[CoLoCo] A Serious Issue Not Taken Seriously.

[Michael "TheZorch" Haney]

Ok, I'm hoping that all of you are smarter than the people in the Ubuntu 
Forums and some mailing lists I'm on because when I explain this problem 
to them they just don't get it.

There is a problem with Ubuntu 8.04 that is locking users into a screen 
resolution of 640x480 because the install scripts are unable to identify 
what kind of monitor they are using, so the install falls back on a 
default setting.

In Ubuntu 7.10 fixing this would have been easy.  All the user had to do 
was goto the Screen Resolution app and change their monitor type and 
then they'd be able to change the resolution to what they wanted.  This 
was taken out of the Screen Resolution app in Ubuntu 8.04.

Here in is where the problems begin.  Ubuntu is being touted as a User 
Friendly version of Linux and more and more people are becoming curious 
about it.  A lot of these people come from a Windows world and they are 
more often than not computer illiterate.  Most probably only know how to 
turn on the power and click the Start Button.  So when they go to ask 
for help with this problem in the support forums they get all kinds of 
answers but the biggest response is for them to do a reconfiguration of 
X.org from the terminal.  Immediately these new users who were going to 
give Ubuntu serious consideration are suddenly turned off, and they 
remove Ubuntu without giving it a fair chance.

This is why I've been trying to get people to understand how such a 
small, simple problem is growing into a rather serious issue.  They're 
sticking their heads in the sand pretending its not there or that its 
not a serious problem.  The fact is, when I try to explain how serious 
this is and that this is costing Ubuntu new users they blow me off.

The developers who maintain Ubuntu need to know that this is very 
serious and that they need to address this.  Just putting a drop down 
box or something in the Screen Resolution app for choosing your monitor 
type would be a good start.  Why is this a concept that's so hard to 
understand?

I need your thoughts on this because it boggles my mind that nobody is 
able to really comprehend the gravity of this situation.

Even the smallest things can have a huge impact.

-- 
Michael "TheZorch" Haney
thezorch at gmail.com