Review of Ubuntu Feisty Fawn
I decided to give Ubuntu Feisty Fawn a stab. Usually when a new version of a “decent” Linux distro. is released I install it and see if any advances in user experience have been made. I installed the 64-bit version, but had some issues with it. Instead of trying to find compatible versions of software I downloaded the 32-bit version and installed it yesterday.
Once Ubuntu was installed I opened up http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Feisty and followed the directions to install some applications that I needed. I’m not a Linux pro. I’ve tried many different distributions over the years including Red Hat, Mandrake, Ubuntu, Gentoo and Slackware. The problem usually came when I tried to install an application or a driver. Online documentation/help is usually never accurate, or at least complete enough to work without having to know so much about Linux that you probably didn’t need the documentation in the first place. Though to my surprise, it wasn’t a lot of hassle to get applications I wanted installed.
One of the largest gripes I’ve had with Linux in the past, is when someone wants to learn to use Linux they had to search through hundreds of websites and online documentation to figure out how to complete a small task. It was very rare that you would find a website with an explanation of how to so much as install an application using the terminal with procedures that actually work. Don’t even attempt to ask a Linux user. It’s like asking a magician to reveal his secret - the very thing that makes him feel unique.
As of yesterday, I got Flash, Java, Pidgin (the new Gaim), Wine, dvd support, Beryl (ATI support) and VLC player running. DVD playback did actually work, again to my surprise. When I attempted to play an .FLV file or .MP3 it was simple and quick to download support for those files. Although, .FLV playback is somewhat spotty, but the FLV players that I’ve used in Windows had some issues too.
All I ever asked of Linux was for the ability to install a few simple applications that didn’t take weeks to figure out the process of doing so and for network, video and audio drivers to work fairly well so I could leave Linux on, use it for a while and learn what I needed to know as I go. It seems that Ubuntu finally took the initiative for the Linux community and provided a Linux platform that can be installed and used without getting a migraine after one hour and no productivity. For the first time ever, Linux is staying up and I didn’t have to boot back into Windows so that I could get simple things done.
Update: Even with the many improvements that Linux has experienced through Ubuntu’s new distribution, Feisty Fawn, I still have experienced the same end results after using Linux for a while. It becomes inconvenient to use and pardon me Linux users for using this word you will so vehemently flame me for: annoying.
The user experience is just not up to par. A simple task such as browsing the Internet leaves you with more and more of a claustrophobic feeling each time you visit a new site. It’s slower and less responsive than Windows; not significantly at all, but enough to make me wish I was using Firefox in Windows XP instead. It doesn’t matter what browser you use in Linux. Browsers are not the problem.
The problem roots more into Linux itself. It’s not at all about how software is installed or the features that Windows has that Linux does not (such as gaming for example). I don’t play games very often these days. It’s hard to explain what my gripes are about Linux, because it isn’t as clear cut as “I can’t use this application”.
If you can, imagine driving your car. The steering “feels” good. It’s not too tight and doesn’t have too much play. It’s just right. Then you rent a car for a week and the steering just never feels right. Then you start noticing other little things that just bug you and you say to yourself, “I wouldn’t own this car if it was a free gift”. The air conditioning works fine and there is even a nifty GPS device included, but it doesn’t matter.
That is the way I feel about Linux and it’s not me, it’s an underlying issue in Linux, in the experience itself, that most people don’t talk about because Linux users want hard clear facts. Without those, they will attempt to rape and pillage any credibility you might have. They want you to say, “I couldn’t use Microsoft Office” or “I couldn’t understand how to use it”.
Fiesty Fawn brought a lot of improvements and new features that make the Linux experience a little more pleasing. At this point it just still is not ready for the mainstream. It doesn’t take very much for the typical PC user to be annoyed and frustrated to the point that they won’t use an application or the computer entirely. There are small annoyances that really make the difference. If they bug me, they will completely alienate anyone with little technical knowledge.
I have plenty of technical expertise and experience to use Linux and have used many different distributions on and off for seven years since I was introduced to it in college at the International Academy of Design where I majored in Computer Animation. We were required to take a Linux class for my major and I scored highest in my class with no prior knowledge of the operating system. Each time there is a major release I usually install it to see the changes for myself. Though I have seen great improvement over the last seven years, it’s not enough to make me switch.
I’m sorry Linux fans, but it’s not mainstream ready yet. If the community of developers do not begin to understand what the real differences are that turn us off, it never will be. I have yet to meet a Linux user or developer that can really fathom these concepts. That is probably because they are developers and the users that are not, are still too technical minded themselves to understand and see things the way that others see them.
