algeriatul team mailing list archive

[turbolad <1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Before starting this long comment, I MUST say that I'm a *huge fan* of
Ubuntu and I will do ANYTHING to make more and more people discover
Ubuntu and how much better it is at things like: security, speed, never
slowing down, no need for anti-virus programs and so on.  It has saved
me so much stress, aggro and time - compared to constantly
troubleshooting Windows, defragging Windows, reinstalling Windows over
and over again and so on and so on and so on.  Ubuntu has been such a
"lifesaver" for me that I use it all the time - and in return, I feel
it's my duty to help improve it and make it more popular.  I am so
grateful to Mark Shuttleworth for creating Ubuntu and giving it away for
free.  I really wish he could be reading this.

Let's focus on the newbies to Ubuntu and the world of Linux: I'm sure
these are the type of users we are trying to "win over" from Windows?
The "advanced" stuff like customising the firewall etc. would be
performed by experienced users, not newbies.  I believe my advantage
here is that I *DO* see "everyday" computer users and "home" users who
struggle with even the simplest things on computers and if they were
loaned a computer with Ubuntu on it with Unity, they would be totally
bamboozled!  Trust me on that.

Imagine you have never used or seen Ubuntu in your life, then you are
presented with it.  Ubuntu looks new and scary.  Here's a few ideas
which would help such users like that...

To help avoid this comment from becoming too long, I'll summarise:

*Newbies to Ubuntu 
These users are different to advanced users who know how to edit configuration files, use the Terminal and change their GUI etc.  Setup everything for newbies... start with a firewall integrated in Ubuntu (and variants of Ubuntu) that passes the "Shields Up" test on grc.com – advanced users can remove these things or tweak them, but newbies won't know how.

*Upgrading Ubuntu can sometimes break things 
I've seen a netbook get upgraded from Ubuntu 10.04 to 10.10 and its wireless stopped working.  This is why upgrading Ubuntu is not always ideal, but as Ubuntu gets upgraded more often than Windows and these upgrades are free, then it is *IMPERATIVE* that the upgrade first runs in a "test" mode to see if ALL of the hardware devices will work AND the power saving modes too.  If one of these fail, then the user should be directed to upload a bug report, without having to register with Launchpad first.  Then the installer should not prompt the user to upgrade until the affected problem has been fixed (but the upgrade could still be manually performed via the "Update Manager" if desired, albeit with that option hidden in another tab there.).

*Unity vs. taskbar
Unity would be good for touch-screen devices, but the "Lubuntu" bar at the bottom of the screen on desktop computers would make newbies use Ubuntu as if it were Windows.  I agree that GNOME, KDE and other shells can be used if preferred, but the focus here is on newbies who have been using Windows for many years and suddenly use Ubuntu - changing the operating system for newbies is scary to them, so keeping it familiar would mean newbies see that Ubuntu is so much better, faster etc.

*The "restricted extras"
You must still install the "restricted extras" in Ubuntu (and its variants) after installing Ubuntu, regardless of the options to install the 3rd-party software during the installation.  Yes I know Ubuntu can't legally include Flash Player and the rest, but offering the "restricted extras" and reminding users this option exists is not illegal.  If the person installing Ubuntu forgot to install these, remind the user these are available (and give them the option to not be reminded again by means of a checkbox/tick box).

I could type forever in my quest to help Ubuntu, so I better stop. :P
Thank you for reading. :)

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu 4
dz, which is subscribed to the bug report.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1

Title:
  Microsoft has a majority market share

Status in Club Distro:
  Confirmed
Status in Computer Science Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in dylan.NET.Reflection:
  Invalid
Status in dylan.NET:
  Invalid
Status in EasyPeasy Overview:
  Invalid
Status in GenOS:
  In Progress
Status in GNOME Screensaver:
  Won't Fix
Status in Ichthux - Linux for Christians:
  Invalid
Status in JAK LINUX:
  Invalid
Status in LibreOffice:
  In Progress
Status in The Linux Kernel:
  New
Status in The Linux Mint Distribution:
  In Progress
Status in The Linux OS Project:
  In Progress
Status in The Metacity Window Manager:
  In Progress
Status in NULL Project:
  Invalid
Status in The OpenOffice.org Suite:
  In Progress
Status in Tabuntu:
  Invalid
Status in A simple player to online TV streaming:
  Invalid
Status in Tv-Player:
  New
Status in Ubuntu Gnome Remix Metapackages:
  In Progress
Status in Ubuntu:
  In Progress
Status in “ubuntu-express” package in Ubuntu:
  In Progress
Status in The Jaunty Jackalope:
  Invalid
Status in “ubuntu-express” source package in Jaunty:
  Invalid
Status in Arch Linux:
  New
Status in Baltix GNU/Linux:
  Invalid
Status in “linux” package in Debian:
  In Progress
Status in Fluxbuntu: The Lightweight, Productive, Agile OS:
  Confirmed
Status in openSUSE:
  In Progress
Status in Tilix Linux:
  New

Bug description:
  Microsoft has a majority market share in the new desktop PC marketplace.
  This is a bug, which Ubuntu is designed to fix.

  Non-free software is holding back innovation in the IT industry,
  restricting access to IT to a small part of the world's population and
  limiting the ability of software developers to reach their full
  potential, globally. This bug is widely evident in the PC industry.

  Steps to repeat:

  1. Visit a local PC store.

  What happens:
  2. Observe that a majority of PCs for sale have non-free software pre-installed.
  3. Observe very few PCs with Ubuntu and free software pre-installed.

  What should happen:
  1. A majority of the PCs for sale should include only free software like Ubuntu.
  2. Ubuntu should be marketed in a way such that its amazing features and benefits would be apparent and known by all.
  3. The system shall become more and more user friendly as time passes.

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