Has Ubuntu Replaced Windows on Your Box?

[Mark Nottingham]

>>>>By using the "Add Applications" tool to add ready packaged programs
perhaps?  At the bottom of the "Applications" >>>>
>>>>menu.  If that doesn't suffice, then clicking Advanced under Preferences
starts up Synaptic, the package manager,>>>>
>>>>which allows you to add, remove and generally mess with applications
from many sources.>>>> 

I was talking of applications that are not in Synaptic really. The last
example I had was trying to install VMWare Player. Apparently I had the
wrong version of a certain (C++???) library (I use Breezy) and I needed an
earlier one. I didn't want to break my Ubuntu installation so I gave up. If
a program's in Synaptic, that's great. If it's not, then in my experience
there's a 50% chance I won't be able to get it to work (not because it
won't, because I don't know how).

>>>>People are still sloppy about this;  the facility to add menu entries
automatically exists, but not all packages do it :(>>>>

Even packages that *do* put in a menu entry sometimes don't appear straight
away. Why should I have to do a "killall gnome-panel" or even reboot after
an install? That's a Windows trait.

Cheers

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: ubuntu-users-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com
[mailto:ubuntu-users-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com] On Behalf Of neil woolford
Sent: 05 December 2005 17:50
To: Ubuntu Help and User Discussions
Cc: Mark Nottingham
Subject: RE: Has Ubuntu Replaced Windows on Your Box?

On Mon, 2005-12-05 at 07:15 +0000, Mark Nottingham wrote:

Of Windows XP;

> Everything is so much easier to install and use.  If I want to install 
> a program I just double-click on a file and the application is listed in
the 'All Programs'
> menu. In Ubuntu, if I can work out *how* to install

By using the "Add Applications" tool to add ready packaged programs perhaps?
At the bottom of the "Applications" menu.  If that doesn't suffice, then
clicking Advanced under Preferences starts up Synaptic, the package manager,
which allows you to add, remove and generally mess with applications from
many sources.

>  it I then have no idea
> where it has installed it to, and there is usually nothing listed in 
> the menus so I can run it.

People are still sloppy about this;  the facility to add menu entries
automatically exists, but not all packages do it :(


> Maybe in a year or so I can make the switch permanent. Until then I'll 
> have to hang on to XP I'm afraid.

I'd always suggest caution and steadiness about migrating.  I've run a
Desktop machine with Ubuntu on since Warty Warthog, more than a year ago.
I've had an experimental Ubuntu Breezy partition on my laptop for a month or
so, which seems very stable, but I've only just started to move my work
accounts data from Quattro Pro on Windows to OpenOffice.org Calc.  Even
there I'm sticking to the Windows version until I'm certain I've ported
everything without disasters (and that my 'improvements' and tweaks on the
way are the good ideas they seemed to be).

After that I will re-write an improved job handling/client contact
application in OpenOffice.org Base (replacing a venerable Paradox
system)  Then, and only then, will I move to Ubuntu on the laptop.  (And
Windows will stay available until *long* after I've stopped using it
regularly.)

This may seem over cautious (it is, frankly), but I've heard horror stories
of keen advocates moving (people) over to OpenSource too fast.
Perhaps it is better advocacy to start by getting people to try Open Source
systems on smaller, *new* projects and to 'backport' working systems later?

Neil