4 ms·

It was always really half-assed. I bought one of the Ubuntu edition laptops a couple of years ago, and on the two occasions I spoke to Dell's tech support (for

by SandB0x 16y ago

It was always really half-assed. I bought one of the Ubuntu edition laptops a couple of years ago, and on the two occasions I spoke to Dell's tech support (for hardware issues) they had the machine down as having Vista and they had no idea what I was talking about when I tried to explain that I had bought one of their machines with Ubuntu. A properly configured Ubuntu installation absolutely beats the pants off Windows for typical netbook tasks. Fast, stable, no viruses, no freaking installers adding crapware and "toolbars" to your browser. All the software you could ever need on a netbook: Chrome, Rhythmbox, VLC, Skype, Spotify, OpenOffice (if Google Docs doesn't do it for you). I don't know why they've dropped it, why they never gave it a proper shot. They could have really set themselves apart from the sea of netbook manufacturers. I'm waiting for someone to come along and happily eat their lunch.

pvg 16y ago
I think once you're at "properly configured" the same can be said for Windows (most likely XP).
- larsendt 16y ago
  Not really. Windows still lacks one of Ubuntu's killer features (package management), and virus scanners don't always work. That and a Linux terminal is much nicer to work with than Command Prompt.
  - pvg 16y ago
    How many end-users have you ever heard say 'I wish my computer had better (or any) package management/terminal'.
    - SamReidHughes 16y ago
      How many end-users have you ever heard say 'I wish my Treo had an app store'?
    - dman 16y ago
      How many users have you seen saying "I need a better firewall, and upto date antivirus patches and I dont want drivers in my kernel taking my entire system down"? But most of them expect a well functioning secure computer whose speed does not go down over time and one which doesnt crash often. Users might not ask for package management but once they discover it they will appreciate "i dont have to go looking for software on twenty different websites and I dont have to bother to check websites for updates" - updates via windows update center for non microsoft software is an idea that should be much farther along than it is right now - have you ever been annoyed by flash, google products, adobe products, itune all having their own update listeners prompting you for updates all the time ? Well if package management and integrated updates were in place you would have just one update center.
      - pvg 16y ago
        Integrated updates are built into both Windows and OS X. Have been for a long time. Both of these rather popular consumer OS's surely have their problems. But the idea that a Linux desktop is somehow more user-friendly or accessible because it has 'package management' or an awesome terminal is absurd. I somewhat suspect that sort of dreadful idea is part of the reason why there is no competitive Linux-based consumer OS, to date.
        dman 16y ago
        How many non apple updates have you seen in the apple update center ? How many non microsoft updates have you seen in the microsoft update center ?
        Samuel_Michon 16y ago
        As of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, installation and updating of printer drivers get handled by Apple's Software Update. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/09/apples_snow_leopard_to_load_printer_drivers_on_demand.html http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/09/apples_snow_le... Ofcourse, those drivers are still curated by Apple. Back in 2004, Apple flirted with the idea of opening up Software Update for third parties, but has since decided against it. "The computer company fears that third party developers could accidently release buggy or infected software updates, which would ultimately effect the Mac OS X operating system, causing customers to fault Apple." http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/04/07/13/apple_nixes_third_party_software_update_plans.html http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/04/07/13/apple_nixes_th...
  - dhimes 16y ago
    What really, really, pisses me off is that the Windows version that they seem to ship a default installation which lacks some features (my netbook came with Windows Starter, which, I don't know, just sounds bad), and to upgrade costs serious money. I would be much happier with MS if they would just release different versions for different needs and let me choose which version of the OS I needed and change it at will. The fact that I can do this with Linux is what made me switch in the first place. And Ubuntu Netbook Remix blows the doors off of Windows 7 Starter for a netbook OS (I assume that this still applies now that they call it Netbook Edition, also).
    - pvg 16y ago
      That's a very legitimate gripe, not just when you're buying a netbook but a consumer PC in general. Chances are, unless you are very careful, you're going to get something you didn't quite want. My point was if the standard for comparison is 'properly configured Ubuntu' then its match is 'properly configured Windows'. I can't really see a glaring advantage of one over the other, both taking particular pride of being top of their specific vertical of unusability.
  - catch23 16y ago
    It's just too bad that so many netbooks come with poorly supported wireless options that one has to resort to using ndiswrapper (which doesn't always work either!). The other day I bought an Asus Eee PC 1001P only to find that Ubuntu's netbook edition doesn't work out of the box -- I had to do a bunch of google searches, then compile my own wireless driver to make it work. It sucks that Linux still struggles on the basic stuff like driver support, but excels everywhere else. Ndiswrapper only worked half the time on the eeepc, but I managed to find an alpha version of a native atheros driver that made it work much better.
- Samuel_Michon 16y ago
  Agreed. It's not like Microsoft ships its retail versions of Windows with trial AV-software, crapware and browser toolbars. OEMs like Dell do. Come to think of it, the retail version of Windows has sobered down quite a bit, what with Movie Maker, Windows Mail, Messenger, and Photo Gallery only available for download, instead of being tied into the standard installation. In the EU, one can even purchase Windows without Media Player and Internet Explorer. I think of the aforementioned programs as crapware, so imo, it's heading into the right direction. Ofcourse, I'm speaking of the current version, Windows 7, which definitely wasn't designed for underpowered laptops. It's like hacking Mac OS X Snow Leopard to work on a netbook: it might work, but it's not going to be as fast as Android or WebOS on the same machine. On the other hand, Windows XP really shouldn't be shipped with new computers, outdated and unsafe as it is. Since Microsoft really has no suitable offering of Windows for netbooks, I completely understand why every major computer manufacturer wanted to buy Palm Inc, even besides the patent portfolio.
nailer 16y ago
> I don't know why they've dropped it, why they never gave it a proper shot. One reason may be because Ubuntu stills expect users to do an OS upgrade - which Dell doesn't have the resources every 6 months - to get newer software. If you want an up to date desktop app, like Firefox, officially - ie, without headache-installs via tarballs or source, you have to upgrade to the next release of Ubuntu. That's a dealbreaker for a lot of support organizations.

by SandB0x 16y ago

pvg 16y ago

I think once you're at "properly configured" the same can be said for Windows (most likely XP).

larsendt 16y ago
Not really. Windows still lacks one of Ubuntu's killer features (package management), and virus scanners don't always work. That and a Linux terminal is much nicer to work with than Command Prompt.
- pvg 16y ago
  How many end-users have you ever heard say 'I wish my computer had better (or any) package management/terminal'.
  - SamReidHughes 16y ago
    How many end-users have you ever heard say 'I wish my Treo had an app store'?
  - dman 16y ago
    How many users have you seen saying "I need a better firewall, and upto date antivirus patches and I dont want drivers in my kernel taking my entire system down"? But most of them expect a well functioning secure computer whose speed does not go down over time and one which doesnt crash often. Users might not ask for package management but once they discover it they will appreciate "i dont have to go looking for software on twenty different websites and I dont have to bother to check websites for updates" - updates via windows update center for non microsoft software is an idea that should be much farther along than it is right now - have you ever been annoyed by flash, google products, adobe products, itune all having their own update listeners prompting you for updates all the time ? Well if package management and integrated updates were in place you would have just one update center.
    - pvg 16y ago
      Integrated updates are built into both Windows and OS X. Have been for a long time. Both of these rather popular consumer OS's surely have their problems. But the idea that a Linux desktop is somehow more user-friendly or accessible because it has 'package management' or an awesome terminal is absurd. I somewhat suspect that sort of dreadful idea is part of the reason why there is no competitive Linux-based consumer OS, to date.
      - dman 16y ago
        How many non apple updates have you seen in the apple update center ? How many non microsoft updates have you seen in the microsoft update center ?
        Samuel_Michon 16y ago
        As of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, installation and updating of printer drivers get handled by Apple's Software Update. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/09/apples_snow_leopard_to_load_printer_drivers_on_demand.html http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/09/apples_snow_le... Ofcourse, those drivers are still curated by Apple. Back in 2004, Apple flirted with the idea of opening up Software Update for third parties, but has since decided against it. "The computer company fears that third party developers could accidently release buggy or infected software updates, which would ultimately effect the Mac OS X operating system, causing customers to fault Apple." http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/04/07/13/apple_nixes_third_party_software_update_plans.html http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/04/07/13/apple_nixes_th...
- dhimes 16y ago
  What really, really, pisses me off is that the Windows version that they seem to ship a default installation which lacks some features (my netbook came with Windows Starter, which, I don't know, just sounds bad), and to upgrade costs serious money. I would be much happier with MS if they would just release different versions for different needs and let me choose which version of the OS I needed and change it at will. The fact that I can do this with Linux is what made me switch in the first place. And Ubuntu Netbook Remix blows the doors off of Windows 7 Starter for a netbook OS (I assume that this still applies now that they call it Netbook Edition, also).
  - pvg 16y ago
    That's a very legitimate gripe, not just when you're buying a netbook but a consumer PC in general. Chances are, unless you are very careful, you're going to get something you didn't quite want. My point was if the standard for comparison is 'properly configured Ubuntu' then its match is 'properly configured Windows'. I can't really see a glaring advantage of one over the other, both taking particular pride of being top of their specific vertical of unusability.
- catch23 16y ago
  It's just too bad that so many netbooks come with poorly supported wireless options that one has to resort to using ndiswrapper (which doesn't always work either!). The other day I bought an Asus Eee PC 1001P only to find that Ubuntu's netbook edition doesn't work out of the box -- I had to do a bunch of google searches, then compile my own wireless driver to make it work. It sucks that Linux still struggles on the basic stuff like driver support, but excels everywhere else. Ndiswrapper only worked half the time on the eeepc, but I managed to find an alpha version of a native atheros driver that made it work much better.
Samuel_Michon 16y ago
Agreed. It's not like Microsoft ships its retail versions of Windows with trial AV-software, crapware and browser toolbars. OEMs like Dell do. Come to think of it, the retail version of Windows has sobered down quite a bit, what with Movie Maker, Windows Mail, Messenger, and Photo Gallery only available for download, instead of being tied into the standard installation. In the EU, one can even purchase Windows without Media Player and Internet Explorer. I think of the aforementioned programs as crapware, so imo, it's heading into the right direction. Ofcourse, I'm speaking of the current version, Windows 7, which definitely wasn't designed for underpowered laptops. It's like hacking Mac OS X Snow Leopard to work on a netbook: it might work, but it's not going to be as fast as Android or WebOS on the same machine. On the other hand, Windows XP really shouldn't be shipped with new computers, outdated and unsafe as it is. Since Microsoft really has no suitable offering of Windows for netbooks, I completely understand why every major computer manufacturer wanted to buy Palm Inc, even besides the patent portfolio.

nailer 16y ago

> I don't know why they've dropped it, why they never gave it a proper shot. One reason may be because Ubuntu stills expect users to do an OS upgrade - which Dell doesn't have the resources every 6 months - to get newer software. If you want an up to date desktop app, like Firefox, officially - ie, without headache-installs via tarballs or source, you have to upgrade to the next release of Ubuntu. That's a dealbreaker for a lot of support organizations.