For some time the Linux fans have been claiming that Linux is ready to replace Windows and Mac as the desktop system of choice. Being myself a faithful Linux user for over three years now, I have already successfully accomplished the switch. After all this time I cannot, and I do not wish for any reason, to go back to Windows. I do all my work and social computing with ease, speed and reliability with Mint, a fork of the most popular Linux distro: Ubuntu. The biggest advantage of Mint is the inclusion of non-free drivers in their distribution, simplifying the installation and improving the compatibility with audio and video material that I often receive with my emails.
But is Linux really ready to become the desktop system of choice for a normal user? I am a software developer by profession, with a lot of experience in the field. So, for me there is no question that Linux offers a much better environment to work with. In an article that I read just today, the author claims that the newest version 10.04 of Ubuntu is perfect and "blows Windows and Mac out of the water". An enthusiastic claim that I had to investigate by myself.
I downloaded the netbook edition of Ubuntu 10.04 and proceeded to install it in my Asus EeePC netbook, running pretty smooth until now with version 9.04. The installation of 10.04 was indeed perfect: easy, fast and very user-friendly. I dare say that it is suitable to any user, even if the user is not computer literate. The new Ubuntu Software Centre is excellent and confirms one of the strong points of Linux: a centralized and safe repository of countless application packages. The user interface is pleasant and very usable. All seemed to agree with what the above article's author had enthusiastically claimed...
All but the wireless connection, usually one of the Achilles' heel of Linux distros. Despite the fact that the wireless was working perfectly fine with the older version, with the installation of the newest version I was unable to get connection to the Internet. I then made use of another strong point of Linux, the user community network, to look for a solution. I hooked a cable to make a wired connection and it didn't take me long to find a page where the problem was explained and the way to fix it, described in detail. I followed the instructions very carefully and 30 minutes later my wireless was working as expected. My thanks to Chris Barker for the excellent article.
At this point you would say: "So, what's the catch? The latest Ubuntu is thus great, isn't it?" Well, yes and no. It is a great system all right, for people like me, who know their way around with binary installation packages, able to cope with command line instructions and root access, aware of the right places where to search for problem reports, etc. For a normal user, accustomed with graphical interfaces and having a very superficial knowledge of the computer, the situation I faced is insurmountable.
If you care to take a look at Chris Barker's article mentioned above, you will see that fixing my wireless problem required the downloading of the latest binary package of the Ralink RT2860 driver, making some configuration changes, recompiling the driver, replacing the old one and changing the boot configuration. And this is why Linux is not yet ready to replace Windows for the majority of computer users: none of them would have been able to do that.
The day a new version of Ubuntu will not break compatibility that has been already achieved in a previous version or, alternatively, provide solutions wrapped in a script that will execute without manual command line intervention, then I will gladly agree with any claim that Linux is ready to be a valid alternative to anyone looking for a better operating system for the PC desktop. Until this happens, I will be one of the happy few (1%) users enjoying an excellent system to work with. If you are lucky enough to own a PC that is fully hardware compatible with Ubuntu 10.04 or have a friend at hand who is a Linux geek and willing to assist you, then you will be able to enjoy the same experience. But every time you add or replace a piece of hardware, you may incur the risk of needing a little bit more than your skills of pressing buttons on a graphical window. Pity, but nevertheless, true.
But is Linux really ready to become the desktop system of choice for a normal user? I am a software developer by profession, with a lot of experience in the field. So, for me there is no question that Linux offers a much better environment to work with. In an article that I read just today, the author claims that the newest version 10.04 of Ubuntu is perfect and "blows Windows and Mac out of the water". An enthusiastic claim that I had to investigate by myself.
I downloaded the netbook edition of Ubuntu 10.04 and proceeded to install it in my Asus EeePC netbook, running pretty smooth until now with version 9.04. The installation of 10.04 was indeed perfect: easy, fast and very user-friendly. I dare say that it is suitable to any user, even if the user is not computer literate. The new Ubuntu Software Centre is excellent and confirms one of the strong points of Linux: a centralized and safe repository of countless application packages. The user interface is pleasant and very usable. All seemed to agree with what the above article's author had enthusiastically claimed...
All but the wireless connection, usually one of the Achilles' heel of Linux distros. Despite the fact that the wireless was working perfectly fine with the older version, with the installation of the newest version I was unable to get connection to the Internet. I then made use of another strong point of Linux, the user community network, to look for a solution. I hooked a cable to make a wired connection and it didn't take me long to find a page where the problem was explained and the way to fix it, described in detail. I followed the instructions very carefully and 30 minutes later my wireless was working as expected. My thanks to Chris Barker for the excellent article.
At this point you would say: "So, what's the catch? The latest Ubuntu is thus great, isn't it?" Well, yes and no. It is a great system all right, for people like me, who know their way around with binary installation packages, able to cope with command line instructions and root access, aware of the right places where to search for problem reports, etc. For a normal user, accustomed with graphical interfaces and having a very superficial knowledge of the computer, the situation I faced is insurmountable.
If you care to take a look at Chris Barker's article mentioned above, you will see that fixing my wireless problem required the downloading of the latest binary package of the Ralink RT2860 driver, making some configuration changes, recompiling the driver, replacing the old one and changing the boot configuration. And this is why Linux is not yet ready to replace Windows for the majority of computer users: none of them would have been able to do that.
The day a new version of Ubuntu will not break compatibility that has been already achieved in a previous version or, alternatively, provide solutions wrapped in a script that will execute without manual command line intervention, then I will gladly agree with any claim that Linux is ready to be a valid alternative to anyone looking for a better operating system for the PC desktop. Until this happens, I will be one of the happy few (1%) users enjoying an excellent system to work with. If you are lucky enough to own a PC that is fully hardware compatible with Ubuntu 10.04 or have a friend at hand who is a Linux geek and willing to assist you, then you will be able to enjoy the same experience. But every time you add or replace a piece of hardware, you may incur the risk of needing a little bit more than your skills of pressing buttons on a graphical window. Pity, but nevertheless, true.
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