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My post on switching to Ubuntu and not Mac OS generated a lot of interest both amongst Linux and Mac OS users. There were many comments on the post and some valid points were raised. Also there were a lot of myths that were put across. Here I try to dispel some of those:
The myths
- Ubuntu does not have a good UI : This is absolutely rubbish, checkout the new KDE that comes with Ubuntu.
- To install software a user has to use a command line on Ubuntu : Another false claim. The Synaptic package manager is brilliant and does not require interaction with the command line. There are some software that do need command line usage. Then again those won’t be ones an average user is going to use.
- You have to build software from source code on Ubuntu. This is not something an average user would be able to do : The software that come in source code form are definitely not intended for the average user. The ones that are meant for the average user come in binary formats that are easy to install.
- There are hardly any games on Ubuntu : For that matter how many games are there on Mac OS compared to Windows? So if it is ok for Mac OS users to run Windows through Parallels and play games on it then the same can be done on Ubuntu.
- Mac OS is great and thats the reason we have Hackintosh systems : Well Ubuntu comes free and can be installed on virtually any hardware. So the need for hacked systems does not arise.
- Multimedia playback support is not good in Ubuntu : Excuse me but could you define what is exactly meant by multimedia support? If its the capability to playback different file formats then I guess Ubuntu, for that matter Linux in general, has the most plug-ins. The reason they are not supported out-of-the-box is because of licensing problems. Yes Mac OS supports that, but then again you pay to get it. If you pay and get a commercial desktop Linux version you would get all the support you need.
- Mac OS “just works” and Ubuntu does not : What do you mean by that? What is this “just works” thing?
- Hardware support is limited on Ubuntu : The number of hardware components supported by Linux today is probably the second only to Windows. Check the HCL for Ubuntu.
- There are no Ubuntu based laptops available from the large PC vendors : Dell has a line of Ubuntu based laptops. Check them out. The fact that others do not sell them has no reflections on Ubuntu but on Microsoft’s licensing agreements with them. Dell is the only company who has the balls to take Microsoft on.
- I suffer from Apple envy : On the contrary actually. I love the Mac Book Pro and wanted to buy the new 15″ one. But then again I did not see a point in investing in something in which I would be locked in. Yes lock-in is a problem. Face it. The number of apps on Windows far outnumbers those on the Mac OS and that is one of the reasons why many people cannot switch to other operating systems from Windows.
Some truths
- Adobe CS3 and other Adobe multimedia applications are not available on Ubuntu : Quite true. But then whose fault is it? Ubuntu’s or Adobe’s? My take is that Adobe is being extremely short sighted in ignoring Linux. If they continue to do so they would pay dearly.
- Ubuntu does not have iTunes : True, but that affects people who are locked into Apple. Also Apple does not offer that on Ubuntu. And who is responsible for iTunes? Is that enough to not switch to Ubuntu? Someone wanting to use Google Chrome exclusively should then not consider Mac OS at all. Yeah we know that a Mac OS version is in the pipeline, but lets talk when it releases.
There is one thing that I have realized and that is Apple users are extremely loyal to Apple. Kudos to Apple to have achieved that. Windows does not have that. My previous article attracted comments from a lot of Apple loyalists. I was surprised that not an equal number of Linux supporters voiced their views. The only reason for this is the different Linux distros that are out there. Its probably time that they realized that even though it might be Fedora or OpenSuSE or Ubuntu or any other Linux variant, at the core they are all the same.
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Scott said:
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I especially agree that Adobe may pay dearly if they continue to ignore Linux.
ubuntucat said:
True, but that affects people who are locked into Apple. Also Apple does not offer that on Ubuntu. And who is responsible for iTunes? Is that enough to not switch to Ubuntu? Someone wanting to use Google Chrome exclusively should then not consider Mac OS at all.
Do you know how many people there are who have iPods and iPhones and have bought music or other DRM’ed media off the iTunes music store? That is much bigger demographic than those who want to use Google Chrome exclusively.
In fact, I would say just about everyone I know (in person, not on the internet) who has a portable audio player has an iPod or iPhone and uses iTunes to manage her music collection. I know no one who uses Chrome exclusively.
Swapnil said:
True about the iPod thing, but Linux and other OSs offer many other apps which can manage iPods and other multimedia players.. there are a lot of apps which you can use to manage your music on iPod…
Lucas Arruda said:
Ubuntucat,
that`s true, but people who usually buy music through the iTunes are generally in the US. Not in the rest of the world, where people have their musics on CDs and from internet downloads, which is not legal, but it`s what happen the most. So, therefore, most music on PC and Mac and Linux are no DRMed.
FabriceV said:
You compare vaporware or specificware to realityware…
Quote: Ubuntu does not have a good UI : This is absolutely rubbish, checkout the new KDE that comes with Ubuntu.
If you consider GUI is just a sceenshot, I agree. Otherwise it is a beta version for how much years (KDE4). And how long before a consistent GUI for softwares (Switch to QT4 will be long, and buggy too). How stable and integrated are GnomeDO and so one… Just read the remarks of their own authors.
Are you seriously try to use a search software (e.g. Tracker) to search few Go of pdf files… None of them is just able to list correctly the files…
Thus your arguments are globally OK. But taking into account the scope of their application… Ubuntu (I like it and use it over AppleOS) is far… But really far… from Apple… Anyway I do not want to use the Apple’s closed and expensive environment. Anyway, Linux approach is far ambitious (more hardwares to support, more desktop configurations and so on…).
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decemberdoom said:
No Itunes, honestly, no problem. Why anyone would want to use such a slow, buggy, and restrictive program is WAY beyond me.
Linux music players (rythmbox for example) have Ipod Support built in, and for the newer Itouch/Iphone, there is a very simple FTP work-around.
Sonny G said:
Ubuntu 9.04 was released yesterday. I use the KDE version. This morning I was presented with a prompt that asked if I wanted to upgrade to the latest version. I’d never used this functionality before so I took a quick system snapshot and clicked ‘Yes’. 2 hours later the process was complete and I was now running Kubuntu 9.04. 1 hour later I had confirmed that all the software I was using before the update still worked, all of my old configs had been backed up, and /usr/local was left untouched. Think about what that task would entail and yield if it were done on a Mac, or even worse, in Windows. And to really drive a point home, ask yourself why you would pay top-dollar for a system that can’t achieve what the open source community has accomplished in such an elegant manner.
————– BOTTOM LINE ——————–
Windows is garbage, Macs are expensive, and Ubuntu is a free, full-featured, high-performance, bat out of hell.
dc0de said:
Amen.
keeron said:
bottom line
WINDOWS has best hardware and software choice and support. i dont give a crap about bill gates as i have a need for windows cus of the apps i use, but i aint no fan boy. windows is and can be a bitch to work with and windows bloat is a flaming joke for my 6 pc firewire network with 1 dual core mac running windows xp system via bootcamp.
MAC OS X is really slick looking but quite stiff in what it can do (supported apps wise). yes it can do most things windows can do and i can ftp without other programs involved, invalueble for my softmodded xox 1, 120gbhd running xbmc (to scared to do 360 yet lol) but it usually only has a few alternatives to the different apps. and i dont want to keep buying upgrades for an os that i find does the job but is not very braod in it’s software base (this app is only supported by os whatever upgrade higher than yours please buy a new one ppc emac). Windows for writing music with cubase and fx teleport or saw studio just kill mac for me. six windows computers transfering audio and midi between 1 host with a soundcard and 5 slaves without in realtime with asio playback and record with a soundblaster audidgy plat ex running unofficial hacked kx project drivers really kicks macs ass hands down for me and i’ve been writing music like this since fx teleport came out lots of years ago way b4 macs could do that stuff(if they can now, they couldn’t then) sorry mac users i was doing that long before the mac was even capable, fx teleport never made a mac version) so the mac is quite irrelevent in my creative music creation work, running os 10. but it is flaming hot when running bootcamp xp, fx teleport and kontact across a network sweet as a nut. but it’s great for using as a wireless router for my hacked wii or psp, my six year olds ppc emac has got no os as i wanna try ubuntu for ppc
.
i got em cheap so bought em to see what this mac/pc divide was all about and i have to say as a user of both for years. windows wipes the floor with mac only cus of software and hardware support in my opinion but mac is very well loved snobery ermm most likely, to be honest a new computer user wouldnt tell the difference but power user like me see the brickwalls all the time with mac os x 10.2 and 10. 5 apps wise
UBUNTU looks smart is quite feature packed and the live cd is brilliant. sometimes i lost patience with it as i’m not a linux user as such i’ve looked at ubuntu and installed it a few times but i always end up getting stuck with it i know it’s just a learning curve and thats why i’ve gotten rid of os x for ppc in favour of ubuntu but i cant get it to load into a desktop i know there is probably a solution and luckily enough i’m adept with computer so shouldn’t have a prob digging out a solution but i must say for ppc version and x86 version the install is not straight forward in alternate mode (low power older computers and hardware) for a new user this might be quite daunting. the one thing is i wish the the text install could just work on everything i try to install it on one computer i had to install it 3 times cuz the hardware was so old it would cause lock up it went on in the end but only after a whole day reading and messing about mac install piece of cake windows install piece of cake ubuntu install probably a piece of cake but i couldn’t say defo yet as 2 out of five computers have reacted different to the same install routine 3 worked no worries 1 had a bit of stuttering to get it going and one is sitting with a full install but no desktop if i was a novice i would be lost with the black screen of ubuntu and no emac os disks anymore as moved out so got lost but when i had it running int he past it’s a great number for a free OS and frankly makes the mac look like an asthetic purchase or a specific app more than a power users computer for power users only windows and linux can do the job xdebian for making xbox format memory cards cant be done on any other OS making linux a valueable tool in the power users arsenal and xboxhdm for making xbox hdd is genius again only linux can do it. why cuz it’s for the people by the people i no basic c++ and c# so am really interested in taking linux seriously for the first time in my life cus of these two very small and relativly unknown distros
REAL BOTTOM LINE
big up linux,big up windows,big up mac os x. they have different uses thats all
keeron said:
i’m gonna take ubuntu seriously and ohh yeah same black screen on Xubuntu or xUbuntu for xbox 1 to live cd wont boot up either dont know why again ubuntu’s gonna have me reading. i hope i can read and then get on with it cuz the setting up process is very frustrating if you aint used to linux and ubuntu and i certainly aint YET