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I think you've got some fair points here; but let's not forget that (at least as of a while back, I can't speak for newer releases) Ubuntu would not have suppor

I think you've got some fair points here; but let's not forget that (at least as of a while back, I can't speak for newer releases) Ubuntu would not have support for even basic mp3 playback without downloading support for it. I understand the "free software" reasons for such restrictions--but I think it's difficult to justify the statement of Ubuntu having an "far superior out-of-box experience" when difficulties such as this are considered. ...and let's not even get into video drivers. :P

buster 16y ago
no problem at all for a few releases now ;)
rufugee 16y ago
Actually, mp3 support is a checkbox during the install process now, so this is a non-issue. Video drivers have been just fine for me for the past six years or so, but perhaps that's because I always buy nvidia cards that are well supported. The only place OS X has a leg up on Linux IMHO is video codec support, and you can't really blame the open source developers for this one. I keep waiting for a hardware manufacturer to issue 3 or 4 different machines and make Linux work very well on them, akin to what Apple does with OS X. Most of the issues I see people have with Linux is due to the immense variability in hardware combinations. Eliminating this variability would make it pretty easy for a company to provide a seamless desktop experience to users.
- bcrescimanno 16y ago
  Didn't know that about mp3 support; that's really good to hear. What about installing proprietary video drivers? Can that be done at install time too? Has maintaining up-to-date versions of these drivers become easier? I admit ignorance--the last time I used Ubuntu regularly on the desktop was just before my first mac arrived in late 2006. I've toyed with it since then; but never gone through installation and configuration.
  - rufugee 16y ago
    I'm not sure if it can be done at install time, but it's very easy after you're booted up. Almost all cards I've tried are supported by the basic drivers, and enabling third-party driver support (to get nvidia drivers, etc straight from the commercial source) is as simple as System->Administration->Additional Drivers. Click activate and you're good to go.

buster 16y ago

no problem at all for a few releases now ;)

rufugee 16y ago

Actually, mp3 support is a checkbox during the install process now, so this is a non-issue. Video drivers have been just fine for me for the past six years or so, but perhaps that's because I always buy nvidia cards that are well supported. The only place OS X has a leg up on Linux IMHO is video codec support, and you can't really blame the open source developers for this one. I keep waiting for a hardware manufacturer to issue 3 or 4 different machines and make Linux work very well on them, akin to what Apple does with OS X. Most of the issues I see people have with Linux is due to the immense variability in hardware combinations. Eliminating this variability would make it pretty easy for a company to provide a seamless desktop experience to users.

bcrescimanno 16y ago
Didn't know that about mp3 support; that's really good to hear. What about installing proprietary video drivers? Can that be done at install time too? Has maintaining up-to-date versions of these drivers become easier? I admit ignorance--the last time I used Ubuntu regularly on the desktop was just before my first mac arrived in late 2006. I've toyed with it since then; but never gone through installation and configuration.
- rufugee 16y ago
  I'm not sure if it can be done at install time, but it's very easy after you're booted up. Almost all cards I've tried are supported by the basic drivers, and enabling third-party driver support (to get nvidia drivers, etc straight from the commercial source) is as simple as System->Administration->Additional Drivers. Click activate and you're good to go.