1 year, 8 months ago
Ubuntu seems to be getting better and better with each release -- has it yet reached viability as a home operating system for non-geeks?
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Ubuntu is a great OS. It's not really ready to be installed by aunt minnie, but then again, she wouldn't really be able to install windows either.
If a non techie user has techie friends to set ubuntu up for them, and explain a few concepts, then be available to answer newbie questions, then that person should do just fine.
You picked an interesting time to post this question, because ubuntu 10.10 will release within the month,
Now: for new users, there are two distros that are actually better than ubuntu.
Linux Mint: Has some restricted drivers pre-loaded, so the first time you click on an mp3 file it will just play. (It's not all that hard in ubuntu, a couple of clicks get the needed codecs installed.) Installing new software onto Mint is brain dead simple, as they have a nice web page where you can look up packages by type, see screenshots and read descriptions. Then, there's a one button install available for your choice. Of course, the user can still run synaptic and install anything from the depositories. Under the hood, Mint is based on ubunto (for now.) They are testing a rolling distro based on debian. (Ubuntu is based on Debian.)
MEPIS: This distro is again based on Debian. (It was based on ubuntu for a couple releases.) It's another one of those "it just works" distributions.
All three are available as live CDs for testing and then installation.
If a non techie user has techie friends to set ubuntu up for them, and explain a few concepts, then be available to answer newbie questions, then that person should do just fine.
You picked an interesting time to post this question, because ubuntu 10.10 will release within the month,
Now: for new users, there are two distros that are actually better than ubuntu.
Linux Mint: Has some restricted drivers pre-loaded, so the first time you click on an mp3 file it will just play. (It's not all that hard in ubuntu, a couple of clicks get the needed codecs installed.) Installing new software onto Mint is brain dead simple, as they have a nice web page where you can look up packages by type, see screenshots and read descriptions. Then, there's a one button install available for your choice. Of course, the user can still run synaptic and install anything from the depositories. Under the hood, Mint is based on ubunto (for now.) They are testing a rolling distro based on debian. (Ubuntu is based on Debian.)
MEPIS: This distro is again based on Debian. (It was based on ubuntu for a couple releases.) It's another one of those "it just works" distributions.
All three are available as live CDs for testing and then installation.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
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