Upsides and downsides
As a total newcomer to Ubuntu permit me to share a few thoughts.
Ubuntu is great. I installed Hardy Heron on my mum's laptop two days ago. She had a new machine - 1.6ghz duo core chip and 4 gig of RAM - and Vista was so slow we thought the machine was broken. Ubuntu is really fast, and easy for her to use.
Installation is really easy. Even for a first timer who isn't sure what an ISO is. Dual boot - no sweat.
But anything involving the Terminal is REALLY HARD! Reg readers are too technical to appreciate this, but typing "apt-get && sudo" mumbo-jumbo is appalling.
The goal for Ubuntu must be to become entirely GUI, with the terminal as redundant as it is for Macs. To install new applications and updates I want to just click on Next and Finish. Why is this so hard!?
Whether this sets it on the path to bloatware I don't know.
But repositories, sudo, keychains, checksums... these are massive obstacles in the way of mass take up of Ubuntu.
Maybe by the Leaping Lama or Zany Zebra Ubuntu will be usable by people like me and my mum, at which point we can all tell Gates where to shove his costly operating systems.
Final point: the sheer numbers of Linux distros is a big disincentive for newcomers. I considered OpenSuse, KDE, Slackware and Ubuntu. Too confusing! Don't underestimate how damaging this fragmentation is to the Linux movement.
Alas, most people are stupid. Make it easier for the bovine masses to use Ubuntu and they will arrive in droves. Vista is so goddamn bad that the motivation to switch is huge.
Paris - because when she can use Ubuntu, Microsoft will be out of business.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
