5
2011
Is Ubuntu user friendly?
An article by Raju Khanal
Ubuntu is believed to be one of the most user friendly debian distro of Linux (of course people might debate that Linux Mint is friendlier). Still Linux avoiders argue that it is still no way closer to Windows in terms of user friendliness. People often misinterpret the term user friendly with user familiarity. Common sense suggests what is familiar is friendlier, so for anything to be friendly it has to be familiar. Microsoft has been around for a long time (at least it seems that it has been there for a long long time) so is thought to be user friendly.
Hardware configurations and the drivers associated with it have always been considered a big deal in Linux. Many people argue that they have a problem with wireless installation. Often wireless drivers for modern chipsets (such as the Intel Centrino) are not included in the main Linux kernel. In addition, a separate firmware file must be downloaded to drive the card.
Ubuntu ships these drivers and firmware by default. On Fedora, the user must install the kernel source, compile the wireless driver each time they upgrade, and download the firmware to the correct location. This and several other drivers work in Ubuntu whereas in Fedora and others they do not.
In Ubuntu all the applications are integrated seamlessly as if they are one unit. Everything can be connected inside Ubuntu. They’re stable, lightweight, and almost infinitely customizable. Ubuntu has a rich GUI ( compiz package). In addition to this there are two tools to work with the command line and the GUI. Windows also has a command line true but it doesn’t have as many command line applications, and it certainly doesn’t have the culture (people hardly open the command line in Windows). Automatic update of all the software, more support through the Ubuntu Forums (with around 600,000 members and the default chat room generally having about 1500 people), automatic defragging in the background and ram caching, multiple workspaces, operation almost exactly like XP, Vista or Mac (as per user choice), easy installation and special effects like wobbly windows, 3D cubes etc make Ubuntu more friendlier than ever. Default with Firefox (web browsing), OpenOffice (similar to Microsoft Office), Pidgin (connects to all Instant Messenger networks) ,Evolution (email), and many other stuffs have made Ubuntu a hell lot easier to use and access.
It isn’t that Ubuntu is flawless . Remember it is NOT a gaming OS so many windows based games or softwares might not run in it (although wine runs few here and there ). You will have to use the command line at one point or the other (as much as you don’t like it) and expertise UNIX commands to exploit the beauty of Ubuntu. Patience might be required at times to configure your hardware specifications. In addition many vendors don’t release a Linux version of their software (which might compel you to return back to Windows).
However Ubuntu’s own repository for most of the software you will need, drivers for almost any kind of device from many vendor, excellent crash recovery, support to read and write NTFS drives (wish I could read and write the ext drives in Windows), full support for MS office files including docx are some points which suggest that we ought to give Ubuntu a try. Remember
“Ubuntu is becoming friendlier day by day, it’s up to you decide whether to befriend it or not.”
Do you think Ubuntu is user-friendly? Please do share your good or bad experience(s) in the comment section below.
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Ubuntu is shit, FEDORA \m/
Ubuntu is fairly easy and highly recommended to newbies. I switched to Mint after Ubuntu.
Wouldn’t most people consider Ubuntu-derived, Linux Mint to be the most user-friendly Linux distro.
I have to say that Ubuntu was always one of my favorites, but until they settle down with major changes to the interface, I won’t use it again. I switched to pinguy which is a Ubuntu derivative. It is kind of a mint plus extras. It is also a bit lighter and quicker than mint.
Once the Ubuntu installed in my colg pc stopped working UNEXPECTEDLY in my lab exam.. after that I’ve always kept distance from this OS.
Personally I like it. Tried Linux years ago (Linux Storm, and Fedora was recommended at the time) never got either to work and was very frustrated. Tried Ubuntu last year and wow, I have to say I am impressed. I use my Ubuntu box primarily as a family Minecraft server and it performs flawlessly (so far). Installed like Windows. No driver issues yet and no issues like Kim147 has experienced so far. I do surf the web on it as well as a few other things. As soon as gaming becomes more prevalent on it I could see myself switching wholeheartedly. That’s my main drawback so far. Wine is OK for some things but I find the configuration is challenging for a n00b like myself. That is hardly Ubuntu’s fault however. Oh and the software repository is awesome. Tons of free stuff that is actually useful.
Actually as an Archlinux user (don’t hate me) i found 11.04 to be quite a bit less user-friendly than what i’m used to. I used ubuntu years ago, but i tried it recently too. I’m so used to having easy access to any programs and never having to build anything from source…And the PPA’s are a bit of a pain in the ass too. I think the software center is very limited, but for newbie users i guess it’s fine.
But yeah, this day and age, you shouldn’t have to run all over the internet grabbing sources etc.
The new ubuntu unity concept didn’t fared that good for me !
but it really is nice to use UBUNTU for general purposes : browsing, learning, word procession, animations, multimedia , programming,
been using it on and off for years now! but never left windows running side by side
Now that Unity’s out, Ubuntu is much ***** user-friendlier than Windows and even Mac.
I had tried ubuntu previously and enjoyed it. With the new unity interface it felt like they complicated it and tried to reinvent the wheel. I installed mint last night and my wife who barely understood her windows pc sat down and honestly enjoyed it. Mint is very friendly to newbies and I would not reccomend ubuntu over it to anyone looking to get their feet wet with linux.