30 days with Linux @ [H] Consumer

Jason_Wall

[H] Consumer Managing Editor
Joined
Jul 22, 2005
Messages
2,138
We came up with this project when we first started to hear the grumblings about Vista. People didn't want to pay the high price for a premium package, they didn't want to upgrade, and having to jump through hoops to activate it was starting to put scowls on the consumer's face before they even owned it. This raised the question of Linux - is it just a joke to throw around with your geek friends, or is this something that could actually work?

We were absolutely amazed at how Linux has changed over the years. "Compiling" and "decompiling" are almost completely removed from the language. The new generation of computer scientists have lent their talents to improving every facet of the only true "Made by the computer geek, for the computer geek" operating system.

Another good feature about Ubuntu Linux was the Add/Remove programs console and the Debian APT database. In fact, it's so revolutionary and astonishing, it's almost insulting to call it "good" - it's magnificent. This is an innovation that was very much needed in Windows Vista - and it makes installing programs on Linux much easier than doing so on Windows. However, you're not likely to find it in Windows Vista anytime soon. For one, most Linux software packages are open-source freeware and can be distributed freely. There are plenty of Windows Open Source projects, no doubt, but Microsoft sells commercial software. It’s hard to imagine Microsoft including an app into their operating system that automatically downloads and installs a program like OpenOffice, which competes directly with its Office product.

But this is a major deal; how many times have you downloaded some freeware app - even on Windows - that required some package that you just didn't have? (Think about the .NET framework in installing those pesky ATI drivers.) APT takes care of all of that - making sure the dependencies are met and that no program collides with the ones you have installed.

We started this project a few months ago and Brian has put a hell of a lot of work into it. It's certainly the most comprehensive of its kind you'll find, and I hope that you all enjoyed reading it.

Thanks for reading!

Please Digg this article to share.
 
You mention Photoshop.... but doesn't Gimp run on Linux fine? Gimp is a very powerful program....
 
I'd also like to point out that there will undoubtedly be questions and comments. Perhaps an easier way of doing things that I didn't consider, or alternative programs that you think I should have tried out. Additionally, this project took 30 days to complete and took almost as long to write, so software programs may have improved in the interim and I may just not have noticed. Additionally, people may want to share their horror stories of Linux or ask for specific advice with their home setup or ask about a program.

I'll try to answer all questions as they come up, but keep in mind I have a day job too as editor of http://www.networkperformancedaily.com/ and I may be a bit slow to respond.
 
This was one of the best articles I've had the pleasure to read on [H]. (sure,I read all the retail computer articles and the hardware reviews)

You obviously put a bunch of hard work into this.

I didnt know Jack about Linux before I read this (not withstanding the obvious), but now I'm intrigued by it.

Thanks.:D
 
Thank you for doing this. I've been thinking about doing this for some time and your article helped my decision. Gonna take the Linux plunge!
 
I'm in the same boat as speedrat, will probably give it a go when I have some more free time this summer. Nice to know that it isn't as difficult as I previously perceived it to be. Thanks for the nice write-up.
 
You mention Photoshop.... but doesn't Gimp run on Linux fine? Gimp is a very powerful program....

Yes it is very powerful, and I actually use GIMP (the Windows version) at work.

But I started designing Web pages (and working with Photoshop) back in 1997. Ten years of using Photoshop, and I'm actually at a professional level at it. If the bottom ever dropped out of the professional tech reporting/blogging market, I probably could make it as a professional photo illustrator.

If you use Photoshop to create GIF images for imageboards and to put your photos on Flickr or MySpace, you're probably looking at overkill, and I'd recommend using the GIMP instead. It's certainly a full featured program. It's just that Photoshop has even fuller features, including much better typography support, free-transform on the fly, etc.

Right now I'm using VirtualBox to run Photoshop on a Windows XP virtual machine to handle those needs when I need them, and GIMP when I just need quick image editing.

Don't get me wrong - for 99% of the population, GIMP is sufficient. I'm just in that 1%...

I'm hoping that Adobe eventually ports Photoshop over to Linux, but I don't expect them to. There's a Photoshop Look-alike/Work-alike program called Pixel which looks very promising, however, though I'm going to wait for a few more development cycles there before I switch over.
 
Thank you for doing this. I've been thinking about doing this for some time and your article helped my decision. Gonna take the Linux plunge!

I'm in the same boat as speedrat, will probably give it a go when I have some more free time this summer. Nice to know that it isn't as difficult as I previously perceived it to be. Thanks for the nice write-up.

Before you take the Linux plunge, just promise me you'll do three things:

1) Backup your data.
2) Backup your data.
3) Backup your data.

I had an easy time, but Your Mileage May Vary.
 
http://slashdot.org/~fudgefactor7/journal/161158 is where I posted the reults. I came the conclusion that Ubuntu + ATI is a failure waiting to happen (3D games always froze, it's an fglrx driver issue I'm sure...but ATI refuses to give any meaningful support.) Had that worked, or had I an Nvidia card I wouldn't be writing this on a Windows XP box. Quake 4 ran well under the 32-bit Ubuntu 6.06 (close to Windows speeds), I hadn't tried Oblivion but since I had given up on gaming pretty much it wasn't an issue (I finished Oblivion a while ago.)

Some of the issues that need to be addressed is DVD playback: every distro, regardless of name or type, must have DVD movie playback installed by default. I found that of the ones I tried only Vector Linux 5.8 supposedly had it, and it didn't even work. (-vo errors). So that's a no-go for me.

There are just things that Linux can't do yet. Get back to me in 2, 5, or 10 yrs. By then things will be very different and things may just work right. :(
 
This last weekend I picked up a spare computer (1GHz Celeron, etc for $20!) and decided to take the plunge to see how it works. I couldn't get it to install from a CD I burned, so I installed from a "real" CD with an older version that I borrowed. Although I'm a Linux noob, I'm not uncomfortable with a command line. Here are my impressions from a few hours of use:

--All my hardware worked out of the box. Yes, it's older hardware, so it should.
--The stock UI is much slicker (even without Beryl) than Windows XP.
--apt-get is fricken' SWEET!
--boot-up and shutdown aren't as pretty, but much more useful
--I ran into a similar problem with monitor resolutions--my monitor can handle 1280x1024, but I didn't have the option to use it.
--Linux has much cooler screensavers than
--No reboots for anything except a kernel upgrade (which leads me to my next point)
--Upgrading to newer versions is pretty easy. Sure, you have to go find instructions, and you may not be able to upgrade directly to the latest version*, but it's all automated.
--When using apt-get, all the scrolling text kinda gives the impression that everything is fragile and will break with the slightest pressure....but it doesn't. Everything just keeps working.
--If something isn't working, it'll tell you what isn't working, why it isn't working, and often how to fix it. And if it doesn't, there's a remarkably friendly community out there that's willing to help. For example, sharing files across a Windows network. First it tells you that it won't work, then why (Samba isn't installed), then how to fix it (install Samba, naturally). Very cool.

Of course, my experience of only a few hours can't compare to Brian's month-long effort, but at least I can add a data point. Thank you, Brian, for making such a huge effort and writing such an outstanding article.

*I originally installed 4.10. To get to v6.10, you have to first upgrade from 4.10 to 5.10, then to 6.06, then to 6.10. I'm at 5.10 right now.

 
Some of the issues that need to be addressed is DVD playback: every distro, regardless of name or type, must have DVD movie playback installed by default. I found that of the ones I tried only Vector Linux 5.8 supposedly had it, and it didn't even work. (-vo errors). So that's a no-go for me.

Ubuntu 6.10 did indeed have DVD playback installed by default. This was tested using Everything Is Everything, an indie DVD without encryption. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416724/

However, playing DVDs encrypted with CSS can't be played without DeCSS, a program that's technically illegal in the United States.

No distribution that follows the letter of the law will have DeCSS installed by default and until copyright law - specifically the DMCA - changes.

Keep in mind that Windows XP SP2 does not have ANY DVD movie playback installed by default.

I cannot condone breaking of American copyright law, no matter how utterly idiotic, nor admit to doing so myself. But I can tell you this: Linux users that use Automatix2 will have absolutely no trouble breaking the law and getting commercial DVD playback working in Totem.
 
I really liked the article, Bryan. I have plenty of discussions with people about linux on the desktop, and this article pretty much echos my own personal sentiments on the issues. Gaming and Photoshop are, to me, critical issues. Plus, I wouldn't be offended if I never had to use a console/terminal ever again. I worked for a number of years with linux on a server environment (no GUI) and I got to be pretty comfortable with most types of server operations, including building kernels and applications and setting up complex environments. That pretty much taught me that I don't like terminals.

The only issue I have with linux on the desktop for consumers is the issue of commonality of experience. New MS programs, or new programs developed by conscientious people for MS environments, have common design principles that allow programs to be somewhat cohesive with one another, even when developed by different people for different purposes. For example, most applications have a "File" menu and an "Edit" menu, and they contain rougly the same commands from program to program. That commonality lends itself to intuitive use. That is why they are commonly accepted conventions. That makes new programs easier to use, except when you are dealing with a radical different coding and interface paradigm shift, such as the change from XP to Vista. Vista and Office 2007 are radically different than Windows and Office XP/2003. The windows presentation foundation offers a simple ability for coders to create very different UIs than what we are used to in Windows XP and before. Even still, I think most Vista applications are going to follow a similar formula, just like they have before.

Linux programmers seem to pride themselves on at least seeming to think outside the box. Linux UIs are different than windows UIs, and with obvious reason, good or bad. The problem is that the maverick attitude that a lot of programmers take so much pride in tends to create very different experiences from program to program. The commonality of experience is diluted in Linux, so many long-time users that are comfortable in windows won't feel comfortable in Linux. It looks and feels foreign. It is certainly getting better, and based on your article, it looks like it has improved considerably from when I was using Linux a couple of years ago. I think there is still a long way to go, though.

Anyways...good article. Very interesting stuff.
 
That was a GREAT article! Timing couldn't have been better either; I'm giving away a ton of old P2/3 boxes to some friends, and needed a free OS for them. I was considering Ubuntu, and this article has sealed the deal for me.

I should point out, you did forget the single most important game: World of Warcraft. :D :p It can be done on Linux, so you might want to add a blurb in on that.
 
That was a GREAT article! Timing couldn't have been better either; I'm giving away a ton of old P2/3 boxes to some friends, and needed a free OS for them. I was considering Ubuntu, and this article has sealed the deal for me.

I should point out, you did forget the single most important game: World of Warcraft. :D :p It can be done on Linux, so you might want to add a blurb in on that.

I didn't have WoW at the time to test on. When I get a free moment on Whakataruna, I'll run down to the store, pick up one of those $2 trial CDs and give it a shot, and post my results here in the forums.

-- Brian.
 
Thank you for the excellent article! I will bookmark this for future reference.

Like it has been said before IF I could game on Linux I would be a happy camper. Gaming is what I do most and I cannot live without at this point in time. Maybe in the future when I stop gaming I will use Linux as my main OS.

Very informative and well written, thank you!!!
 
I actually received an email about this from another reader. We'll get back to you when I hear back from the boss.

Thank you all for your support. With all the work that went into the article, it's great to know that y'all liked it.

You can look forward to another "30 days" article very soon. Can you guess which OS it is? ;)

Ooh! Ooh! *raises hand* I know! I know!
 
Good read. But...

There has to be a million of these kind of stories on digg lately, and every one of them gets dugg to the top. That's not the reason you did it, right? :(

quick edit: I suppose its not a bad thing to make stories people want to read, so don't take this the wrong way...
 
Good read. But...

There has to be a million of these kind of stories on digg lately, and every one of them gets dugg to the top. That's not the reason you did it, right? :(

quick edit: I suppose its not a bad thing to make stories people want to read, so don't take this the wrong way...

No offense taken.

To be blunt, we wouldn't have written the story if we didn't feel it would at least be popular enough to attract some attention. But the idea of this being "quick digg bait" really isn't the case. First, the article took 30 days to test, a few more to re-test stuff we had missed, then another 2 weeks to write the article, another few weeks to edit the article, get all the pictures formatted, etc.

Any idea that this is "quick digg bait" fails at "quick." Had we wanted to get on the front page of Digg, I could have done so by putting together a quick, shoddy article ("10 greatest moments in PC Gaming" or something like that.) Nah, we did it because we felt that there was a need for it.
 
This article was extremely well written and an insightful look at linux through eyes that I do not possess.

It is extremely difficult for me to grasp a long time windows user's frustrations with linux, as I have been using *nix systems for quite some time. I would love nothing more than for linux to be a viable alternative to microsoft and apple products, and this article points out some very important issues that will have to be addressed before that will be a reality.

I have been wanting to get my parents up and running on linux, and I may just give ubuntu a shot. They've got an old p4 dell lying around that should do quite nicely for it. I'm actually in the process of burning the ubuntu install discs right now to install on my own system (the only windows box in my house.... because I like bf2) for testing.

Perhaps this article will help to put pressure on adobe to make a 64 bit version of flash available. I mean... cmon... all you have to do is compile it. It's not like 64 bit processors are even REMOTELY new... IBM/Motorola and SUN have had 64 bit processors for AGES. Also, this highlights just how awesome id software is for providing linux native binaries for quake4. GO ID GO. Take note, ea. I didn't buy 2142 because of ads, and I won't buy whatever your battlefieldXXXX next version is if it's windows only.

Just as an aside, if you revisit your ubuntu article, you may want to touch on MythTV. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest applications ever to grace the processors in my house.

-q
 
Just as an aside, if you revisit your ubuntu article, you may want to touch on MythTV. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest applications ever to grace the processors in my house.

-q

MythTV might be great; unfortunately I just don't have the hookup at home to do a full test of it. I don't have a TV tuner card, nor do I have an HDTV. (I thought about getting one, but I don't watch much TV at all.
 
Also you might find this humorous. My Dad just congratulated me for getting an article on "Glashsnot"
 
about the printer...
the HP 1020 is also not supported on OSX, however if you have the HP 1022 that has OSX support so the hP 1020 has co-dependency problems :/
 
MythTV might be great; unfortunately I just don't have the hookup at home to do a full test of it. I don't have a TV tuner card, nor do I have an HDTV. (I thought about getting one, but I don't watch much TV at all.

If you don't watch much tv, then it won't be of much use at all to you, but I do have two pvr250 cards that are going unused, collecting dust on my shelf. One is likely going into a mythbox for my parents, but you're more than welcome to use the other one if you'd like to cover PVR functionality in a future article. I'll even cover shipping the card myself.

Again, very well written article. It says some things that linux users likely do not want to hear: Apple and Windows are far superior "out of box" at video editing, gaming on linux is just not acceptable, GIMP != Photoshop, 64 bit browsers just don't have plugins ready for them at the moment, etc.

Very glad to hear that you will be sticking with a linux desktop for non-video editing and game related duties.

-q
 
about the printer...
the HP 1020 is also not supported on OSX, however if you have the HP 1022 that has OSX support so the hP 1020 has co-dependency problems :/

I've used OSX before, back in ye olden days of 800MHz G4s. I was using a different printer at that time, too, a Brother 1440HL, I believe.

Oddly enough the HP 1020 also does not work in Vista.
 
If you don't watch much tv, then it won't be of much use at all to you, but I do have two pvr250 cards that are going unused, collecting dust on my shelf. One is likely going into a mythbox for my parents, but you're more than welcome to use the other one if you'd like to cover PVR functionality in a future article. I'll even cover shipping the card myself.

Again, very well written article. It says some things that linux users likely do not want to hear: Apple and Windows are far superior "out of box" at video editing, gaming on linux is just not acceptable, GIMP != Photoshop, 64 bit browsers just don't have plugins ready for them at the moment, etc.

Very glad to hear that you will be sticking with a linux desktop for non-video editing and game related duties.

-q

qfour: While I would love to have a pvr250 card for my own personal use, I'm not sure that I would have time to do a proper test with it. I'll gladly accept the card, but I have to admit I probably won't have time to go back and do proper tests on it. PM me if you're still interested in sending it over though - a TV tuner never goes unappreciated.

-- Brian.
 
Excellent read. I have played with various linux distros and have had a hard time relaying my experiences to other users. Now I can point them to this article. Well done.
 
How about Amiga OS4! ;)

Word Processing: "Oddly enough, I found that when using Amiga OS's word processor, I had created articles which would take five years to complete, and formed a cohesive whole with a long overarching theme and a satisfying, compelling, and wholly original narrative arc. Sadly, each one of these articles, taken on their own, sucked."







That was a Babylon 5 joke. Babylon 5 used Amigas in the creation of the space battles.
 
Nice write up. You didn't candy coat ubuntu like most other review site do, but instead just tried to do what you normally do with a PC just under Linux. A point I think you should have made special note of is that getting software and support is almost totally dependent on internet access or should I say High Speed Internet Access. Linux ain't for dial up users (learnt that the hard way) and it sure as hell does not come working out of the box.
 
I'm finally getting around to commenting since the forums were not feeling too good this morning.

I loved the article. You've hit on the major points that I've felt about Linux. I'm a Linux noob as I've just using it on and off for about a month or so now although I'm using Fedora Core 6 x64.

At the current time, it's not an OS for everyone. As mentioned, most people don't have the patience to look for a solution to a problem or know where to look. Since there are a good number of problems that crop up that require this, it kills any chance of your average office computer user being able to use the OS.

I've been using FC6 for most of my stuff other than gaming for about the past month. I've spent countless hours messing around with the different software available just to see what the different programs do and I've been very impressed. In this vein, I have to disagree about the intuitiveness of The Gimp. For background, I don't use image editing software hardly at all and my previous use was with the different versions of Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro over the years. I needed to edit an image a while back and used The Gimp. To me, it was very intuitive and I had my editing done in half the time it would have taken me in either of the previously mentioned programs. I'm not going to argue that it's missing some features that Photoshop has. I don't doubt you a bit on that.

Beryl is absolutely wonderful. I just started messing with it in the last week and I love it. I find it to be light years ahead of Aero. I have no experience with OSX so I can't compare there. Previously I had used the Windows Classic interface with XP and messed around a bit with Aero with the RC1 of Vista. I normally prefer turning the eye candy off as it's generally more distracting than anything. Aero was nice and I left it on for my testing of Vista but beryl is so much better in my opinion. It does need work but I have few problems with it so far.

I'm currently running an nVidia card (only one I've ever used) and I haven't had much in the way of problems with it. I'm not using the nVidia supplied drivers. From what I have read they seem to break a couple of things involving beryl and other software. At least for FC6 they do. There is another package of drivers that seem to work better and don't replace certain dependency files or something like that. Luckily I caught that before trying to install any drivers and I haven't had any problems. The only real problem I have come across with the video card is resolution. I had two problems. For some reason, Linux was not detecting my refresh rate correctly. It always seemed to show 150hz refresh when I was running 1600x1200 resolution. This wasn't an actual problem since everything worked fine and I was at the correct refresh rate. The other problem I had was with the resolution. I would set my resolution at 1600x1200 but every time I restarted and came back into Linux, it would be at 1280x1024. The basic display properties would not detect any higher resolutions. I don't remember how I fixed this but I believe it had to do with the utility for nVidia video card settings which appears after installing the drivers and is separate from the display settings. I think I was finally able to set 1600x1200@75hz in there and everything has worked fine since.

I will say something about Flash and Firefox in x64. I had previously found that you can't use Flash with Firefox 64 bit since there is no 64 bit Flash. This irks me to no end as far as Adobe is concerned. Anyway, my fix was a bit easier than yours. I did try to install the 32 bit Flash and had the same error where I would default to the 64 bit Firefox. I ended up uninstalling the 64 bit Firefox only and had no trouble with it. After that, I've had no problems with Firefox and Flash although I am just using 32 bit Firefox.

I guess I'll stop with my experiences here. The above points out some of my highlights and low points in my Linux use. The low points have not turned me off as I knew what I was getting into and I was intrigued with learning anything I could. FC6 is my main OS and I only use XP for either gaming or drawball. Before too long, I'm going to wipe my XP and FC6 installs (since they are on separate drives) and install both on my main drive triple booting with Suse 10.2 to mess around with it. I'm using my current install of FC6 as a learning experience and actually expected to completely bork it. This has not happened.

Finally, I'd like to say that for years I've heard people complain about the attitude of Linux users for years and how they never could get any help. Whether this was ever actually true or not, it definitely isn't the case now. I've had people more than willing to help me and walk me through anything step by step. I may still have some trouble explaining my problem but I have yet to find someone lose patience with me. They will ask me to do something specific to get the information they need to figure out the problem. At that point, they are more than willing to give me a solution. I've seen so many people continue to be nice and helpful even after it's obvious the person asking for help is way over their head. Sometimes there will be a nasty comment from a Linux user about the person asking for help, but it's never someone that actually helps and that person is usually told to stfu and go away so someone can be helped.

 
Great work, definitly the best article I've ever read on this website in the 3-4 years I've been visiting daily. I've been using Ubuntu on a Dell PowerEdge (P4 2.4GHz) to back up my data, use as a web server (www.sixstorm.com :D) and use as a desktop for the experience.

I completely agree when you say that Linux can be frustrating but can be very rewarding at the same time. I actually switched over to OSX 2 years ago and dual booted Ubuntu on my iBook! Experimental, I know, but it works great and couldn't ask for more.

Again, great article, "I help spread word!".
 
Thanks for the article guys. We (especially us Linux noobs) really appreciate you giving Ubuntu a whirl. I tried Kubuntu myself, but it didn't speak to me like Open SuSE 10.2 does, so im'a stick wif the iguana.

As for gaming - WINE might be a solution. I'm going to try this and see if I can get some of the titles to work - maybe some of the Unreal Tournament family. Quake 3 and 4 work out of the box, so... well, it's not emulation.

I really like GIMP a lot... it has everything most people need for photo editing, and you can't beat the price. It even works in Windows 2K and XP. Wonder what Vista thinks, though?

Potential threat, maybe?

:D

Also, I have to confirm the observation others make here on vid cards. nVidia has their poo together on Linux drivers, and ATI needs some serious help.
 
You dwell on the shortcomings of kino a bit - you should consider trying Cinelerra as well. Another option is PiTiVi, but it's still in the early stages of development.

As for MythTV, it's definitely not the most user-friendly thing to get set up and working, but once you do it's quite easy to use. Digital tuner cards only cost $100 - http://mythic.tv/product_info.php?products_id=46

Oh, and if you're looking for yet another OS for the enthusiast, have a look at Solaris Express.
 
Before anything else: kudos for the real intention of USING it instead of just LOOKING at it like 99.999% of the articles about Linux do. No one can learn any distribution of Linux (or any new OS) in 2 or 3 days. It just won't work.

Linux (technically only the kernel but we all know all distributions are called Linux) is not 100% ready for the desktop. I'm a Linux user for a long long time, from the old days of Slackware 3 (kernel 1.2.13) and installation by 27 floppy disks using command line. Instructive but hard times. What we see now are very capable distributions, very user-friendly in some areas and lacking in others. The truth is the truth, like it or not. Casually I was search something in Google and read a wonderful article called "Is Windows ready for the desktop?". Amusing read, recommended.

There is still a long road to follow before achieving ubiquitous desktop reaching. Even Windows can't claim it. Every new version has the same problems with drivers, incompatibilities, weird behavior and so on. The difference is that Microsoft can force the manufacturers and software producers to support whatever new technology it wants. If they get rebel, they have the option to buy the ofender. Try that giving the OS for free or charging only for technical support (which MS charges too, even if you pay for the OS).

But it's no excuse for Linux. It still has some nasty problems, generally related to recently focused support. I'll explain: things in Linux comes in waves; first there was general hardware support that, once solved it made Linux very nice with the majority of the hardware; then came the graphical interface wave with almost all possible implementations of a desktop framework; now we only have 2 to 3 players (kde, gnome and maybe xfce in some niches) and they are very compatible; now comes the "real desktop" wave where funcionality and some coesion will be established and some of the problems that appeared on the article will problably not happen again. Hope it does not need more than some months to achieve a reasonable state.

Gaming is a nghtmare on Linux for a single thing: games are developed for only two targets, Windows and consoles. Maybe with more people using Linux the publishers start thinking of it. Until there, "no game" here (pun intended).

That said, I made a different kind of test in the same lines of the article but a long time ago. I was giving consulting for some lawyers (god forbid me to do it again) and two new secretaries were contracted, both as computer literates as astrophysics experts. With their bosses permission I put one using Windows (98 at that time) and one using Linux (Conectiva, now part of Mandriva). A really basic training was given to them on how to use a word processor, how to edit a previously saved file (no kidding, they where used to write on typewriters) and how to store some contact information for future use without resorting to post-it. Both were able to go alone with the computer after a week and half later. I configured both printers and systems to the point each could login in her respective computer without password: they insisted in writing that poor chosen password on the post-it glued to the monitor for fear of forgetting them so passwords were useless anyway.

My experiment lasted for 3 weeks after the training. Both could produce sufficiently nice documents for their bosses but one difference showed clearly after the second week: the one using Linux was more productive. Asking them what happened they both said that in the first week it was hard to remember how to do the things so production was almost the same for them with lost files (they deleted) and some strange lock-ups I could not determine what had caused. Once they got used to it, working was almost fluent but "that crazy machine", in the words of the windows user, kept stoping to work in the most need hours (Murphy Law). The other had very few problems with lockups and strange behaviors. What I could conclude is not that Linux was better/worse than Windows but that anyone that had never used Windows or Mac will consider Linux desktop very reasonable, maybe very cute, maybe even enough functional for them. We, users of other OSs will try to mimic what we "expect" to happen cause we are used to it. If the new OS does not have it or it's different (better, worse or just different), a real lamenting begins. The other way is true: go from Unix/Linux to Windows/MacOs/MacOsX and feel the pain for a long time. Man, humans are damn hard to change! Fear of change is a well know problem for us.

Today Linux is ready for the Corporate Desktop but not all desktop users' desktop. In a corporate environment, 99% of the problems would not happen anyway since playing DVDs and gaming would not be considered good productive behavior :) (at least not in 99% of the corporations). For an OS that has little years in the light as it has, it's growing really fast. It will eventually catch up and go beyond it in the desktop race.

After that long post, I wish more good articles like that are published. They are of real interest cause that is the clue for the developers to fix what needs to be fixed and what maybe needed in future. What we need to take care is to not bash any other OS different form what we are used to have cause it doesn't work the way we are used to. Maybe it's just a better way, maybe it's just a bit different. How about using it with an open mind for 30 days to see if we can get used to the new?

P.S.: I suggest an article getting some people not used to computers to use one, divided in two groups: one using Vista and one using Linux on an almost identical hardware preconfigured for them. These people would only USE the computer, not configure any registry entry or change xorg.conf file or even put that flash plugin in the right place. Just use the desktop for writing some text, playing solitaire, using a web browser and these things. All with little or no explanation on how to do it besides how to login and how to open a menu (maybe how to reach a page or two with a web browser). That would be an excelent article.
 
My experience with dual-booting this Ubuntu and WinXP: It don't work.

I'm on a dual-boot system right now. Where are you having the difficulty?

If you install Windows after Ubuntu, by the way, Windows will overwrite your MBR. It's best to install Windows first, then Ubuntu.
 
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