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Linux enters the corporate world again... but are consumers ready?

Popular electronics retailer Best Buy now has Ubuntu Linux version 8.04, known as Hardy Heron, available for sale for $19.99 along with additional open source software.  Best Buy hopes working with Canonical will help expand the use of Ubuntu Linux to a new crowd it hopes is ready for Linux.


Ubuntu has quickly become one of the most popular Linux distributions, overtaking the likes of Mandriva, Red Hat, and Debian.  Other Linux distributors have attempted to bundle a Linux OS and additional software for retail sale, but have had little success due to the open availability of the OSes over the Internet.

Hardy Heron has OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and additional free software features.  Most important for new Linux users, the Ubuntu Wubi feature was designed to install Ubuntu through the Windows GUI without going through the trials and tribulations of partitioning the HDD.

Customers who purchase Ubuntu from Best Buy will receive 60 days of free support, which may end up not being enough for completely new Linux users.  It's possible to download Ubuntu for free through the ShipIt service and use the Ubuntu support forums to receive help from Canonical staff and other Ubuntu users.

Some news articles indicate Ubuntu has been available in Best Buy for at least two months, though it may have been in select stores before being rolled out nationwide.  

Wal-Mart attempted to sell low-cost PCs and notebooks pre-loaded with Linux -- Linspire, Xandros, and other OSes designed for new users -- but the products have not been well-received as of late.  Ubuntu's blend of advanced functionality for experienced Linux users mixed with a friendly installation has made it popular for new and experienced Linux users.

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.exe
By rudolphna on 7/12/2008 4:12:09 PM , Rating: 4
You know, i would like linux alot better (ive tried ubuntu) if they would make .exe files for it, instead of wading through command line. Took me 3 hours on support with someone online to get my wireless card to work. Then, i had to download hacked drivers so i could use 1280x1024. It was too much of a pain in the rear. Make wireless work automatically, and create .exe type files work with it!




RE: .exe
By anotherdude on 7/12/08, Rating: -1
RE: .exe
By Schadenfroh on 7/12/2008 10:07:21 PM , Rating: 3
Ha, your rating is negated when you post


RE: .exe
By Clauzii on 7/12/2008 10:42:23 PM , Rating: 2
That's right, but OP was rated down to 1 at that point in time. The other had 3, so people rated it down.


RE: .exe
By xRyanCat on 7/12/2008 4:37:21 PM , Rating: 3
You make a point on .exe files, but I'm not quite sure you know what they are used for. They are complex containers for many different parts of a single program. So while it's essentially a single executable there are images, libraries, and other resources contained within it. Regardless I'll take apt-get over .exe anyday.

Wireless support isn't the fault of Linux but rather the manufacturers'. While still a bit crummy, in the past couple of years support for many wireless drivers has expanded greatly.

Video support has also been very nicely streamlined. I remember having to tediously edit .xorg files (which I'm guessing is your "hacked drivers") to change my resolution. Now, my monitor is automatically detected and the proper resolution is set.

I recommend you try the latest version of Ubuntu. You can now even run Ubuntu inside your Windows installation as an application via Wubi.


RE: .exe
By SavagePotato on 7/12/2008 6:16:42 PM , Rating: 1
For the sake of giving it the benefit of the doubt I have tried every version of Ubuntu to come along since it's initial release.

It has made great progress but it still just lacks. The latest version I decided to load on a work machine and see if I could make due using only ubuntu as a work machine for a week. In the end I had to remote desktop to a Vista machine for a few things I use.

Inexplicably after a few days (at least to a non linux guru like me) I noticed oh, look theres updates, so I go to download them and for some reason it tells me I don't have access with the same password that worked fine before, and used to log onto the machine minutes earlier, then the package manager starts crashing when I try to even bring it up.

Thus the experiment ended. I'm sure there was an answer out there and an ubuntu guru could have solved it in minutes, but I didn't have time to muck around with it so I plugged my Vista hard drive back in and went back to work problem free.

In the end it has come a long way, but it has a long way to go as well.

Oh and PS the fonts are just ass ugly, even when you isntall the mst core fonts package.


RE: .exe
By kc77 on 7/12/2008 9:39:23 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Inexplicably after a few days (at least to a non linux guru like me) I noticed oh, look theres updates, so I go to download them and for some reason it tells me I don't have access with the same password that worked fine before, and used to log onto the machine minutes earlier, then the package manager starts crashing when I try to even bring it up.


I've installed Ubuntu on more than just a few machines even on pieces of crap and the package manager (which is within Debian so you know it's stable) has never crashed repeatedly.... also the whole my password didn't work is also something that never has happened before you create an account on Ubuntu it's either blank, the default debian password or the one you set it isn't going to be anything else. Find that bug in launchpad on the current version of Ubuntu and I'll concede.


RE: .exe
By VooDooAddict on 7/14/2008 8:45:35 AM , Rating: 2
Last 2 times I've tried Ubuntu for personal use I've had the same experience with the package manager. Once was 6 months ago and another was about 2 years ago. The update manager used to crash all the time, this most recent attempt the update manager refused to install updates due to missing dependencies. I managed to get the dependencies installed using some command line fun with the help of a few google searches. Then what happened? The next set of updates also had a dependency issue.

At that point I said the hell with it. I've still got it installed (P3 1GHz Laptop / 768MB) but will likely only use the system once or twice a year.

As a competitor to Win9x or Windows 2000 on aging PCs I've recommended it. I just can't see recommending as the only OS it for a new system at this point.

On a side note I typically give people a copy of the latest Ubuntu DVD for booting into the Live OS in case of a hard drive crash. Love the Bootable DVD for letting people still use a system while the HD is busted.


RE: .exe
By Filibuster on 7/13/2008 6:15:59 AM , Rating: 2
I'm going to say that I am right there with SavagePotato on this one. The first time I tried Ubuntu (a few years ago) the package manager did not -crash- but when I tried to install a package I wanted, a dependancy for it was missing for several days. I finally gave up messing with it - this was almost the entire point of trying it out. A friend from work was hyping Ubuntu to me and I was interested to see how smoothly it worked...

Recently I used it almost exclusively at home for a few weeks due to my main computer motherboard dying. I had much better luck with it, but it is still way beyond the capabilities of a normal user. One example: Pidgin worked fine for a few days out of the box and suddenly the ICQ function just stopped and said it was too old. Then while I'm trying to figure that out, Pidgin started running but not coming up on the display...the process was running but no GUI. I had to update Pidgin, but this required going to getdeb and manually downloading/installing 3 packages and removing the Ubuntu package first. Oh and I had to manually clear the .purple folder out. Not difficult...for someone who does this stuff for a living...AND once you figure out what the heck is going on by reading forums for a while. Way beyond what the average Joe is going to be able to do. A typical, non-technical user has a hard enough time going to a website to download one file and install it - its really amazing, trust me, but I deal with this all the time.

I've used various distros over the years but they are all still way behind OSX and Windows - I expect that because these are commercial OS's - but everyone who laughs at a Windows user misfortune and tells them to just use Linux has no idea what they are talking about. The ideas in Ubuntu (and other similar distros) are awesome but it is just not there yet.


RE: .exe
By kc77 on 7/13/08, Rating: 0
RE: .exe
By jvillaro on 7/13/2008 1:26:05 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
A few years ago??? Do you know how much things have changed in Ubuntu within the past few years????


I tried Ubuntu's latest version YESTERDAY, video drivers for the geforce 9500m GS do not work.
I'm not a linux expert by any means but I do know my way around in other cases (and ubuntu is supposed to be user friendly and can now replace windows in the average Joe's pc right?). So I try searching on the web and many people (even so called gurus) are having the same problem.
There are new divers so I download them...OK, try to install... NO, Try again... NO, Have to login as root... OK, Try to install... NO, Try again...NO, Have to run the SH NVIDIA_____ from the console but not while running an Xserver... DO that... NO, Have to change the level of whatever so do some telinit 3 or something... NO it just boots up again the xserver... WTF???
Ok I gave up, maybe to soon but i thought I'd try later. So maybe play around with some packages see what apps I could install and give a try and maybe give it a shot sometimes just to mix some things up. I see what I intuitively think is an upgrade for Firefox. I tried that... NO, It damaged it, tried to reinstall... NO, some dependencies are something... Tried to fix the dependencies... NO
Next step bye bye ubuntu for now, thank God for Wubi. Maybe I'll give it a shot later today, maybe in a month maybe in a FEW YEARS, with all it has accomplished linux has a lot a work to do. Maybe a better way for a linux newbie to install a driver, is that to much to ask?
I'm not a hater, I actually like to have the opportunity to play with linux sometimes (never going to change Windows for it though as I'm a .NET programmer and like it a lot, maybe some MONO experience would be nice).


RE: .exe
By jvillaro on 7/13/2008 1:26:22 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
A few years ago??? Do you know how much things have changed in Ubuntu within the past few years????


I tried Ubuntu's latest version YESTERDAY, video drivers for the geforce 9500m GS do not work.
I'm not a linux expert by any means but I do know my way around in other cases (and ubuntu is supposed to be user friendly and can now replace windows in the average Joe's pc right?). So I try searching on the web and many people (even so called gurus) are having the same problem.
There are new divers so I download them...OK, try to install... NO, Try again... NO, Have to login as root... OK, Try to install... NO, Try again...NO, Have to run the SH NVIDIA_____ from the console but not while running an Xserver... DO that... NO, Have to change the level of whatever so do some telinit 3 or something... NO it just boots up again the xserver... WTF???
Ok I gave up, maybe to soon but i thought I'd try later. So maybe play around with some packages see what apps I could install and give a try and maybe give it a shot sometimes just to mix some things up. I see what I intuitively think is an upgrade for Firefox. I tried that... NO, It damaged it, tried to reinstall... NO, some dependencies are something... Tried to fix the dependencies... NO
Next step bye bye ubuntu for now, thank God for Wubi. Maybe I'll give it a shot later today, maybe in a month maybe in a FEW YEARS, with all it has accomplished linux has a lot a work to do. Maybe a better way for a linux newbie to install a driver, is that to much to ask?
I'm not a hater, I actually like to have the opportunity to play with linux sometimes (never going to change Windows for it though as I'm a .NET programmer and like it a lot, maybe some MONO experience would be nice).


RE: .exe
By kc77 on 7/13/08, Rating: 0
RE: .exe
By riku0116 on 7/13/2008 7:04:49 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Who does that????? No Linux user will say ... "you know what pick up any hardware you want and Linux will just work 3d effects and all" Why do you have that expectation?


Maybe not you, or me, or any other Linux veteran out there, but the general public, who are accustomed to the level of driver support in Windows, WILL expect perfectly working drivers for every piece of hardware in their computer to be available.

quote:
I'm sorry but Linux community doesn't have a lot of work to do but you do.. so far without understanding how Linux works you've tried to update video drivers to add 3dfx within the command line which you didn't bother to research before using it, and with all of that you are attempting to do it on hardware that is for all purposes pretty new and barely supported by Nvidia....and you're disappointed in Linux??!?!


Again, the average Joe wouldn't bother with "understanding how Linux works" before attempting to install drivers. You and I both know that it's not Linux's fault, but that won't stop most people from blaming the OS for driver issues (especially if they paid money for it). Remember Vista?

quote:
Do us all a favor when you "try it in a few years" buy a Mac. You don't have to read a manual. You won't be able to really update too many drivers and any important system folders will be hidden from view that way you won't have to type 'sudo' before writing into a system folder.


I think the point everybody is trying to make here is not that Ubuntu is not a good OS, just that it is nowhere near ready for the retail market, where the general expectation for an OS IS that it will work intuitively and handle most hardware without too much effort on their side, à la XP, Vista, and even OSX (sort of).


RE: .exe
By kc77 on 7/13/2008 9:13:37 PM , Rating: 1
You do bring up a good point. However, just because people have become accustomed to something doesn't mean that's the right thing to do. OSX doesn't even have that capability if for whatever reason people are still running around with G3 towers or if they have a Mac Pro tower you cannot just grab a video card off the shelf and install it in a Mac.

So why is the expectation not only at the level of Mac OS support but higher than that???

As a user, trust me Linux has it's limitations, but video driver support within Linux from Nvidia or ATI cards is better than what can be had on a Mac. But that doesn't mean you can go into it without at least checking.

When I bought my wireless card a couple of months ago, not only did I check Linux compatibility but I also wanted to know what the Windows XP experience would be. From the manufacturer that I bought my card, some were good for XP, some were made for Vista, which meant that driver support wasn't exactly the best depending on model.

While I don't expect consumers to write a white paper, you should take a common sense approach to at least understand what the experience is going to be like.

Is this card going to work?? What kind of programs do I need? Do I want my network infrastructure to be NFS or CIFS/Samba ? By doing this it makes moving to Linux far easier and a much better experience.


RE: .exe
By SavagePotato on 7/13/2008 7:16:28 PM , Rating: 2
See this is why Linux will never be mainstream in the desktop space. The attitude of the people behind it.

Honestly, why should I spend my time pouring over message boards or howtos for a desktop os when I can use osx or windows which work perfectly and don't require a month of reading?

The answer I shouldn't, I should continue to use Windows. The point advanced Linux users miss in the quest to make it a mainstream desktop OS is that people will not bend over backwards to learn to conform to the OS the OS will have to conform to them.

Linux is fine in the server space for admins who know what they are doing, but so long as that nature of it comes over to the so called "mainstream" that Ubuntu is aiming for, it's going to miss.

THAT is why it is moving forward so slowly.


RE: .exe
By kc77 on 7/13/08, Rating: 0
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