back to article Ubuntu shops believe in Ubuntu

Is Ubuntu ready for prime time in the enterprise? Ubuntu users think so, according to a recent survey from Ubuntu's commercial sponsor, Canonical, and IT consultancy Red Monk. Unlike many surveys that land on the desks of IT journos each week, the one done by Canonical and Red Monk was based on a very large number of responses …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. amanfromMars Silver badge

    In Life's Game, are you XXXXPerienced? Have you ever been XXXXPerienced?

    "I'm seriously worried about the possibility that it might be running all that stuff under itself that, if I had a clue, I could play with stuff and break it.

    I mean.... like it is still Linux

    I Like" .... By BLoad Posted Friday 6th February 2009 03:08 GMT

    The Beauty of Linux is that you can play with stuff and if you are going to break anything you are given a DOS Notice... a Virtual Warning akin to the earlier D Notice/National Security Letters arrangement used internally by Paper Medium Nations.

    And Beta Instructions to Follow from ITs OS Peers and Virtualisation Pioneers....... BetaTesting AI Trials in Novel TrAIls............ and a Classic Tale 42 Register as you Will and your Greater Good Imagination Provides.

  2. Steve

    Mission Critical?

    "Interestingly, 20 per cent of those polled said they run Linux (not just Ubuntu) on homemade servers, and another 23 per cent said they run Linux on tower or desktop PCs."

    Don't make me laugh!

    RHEL and Windows 2008 are the only platforms, and on HP ProLiant is the only Mission Critical environment I'd look at supporting.

    Ubuntu on a home made box.... give me a break.

  3. paulc
    Thumb Down

    No, Ubuntu is NOT ready...

    not while they keep doing stupid things like putting untried new stuff like Pulseaudio into the LTS before they've even had a go at trying it in the normal 6 monthly version... The LTS should be a stabilised version of the one released 6 months before, NOT a complete fresh issue...

    I moved to Ubuntu because Debian was ridiculously slow in updating, now I'm seriously considering moving back to Debian...

  4. Steve Taylor
    Unhappy

    License counts?

    Perhaps the reason that the don't give actual counts for installed Linux licenses is that there's no such thing!

    Do you not quite get this free concept?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    re: no money then

    did u hax teh xorg.conf wit ur 1337 h4xx0r skillz?

    :P

  6. A J Stiles
    Linux

    Licence count is a poor measure

    Counting the number of licences is hardly a fair measure of how much software is installed.

    If you have 100 machines running Windows, you need 100 licences.

    If you have 1000 machines running Ubuntu, you need one licence.

  7. Tom Callway
    Linux

    Wouldn't back Canonical stuff

    If you want to run a non-mission critical web server on Linux and you want something simple, then Ubuntu Server might be okay.

    Don't get me wrong, I really like Shuttleworth and what he's trying to do. But if you're doing anything serious and *you know want you're doing* then go upstream. Debian is much more stable, has a better track record and comes from a commercially solvent org.

    I certainly wouldn't want to stick mission-critical stuff on an OS produced by a company that's never been in the black.

  8. paul

    Ubuntu server

    Do they bundle pulse audio with that as well?

    I quite agree its no RHEL. But the special thing about RHEL is the support. Do Shuttleworths Canolonical offer a simiar level?

  9. Steve Taylor
    Unhappy

    If you have 1000 machines running Ubuntu, you need ZERO licences.

    IDoh!

  10. The Fuzzy Wotnot
    Thumb Up

    Oh please stop the FUD!

    Last time I edited Xorg.conf was about 18 months ago!

    Loaded 8.04 onto an oldish Compaq deskpro with Nvidia driven dual Eizo screens. Loaded O/S. Logged in. Selected download Nvidia driver. Rebooted. Ran up the Nvidia control panel, set my twin view screen double-wide desktop, select max resolution for the monitors, Eizo 568's which Uby had detected correctly. Voila, worked without going anywhere near any command lines!

    No it is far from being ready for the desktop as people are creatures of habit, they have to want to change. Took my old man 6 months to get used to his OSX box after he bought it, but slowly he has been moving over. We have a lot of geek baggage still to drag around but by Dawkins it's getting better every week. I remember not even being able to get my NE2000 card to work with SuSE 5, could just about run a desktop in 640x480x16 colour, that was only 8-9 years ago.

    Things have changed, the word is spreading and it is getting better, we just need to shake off the FUD that CTOs think free equals crap. Luckily the old CTOs who fell into the job by luck are now retiring and we are starting to see young CTOs with much wider vision in some companies, willing to check out what horses for what courses!

  11. edwardecl
    Linux

    xorg.conf

    The new version 8.10 does not even have an xorg.conf anymore. I'm not sure if thats a good thing either, but yes this is the bit I hate most about linux desktop. If it does not detect your monitor/hdtv/whatever you have to edit it which is a right pain.

    I've not tried 8.10 (other than the livecd) on anything yet so can't comment if they fixed that.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bigger Businesses get targeted by MS Sales

    That appears to be a good reason for it.

    Ubuntu, is more of a gateway, home user Linux distro isn't it?

    It is not something to get your freaky geeky on. Still, it would be nice if those home users and soho's paid for support, then they could stop posting inane questions about their xorg.conf files to the web.

    Yes, you should hand roll your own xorg.conf, locate all the fonts, be ready to switch the /dev/input/event number each time you hand roll your own patched for performance kernel, or update udev. If you cannot do that pony up the dosh to get some Ubuntu support, you are not l33t, you are not clever, you are but a user, act like one, and stop kidding yourself you are getting it on tick to pay back later.

    The Ubuntu hoards have really dumbed down the average Linux user, and they are a bunch of freeloaders, they don't care about open source, they don't look at the code, they just see free as in not having to pay any money for it. Boy they just don't get it.

    And it is not Ubuntu's fault, they are trying to make it viable, they have put money into the desktop, they have the support lines, they make a pretty good distro for users.

    There is no such thing as free, you have to win the knowledge somehow. And to expect developers who have won the knowledge both in software creation, copious man pages and technical literature to just dole it out for nothing, in easy don't make my brain boggle portions, and to be their own personal unpaid hell desks, just stinks of selfishness, over inflated self importance and arrogance.

    The open source world doesn't need market share, they don't get paid for it. It is just plainly evident that when you understand computer systems, and develop solutions, open source is a lot better for many things, but not for users for that you need Ubuntu or RedHat support.

  13. Darren Bell

    djb.bell@gmail.com

    We run Ubuntu Server (No Pulseaudio btw). On it we run Apache which fronts 3 JBoss servers running Confluence, Jira and Fisheye (5 million lines of code) from Atlassian. This has been running now without problems for 4 months. Database is Postgres running on the same server.

    Confluence has around 700 users and Jira about 500 all over the world. Response time is good. We have no complaints at all. We can adminster it from anywhere via ssh. Life's good and as an admin, I sleep well at night.

    This is what it's all about. We test Disaster Recovery each year and all is well.

    at use it swear by it those that don't say it's not ready.

    So I am personally, through experience, am satisfied that Ubuntu is ready.

    It all comes down to the same thing. Those that use it swear by it :)

  14. Wayland Sothcott

    Linux ve Windows

    Windows servers have some important features that seem to be missing from Linux. Once you have the server doing it's job you reaally don't have much to do. The hardware will break at some point, how easy it is to recover from that is vital.

    Now the users PC's are a different matter, they alway seem to be going wrong.

  15. Fred

    Windows bites - Ubuntu just works!

    After over 12 years of experience i now refuse to work with windows servers (for ALL the obvious reasons), and yes i still house,transport,cloth and feed myself and my family very comfortably.

    It took a while to convince my employers - but like my boss now says: windows is like smoking - once you've given it up life is a lot easier!

    My impression is that there is too much auto-FUD generated in any Ubuntu story in The Register - so perhaps those FUD comments above are from..... we know.

  16. Roger Lancefield
    Stop

    The "Ubuntu hoards"

    Anonymous Cowherd wrote:

    "The Ubuntu hoards have really dumbed down the average Linux user"

    Good. That means that Canonical are achieving their stated goals. If there's one community that needed to "get out more", it was the echo chamber that was desktop Linux. Listening to the promises over the years was like listening to LibDem party politicals, Linux's breakthrough was always "just around the corner". How many years did we hear that "this will be the year of Linux on the desktop"? It was never going to happen without someone like Shuttleworth and Canonical.

    In terms of spreading Linux to the masses, while others delivered posturing and rhetoric, Shuttleworth has delivered new users, millions of them. And in my view, a large part of his success is his approach to less technical users; you'll never hear him spout unhelpful, elitist sentiment like the above.

    Resenting Shuttleworth for starting to deliver on the often-made promises is about as disingenuous as it gets. So some of the new users are ungrateful and presumptuous. Frankly, so what? What did you really expect? The overbearing ones will just end up ignored and will sooner or later learn that the only way forward with Free software is by being constructive and pitching in (evangelism, mutual support, financial donations, docs, bug reports, etc. all available to "ordinary" users. They don't need to write code to be useful community members).

    Besides, even if one accepts the claim that the masses are ungrateful and clueless, they are forming a critical mass that is clearly causing established industry players to take Linux on the desktop more seriously.

    To those who moan about the mentality of the "Ubuntu crowd", pray tell, exactly what was your expectation for mass Linux adoption? Did you really expect a billion people checking code into to an SVN repository on a regular basis? Personally I expected a billion people the majority of whom would use software and knowledge in the public domain to do stuff like browse the Web, check their email, word process a doc, all without being beholden to a proprietary company for the privilege.

    Stop moaning already. Your bluff is being called. Did you want wide-spread adoption and mass popularity, or were you just posturing?

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    using ubuntu server 2 years now

    We use ubuntu servers for file/print/collaboration/web purposes - have been doing so for the past two years. We're a charity, and by philosophy we don't waste donations on overheads - so free software on homebrew hardware was the first step.

    Fortunately this past year there were loads of specials on server hardware, so now we are running the same stuff on proper server boxes.

    The attractive thing with Ubuntu is that we don't *have* to pay for support, but the option of paid support is always there if we get out of our depth or run out of people.

    The predictable release cycle is a major plus because we can align our project plans with the LTS schedule.

    The other plus is that if Ubuntu goes to the dark side, we aren't stuck - it is easy to migrate to one of the other "spawn of Debian".

    For a bigger organisation RHEL might be a better bet, but Ubuntu allows us to do all the basics, including DR (which is very cute, because hardware upgrades can be done during the normal working day rather than in the wee small hours of the morning).

    I try to avoid getting too attached to any one vendor - one ends up being at their mercy.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Ubuntu Hoards" --- Enough Already with the Unfounded Elitism

    The average Linux user is one who affects a deeper understanding of Operating Systems than is in fact the case. Something like Ubuntu is absolutley needed to get this show on the road and force more desktop innovation and competition to take place.

  19. NB
    Flame

    debian

    just use debian testing ffs, windows servers are for monkeys, that's why MSCE's get paid peanuts.

  20. Roger Lancefield

    Errata

    A couple of corrections to my comment above.

    "Resenting Shuttleworth for starting to deliver on the often-made promises is about as disingenuous as it gets"

    should read:

    Resenting Shuttleworth for starting to deliver on the often-made promises is about as perverse as it gets".

    "They don't need to write code to be useful community members"

    should read

    "They don't need to write code to contribute to the community"

    and:

    "Personally I expected a billion people"

    should read:

    "Personally I expect a billion people"

    As encouraging as recent adoption rates have been, I think we've got a way to go before we see the one billionth Linux desktop user ;)

  21. David Wilkinson

    I agree ....

    Most comptuer users are barely computer literate. They learn the bare minimum to do what they need to get done. To them a good OS is whatever one that will simply work without them having to learn anything.

    If Linux wants to get out of the sever room ... it needs to take seriously the complains of those who can't be bothered to read the manual.

  22. Roger Heathcote
    Flame

    @Anonymous asshole...

    "selfishness, over inflated self importance and arrogance."

    Clearly it takes on to know one.

  23. Jim

    @David Wilkinson

    You have a good point, but it contradicts your apparent position.

    From what I've seen, Vista doesn't "simply work". In fact, it seems to be a complete nightmare to a lot of people. I would point out that the comments I've read about it "working perfectly well for me" always seem to come from people with a degree of technical competence.

    Have you used Ubuntu? Not only does it "just work", it updates cleanly and provides a user interface that is just as easy to use as Windows, if not easier.

    I agree with the key point you made, that most computer users are barely literate. They are the ones who should be given Linux on their desktop because they don't know any better :-)

  24. John Widger
    Flame

    Ungrateful and clueless

    Ungrateful and clueless. I suppose I fit in that category. I've used MS OS's since Windows 3.1 up to XP Pro. My problem is that I'm a user and couldn't give a monkey's what OS I use as long as it does what I want. In the past I have tried various Linux distros and always reverted back to Windows because there wasn't a program for what I want. Because I'm a 70 year old numpty. I'm not interested enough to try my hand at programming or to try and get my head around the command line. 18months ago I tried Ubuntu and guess what. I found it could do all the things I want except play some of the games I like. I'm still a noob and hopefully I won't be one for too long. It certainly won't be due to the sanctimonious nerdy geeks on the forums who, because of their selfish 'elitist' attitude, think it's fun to deter noobs from making progress.

    Remember. Not all the answers are in the man pages or books.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Clueless

    Where is the manual ? I'd like to read it.

  26. Josef
    Linux

    @Clueless

    Here you go, sir...

    www.ubuntupocketguide.com

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like