Soliciting Input For a Linux Review
by Ryan Smith on February 6, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Ryan's Ramblings
One of the things we have been wanting to do for some time now is to do a proper review of Linux as an end-user operating system. We have done articles on Linux in the past relating to performance, but never a complete OS review.
A Month With a Mac, our article on the Mac experience was very well received and we would like to do this again for a Linux review. I, a Linux novice, will use Ubuntu Linux for a month as my primary OS in order to capture an idea of how the Linux experience stacks up, and how it compares to the Mac and Windows platforms.
Now the reason that we're soliciting advice first is due to a matter of timing. Ubuntu is on a six-month release schedule with the next version due in April. If we were to start our month-long experiment next week, our review would not be ready until the middle of March, only a month or so before the next Ubuntu release. On the other hand if we wait for the next version of Ubuntu, a review would not be done until at least the late-May/early-June time frame.
So we would like to hear back from our readers and Linux users. Would you rather see this kind of a review done sooner, or wait another 2-3 months for a review done with a newer version of Ubuntu? This isn't a straight-up vote, but we'd like to take your opinions under serious consideration, especially since we aren't intimately familiar with Ubuntu and what the next version may bring.
Please add your comments to this blog post, we'll get back to you next week to let you guys know if we're going ahead with our experiment or not.
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dvijaydev46 - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
I think wt will be good to wait till the next revision is released so that the new OS can be reviewed properly. But why can't we have a small story on the current version?NoToRiOuS1 - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
I'd say go for the 8.04. It the one thats going to be supported for the longest. It's the newest OS. Many people who are interested might have already tried the current version of Ubuntu at some point or another so it doesn't seem AS useful to cover the current version. Might as well cover a new OS when it comes out.I think no matter what, the article you write up about this will be very helpful but I think you'd be doing the Linux community better justice if you wrote an article on an OS that is the fresh on the scene.
MrJim - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
It pains my soul the state of video editing capabilities in Ubuntu/Linux. I still need either a OSX/Final Cut Pro or Windows/Avid for serious editing. Why oh why cant Apple license Final Cut Pro to linux (that would be the day).Good luck with the review, i would put my vote for 8.04 being LTS and all that.
sprockkets - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
"I refer you to the Airline and toaster jokes, I mayhave missed some of the finer points/details of the
jokes but essentially they are:
a)MS Windows Airlines:
The flight is very expensive, but the checkin desk is
fabulous and glitzy, everyone makes you feel great,
the baggage checkin is painless, there is no queueing,
you get straight on the plane. The plane taxes down
the run way and takes off, no problems at all, then
suddenly 10 minutes into the flight the plane explodes
with no warning and for no apparent reason and
everyone is dead.
b)Unix/Linux Airlines:
Everyone turns up at the airport and brings piece an
aeroplane with them, they all sit around on the tarmac
and argue about what the plane should do and look
like, eventually they manage to build 5 or six
different planes, they call them all the same name,
but they do fly and the customers all *believed* they
got to their destinations.
c)MAC Airlines
The customers arrive at the airport, checkin desk is
very funky and modern in its design, with wacky curves
and great colour schemes - a designers dream. The
customers get on the plane which simply taxes up and
down for hours on the runway without actually going
anywhere. Having never experienced a proper
airline/aeroplane trip, the MAC users think this is
all there is to air travel and remain blissfully happy
and blissfully unaware of the fact they are going
nowhere.
Or perhaps the toaster Joke:
a)Windows toaster:
The windows toaster looks great, but sometime it just
won't make toast, it either comes out burnt or raw,
you have to unplug the toaster and plug it back in
again, each time you want to try and make some toast.
For every loaf of bread you buy you are forced to buy
a new toaster to go with it.
b)Linux toaster.
The linux toaster looks awful, it has wires crimped
together hanging out of it, the first time you make
toast with it it burns it, the next time its raw, you
read the man pages and invoke the command line, toast
-verbose -breadsize 50132 -eject -o z3321 > /dev/toast
| more and it makes perfect toast ever after.
c)MAC toaster
The MAC toaster has no settings or controls, it looks
very stylish, but will only accept proprietry size
bread which can only be bought from Apple main dealers
at 10 times the price of regular bread. The toast is
fine except that the size of the bread is so odd, you
can't actually eat the toast it produces, although it
does look good."
qnetjoe - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
I think it is an awesome idea, just be careful about starting a few flame wars. You have the easy ones, like KDE vs Gnome, but what about one like email clients (kontact vs evolution), media players (amarok vs banshee vs exaile) office suits (openoffice vs koffice) IDEs (xemacs vs kdevelop vs eclipse)Even in the Gnome vs KDE are you going to include both kde 4 and KDE 3.5.
I really like the idea just it would take you a good amount of time just for completeness.
Good Luck, May the source be with you...
kevincpbl - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
I've been using Ubuntu for years, and its great, but new users are definitely much much better off to jump in when the latest release is an LTS release.The version of Ubuntu coming out in April isn't just another every 6 month update, it is the culmination of the last 2 years of development in Ubuntu. But more than that, it has much more of a focus on stability, and compatibility. LTS releases undergo much more rigorous bug testing, and are what most would like to see compared to the other big 2 OS's.
Ubuntu 8.04 does not have much different from 7.10, but that is what makes it different. It takes what was created for 7.10, and cleans it up, tweaks it, and makes it more stable. There are a lot of important changes that users won't see going into 8.04, and it is worth the wait.
Finally, if you're going to do this right, please choose a system based on what is supported well in Linux, specifically Ubuntu. The last thing anyone wants to hear is a long-winded complaint piece about the state of hardware support in Linux. The truth is, with popularity will come hardware support, and all anyone can do for now is support the hardware vendors that support Linux.
(ie, Intel everything, especially wireless card-wise :)
Ryan Smith - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
The hardware will be similar to our usual test beds; an Intel processor, a P35 mobo, and a recent ATI/NVIDIA video card, there won't be anything exotic. This should be pretty plain and I would hope something that can be installed without an issue.sht - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
Well, ATI and NVIDIA video cards are kind of exotic hardware in Linux land. Not that it doesn't work for basic 2D or even you cannot have good 3D, but Intel is the only graphics vendor that properly support Linux. Their support is very good though and definitely on par with what you'd expect for a video card for Windows or Mac OS X.And I don't think in any way that it is unfair in this comparison to require certain hardware, after all you cannot run Mac OS X on almost any hardware at all. You should really look at it the other way around that Linux just happen to work with more hardware out of the box than any other OS, but on a best effort basis. That is fair compared to Mac OS X at least, a Windows only comparison is arguably a different story.
The only thing required of the selection of hardware to be fair, is that it is easy to do up front, like in "buy a notebook with Intel graphics and wireless". That is about as easy as "buy a Mac from Apple if you want to run Mac OS X".
And just jump into it right away, then we'll be able to hear about your upgrade experience as well. I'm sure it will be painless - imaging all the readers cloning your setup and ironing out issues in order to ensure a good review :)
MooseMuffin - Thursday, February 7, 2008 - link
This was true a year or two ago, but not anymore. Ubuntu will install official nvidia and ati drivers though its restricted driver dialog and you'll have full 2d/3d acceleration. However I should say the newer 8800s (gt, 512 gts) aren't currently supported with the included driver.sht - Friday, February 8, 2008 - link
It isn't about full 2D and 3D acceleration, it is about not being able to suspend and hibernate and about vendors that listen to the issues their customers might have. It is all but true today.