The problem<\/b>
It happens just about once or twice a week that a new Ubuntu user starts a forum thread or posts a blog entry about what Ubuntu “needs” to do to… fill in the blank (be easy enough for “Joe sixpack” to use, win the desktop, beat Windows, gain market penetration). <\/p>\n
The reaction<\/b>
The reception to these suggestions is usually less than welcoming and can be downright hostile. Why? Why can’t Ubuntu users take criticism? Why don’t they want feedback?<\/i> This is what the new user often wonders. She may even dismiss Ubuntu altogether with the notion that if this<\/i> is how Ubuntu users react to criticism, no wonder<\/i> most people still use Windows. <\/p>\n
Misplaced assumptions<\/b> None of those assumptions are ones that can be taken for granted, and most are just outright wrong. <\/p>\n Different<\/i> doesn’t mean worse<\/i><\/b> Even when there are valid criticisms (for example, pointing out Ubuntu’s need for a point-and-click way of configuring the \/etc\/X11\/xorg.conf file), it still does not logically follow that creating such a graphical tool would cause hoards of Windows users to start downloading, installing, and configuring Ubuntu themselves. There is often a false sense of urgency about these criticisms. <\/p>\n Lack of humility<\/b> Dare to be different<\/b> I’ve been a programmer for 30 years and have experience using Windows, Mac, and Unix. I tried Ubuntu and I have to say it’s not ready for the average user. If Ubuntu wants to win over Windows users, it has to fix these things. It needs better hardware support. Grandma doesn’t want to drop to the command-line and type some cryptic terminal commands to get her sound working. It needs to have a setup.exe. because new users can’t be bothered to compile .tar.gz files from source and track down all the dependencies. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n and more of this type of post or blog <\/p>\n Hi, I just started using Ubuntu, and I’ve run into some difficulties as a new user. It took me a few hours to configure my sound, and I had to type a lot of terminal commands to get things working properly. I also am unable to install software. I’ve tried using .\/configure make and make install, but I run into dependency errors. Is it supposed to be this difficult to use Ubuntu, or am I missing something? I’d like for Ubuntu to be easier than this. Are there any plans to help new users like me avoid these difficulties? What can I do to help make that happen? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yeah. I know I’m dreaming. I know the second kind of post will happen once in a dark-blue moon, but the first kind will keep happening just about every week. <\/p>\n So what can<\/i> someone do to make Ubuntu better?<\/b> For more details, visit wiki.ubuntu.com\/HelpingUbuntu<\/a>. You can whine about how Ubuntu could be better… or you can make a difference—you can actually help make Ubuntu better. <\/p>\n Edit<\/b>: Thanks to 23meg for the links in the suggestion list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The problem It happens just about once or twice a week that a new Ubuntu user starts a forum thread or posts a blog entry about what Ubuntu “needs” to do to… fill in the blank (be easy enough for “Joe sixpack” to use, win the desktop, beat Windows, gain market penetration). The reaction The… Continue reading Practical steps to make Ubuntu better<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ubuntu","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psychocats.net\/ubuntucat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psychocats.net\/ubuntucat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psychocats.net\/ubuntucat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psychocats.net\/ubuntucat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psychocats.net\/ubuntucat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.psychocats.net\/ubuntucat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psychocats.net\/ubuntucat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psychocats.net\/ubuntucat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psychocats.net\/ubuntucat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
There are a few problems with this approach, and they all have to do with bad assumptions: <\/p>\n\n
In addition to the assumptions being wrong, the conclusions are usually wrong as well. It is one thing to observe that new users have difficulty figuring out how to install software in Ubuntu. But you can’t necessarily conclude from that observation that there’s something wrong with Ubuntu or that Ubuntu needs to fix whatever the new user experiences difficulty with. In fact, those of us who have gotten used to Synaptic Package Manager and Add\/Remove Programs often wonder how we got along with setup.exe files in Windows for so long. That’s not to say that software installation can’t<\/i> be improved in Ubuntu (for software outside the repositories, installation can be anything from troublesome to a nightmare). It’s only to say that you cannot necessarily conclude that a different way of doing things is bad simply because it confuses the new user. <\/p>\n
What brings out the hostility is not the suggestions, but the attitude with which they are suggested. There tends to be an exaggerated sense of the tragic (“If we don’t fix this, Ubuntu is doomed!”) instead of a sober perspective on the matter (“Ubuntu’s great, but I’d love to see this happen”). This kind of new user also tends to lack humility. Rarely does this new user who comes barging on the scene ask “Are there currently plans to implement said feature?” or “What can I do to help?” No, it’s usually demands. Demands and claims of new insight and assumptions that Ubuntu developers just sit on their butts, twiddling their thumbs instead of actually improving the operating system. The irony here being that this kind of new user is usually the one doing nothing to improve Ubuntu, while the developers add feature after feature, GUI (graphical user interface) after GUI, for each new semi-annual release. <\/p>\n
If you want to avoid the hostility, learn how to get some humility. You can still make observations about Ubuntu’s deficiencies. You can still propose changes. But if you come with humility to the community, the community won’t react with hostility. If you act like a primadonna, trying to shake up something you don’t really understand yet, then you’ll be shown your place. I’d love to see less of this type of post or blog <\/p>\n
Even though the second kind of post will garner less hostile responses, it probably won’t bring about any real change. If you want to make a real difference, take one or more of these steps to actually improving Ubuntu instead of just starting a flamewar: <\/p>\n\n