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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avaughan - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
I think the most important thing is to have reasonable expectations.Given your job, I expect you are an expert windows user. Linux is different to windows. It will take quite some time to learn to use it as effectively as you can use windows. (Think how many hours you have spent learning to get the most out of various windows programs. One month isn't going to be enough time to duplicate that).
Some applications just aren't feasible for companies to distribute because without special licences for legal reasons. (Licence restrictions, patents, DCMA etc). Sometimes the licence issues can be worked around eg. http://packages.ubuntu.com/gutsy/web/flashplugin-n...">http://packages.ubuntu.com/gutsy/web/flashplugin-n... . Things like libdvdcss2 and win32codecs for watching DVDs and .wmv are more problematic. (They are also available, just not from ubuntu.com). It would be unfair to criticise Ubuntu over this without also commenting on the legal issues.
A lot of hardware will work right out of the box. For some of the rest, you just need to install and/or configure the right "drivers". When things are properly packaged this is similar to installing drivers on window and/or tweaking a value in the registry.
When things aren't properly packaged this can be much harder. (It's the sort of experience where you can learn a lot about linux. Its also the sort of experience where you can easily make a mistake that you know won't have the experience to be able to recover from). Try to stick with hardware that other people have reported works with Ubuntu. eg see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport">https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport . If googling for advice, consider adding ubuntu as a search term, just as you would use vista if searching for drivers for Vista.
nameNotInUse - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
I think setteling for one (or a couple) of distributions makes sense. Just make sure that you state expclicitly in your review that this is "one month with Ubuntu/Linux" or "SuSe/Linux".And try to do some decent research so that you know whethere a problem is with the distribution, with the kernel, or some upstream project (eg Gnome).
Yes, there are many distributions. No, you can't do anything useful on a "linux system" without some userspace tools -- and most people wouldn't get anything done without the framework of a distribution. Yes, you *have* to choose a distribution, just as you would have to choose a distribution of Windows (95/98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/2003 Server/2000 Server etc), Mac OS (9/X.4/X.5), BSD (netbsd/freebsd/openbsd/dragonflybsd/pcbsd) etc.
"Linux" might be the most self-incompatible OS there is -- but that's just the way it is.
Yes, if you want to claim to have reviewed "Linux for the desktop", you'd have to review at least Debian/etch, Debian/lenny (testing), Ubuntu/6.06, Ubuntu/7.10, Suse (?), RedHat/Centos (?) and Gentoo at the very least.
I don't think there's much point in *that* however.
maveric7911 - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
Debian/etch, Debian/lenny (testing), Ubuntu/6.06, Ubuntu/7.10why write an article on 4 different debian/debian based distros. Doesn't make any sense what so ever.
I'd settle with seeing contrast of ubuntu and rhel/fedora/arch/suse ect, but would not want to see someone compare debian to itself.
nameNotInUse - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
Hi,I'd be very interested to see a thorough review of linux, as I've yet to read *any* good linux reviews (in the past 10 years I've been using the linux-based distributions).
I think you should respect the distributions LTS-status - Ubuntu is a natural choice for Desktop linux, and I think you should comparte the current LTS with the upcomming one, including the upgrade-path.
I realize a lot of home users are using 7.10 - but it is considered a BETA realease -- if you do want to review it, please take that into consideration.
It would be interesting to see you compare some of the uniqe benefits of Linux - such as running Ubuntu on a 64-bit amd/intel, a 32-bit machine and on a powerpc-based mac - and see if that helps you a as a new user share files etc.
If you do choose Ubuntu, a comparison with Debian might be interesting, particularily on support - eg compare:
http://www.debian.org">http://www.debian.org
http://www.ubuntu.com">http://www.ubuntu.com
http://ubuntuforums.org">http://ubuntuforums.org
http://www.debian-administration.org">http://www.debian-administration.org
http://wiki.debian.org">http://wiki.debian.org
http://wiki.ubuntu.com">http://wiki.ubuntu.com
Or - if you only choose to do Ubuntu - try the paid support, and compare that to Apple and Microsoft.
You should spend som extra time to see if you get wifi w/wpa to work, memorycard readers and other stuff that isn't well supported in Linux (note; I use Linux as my primary platform, but I'd like to see a balanced, realistic review).
You should also spend some time looking at the strenghts; eg trying to install a persnal wiki/blog, a cms-system, a database system using the package manager etc.
Other features to look at: full disk encryption, sharing a computer with other family members, available games (possibly trying to get eg WoW to work with wine -- it *should* be fairly easy; it'd be interesting to see what a new user thinks), running windows in a vm (preferably qemu or xen as they are available as Free software), dvd (video) mastering.
Also as a follow-up it might be interesting to see a comparison of Ubuntu on a mac vs os X with fink installed.
rettrukdrv - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
I suggest you do ver 7.10,The only differences I"ve seen has to do with setting up software sources and auto loading of wireless adapter without a password.(The adapter I use is a Belkin F5D7050 ver.4000 which loads the driver when you load the Ubuntu OS.)I"ve used a number of Linux Distr.and ubuntu is the best.Good networking(home),good printer setup and with a Msi 945 board,3.0 Core 2 Duo,Its the fastest thing around.zemane - Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - link
Do a review of installing Ubuntu on a machine that already have Windows installed, i.e., a dual-boot install.Thanks!
maveric7911 - Monday, February 11, 2008 - link
I read on the front comment page "PCLinuxos".... Really are we even calling this linux. Hey here is a novel idea, lets write an article on linux distros that are not fakies "ie pclinuxos" or now considered "main stream for the next couple of years" cra...ubuntu. There are lots of great distros out there that are not debian based or not so watered down you really can't even call it linux.examples:
Arch Linux
Rhel5
Gentoo
and the list goes on.
Just because its excepted as easy yet not functional or mainstream "even though rhel4/5 is about 50x more used then ubuntu" doesn't mean we can't see articles on real distros.
mindless1 - Monday, February 11, 2008 - link
IMO, doing a review of something so close to obsolete, especially when the next release has LTS, would be a mistake.If others also want to hear about your experiences in doing an upgrade, let that experience be moving from the LTS to the next version, since anyone who isn't looking to do the upgrades periodically would be best off choosing the LTS releases.
Since the LTS release is so close, it is pretty much finished and the contemporary experience, remembering that a lot of people won't be reading the review the moment it is published but rather many will read it later. The review's useful lifespan is much longer if based on the LTS than the last version prior to it.
quantex - Monday, February 11, 2008 - link
Why not start using linux right now and make a review in March and in May you could make a update of your review with the new version of Ubuntu.gochichi - Monday, February 11, 2008 - link
Let me rephrase that. This review could be a big deal for Linux.I'm of the opinion, that doing two one month reviews would be in order. One now, and one after the new release. That would give the OS a point of reference.
The other thing if you were to do an extended review, it wouldn't take that much to do a follow up article once the new version is released.
Of course, Linux is not Ubuntu, but Ubuntu has been leading the effort to make Linux accessible.
Anyhow, I would certainly be interested to see what anandtech has to say about Linux. I'm particularly interested in tips for using it as a replacement to the mainstream OSs. How to make it work on general tasks. I think that's what people are most interested in.