Comment by yef | Hacker News Reader

Comment by yef | Hacker News Reader

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Let's get one thing out of the way, first: the simple fact that you can compare Ubuntu (cost: $0) with OSX ($120 + custom hardware) and Windows ($117) is utterly amazing.

You make a valid point that certain things break and take coaxing and searching message boards to work. That's definitely bad.

The point I would question is that of the UI. There are many aspects of OSX that are weird -- the mouse tracking, installing applications, setting a background color for your desktop, bringing up a terminal. Other issues exist for Windows. I can see how it's hard to detach yourself from something you're used to, though.

Those are going to be the two main issues in getting Ubuntu off the ground with average users. Having shit not break, and being close enough to users' existing habits to make the switch easy.

My hunch is that things are pretty close to where they'll end up. Linux will be an attractive alternative among techies, hobbyists, and average folks with spare/old machines. Microsoft and Apple will respond by cutting prices, and in the end, won't lose a substantial share of the market to Linux on the desktop, but suffer decreased margins. The user wins.

What is exactly is weird with "the mouse tracking, installing applications, setting a background color for your desktop, bringing up a terminal" in OS X?

Mouse tracking - no focus on mouse, and the default track pad speed/sensitivity options are way too low.

Installing application - no app store, basically. Being able to get 99.9% of everything you need for free with a single click is very nice.

Mouse tracking: the acceleration is different than what I expect; slow moves don't seem to get me anywhere, quick ones make me overshoot. I've played with settings and downloaded third-party fixes, nothing seems to make it work the way it does in Ubuntu or Windows.

Installing applications: they usually come on a disk image, which you mount, open, and then find the program. Natural inclination is to double click the program and run it. That's great until you unmount the disk image. What you really have to do is drag it to the applications folder. This is never explained, nor do average users know what a disk image is. Windows install wizards are pretty nice; Debian/Ubuntu's package manager is also super nice.

Background color: try setting your OSX background to black. When I tried it, I found that I couldn't. I had to get a purely black image, and then stretch it. Not a problem with Ubuntu or with Windows.

Terminal: by default, the terminal program is not part of the dock, it's buried in the Applications folder. Given that "it's BSD! you have a terminal!" was part of the hype around OSX, I was terribly confused the first time I went on an OSX machine to actually run it. Not a problem with Ubuntu. Moot in Windows, you download Cygwin if you have to.

'The simple fact that you can compare Ubuntu (cost: $0) with OSX ($120 + custom hardware) and Windows ($117) is utterly amazing.'

Why? They're all competing desktop Operating Systems.

Also for hardware to be supported by your distributor, per other Operating Systems, your vendor pays money to that distributor - eg, Dell and HP pay Canonical to support Ubuntu.

"Why? They're all competing desktop Operating Systems."

Exactly. The fact that Ubuntu Linux can compete with operating systems that you have to pay for is an amazing testament to the skill, determination, and efficiency of all the people behind Ubuntu, Debian, Linux, GNU, etc. Especially when you consider they're not strictly organized under a company with strong leadership, such as Apple under Jobs or Microsoft under Gates.

Edit: Nevermind. I'd thought you meant it was unreasonable you can compare them - ie, the "if it's crap, it's free" excuse. On a third reading I realized you meant something else.

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