5 ms·

How is it the least user-friendly? In Ubuntu, for example, nothing in regular use seems particularly different. My grandma started using it as her first OS at 8

How is it the least user-friendly? In Ubuntu, for example, nothing in regular use seems particularly different. My grandma started using it as her first OS at 84, and she’s still doing fine.

MichaelApproved 10y ago
I'm commuter savvy and tried to get HBO Now to play on Ubuntu. Searched Google and found many different commands to try and run but had no luck. How could something so simple be so difficult?
- icebraining 10y ago
  Yeah, how can HBO make something so simple (streaming videos over the web) so difficult? The answer is DRM, of course.
- Karlozkiller 10y ago
  Because it's not so simple. I have no experienced with HBO Now but similar services. And typically they use DRM like Microsoft Silverlight or the like to prevent people from playing videos without proper access. The reason why such things are harder to get to work in Linux sometimes is because such DRM-solutions are not always baked in or provided by the same providers as in windows, and might be proprietary. Also companies like Netflix have been known to filter peoples useragent leading to the exclusion of Linux users. nowadays it's as easy as installing a Silverlight-alternative in your favourite browser or just running a chrome derived browser. my main point being: it's not always Linux's fault that some things are hard.
  - majewsky 10y ago
    Of course that's correct, but we're talking about users that consider their device broken when an icon is not in its place. All they will perceive is "I cannot watch this video because Linux".
    - klibertp 10y ago
      > we're talking about users that consider their device broken when an icon is not in its place I wonder why such people exist at all? They do - reading the comments up to here I saw them mentioned four or five times. Yet the mindset such people supposedly display is totally incomprehensible to me. I can't for the life of me understand why would anyone, when faced with a problem, automatically give up without researching and trying to solve it. This is how I - and probably most of us on HN - learned "computers" in the first place: hours and hours of typing and clicking random things until something happens. Aside from where do they come from, another question is if we really need to cater to them? Are they truly a majority of users? Is the condition in-born, uncurable, or can they be educated?
      - 4ndr3vv 10y ago
        See "The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think" https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/
        klibertp 10y ago
        Quoting from the article: > That one quarter of the population can’t use a computer at all is the most serious element of the digital divide. Frightening... but why? > To a great extent, this problem is caused by computers still being much too complicated for many people. Ok, but this doesn't answer my other question - is it possible to educate these people to use the current computers, or do computers really need to be streamlined that much?
        majewsky 10y ago
        > Frightening... but why? I asked myself the same question when I saw a documentary about analphabets. They quoted a number of about 8 million total and functional analphabets for Germany (among 80 million population), which is absolutely staggering. To witness, people who cannot use a computer are often called "digital analphabets" or similar.
- ekianjo 10y ago
  The problem is DRM - it has nothing to do with Linux.
  - mnx 10y ago
    Doesn't matter whose fault it is. Works on Windows, doesn't on linux. That's all that matters for the user.
    - ekianjo 10y ago
      its like saying certain games work only on consoles and not on windows so windows is shit. that does not make much sense really.
      - mnx 10y ago
        No, it's like saying that certain games work only on consoles and not on windows so windows is not a suitable replacement of consoles for people who want to play those games.
- kbart 10y ago
  So write to HBO support then and complain about their shitty software, it has nothing to do with Ubuntu.

How is it the least user-friendly? In Ubuntu, for example, nothing in regular use seems particularly different. My grandma started using it as her first OS at 84, and she’s still doing fine.

MichaelApproved 10y ago

I'm commuter savvy and tried to get HBO Now to play on Ubuntu. Searched Google and found many different commands to try and run but had no luck. How could something so simple be so difficult?

icebraining 10y ago
Yeah, how can HBO make something so simple (streaming videos over the web) so difficult? The answer is DRM, of course.
Karlozkiller 10y ago
Because it's not so simple. I have no experienced with HBO Now but similar services. And typically they use DRM like Microsoft Silverlight or the like to prevent people from playing videos without proper access. The reason why such things are harder to get to work in Linux sometimes is because such DRM-solutions are not always baked in or provided by the same providers as in windows, and might be proprietary. Also companies like Netflix have been known to filter peoples useragent leading to the exclusion of Linux users. nowadays it's as easy as installing a Silverlight-alternative in your favourite browser or just running a chrome derived browser. my main point being: it's not always Linux's fault that some things are hard.
- majewsky 10y ago
  Of course that's correct, but we're talking about users that consider their device broken when an icon is not in its place. All they will perceive is "I cannot watch this video because Linux".
  - klibertp 10y ago
    > we're talking about users that consider their device broken when an icon is not in its place I wonder why such people exist at all? They do - reading the comments up to here I saw them mentioned four or five times. Yet the mindset such people supposedly display is totally incomprehensible to me. I can't for the life of me understand why would anyone, when faced with a problem, automatically give up without researching and trying to solve it. This is how I - and probably most of us on HN - learned "computers" in the first place: hours and hours of typing and clicking random things until something happens. Aside from where do they come from, another question is if we really need to cater to them? Are they truly a majority of users? Is the condition in-born, uncurable, or can they be educated?
    - 4ndr3vv 10y ago
      See "The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think" https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/
      - klibertp 10y ago
        Quoting from the article: > That one quarter of the population can’t use a computer at all is the most serious element of the digital divide. Frightening... but why? > To a great extent, this problem is caused by computers still being much too complicated for many people. Ok, but this doesn't answer my other question - is it possible to educate these people to use the current computers, or do computers really need to be streamlined that much?
        majewsky 10y ago
        > Frightening... but why? I asked myself the same question when I saw a documentary about analphabets. They quoted a number of about 8 million total and functional analphabets for Germany (among 80 million population), which is absolutely staggering. To witness, people who cannot use a computer are often called "digital analphabets" or similar.
ekianjo 10y ago
The problem is DRM - it has nothing to do with Linux.
- mnx 10y ago
  Doesn't matter whose fault it is. Works on Windows, doesn't on linux. That's all that matters for the user.
  - ekianjo 10y ago
    its like saying certain games work only on consoles and not on windows so windows is shit. that does not make much sense really.
    - mnx 10y ago
      No, it's like saying that certain games work only on consoles and not on windows so windows is not a suitable replacement of consoles for people who want to play those games.
kbart 10y ago
So write to HBO support then and complain about their shitty software, it has nothing to do with Ubuntu.