Interesting article on n00b usability

[Derek Broughton]

David Gerard wrote:

> This is someone coming from Windows to Ubuntu.
> 
>
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126042
>
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9128990
> 
> (I would suggest that answering "well he's just wrong about ..." would
> not be fruitful in making things discoverable.)

No, but there's nothing inherently wrong with "he's wrong about that" if he
is.  The real question he was trying to answer, after all, is whether it's
harder to do "X" on Linux compared to Windows.

The first problem he encountered is significant - even experts run into the
annoying busybox prompt when trying to first get Ubuntu installed.  On this
system I had to try three (or was it four) different versions and fiddle
with the BIOS settings before I could get any version of Ubuntu to install. 
That's not good, but I don't know how it can be fixed without resorting to
the Microsoft solution - you don't get to sell a computer with a Windows
logo until you prove it works with Windows.  We don't really get that
option, because everybody installs on whatever they have at hand, but
whatever the reason we can't just drop the user to busybox and expect them
to know what to do. 

Next is networking - here he IS wrong.  He says Ubuntu's networking is
flakey, but it's obvious from his descriptions that it's _Windows_
networking that is flakey.

Regarding software installation, again he's wrong, but this is something
that is absolutely Ubuntu's fault.  Software installation is far easier
(and safer) than on Windows, but the new user not only doesn't know how to
find software but gets no clues.  At the command line, if I run a command
that doesn't exist, the shell tries to helpfully suggest apt-get.  The GUIs
need something similar.  The newbie needs to know that software is
generally installed from .debs, how to add other repositories (and the
risks involved in that), and in a pinch how to install non-packaged
software (and why update-manager/adept won't see that unless you use
checkinstall).

His complaints about update-manager leave me completely in the dark.  I've
used Windows update - it's practically identical.  It tells me (a) how many
updates I have; and (b) not enough about why I'd want the update.  The big
difference is that Windows will usually insist on rebooting twice.  Yeah, I
hate that it required manual intervention to upgrade to 8.10 too (I was
automatically told about the upgrade from 7.10 to 8.04, why not give me the
option for 8.10?) but where did he get the idea that Windows is easier? 
Windows would have made me buy and install a new CD.
-- 
derek