[ubuntu-uk] Sad but true? From the Register

[David King]

She was using a Dell computer with Ubuntu pre-installed. I bought a Dell 
laptop recently with Ubuntu pre-installed, and all the things you 
mentioned were there already, including Flash. So I reckon that in her 
case, her PC would have worked perfectly on the Internet. It may have 
been difficult to get it to work with the not-so-great broadband 
hardware she has, and if Dell and Verizon both help her with getting 
that to work, and explain to her that OpenOffice is compatible with MS 
Office files, then she would have been completely able to do what she 
wanted.

Unfortunately, she was not given the right advice by Dell, and was not 
all that clued-up about computing in general.

Having a PC with Ubuntu installed in theory should be no barrier to 
using it for a college course. But sometimes the end-user is the biggest 
barrier of all.


There is a real need for better computer education which is not MS-only 
in its outlook.


David King


Liam Proven wrote:
>>
>
> Why would you do either? Perfectly fair, accurate and reasonable
> description by and for someone who is not a techie. No, it's not
> elegantly worded, but they have got the gist.
>
> When I read the article, I wondered *why* she couldn't access the web
> site. Two possible reasons spring to mind:
>
> [1] She's using some kind of USB Internet connection that doesn't work
> out of the box. (USB because either Ethernet or wireless should work
> fine.) Could be a USB cable modem or ADSL modem, either of which would
> be Hard Work to set up, or it could be something like a 3G "dongle"
> (though those are rare in the USA) or a WiMax adaptor.
>
> Either way, this is a problem in Ubuntu, if the woman can't get a
> connection easily.
>
> [2] It's a completely Flash-driven site, when Ubuntu doesn't include
> Flash. This is a political decision - I've been debating it recently
> on Ubuntu-sounder, in fact. The sad reality is that because of the
> Ubuntu project's determination to ship only Free software, excluding
> drivers, when Ubuntu comes out of the box, it's crippled. No Java is a
> minor problem, no RealPlayer or QuickTime or WindowsMedia is a bigger
> one, no MP3 support is a big issue, but no Flash is absolutely huge. A
> great many websites are completely inaccessible because they are
> entirely Flash-driven.
>
> This is again a problem with Ubuntu, but it's a deliberately-chosen
> one, and I'm not sure if anything can be done about it.
>
> -----
>
> But whatever the issue was, by just making unhelpful mocking comments,
> you're not contributing. As the saying goes, if you're not part of the
> solution, you're part of the problem...
>
>