Soliciting Input For a Linux Review
by Ryan Smith on February 6, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Ryan's Ramblings
One of the things we have been wanting to do for some time now is to do a proper review of Linux as an end-user operating system. We have done articles on Linux in the past relating to performance, but never a complete OS review.
A Month With a Mac, our article on the Mac experience was very well received and we would like to do this again for a Linux review. I, a Linux novice, will use Ubuntu Linux for a month as my primary OS in order to capture an idea of how the Linux experience stacks up, and how it compares to the Mac and Windows platforms.
Now the reason that we're soliciting advice first is due to a matter of timing. Ubuntu is on a six-month release schedule with the next version due in April. If we were to start our month-long experiment next week, our review would not be ready until the middle of March, only a month or so before the next Ubuntu release. On the other hand if we wait for the next version of Ubuntu, a review would not be done until at least the late-May/early-June time frame.
So we would like to hear back from our readers and Linux users. Would you rather see this kind of a review done sooner, or wait another 2-3 months for a review done with a newer version of Ubuntu? This isn't a straight-up vote, but we'd like to take your opinions under serious consideration, especially since we aren't intimately familiar with Ubuntu and what the next version may bring.
Please add your comments to this blog post, we'll get back to you next week to let you guys know if we're going ahead with our experiment or not.
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Cali3350 - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
I would personally LOVE a article about upgrading linux. As a long term windows user im well aware of what happens when you 'upgrade' windows - xp, to vista without just doing a full reformat. Its not pretty. Im VERY interested to see how this works on the Ubuntu OS.Also, id personally love it if you take into account some of the 'special' things linux can do. In particular use the compiz-settings-manager and play with all the advanced effects Ubuntu offers (mulitple desktops / a application switcher similar but better to vista's fly out thing, etc). I think these are the things that really make Ubuntu shine. Simply using the default install style may be what many users use, but its hardly representative of what the OS really offers.
Kishkumen - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
For whatever it's worth, my opinion is that you should begin testing whenever you're prepared to spend the time on it. Ubuntu's release cycle should be comletely irrelevant to your schedule. For starters, the next release is unlikely to be so radically different as to change one's experience significantly and if a new release does come, treat it just like any other update or service pack one might get from Microsoft or Apple because on a six month cycle it's more of a bug fix update than an entire paradigm shift.Treripica - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
I think it'd be better to leave the word linux out of the title, since it really is a review of Ubuntu, and not linux as a whole.What I would like to see is a first time user review that shows what it is about the OS that is attractive to the newcomer. More importantly, I'd like to know what such a user feels is missing, confusing, or downright frustrating. There are enough convert articles out there today and I think Ubuntu is ready to undergo the same critical eye as the more mature OS's.
As far as waiting for the next release or not, I think it'd make little to no difference.
Actius - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
Why not emphasize a little on the "switch to" factor that a newb can appreciate. I mean, everyone that plays with a copy of linux knows a bit about it, and I'm guessing everyone who's posted here so far knows more about linux than the average person.As a kid who grew up with dos, then windows(from the first installment to 3.1 to 95 to xp and now vista) and has never touched linux, please include something that can grab my attention. It seems everyone who pushes linux as superior hasn't given a reason the average user should switch. Looking at perhaps the best windows platform, XP was easy to use, fun to look at, and worked better than the current platform, so maybe that should be a hyp. benchmark.
ekul - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
With windows problems will crop up a month from now you didn't have last week but with linux this doesn't really happen.For good test of linux you should first determine the distro to test by trying to setup a few different ones on your test platform. fedora, suse and ubuntu are the kings of the desktop and while others are being mentioned in this discussion the are quite niche are are not nearly as flexible as the big name distros.
There are some common linux stumble blocks the install test should cover:
1) wireless cards. try testing both a supported card like an intel chipset and something that needs ndiswrapper
2) 3-d graphics: nvidia closed sourced drivers tend to be good but the nvidia installer is stupid and not very friendly. How well does each distro handle hiding this fact from users? ATI closed source drivers are a pain even in the best of distros but can they be made to work?
3) proprietary codec support: most distros ship without codecs that get them into DMCA trouble. how much fuss is it to activate this support if you A) don't like in the US and therefore are not bound by their laws or B) don't care and just want to listen to mp3s and watch dvds
4) scanner and printer support
5) software that is equal to or better then its Windows counterpart is available for linux. how clear does the distro make instant messaging, media players, productivity tools and other common applications that may be named differently then windows users may be expecting?
Any distro that can handle these 5 things with a minimum of fuss is worth testing long term.
I see this as a 2 part article. Part 1 would be choosing the distro that is right for you. Some distros do different things from this list with varying degrees of success and so fedora might be right for someone interested in switching to linux at work and doesn't care about 3d and mp3 support whereas ubuntu sets 98% up out of the box and therefore makes more sense at home. Part 2 picks the general most user friendly distro and digs deeper to see what good and bad traits it has for the long haul.
As for the question of 7.10 vs 8.04 I would suggest comparing them side-by-side makes a lot of sense. How much improvement can ubuntu make in just 6 months? What problems have they fixed and how many remain? With a 6 month release schedule any article written even at the release of Heron will be out of date by the fall and so seeing the rate of change in ubuntu is much more meaningful then a snapshot of it at any given point. To that end testing the various alpha and beta releases may even be worthwhile.
shamgar03 - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
I would actually rather see a review of suse. I had a friend at work who swore by it. I think SUSE is probably the most likely to replace windows for "regular" people. Of course ubuntu is nice too, but from my experience it is great until something doesn't work. Once something doesn't work, it can be maddening to fix. Perhaps it would be good to have a couple guys there use 2 or 3 linux distros simultaneously, then compare your experiences afterwords. I would really like to know which linux distro would be best for my parents.wingless - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
Installing drivers on different distros of Linux has always been a challenge for me. I'm a perpetual Linux noob because I lose patience spending hours online searching forums and guides just to install Nvidia, ATI, or Creative drivers PRORPERLY. My last bout was with my 2900XT and Mandrake Linux which apparently has some "special" driver version just for it's distro. I switched to SuSE and had more success but still had installation errors that caused problems. Nvidia made it easier but I still spent time hunting lines in config files that needed editing. Also upgrading Linux has sometimes been a hassle too. If this site did a write up about using Linux and getting it to work with a few common hardware brands then it would be extremely useful. Basic use conditions like using the 3D desktop, watching videos (avi, h.264, etc...), listening to music, word processing, and 3D gaming with common hardware would be useful things to write about.anachreon - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
Personally, I think you should just wait for the April release, but that's just me. Every release gets better and better; more recent reviews are nearly always more favorable than ones done in the past. Since I'm an Ubuntu lover, I naturally want you to review the latest and best. :)nubian1 - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
While to some extent I understand why Ubuntu has been chosen it has been my experience with setting up Linux for newbies & experimenting Windows users that Linux Mint (In the top 5 on Distrowatch), an Ubuntu derivative, is a better choice.While still Ubuntu with all it's advantages, Mint offers up a more complete initial experience with it's inclusion of all the popular audio & video codecs pre-installed.
Twice I performed an extended (4-9 months) "experiment" where I installed Linux on a Windows user's PC and pretty much left them to their own devices judging their experiences by their cries for help.
With both PCLinuxOS 2007 & Linux Mint the calls just didn't happen! The only calls I received was when one person asked me if their Digital camera would be recognized before even trying it. After I urged that person to just plug it in it worked great & I never got another call about their linux (PCLinuxOS) box.
My latest "experiments" have used Suse 10.3, Pardus Linux (Great distro!) and now Linux Mint. Mint has been a joy to use for the Linux newbies whose pc I have installed it on.
In short while I understand the desire to use Vanilla Ubuntu, IMHO Mint will probably lead to, at least initially, a more positive experience since it includes all of Ubuntu's positives while adding some welcome enhancements.
LinuxUser73 - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
I'd second the opinion that LinuxMint would be a better choice than Ubuntu. It has everything good about Ubuntu but it really does add alot of additional and welcome features that make it easier for a user new to Linux to use. It is gnome based but the way that it functions, on the surface anyway, is a bit more like KDE. SUSE has a similar "start" menu as well. I think that this helps those more accustomed to Windows adjust and actually bedin to use the OS instead of having to get over the GUI change and then learn the OS.just my opinion though.