Linux and Open Source
What can Linux learn from Toyota?
(Special thanks to coronastx for the image.) Toyota’s recent missteps in safety and reliability have certainly harmed Toyota – no doubt there – but they also sent shockwaves through the entire Japanese auto industry. When the all-star member of a team displays weakness, the entire team suffers. So it is with desktop Linux. Love it or hate it, Canonical has been very successful in positioning Ubuntu as THE desktop Linux OS to try. In 2008, when I again decided to try desktop Linux after several years away, the obvious choice of distro was Ubuntu. Many, many blogs pointed to it as the best place to experience Linux, and since then Canonical and its throngs of loyal fans have only strengthened that message. Frankly, I think the users of every other distro should be concerned. When Canonical positions Ubuntu as the best incarnation of desktop Linux, then proceeds to release multiple problematic versions in a row, it reflects poorly on ALL desktop distros…
Dear Ubuntu: I Have Some Concerns
Dear Ubuntu: For the last couple years, life has been good. Every time I’ve shown you to a friend or family member, they’ve compared you to what they’re familiar with – Windows XP or Vista, mostly – and by comparison you’ve looked brilliant. Yeah, your ugly brown color scheme was a bit off-putting at first, but once people saw how secure, simple, and reliable you were, the response was almost universally positive. But recently, things have changed…
Why I Use and Promote Ubuntu Linux
I’ve been pretty hard on Ubuntu lately. Considering that the product is free, is it appropriate for me to do things like insult its appearance and request huge lists of fixes? I believe it is. The first statement in the Ubuntu Philosophy reads: Every computer user should have the freedom to download, run, copy, distribute, [...]
Day 10 – 10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests
Today is the final day of my “10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests” series, and the topic is paper cuts. (Paper cut: a trivially fixable usability bug.) I have saved this discussion for last because I believe it is the single biggest challenge Ubuntu faces. Conversely, if the Ubuntu development team is successful in solving the majority of desktop Linux’s many paper cuts, it will end up being the most significant contribution they make to the Linux ecosphere…
Day 9 – 10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests
Today is day 9 of my “10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests” series, and the topic is Ubuntu marketing. Many people have thrown out opinions as to why Linux companies don’t market directly to the masses, and the opinions usually settle on a handful of ideas – Linux is already free, so marketing is irrelevant. There’s no money to be made with the Linux desktop, so Linux companies should focus on servers and services instead. Hardware support still isn’t where it needs to be, so marketing is premature. I find all of these excuses irrelevant…
Day 8 – 10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests
Today is day 8 of my “10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests” series, and the topic is creating a better online video experience. This is a diverse problem with a number of components, so bear with me as we tackle each aspect in turn…
Day 7 – 10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests
Today is day 7 of my “10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests” series, and the topic is not a “feature,” per se, but something so crucially important to the continued success of the Ubuntu project that it’s worth discussing here. Ubuntu has a lot of fans, and rightfully so. It’s a great distribution that continues to do great things for The Linux Desktop. But as time passes, the opponents of Ubuntu become more and more vocal. In order to ensure continued growth and support, Canonical needs to mend three key relationships…
Day 6 – 10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests
Today is day 6 of my “10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests” series, and the topic is backup tools. Windows’ System Restore has been around since Windows Me (2000), and Windows Backup has existed since XP launched in 2001. Apple users got Time Machine as part of Leopard (October 2007). Ubuntu still doesn’t ship with an out-of-the-box backup solution, and a new user is going to be completely overwhelmed by all the options presented in the official help documentation for “back up your system”…
Day 5 – 10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests
Today is day 5 of my “10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests” series, and the topic is video editing software. One of the recurring comments submitted to me while researching this article was the current lack of a great Linux video editor, and I have to agree. The last 10 years have seen video editing move from the professional to the hobbyist to the casual user realm, and people with almost no computer experience are now using software like Windows Movie Maker and iMovie to compile home videos, travelogues, and wedding slideshows. Unfortunately, Linux remains a mixed bag when it comes to video editing…
Day 4 – 10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests
Today is day 4 of my “10 Days of Ubuntu 10.10 Feature Requests” series, and the topic is real Wine integration. I picked this topic because the transition from Windows to Ubuntu can be very pleasant. Analogs exist for most standard software (browser, audio player, etc.), but many people will find that at least one or two of their favorite pieces of Windows software have no direct correlation in Windows. This is especially true for gamers. In many cases, the software in question can be run under Wine. Unfortunately, Wine is not integrated into an out-of-the-box Ubuntu install…
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