Ubuntu is under attack

[Jess Little]

On 12/18/05, Mike Bird <mgb-ubuntu at yosemite.net> wrote:
> On Sun, 2005-12-18 at 04:12, Vincent Trouilliez wrote:
> > I can only speak for myself, but as a "normal" Desktop user, I have used
> > Ubuntu very happily for 14 months 24/7 without even knowing that "mailx"
> > and "postfix" existed. As for "MTA", I don't even know what it stands
> > for !
> > So I would say, whatever these things are, they are definitely not
> > essential to a successful Linux experience for "human beings", which I
> > thought was the target audience of Ubuntu ! ;-)
>
> This is frightening.  Do you have any idea what you're missing?
>

<snip stuff about how "critical" mail is in Linux>

Wow...I can't tell if you're joking or not. I hope you are.

I don't use Samba, an FTP server, tape backups, DVD backups, postfix,
clamscan, mirrored drives, or really anything else you mentioned in
your email. I'm missing nothing. Every once in a while, I burn my mp3s
to CD, along with a few important documents, some code, Firefox
bookmarks, and pictures. I don't have email to back up because I use
webmail. If my hardrive dies randomly, I get a new one and
re-download/re-rip any music I might have lost. It's happened...and
somehow the experience wasn't horrific enough for me to care about
"proper" backups on my desktop.

I'm also a systems and network admin by trade, and a fiddler by
disposition.  My servers use all the bells and whistles I deem
necessary, have documented disaster recovery plans, get regular
backups, and email me if anything looks vaguely off. I *could* setup
my desktop to email me every time my computer sneezes, but why would I
waste the time? The amount of effort it takes for me to recover from a
drive failure is tiny compared to how often it actually happens. My
desktop computer is for using: surfing, reading email, playing gweled
and sudoku, talking to people on IM, blogging, shopping online, and
the occasional forays into web development and coding. Ubuntu handles
all that stuff fantastically, with minimal thought on my part.

I've been fiddling with Linux since somewhere around Red Hat 5.0. I've
been *using* Linux since Warty. I applaud the Ubuntu (and GNOME!)
developers and hope they continue in the direction they're headed.
There's plenty of "choice" out there for folks who want a Linux distro
with all the bells and whistles installed by default and 12 text
editors available on a 5-CD set. Don't take away the current best
choice for those of us that want something that mostly just works for
the simple things while still making the complex things possible.

Jess