look complete.

5. Add a link to the forum, so prospective users can see for themselves that there is a very active support community.

6. If I suddenly developed amnesia, what might convince me to switch to Ubuntu as opposed to other distros/Windows, would be a list showing software/hardware that is known to work without fuss on Ubuntu. I think many potential users think that there is very poor hardware/software compatibility/availability.

[billgoldberg]

Yeah, the dell advertisement is a bit over the top.

The "Get Ubuntu" font could be a tad bigger.

[stalker145]

It appears to me that much of the information you spoke of is still there. The site was redesigned and you just need to look for it. I'm sure the common reader will come across it as they read.

Agreed, though, that the Dell advertisements seem a little much. It's nice to have the backing, but we're promoting Ubuntu and not Dell.

[Vadi]

Yeah, I'd like to see system76 and ZaReason listed there too.

Although I think they use system76's laptops for the pics.

[felker2]

The Ubuntu site now looks like a techno hardware site. Gone is the friendliness. :-(

I hope we soon get back a clean interface.

[fatality_uk]

You can please all of the people, some of the time and you can please some of the people all of the time, but don't EVER expect to please Linux users :lol: (Just joking fellas)

I personally think it's a good thing. Association with a blue chip like Dell, give positive re-enforcement that Ubuntu isn't a small, local, home made distro.

[Vadi]

Yes, true, but there's the fine line between that and making it seem like we're way too glued to Dell. Like we're under dell.

And that's what being talked about here, some people think the website went a bit too far.

[DrMega]

It appears to me that much of the information you spoke of is still there. The site was redesigned and you just need to look for it.

Maybe so, but as nowadays a website is the face of a business or product, it needs to be clear from the outset. When I look at a website, I want to know within the first few seconds what it is that it is trying to tell me about. If it is a product that I might want to use as opposed to some other product, then I want it to tell me why very quickly without me having to work to find the answers.

If we consider the parallel of a shop in the real (as opposed to virtual) world, if we are looking to buy a particular product, we don't systematically search every shop in the high street/mall until we find what we are looking for, instead we wander past the shops until a big sign, or window display indicates that this shop may have what we want. Applying that to the virtual world, when we encounter a website that doesn't tell us straight away what sort of product they have, one might be inclined to wander along to the next website that does tell us what they have.

http://fedoraproject.org/ tells us straight away what they are about.
http://www.dreamlinux.com.br/ tells us what their product is, and right from the outset tells us why we should use it.

We have to remember that we all know what Ubuntu is, what its features are and what it can do for us. To us the website has all the info we need. Imagine if you had never heard of Ubuntu and only vaguely understood what an operating system is. Then ask yourself if the Ubuntu site would grab your attention.

[Vadi]

To be fair though, the Ubuntu website tells you to get ubuntu just as fedora does. But I find fedoras too simple - it looks empty. Whereas ubuntus looks quite progressive with the live event, the "new generation", and "About Ubuntu" right in the middle.

[corney91]

Haha I didn't even notice the Dell PCs advert - my eyesight seems to avoid the main big bit:P

[Lostincyberspace]

Is it down right now?

[corney91]

Is it down right now?

Not for me. the link's wrong:http://www.ubuntu.com

[DrMega]

To be fair though, the Ubuntu website tells you to get ubuntu just as fedora does. But I find fedoras too simple - it looks empty

You are right, Fedora's page does look a bit empty compared to Ubuntu's. However Fedora's home page tells me clearly and immediately what it is. Ubuntu's does as well, but I have to click about a bit more to get the info.

For me personally, I think a site should look clear and fairly simple on the home page, with any ads etc taking up a minimum of space, and a key top level overview of what the site is about or what the product is, but clearly headed links to take me to a much fuller explanation. I think Ubuntu.com used to do that but doesn't anymore.

Oh, and for the benefit of anybody that wants to go and look at Fedora's site to compare it to Ubuntu's, if you have just eaten or are about to eat, please make sure you remember that fedora's url has the word "project" in it. I.e. www.fedoraproject.org:shock:

EDIT: The url wasn't supposed to appear as a link, the editor just did it.

[regomodo]

i think the fact that it's there is not bad just the way it is laid out. It's the first thing you see and just screams "advertisement"taking away from the fact its the Ubuntu website. Repositioning it to the bottom or RHS would be better

[lespaul_rentals]

It looks great to me, and the Dell add isn't negative at all.

[sefs]

Lostinspace if you clicked on the link in the first post then the url in the address bar is malformed. You need to just take off the ) and the ?


Is it down right now?

[KiwiNZ]

Nothing wrong with Dell being on the front page. Mutual promotion is a good thing.
Dell has promoted Ubuntu so reciprocating is good .

[DrMega]

Nothing wrong with Dell being on the front page. Mutual promotion is a good thing.
Dell has promoted Ubuntu so reciprocating is good .

I totally agree with that. The trouble is that at present, the home page seems to be dominated by Dell, as though Ubuntu is Dell's OS. First and foremost it should tell us what Ubuntu is and why it is great. Singing out about Dell choosing Ubuntu would help with that but if I saw the homepage without knowing anything about computers, I would probably think that Ubuntu was some obscure OS chosen by Dell, and that by buying one of the machines promoted I would have no end of software issues because only other people using those two or three machines would have the same OS. We all know that that isn't the case, but that's how it could look to some.

[zmjjmz]

Nothing wrong with Dell being on the front page. Mutual promotion is a good thing.
Dell has promoted Ubuntu so reciprocating is good .

They have, but not on the front page.
You'd have to search 'open' or 'ubuntu' to find the page, www.dell.com/open
In addition, while the Ubuntu site has a screaming ad promoting Dell computers with Ubuntu, there's nothing of the such on Dell's homepage.
We should support ZaReason and System76 more on this, as they do promote Ubuntu on the front pages.

[argraff]

Oh, and for the benefit of anybody that wants to go and look at Fedora's site to compare it to Ubuntu's, if you have just eaten or are about to eat, please make sure you remember that fedora's url has the word "project" in it. I.e. www.fedoraproject.org:shock:


Yikes!!!

:shock:

[Vadi]

Ubuntu's used to be "ubuntulinux.com" too :P that still works even.

[Vadi]

Oh god, fedora.org is awful.

Especially the bottom-left pic.

[lespaul_rentals]

There's a reason why Dell is so prominent on the Ubuntu home page. Imagine if you were a programmer who wanted to help people and promote free, open-source software and operating systems. One of the biggest computer companies decides to pick your system up and pre-install it on computers that they sell. You would probably post links to that company's site out of excitement at the minimum, to show that a company took an interest in Linux on the home/office PC. That is a huge achievement, one that Ubuntu deserves to celebrate.

[zmjjmz]

^ I understand that, but why not promote System76 and ZaReason as well?
And also, they changed the front banner. The Ubuntu+Dell ad is less prominent now.

[Vadi]

Because nobody has heard of System76 or ZaReason until they were introduced to GNU land.

If you understand what the guy said above .. eh, your post makes no sense then.

[lespaul_rentals]

Because nobody has heard of System76 or ZaReason until they were introduced to GNU land.

+1

[dca]

I still think both Canonical & Ubuntu websites lack that certain something that make both Novell's and Red Hat's sites so professional...

[the_sorrow]

I think it would not be a bad idea that dell starts giving support for other type of laptops user that decide to switch or start using UBUNTU as an OS, for example many people have problems wiht their wireless card or sound card, and are forced to use programs like ndiswrapper to solve the problem, I know the reason is beacause the manufacturer design it only for windows, bit I think dell can make a little effort and that part.
Anybody else thinks the same?

[23meg]

so if the website developers are reading this, here's my suggestions:

They're not. They'll hear you if you file bugs.

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu-website/+bug

[forrestcupp]

I almost completely disagree. Ubuntu's web site is the best web site for a Linux distro that I have seen, by far. True, the Dell ad was too prominent. But other than that, it beats the pants off of Fedora's web site, which you compared it to earlier.

On Fedora's site, there is a paragraph that explains what Fedora is. But Ubuntu's site has the same thing under "About Ubuntu" right at the top of the front page. On Fedora's site, you can click "Learn more" which takes you to a page that doesn't tell you anything at all about its features or what it includes. On Ubuntu's site when you click "Learn more" it takes you to a very informative page that even gives links to learn even more about the desktop and server editions. It tells all about the features and what kinds of things you can expect to be included.

In the past, I've visited a lot of distro's web sites just to review them, and Ubuntu's site was definitely the best in looks, ease of use, and available information. Here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=649256) is the link to the thread where I talked about it.

[lespaul_rentals]

I almost completely disagree. Ubuntu's web site is the best web site for a Linux distro that I have seen, by far. True, the Dell ad was too prominent. But other than that, it beats the pants off of Fedora's web site, which you compared it to earlier.

On Fedora's site, there is a paragraph that explains what Fedora is. But Ubuntu's site has the same thing under "About Ubuntu" right at the top of the front page. On Fedora's site, you can click "Learn more" which takes you to a page that doesn't tell you anything at all about its features or what it includes. On Ubuntu's site when you click "Learn more" it takes you to a very informative page that even gives links to learn even more about the desktop and server editions. It tells all about the features and what kinds of things you can expect to be included.

In the past, I've visited a lot of distro's web sites just to review them, and Ubuntu's site was definitely the best in looks, ease of use, and available information. Here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=649256) is the link to the thread where I talked about it.

It's surprising to me that Fedora's website is so poor compared to the distro's polished looks.

Don't forget about http://www.opensuse.org/. Can't get much better than that for a home page.

[forrestcupp]

It's surprising to me that Fedora's website is so poor compared to the distro's polished looks.

Don't forget about http://www.opensuse.org/. Can't get much better than that for a home page.

OpenSuse's website is one that I was talking about in my previous thread. It was one that I really thought sucked, and I still think that. The front page looks great, but when you get inside, it's impossible to find any useful information that explains what in the heck it is and what features it includes. That website doesn't even seem like it would be useful to a user.

Edit:
In the OpenSUSE wiki, I found an inconspicuous link called "Announcement" that actually led to a web page that explained all of the features in full detail. They really need to make that much more obvious.

[lespaul_rentals]

OpenSuse's website is one that I was talking about in my previous thread. It was one that I really thought sucked, and I still think that. The front page looks great, but when you get inside, it's impossible to find any useful information that explains what in the heck it is and what features it includes. That website doesn't even seem like it would be useful to a user.

Edit:
In the OpenSUSE wiki, I found an inconspicuous link called "Announcement" that actually led to a web page that explained all of the features in full detail. They really need to make that much more obvious.

It's just my opinion.

[Vadi]

Whatev. Once someone is told to go to ubuntu.com, they already have a goal - to download Ubuntu. The link to get it is clear enough, so we're good.

[GameManK]

When you follow the links to the other versions, the Kubuntu link takes you off to a news page about the versions that have been released, but no info for prosective users to tell them why they should choose it. Similar is true for Xubuntu, and Edubuntu takes you to a page that is almost empty.

Perhaps the site is under construction?

It's long been known that the Kubuntu website needs to be redone, but somebody has to do it. If you have ideas for the site, please submit them here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kubuntu/WebsiteMockups

[DrMega]

It's long been known that the Kubuntu website needs to be redone, but somebody has to do it. If you have ideas for the site, please submit them here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kubuntu/WebsiteMockups

I wasn't aware of that page. There are some nice looking mock-ups already on their, better than I could do. I particularly liked mockup4.svg.

[khensucat]

Edit: I'm wrong, upon reflection ;)