Is Ubuntu changing the world?

[openmind]

Are we witnessing something groundbreaking?

As we all know Ubuntu has recieved a lot of press on it's ease of use, attracting many users who may not have considered Linux a viable option in the past. Distrowatch has it at the top of it's "Charts" where it's been for some time. Us n00bs are invading like roaches. I get the impression that many Windows(TM!) users are converting.

A question for the long-time Linux users, is this a new phenomena, or is it something y'all go through every now and then? Are we truly witnessing a wind-change or is this just another phase?

And if it truly is all new to you guys, what ramifications does it have for Linux in the long term? A huge influx of users attracted by Gui's, instant hardware recognition and expecting nothing less in the future?

[Manny C]

Hopefully. Ubuntu + OO2.0 + KDE 3.5/Gnome 2.12 should encourage more people over.

Can't wait for official Breezy CDs to go live. Then clean install.

[Kapre]

In my point, I would say yes. In a way that people now can see (and read) that there is an excellent alternative and that it wouldn't cost them an arm and a leg.
Instant recognition of hardware and recognition I think is what attracts them.
K

[poofyhairguy]

Changed my world.


One at a time. Thats how you make big changes. One at a time.

[remin8]

A lot of my friends are not switch, but under my encouragement trying ubuntu (an liking it). I think that the perception of Linux being hard to use is being changed by ubuntu. It is definately the easiest distro I have used, and some of my friends comment on how it just works.

[twowheeler]

I would like it to be true, but no, I don't think so. It looks like ubuntu is winning people away from other linux distros, and winning a few windows people over. Overall linux is making slow incremental progress, winnining some converts while turning others off. Most people don't know what an OS is, let alone have any interest in trying something new. It is incredibly hard to change people's habits.

[dcraven]

I don't think it's making much of a difference as far as market share is concerned. It is certainly making a difference with how usable and polished Linux is though, no doubt. Like twowheeler said though, I think Ubuntu is mostly attracting users of other distributions like Fedora and Mandriva and etc etc... The people that are coming straight from other platforms are more than likely people who would "try" Linux of some flavour even if Ubuntu didn't exist. Most of these will disappear when Vista is released I think, if not sooner.

I do believe there is only a small percentage of users who are of the type that will switch completely. I think that doing so requires more than the ability to burn CDs and watch videos in your new OS. Without buying into a bit of the philosophy, there really isn't much reason for a Windows user to stick around except for the fact that they are bored of the mainstream environment temporarily. A new version of that environment is more than enough to draw them back. Especially one with bright lights and flashing colours.

Like I said above though. I think Ubuntu is making an incredible contribution to the Linux and FLOSS world. A contribution that is unmatched to date, in my opinion. I certainly don't mean to downplay that.

~djc

[kingsidy]

i have used slackware, suse and mandrake before ubuntu. and i think that it is much more pratial than the other ones. it is easier to configure. I play dvd's, burn mp3s, i got my printer to work, installed matlab and a couple of other applications with wine. Some of the latter i could not do with suse or mandrake. Since ubuntu i found myself using linux for most of the things i used to one windowm and lately that is all i run since i got pretty much everything that worked in windows in linux, Ubuntu is in the right path compared to other distros.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"

[drizek]

I think you are wrong. There have been a lot of things that have happened in the past year that have improved the position of linux on the desktop. There are reasons to use linux over windows, but i think the real problem is that we arent letting windows users know what they are. More importantly, many linux users dont even know what the advantages of using linux are. Now that we have a good solid product that is more than capable of replacing windows for a lot of people, i think its time we start promoting it and advertising it. Just look at apples site for example. They have armies of fanboys that know ALL the reasons why their os is better than the others, and they have an answer for everything that apple isnt too good at. That is something that is really missing with OSS.

[Goober]

Well, it certainly changed me, but mainly only because I am a bit of a Computer Nerd who likes tinkering with settings and such. I found out about it quite by accident, and, well, I love it. I formerly used nothing but *******, and was under the very naive impression that Linux had no GUI, and was only for "code-monkeys". Had I known there was a decent free alternative to *******, I would have switched years ago.

The basic problem is advertising. Unles people are talking to people who know about Linux, then they are more reluctant to try it. Ubuntu needs to advertise, which us costly, to become totally mainstream. I can do my bit by distributing Ubuntu CDs, but that is about all. I bet there are lots of people out there who are tired of *******, they just don't know of the alternatives. Ubuntu could change the world, if more people knew about it.

[gflores]

I think in general, Linux is making significant advances. I think that if more people flock to one distribution (say Ubuntu), that will make Ubuntu even better and reinforce Linux's image of usability and stability to users of Windows. However, I think it's a bit premature to say Ubuntu is changing the world. Right now, Linux is just a bunch of distros with a few of them being great for desktop use but not really going above and beyond what Windows offers.

[drizek]

the problem is that 2/3 years ago, there WASNT a decent free alternative to windows. Linux has improved so much since then. MS has spent the past 6 years adding transparency and shadows to windows 2000.

[rajsarkar]

Definitely yes. It has changed my thinking.

Raj

[GeneralZod]

the problem is that 2/3 years ago, there WASNT a decent free alternative to windows. Linux has improved so much since then. MS has spent the past 6 years adding transparency and shadows to windows 2000.

I agree with this. I can't pinpoint exactly when it was or what caused it (maybe the foundation of Ubuntu!) but some time in the last year to two years there was a sudden, *massive* surge in terms of grooming Linux for the desktop which simply didn't exist before, and which has shown absolutely no sign of abating (in fact, you could argue that it is accelerating!). This furious development is making heavy changes and long-overdue improvements all the way from the kernel to X to the DE's themselves, and is most welcome :)

[drizek]

I think that the linux kernel itself improved a lot from 2.4 to 2.6 in terms of hardware support. There are better fonts in linux now. KDE and GNOME have had major improvements. With a better base system, there have recently been some awesome apps being developed for linux. Things like superkaramba, amarok, digikam, OOo2 are all really great free apps.

The distros themselves have improved as well. Ubuntu, opensuse and mepis are great noob distros. Before, mandrake was the only real distro for newbies and it wasnt very good. I remember reading a mandrake 9.2 review and one of the major features of mandrake was the fact that the fonts dont suck. Today, every major linux distro comes with nice clean looking fonts and it is no longer an issue. hardware support is MUCH better and there is more and more support from hardware vendors themselves. These changes allow developers to focus more on spiffy new UI features rather than hardware support and overcoming the inadequacies of linux.

Also, im sure if youve used linux for a while, youve seen the 'what linux REALLY needs" posts in forums. Well, i think that distros are actually paying attention to these people now. Just look at whats happening in teh opensource world right now. KDE 3.5 was a polish release. Ubuntu dapper is going to be a polish release. openSuse was a polish release. xorg 7.0 is a polish release. This is something that has never happened on linux before.