Category: Ubuntu

Linux – stop holding kids back… so wrong

Recently, a school teacher named Karen in the Austin Independent School District confiscated what she thought were copies of illegal software but were actually Linux CDs. She then wrote an angry email to Ken Starks (aka, Helios), who then published the email and wrote back his own angry response. At least that’s what Ken Starks… Continue reading Linux – stop holding kids back… so wrong

The Songbird has hatched

When Songbird first appeared on the scene (I think it was version 0.1 or something), I remember the Ubuntu Forums community getting really excited about it. It was supposed to be like the Firefox of music players, the iTunes-“killer.” It seems as if it’s been years, and people have been hyping it up all along… Continue reading The Songbird has hatched

Would Apple’s netbook be the next iPod?

I remember back in 2003 when only a handful of early adopters in America were buying portable audio players. If I’m recalling correctly, some of the big players at the time were RCA and Creative, among others. Once 2004 rolled around and the 3rd-generation iPods came out, suddenly “everyone” I knew had an iPod. Soon,… Continue reading Would Apple’s netbook be the next iPod?

Ubuntu Eee 8.04.1 – I’m impressed!

If you’ve been following my blog at all the past year, you know I’ve been obsessed with finding the right Linux distro for my Eee PC. It came with an Asus-customized version of Xandros that works perfectly with the hardware but suffers in many ways on the software and user-interface side. I’ve since tried vanilla… Continue reading Ubuntu Eee 8.04.1 – I’m impressed!

Please stop pretending Windows “just works”

As a follow-up to Macs are just computers, not magic and Macs are computers, not magic (part 2), I have to say based on recent events that people who say “There’s a reason 90% of home users use Windows” (and mean to imply it’s the quality of Windows instead of consumer inertia) or “Linux is… Continue reading Please stop pretending Windows “just works”

Dell, you didn’t do right by your Ubuntu customers

Quite a large handful of Ubuntu Forums members ordered Dell Inspiron Mini 9 computers with Ubuntu preinstalled. Kudos to Dell for offering (and actually advertising) Ubuntu preinstalled, and good on those who bought Ubuntu preinstalled (not an XP preinstalled they installed Ubuntu in place of themselves) and sent a real message to a major OEM… Continue reading Dell, you didn’t do right by your Ubuntu customers

My top ten favorite Ubuntu Brainstorm usability ideas

Anyone who has read my threads on the Ubuntu Forums or my posts on this blog knows I think a lack of properly advertised and thoughtfully tested preinstalled Linux solutions from major manufacturers is the main barrier to the bulk of average folks switching from Windows to Linux. Dell recently releasing and semi-advertising the Ubuntu… Continue reading My top ten favorite Ubuntu Brainstorm usability ideas

Linux-for-the-masses narratives

I’m going to present you with several possible narratives that outline how Linux could be adopted by “the masses” in the future, if ever: Narrative 1 People continue to buy Windows-preinstalled computers but at one point the Linux developers are such geniuses that they are able to make a foolproof installation that detects and automatically… Continue reading Linux-for-the-masses narratives