Posts by Patrick Parks

US retailers start pushing $20 Ubuntu

Suitable for some people

Let me get this out of the way right up front. I'm a fan of Linux, been using it for years. Also use Windows..support Windows at work....support and use Linux at work.

I think this is a good move. The reason??? Because it gets this out in front of people who would otherwise not recognize it. Sure, it's freely available online. If you have the bandwidth and a cd burner, you are good to go. However, once some people walk into a store and see it sitting on the shelves...they make the association that it has somehow made it. Right or wrong, it's how some people think.

With regards to the price...$20 for 60 days is very reasonable. With Microsoft VIsta, you get 90 days of phone/email support with your purchase...and it's much more expensive. As far as a supported lifetime, somebody made a comment about Ubuntu only being supported for 2 months. Well, to set you straight, all Ubuntu releases get 18 months of support and some releases (8.04) are LTS (long term support) and get 3 years of support for the desktop and 5 years of support for the server version. Not bad at all considering it's a free product. And within that timeframe, more versions will come out giving you the option to freely upgrade to the next version.

As far as Linux being ready......I think it's more a problem of the users being ready for Linux. While I admit there are still various driver issues out there with some rather dodgy hardware vendors who won't lift a finger to provide a driver for the Linux community....the bulk of the problem lies with the end user who often isn't as computer savvy as they think or simply are unable to pry themselves away from what they are used to. Thinking about all the people trying to continue running Windows apps under Wine, crossover or Cedega on Linux......rather than moving into Linux based alternatives.

Will this move cause Linux to take over the world. No Way. Do I care? Not in the least. Honestly, I'd rather not have everybody else in the world using Linux. If it gained a certain level of popularity, certain things would become more standardized and set in stone...and that would take some of the freedom and functionality away from Linux.

At the end of the day, I'm just elated that I have a working knowledge of Linux which provides me the ability to have a fully functional alternative to Windows. I'm not stuck like a lot of other computer users in the world.

Windows Vista marketing 'deceived' consumers

Why are people so worked up over Vista?

The component that I don't like is the fact that Microsoft even bothers to release a version like Home Basic which is essentially just stripped down for no other reason than to differentiate their product line and charge more for the premium versions which actually contain the features that people are expecting to see in the next generation operating system from Microsoft.

I've heard Bill Gates say that you could upgrade for just $100, but seriously what are you really getting for your $100 bucks? Without the fancy aero-glass eye-candy changes...this new OS is simply a yawn. They claim better security, but that that is really still open for debate as I haven't seen much in terms of actual improvement. I've yet to discover the pieces of this OS that make it a compelling upgrade over Windows XP...aside from the upcoming DX10 gaming stuff....which seems to be used more as a strong-arm tactic to force upgrades.

Rather than filing lawsuits against MS and vendors over Vista, I'd say your time is better spent sticking with Windows XP, MAC OSX, or Linux.

Just because Microsoft wants you to be excited about this new operating system, doesn't mean that you actually have to be excited. Mac OSX comes in 1 flavor, with all features enabled and is only $129. Or you can get a Ubuntu Linux box configured with an Nvidia card and Beryl and pretty much have the functionality of the Windows and Mac GUI all in one place without any required out of pocket expense or licensing/activation hassle.