It isn't easier for me to use and probably you too. But new users expect
things to work out of the box. I am not sure why because Windows certainly
doesn't, but they like to complain about barriers and extra steps when
moving to Linux. They forget the time that they spend feeding driver disks
after they install Windows.
Easy to use means fewer steps for most people. I personally have found Mint
not my cup of tea, pardon the pun. I have found that users can develop
problems when they start adding Ubuntu repositories and they can quickly
find a) that it isn't so Minty anymore and b) things start to not work as
well. People who use Ultimate also find this. The reason is that it isn't
Ubuntu, but they act like it is. Often when I find someone with a problem I
have never heard of before in Ubuntu, I find after lots of circular
discussion that they have Ubuntu, but installed Ultimate or something else.
Choosing a distribution is still personal preference IMO. People need to
know what is out there and that they have lots of choice. I am not steering
anyone away from Ubuntu so much as leading them to consider all of the
possibilities.
Every distribution has something to offer IMO and there is no single best
distribution. Most people like Ubuntu and choose it. It is what I use most
of the time. Some distributions should not be chosen for new users, unless
the person is willing to embrace a steep learning curve. Fedora is in this
group. It is an excellent distro for experienced users. Arch, Slackware and
Gentoo are even farther in this direction. They have a sold base of users
and definitely have something to offer.
I do not recommend openSuSE because I have not found it to be stable enough
for people like me who install lots. I know RPM Hell well as I started in
Mandrake (Mandriva) and used early Fedora. SuSE has more problems than other
distributions and their method of resolving dependency problems requires too
much knowledge for newbies. So I try to steer people away.
I still like Mandriva, but PCLinuxOS has it beat in terms of ease of use, so
I seldom mention it.
I meet lots of people online in various forums. If the truth be known most
people with problems are Ubuntu users, but that isn't because of the
distribution. More people use it and try it. Lots of users means lots of
problems. Some people don't like problems and don't need a new distro every
six months, so they are better advised to try something like MEPIS or
PCLinuxOS, instead of Ubuntu. They could stick with LTS, but it is hard to
resist hype to upgrade.
Many people use Ubuntu for awhile and decide they want to try something new.
That is fair enough, because Linux is a fun sandbox. There are so many
excellent distributions.
I did not mention Debian. Philosophically Debian is more where my heart
lies, but I just cannot recommend it because I have found that there are too
many hot heads and zealots in that camp. Advising new users to use Debian is
counter productive. They would be turned off and go back to Windows. Nobody
likes to be told what to think, what language to use and be refused help or
called names if you ask in the wrong way. Sadly, Debian is its own worst
enemy.
What Ubuntu has going for it, aside from some excellent developers, is that
encourages participation and community and no question is a dumb question.
For that reason alone it stands apart. This is not to say that other
communities aren't good, it is just that Ubuntu is just the best at it. I
think that this is why some communities like to take pot shots at Ubuntu.
They know that their favourite distribution is excellent but people are
flocking to Ubuntu instead due to the large and vocal community. They call
us fanboys and deride Ubuntu as being all hype. They are missing the point.
Linux is about community. You win people with an excellent product, but you
keep them by making them feel at home. I feel a blog coming on. Time to
stop.
Roy
2009/10/25 Scott <scottro@nyc.
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 25, 2009 at 08:44:51PM -0400, Roy wrote:
> > Ubuntu is a good choice, but it isn't the easiest one to use. Mint is
> based
> > on Ubuntu and is easier for new users to use. However, you will find lots
> of
> > support for Ubuntu. It is the largest distribution by far. You will find
> > more online help as well as the books you mentioned.
>
> Roy, is there a reason you say this? Maybe because I was already quite
> familiar with Debian, but I really didn't find one easier than the
> other. (Or vice versa). Actually, for *me*, I found Ubuntu easier
> because it's menu is more like the usual Gnome one.
>
> I know a lot of folks like Mint simply because it includes various
> proprietary things out of the box, but they're quite easy to install in
> Ubuntu. Is that the reason you say it's easier, or are there other
> factors as well?
>
> >
> > Other easy to use distributions to consider are MEPIS and PCLinuxOS.
> MEPIS
> > is based on Debian, the same thing Ubuntu uses and it is easy to install
> and
> > use. A similar small distribution is PCLinuxOS which is like MEPIS, but
> it
> > is based on Mandriva, a Red Hat derivative.
>
> For what it's worth---a fellow on Fedora Forums was trying to decide
> what distribution to give a Windows using friend. Working with the
> friend, they decided that PCLinuxOS would be easiest to use for
> transition. (I have played with all the ones mentioned here, but it's
> difficult to think like a beginner anymore.)
>
> Also, again for what it's worth...(aside from liking the Buffalo
> Springfield song, I mean that everyone is different, and all that I
> mention is simply my experience--
> EEEBuntu on the netbook I gave my wife, and she's had no trouble with
> it. She said it was quite similar (Gnome Desktop) to Mac and Windows.
> Her needs are relatively limited, web browser, skype, documents, email,
> (mostly gmail) and a pdf reader. The one non-standad requirement she has
> is Japanese.
>
> On the other hand, she's married to someone with Linux in his job title,
> and whose page, (with an incorrect link) is mentioned in the scim-anthy
> (a Japanese input program) README.
>
> So... if there were minor difficulties, I probably fixed them without
> thinking about it. For instance, configuring Japanese might have been a
> nuisance for her. It's hard to guess the best for a beginner, which is
> why I thought it was a really smart thing that fellow on Fedora Forums
> did, working with a Windows user to get that user's perspective.
>
> --
> Scott Robbins
> PGP keyID EB3467D6
> ( 1B48 077D 66F6 9DB0 FDC2 A409 FA54 EB34 67D6 )
> gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys EB3467D6
>
> Angel: Acathla turned to stone, as demons sometimes do, and
> was buried
> where neither man nor demon would want to look...unless, of course,
> they're
> putting up low-rent housing.
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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