General Lighting wrote:
apparently Ubuntu is getting much easier for “non-techies” to deal with.
Remember the days when an IBM PC/compatible running MS-DOS wasn’t the only computer system out there to be used? Thankfully, I think we are now getting back to that situation (a more competitive market.)
The more mature Linux distros are now easier for oldies + people who’ve never used computer at all before IMO.
My pal Jamie set up a Linux system for his maw to use (she must be an OAP now) and she’s had no problems so far – all she needs to know is how to turn it on, start up firefox and get connected to the internet+her webmail. The main benefits over a windows system for her are A:) She doesn’t need to stress about virii and spyware. and B:) The software is all completely free…I immediately got sick of stealing software/arsing around with cracks+serials etc when I realised that there were superior alternatives out there for free that people want me to use!
The main problems standing in the way of Linux’ mainstream adoption at the moment are probably caused by its lack of market share, which in turn means a lack of proper device drivers – particularly for wireless network cards for some reason – I’ve got an open source driver for my card but it doesn’t perform well.
Of course lack of market share also means that games and music+video software etc don’t seem to get ported to Linux for financial reasons. But hopefully all this will change in the future – after all we’ve had excellent graphics and sound drivers for quite some time now…
If it’s just Vista eye candy you’re after, I’d reccomend switching to Linux right now – we’ve had better for quite some time thanks to Beryl/XGL…
