Ubuntu

Bug #1 (liberation)
Comment #1043

Comment 1043 for bug 1

Revision history for this message

houstonbofh (leesharp) wrote on 2009-05-27: Re: [Bug 1] Re: Microsoft has a majority market share

#1043

This really shows that we have a perception problem. I am addressing
your issues, not to attack you, but to show you other answers. The real
question is why you did not see them.

Ittay Dror wrote:
> Ever since Ubuntu 8.04 I have seen a regression in how usable the distribution is for me:
> 1. It uses a lot of memory: I had to upgrade my memory recently since 2GB were not enough for 4 applications (thunderbird, terminal, firefox and eclipse). My computer at home, with 1GB of memory and Windows runs much more applications without problem.

I do not have a single system with over 2 gig. My laptop is 512 meg,
and I am currently running several applications. What are you starting?
And why do you feel this is an Ubuntu issue, and not a user issue?

> 2. It is not stable: in 8.04 and 8.10 X used to crashed a lot. Now I get random freezes of the laptop.

I am with you here. There is a known bug in the 8.04 kernel, and
Intrepid had a few regressions. Most of the Intrepid regressions are
fixed now, but I have not looks at the LTS in a while. However, I have
been very pleasently surprised with 9.04. I also still have a lot of
Gutsy systems in production. There is no reason to move if it works...

> 3. Many times it fails to suspend: I get no clear indication what interrupted the suspension, and I have to wait every time to see if it manages to suspend and if not, shut down (loose my state of work), and reboot later. In Windows I can unplug the power line, put in my backpack and not worry.

I have seen several laptops that can not suspend properly under Windows.
This is really a power management bug, as the spec is not clearly
defined or well followed.

> 4. Basic stuff like sound (pulseaudio) and fan cooling don't work properly.

Same with Windows. Buy well supported hardware and it will work. Buy
poorly supported hardware and it won't. I have a Paperport scanner that
won't work under XP or better, but will work in Linux.

> 5. Some things that are basic in Windows are hard to do in Ubuntu. For example, how do I check my disk? In windows it is through a context menu, in Ubuntu I have to create some file under '/'. And why do I have to reboot just to check? Note that the fact that it automatically checks every 20 boots or so is not good, since I don't want to reboot. ever.

You need to reboot to run chkdsk in windows as well. There are
applications (like https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AutoFsck ) you can install to
allow you to run an fask on your next boot. Some will also then
shutdown and reboot then shutdown again, so it seems like you run fsck
at shutdown. I have never "created a file" to run fsck.

So the bug is that you could not find the answers to your problems. You
can help us by saying where you looked and what you found, or what you
expected to find but didn't. Believe me that a LOT of us want to fix
that bug!

This really shows that we have a perception problem.  I am addressing 
your issues, not to attack you, but to show you other answers.  The real 
question is why you did not see them.

I do not have a single system with over 2 gig.  My laptop is 512 meg, 
and I am currently running several applications.  What are you starting? 
  And why do you feel this is an Ubuntu issue, and not a user issue?

> 2. It is not stable: in 8.04 and 8.10 X used to crashed a lot. Now I get random freezes of the laptop.

I am with you here.  There is a known bug in the 8.04 kernel, and 
Intrepid had a few regressions.  Most of the Intrepid regressions are 
fixed now, but I have not looks at the LTS in a while.  However, I have 
been very pleasently surprised with 9.04.  I also still have a lot of 
Gutsy systems in production.  There is no reason to move if it works...

I have seen several laptops that can not suspend properly under Windows. 
  This is really a power management bug, as the spec is not clearly 
defined or well followed.

> 4. Basic stuff like sound (pulseaudio) and fan cooling don't work properly.

Same with Windows.  Buy well supported hardware and it will work.  Buy 
poorly supported hardware and it won't.  I have a Paperport scanner that 
won't work under XP or better, but will work in Linux.

You need to reboot to run chkdsk in windows as well.  There are 
applications (like https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AutoFsck ) you can install to 
allow you to run an fask on your next boot.  Some will also then 
shutdown and reboot then shutdown again, so it seems like you run fsck 
at shutdown.  I have never "created a file" to run fsck.

So the bug is that you could not find the answers to your problems.  You 
can help us by saying where you looked and what you found, or what you 
expected to find but didn't.  Believe me that a LOT of us want to fix 
that bug!