Written By Bharat Balegere. On May 08. In Ubuntu
Till today I have never been able to spread Ubuntu among my friends successfully.(I live in Bangalore and all my friends are Bangaloreans and Bangalore is known as the IT Capital of India.)Even though I installed Ubuntu for all my friends none of them actually used Ubuntu for more than a week.Some of them removed Ubuntu and flatly refused to use it again in future.Some of them used it occasionally to download stuff from torrents and to clean infected USB Drives.Based on their feedback ,I figured out why people(especially of India) are not too keen on using Ubuntu even if it is installed on their computers.
1)GRUB Boot Loader does not have an Aesthetic Appeal.
Ugly Grub
After installing Ubuntu ,we are presented with a Grub menu which displays about 5 options.The 1st option to load Ubuntu and the last option to load Windows.This menu has a black ground with white text.This menu does not have an aesthetic appeal and does not create a good first impression.Even though Grub supports eye-candy like custom background and coloured text,Ubuntu developers have chosen to ignore the Grub Menu.With a little effort ,the Grub Menu can be easily enhanced visually .
2)Login Screen-Users are required to type in their username.
Ubuntu Login Screen
The default login screen in Ubuntu requires the user to enter his Username and Password.Many people find this irritating.The login screen should display a list of Usernames by default.An average user will not try to find out how to change the behaviour of the Login screen.Instead he will simply say that Ubuntu is not good and will refuseto use it.So it is upto the Ubuntu developers to change the default behaviour of the Login Screen.
3)Desktop-The Refresh option is missing!
Ubuntu Desktop Right Click Menu
What does an average Indian user do when the desktop loads in Windows?He rights clicks on the desktop and refreshes the desktop about 5-6 times or until he is satisfied.This is a ritual performed by most Indian Users after switching on the computer and just before shutting down the computer.
When this average user tries to perform his ‘Refresh’ ritual in Ubuntu,he is in for a rude shock.The Ubuntu Desktop does not have a Refresh Option or any other simliar option like Reload in the Right Click Menu.
So I advice Ubuntu Developers to include to a Refresh or a Reload option in the right click menu on the Desktop and in the Nautilus File Manager.The option should be equivalent of pressing Ctrl+R.As of now ,pressing Ctrl+R refreshes the Desktop in Ubuntu.
4)Default Login Sound.
The default login sound in Ubuntu is not good.It has been the same sound for many versions of Ubuntu.The Ubuntu Developers should spend some time on selecting a better Login Sound.
5)Default Wallpaper.
There are only 2 or 3 default wallpapers in Ubuntu.Ubuntu Developers should add some more visually appealing wallpapers related to nature,wildlife,people etc.
6)Default Audio driver is weak.
Quality of Sound in Ubuntu is never as good as it is in Windows.I don’t know what Ubuntu Developers can do about this,but this is one of the main reasons why people refuse to watch movies in Ubuntu.The sound effects are absent.
7)Totem Movie Player sucks
Totem Sucks
That’s the general opinion of many users.VLC Media Player or Mplayer would have been a better choice as the Default Media Player.
8)Right Click-Send To :Options are missing.
The right click menu should have a Send To option with options to send files to the Home Folder or Removable Disk or a blank CD etc
9)Silverlight-Moonlight.
People in India are crazy about Cricket.The Indian Premier League live videos are being streamed at livevideo.iplt20.com using Microsoft Silverlight Technology.Ubuntu fails here.Inspite of installing Moonlight – Open source alternative for SilverLight,live videos cannot be viewed in Ubuntu.The development of Moonloght is way behind Silverlight.
Ubuntu Developers should include Moonlight by default.Even if Live streaming is not possible,other SilverLight Enabled Sites can be viewed using Moonlight.In current Ubuntu version none of the Silverlight Enabled sites can be viewed.
10)Safely Remove USB Drive or Unmount Volume
Many people do not know how to Safey Remove their Usb Drives in Ubuntu.They are not aware of the Unmount Volume option in the Right Click Menu.So they simply pull it out.This leads to loss of data if writing process has not been completed.
So the Ubuntu Developers should rename the Unmount Option for USB Drives to Safey Remove USB Drive.An icon should also be displayed in the taskbar to Safely Remove USB Drive.
I hope Ubuntu Developers ,GNome Developers and other Linux Developers read this and make changes in their Linux Distribution.Hopefully by the next Ubuntu Release,I should be able to spread it successfully among my friends.
Hello,
I agree with some of your points like wallpaper,sound effects,silvermoonlightand may be grub look and feel.But all this things can be improved and neccessarily not a failure in india beacuse a few install on your friends computer does not constitute the whole INDIA.
Ubuntu linux is not Windows.so safely remove hardware,sent to etc option suggesstion is rubbish.
Surely you live in Bangalore and Bangalore is known as the IT Capital of India but it seems you don’t know even the full form of IT.Please, I request you not to post this type of RUBBISH Articles whic is a shame not only to INDIA but also Bangaloreans.
This is a LOL! ^_^
The formula is simple as this my friend:
Linux (in general) != Windows && Linux != MacOS
Pick your choice of OS!
i agree with most of the posts here:
1. There’s a setting to tweak this – you can have “press esc to see the menu”, or just shut your eyes?
2. Security. Its been mentioned.
3. Seriously, what? Can someone explain this? The “satisfaction” answer above is good, I kind of see that. But surely it just wastes time?
4. If its been the same for all versions, couldn’t it be considered a trademark or such? Same as the windows one.
5. Download a new one! I don’t expect to choose my wallpaper from the ones that come with windows, because they’re all horrible! Apart from the brown theme, the ubuntu ones actually look alright.
6. Rubbish – check the (amazing) support forums at ubuntuforums.org for posts related to this, as it could well be a hardware config problem with your card. I know lots of people that have no trouble at all.
7. true, but if you don’t like it just install mplayer! It takes hardly any time at all!
8. Its not windows, but you can add these yourself: google “nautilus scripts”
9. Silverlight is proprietary software that you have to install seperately in windows anyway, so why should it be any different in linux?
10. Hell, I just pull my usb stick out anyway. As long as your not writing stuff to the drive, its (normally) okay. But right-click -> unmount is hardly a big step is it?
I hope you learn that Linux is Not Windows! Seriously, the number of posts I read that are “10 reasons why linux isn’t ready for the desktop” is horrendous. Linux != Windows. Its different. Would you complain if you started using a Mac and didn’t know where stuff was? Somehow I don’t think so… Hell, they don’t even have a right mouse button “by default”…
Hi,
The most valuable gift of Linux (any flavor) is the freedom it provides you to customize the OS the way you want. Point 3 is pointless but I consider it as good timepass when you ‘ve got nothing else to do (not much to do in windows anyway) and your boss won’t let you play solitaire.
Just to inform you. I just added “Refresh Desktop” option in my Debian box. You can similarlity add “Send to” or any other option you want. You are in control. No one is stopping you. Point 1 about the aesthetic looks of GRUB. If you don’t like it change it. Add a pic of Jenna if you like.
You are gonna rant like this for the rest of your life because you don’t know how to use Linux. It’s like having a Ferrari(Linux) and don’t know how to drive(a noob) so you call a cab (Windows)
And what give you the right to represent everybody in India or Bangalore for that matter????
1) Are you saying that people don’t use XP too, ‘coz the XP bootloader has the EXACT SAME COLORS.
2) Down to personal preferences. But if really want the people you introduce Ubuntu to stick with it maybe you can change the default GDM login to one with a face browser.
3) Are you SERIOUS??????? Or were (maybe still are) one of those kids who say “I will go home with my bat if I am given out”
4&5) Visit ubuntuforums, ubuntu brainstroms etc. I partially agree with you on these but I personally don’t stick with the default wallpaper of any distro. Then again it’s my choice and bound to differ from others. That is why there is a “choose wallpaper” in every distro/de/wm.
6) No issues with that on the various types of hardware I have installed Linux on, maybe you have been unlucky with the hardware you have. If it is just the ‘loudness’ and not the musicality you refer to then try cranking up the PCM in addition the master volume.
Would be a good feature. Some filetypes have it already, would be nice if it was implemented consistently.
7) ABSOLUTELY AGREE.
9)Would be interisting to know what Microsoft’s sales pitch was to BCCI.Anyway this is not something that I can reasonably comment on.
10) “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose….” –Shakespeare
There is a panel applet which does exactly that in XFCE, not sure but amybe in Gnome too. Would be nice to have it enabled by default like KDE4 though.
And just because Ubuntu ( or Fedora or any other distro) is not a resounding success does in no way mean it is a ‘BIG’ failure. History shows that Windows too had it hard up untill before Win95 and Win98.
You should change the title of the post to something less inflamatory. That is if your intensions are good and not just to get people to visit your blog.
I only have something to say on the first 3:
1) I agree with you, plenty of other distros have nice grub splash screens. MINT is a good example, and actually might be a better fit for your friends then ubuntu is.
2)I both agree and disagree. As others pointed out, having the username on screen is a security risk… HOWEVER: ubuntu has as one of its startup options a “Recovery Mode” which requires no password. Using this mode, a malicious user could not only find a valid user name (ls /home), but also change the password for that username, or just create a new account. So while the arguments against you are valid in general, they are not sound in the case of ubuntu.
3) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Explain what this is all about. It doesnt make any sense. Why do they do this? Clearly they need to be informed that this is pointless… on any operating system. I really want to know what the idea behind this is though.
Hi! I am from Muzaffarpur, Bihar. One of the most underprivileged parts of India, and I have friends from almost all parts of India.
I am a proud Ubuntu user and I have converted many of my friends from ‘Windows lover’ to ‘Ubuntu admirer’. One of my friends gave up Windows just because it used to crash frequently. I don’t know how you have mentioned it as a ‘big failure’. Better, I would suggest a term as ‘emerging success’ for it.
The other replies have almost printed up what I would have liked to comment for your post. Well, personally I agree with ‘only’ the number 6 of the reasons in your post.
i think your friends are either dumb or you don’t even know what are the real things one should see while reviewing an operating system. I mean like the default sound and wallpaper stuff.Theese are last thing one should see while checking out an OS. The basic thing is stability of the system and ease of use. In this both departments Ubuntu is much better than windows.
It seems that all you except from ubuntu is to be a copy of windows with different name………
Your post is ridiculous.
Changing a few wallpapers and menu options isn’t going to result in mass linux adoption in India.
Indians don’t use linux because they’re comfortable with Windows. They see no reason to change. And I doubt pushy linux zealots like you do the case for linux any good.
Do you know what is Human Computer Interface and how it works?
Some of your points are just an excuse for being lazy.
Refresh in right click, do you understand what is refresh or why is it necessary?
Few points are there but they are getting rectified upstream and in other distros.
Good luck and learn to adapt.
i think fedora rocks
http://www.techveno.com/fedora-11-wins/
Even i faced similar issues , staying in Bangalore i also installed ubuntu to many of my friends but then ended up switching back to windows
But then , when they we infected by virus {very bad ones }. I showed them the advantage of linux , now atleast 50% are using it
.
The basic questions i asked them was :
1.What do you do in windows?
2.What you are not able to do in Ubuntu ?
Told them you would normally , listen to music , browse and do some word processing and coding …
Everything can be done here.
One of them wanted to stick on to the toy TurboC for DOS , i installed it on DosBox to prove everything can be done here also , finally i have succeeded
@hemanth.hm
1.What do you do in windows?
>> mostly gaming
2.What you are not able to do in Ubuntu?
>> can’t game
@bharat
linux sucks…only if you don’t know how to use it!
Who said no gaming in Ubuntu ?
You have three options :
1. playonlinux
2. playdeb
3. wine
I just installed GTA latest version at my friends place , and the end of the day i have quit playing long back
An interesting post. I agree, if thre is anywhere in India that Ubuntu shuld be lapped up, its Bangalore, no argument! I wonder how representative your sample group is though.
Firstly, Ubuntu/linux in general is just different. It does things in a different way to windows and is not a drop-in replacement for it. I have no idea for example what this refreshing of the desktop is all about. I’d be very curious to hear what the origins and purpose of this ritual are. There are plenty of europeans who also have tried it for a week, been unable to get over that its not windows and given up. Same goes for wallpaper etc. there are thousands of wallpapers available on gnome-look, some gnome-specific, some ubuntu specific. (Perhaps Canonical chose not to waste space on the CD by including wallpaper…). None of the ‘problems’ you identify seem to me would be terribly difficult to overcome for a technically curious user.
Secondly, I don’t see what this is telling us what are the unique challenges about Ubuntu adoption in India. There are plenty of Europeans, Americans, etc who also have tried it for a week, been unable to get over that its not Windows, and given up, unless you suggesting that in general, Indian users are significantly more impatient than other users.
in windows execution of codes has higher priority than display. thus some time when your codes consumes most of your cpu power and ram, your display is not allowed to refresh (bcoz as i stated above). (This you may have seen when you exeucte some heavy program say Photoshop CS4 on Pentium IV 1.0Ghz i.e. on slow systems). many times after code execution windows refreshes your screen but sometime unable to do so or you can say forgets to do so. in that case this refresh button helps you to refresh your screen display…..
The processor will scan through the cache memory again & prompt the latest modifications or changes you have made to your computer.
Bharat,
I’m from Bangalore too and I think you have been talking to the wrong people. I run Ubuntu on my desktop at home, mainly used by my wife. She loves it and she’s not well-versed in computers. The first thing she remarked was “No antivirus!”. A friend of mine has it installed for his parents in Orissa and they love it!
I think generalizing something, without a proper statistical sampling, is bad. India is not your friends or mine. If you are going to publish something like this, please spend the time in making a proper effort at collecting data. Use a proper user survey or better a focus group that draws people from various fields with varying computer knowledge and exposure.
A broad demographic term like India cannot be used without comparative data from other countries. Are you saying that Ubuntu in another country has different features that are less cumbersome to users from those countries? or that people living in Bangalore should somehow have in-born skills to use it, that you found lacking in your friends?
Please also change the title to “10 Reasons why Ubuntu is a BIG Failure with my friends”.
Thanks and Regards,
Ulhas
i have been using ubuntu since the last 1 1/2 years and i have had monumental achievements in comparison to microsoft.
see, linux was initially not for people who didnt care about what was in the background as a process as long as things were working.
and lemme assert that a refresh option is never required in ubuntu…simply becos the windows stops responding often, and thats why u need to refresh…!!!
same applies to other issues…
In most of your complaint, You want to Ubuntu be an FreeWindows. But the fact is: Ubuntu is Ubuntu and only Ubuntu, even if they some times quotes some features from Mac and Windows, But this doesn’t change that fact since Mac and Window also picked some cool stuff from Ubuntu.
A good practice that you try to get familiar with Ubuntu and not compare it with any other OS since this is a waste ogf time.
Tell me about a single feature which Windows or MAC copied from UBUNTU ??
All he want to say is that, make Ubuntu easy to use for normal peoples!!
Dude, these are the most ridiculous reasons i’ve ever heard in my life…. lmao . Unix is not 4 everyone.
Hey … You know what..you can rename your post to “10 reasons why your friends don’t use Linux”
Damn, that’s some noob article! (sorry for the sincerity)
WoW, boot loader is black and white, and does not look good..”
Damn dude, is this affecting your system performance or such? Why that hell do you want a “pretty” bootloader!? Just to say : “Look, my bootloader has some nice colors, but my machine sucks anyway?” Please….
Another stupid point, is the Desktop refresh “ritual”. WTF dude? Learn how to use your OS properly first (winnie), then, just then, you might learn something and maybe be a little more argumentative about some particular aspect.
And come on, who the f*ck “(ab)use” the desktop refresh, and dont survive without that stupid thing? “OHHH i don’t do any decent shit with my machine, but it can refresh it’s desktop.” Please…
Like said before, Linux is Linux, and Windows is Windows, so, don’t bring your nasty winnie frustrations to the POSIX world dude, and go read and learn something before doing the “bad talk” about something.
And i don’t want to believe that “most” of india users thinks that way, because, the real one’s, just don’t!
Props to all.
let me tell you one thing…..not only in India but in the whole world only computer science students use Linux till when it was in there course or either the developer of linux only use it at there labs only…..
and i think you know very well that first impression is the last impression !! you can’t sell a PC having a linux installed on it to a customer who is paying $1000 for it…
looks are also as much needed as the other features!!
The data about this good topic is really hot so, because of it the custom writing service would present not very expensive written essay and we buy an essay.
hi all,
Thanks for this post Agni!!
these are not only the reason that people do not use linux but there are hell a lot of reason that why people do not use it…..
the guys here favoring linux also knows that Linux is an incomplete GUI OS. It’s good if you are using it for shell scripting…..and remaining part of it is not more than garbage….
97% people in the world who have a PC, use Windows OS. can i ask you all, why ?
Windows is easy to use and a complete GUI OS. someone here put two questions that what linux can’t do that Windows can do…..
There are hell a lot of things that a Linux can’t do….
You just plug a device of yours in Windows and it will work like a charm, you do not need any shit of extra files. you just insert a mobile phone or digital camera it just work like as it was a part of Windows. Linux will kick your ass if ever try to sync any of your multimedia device in it…
Try Windows 7, you all forget about anything else. PowerShell v2.0 is the most powerful shell ever developed. It’s more powerful than that of linux shell editors….
Windows 95 had much better Multimedia capabilities than that of your latest Linux version…
the looks of a Linux is yaakkkk…. Gnome shell sucks very badly and KDE is too bloat too use…It discomforts peoples…
the discussion ends here that even Linux is an open source OS….but even though the whole world prefers Windows OS…
because it is best and works like a charm….
and why you people compare the latest version of Linux with Windows XP, compare it with Windows 7……It will kick everyone’s ASS….there are million of computer devices which are not compatible with Linux and none of a single PC manufacturer prefer Linux…..Linux Sucks very badly and it is the truth!!
Linux is only use by Pirates for there illegal activities and to harm other users of the community!!
I don’t agree with you on certain points.Linux is not used only by Pirates.
Secondly Linux does have a good gui.
Take a look at linux mint.It covers almost all the drawbacks mentioned in this post.
I feel you are too narrow minded.Maybe you should explore all the different flavours of Linux out there in the internet.
that’s the point which i want to explain that there are hell lot of Linux out there in the market, anybody who know shell programming develop its own Linux, admins of an normal technews website http://www.neowin.net are developing there own Linux, what the hack ??
Windows gives you all you want in one package…..unlike Linux if you want to enjoy UI, then move to Linux minty, if You want to use any other feature move to another kind of linux….what you need is that you have to install 20 types of linux’s to fulfill all your PC requirements….this is really disgusting!!
A 4 year old kid can use Windows easily but a 24 year old won’t able to use Linux properly!!
Lol..
Dude.. You are just a jerkass.. Rotfl..
You are talking about pirates?? More than 50% of the windows os installed are pirated version..
But linux.?? 0%.. Cos its open source. You either dont know what pirate means or dont know what open source means. Either ways, STFW..
GUI??
You must be kidding.. I use gnome. And I have all the fucking shit that you have in mac (Finder, global menu, window preview, etc etc.. ) and you know what. I challenge , tell me any feature that you have in Windows 7, I can bring an equivalent and FASTER than windows 7 with my linux.
And no body wants you to install diff distros, for diff stuffs. LOL..
What you need is right attitude to learn and explore things in ur linux. Windows comes as one package, because all those buggy softwares are made by microsoft. (3rd party softwaresy ou need to install by urself)
Its the same with linux, those softwares incl source code, which have good name come under the repository. The entire idea of linux is that, it gives you FREEDOM to develop whatever you want, change whatever you want.
Of course, you wont have a smooth ride, for all softwares, but 99% you can solve your problem because linux has heavy support. Dont say, your windows has no probs. I will kick right on your face.
And remember one thing, 99% of the world’s supercomputers run on linux, cos for faster machines, you need faster os, and any day, my linux is much fucking faster than your shitty windows and great thing is that I can “customize” my kernel, but windows you cant.
Bottom line, with windows, you can just use whatever is given to you.
But in linux, you can use whatever is give, at the same time, u can change/add whatever you want.
To the author of this post, none of your points are valid. Reasons have been already stated before.
if you write about entire country with your 10 fucking noob friends, then look at the number of people who disagree with your views. Ratio wise, definitely, Windows is a great loser. Just dont blindly write some shit stuff. Do some research.
Hail Linux, Suck Winodws!!
hey sucker.Mac is on 9% of world’s DESKTOP computers and linux on 7% so windows is on 90% of world’s DESKTOP computers.Maybe you will regret saying this when your computer gets a BSoD.
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