Has Ubuntu Replaced Windows on Your Box?

[Don Parris]

On 8/8/06, Mirko Scurk <mdebian at sfsb.hr> wrote:
>
> Don Parris:
> > Look at how many people have responded in the
> > affirmative.  The only reason anyone keeps Windows around seems to be
> the
> > games or the odd application here and there.  That's it.  Given what I'm
> > seeing in this thread that has continued since last Fall, Windows has
> > mostly
> > lost its relevance.
>
> My first contact (30 years ago) with computers was computer running unix,
> and from then I've always used *nix. I started using dos/windows from
> 1987. I will always support *nix but I must disagree with Don. The main
> reason anyone keeps Windows around seems to be the games and serious
> business  application.


Don't miss my primary point here.  This guy said he wouldn't recommend
GNU/Linux to anyone.  I'm suggesting that, based on the responses to this
thread, many people can easily use GNU/Linux exclusively.  Not all.  Maybe
not even most.  But many can.  He seemed to be claiming dual-boot problems
as one of the issues preventing him from recommending GNU/Linux, which flies
in the face of my original question - Has Ubuntu replaced Windows?

Meanwhile, I can't figure what his problem is with Firefox bookmarks.  When
I needed to copy my Firefox bookmarks from the Windoze box at work to the
GNU box at home, I simply exported at work and imported at home.  Maybe he's
talking about migrating bookmarks from MSIE to FF, but I can't tell that
based on his response.  I never migrated MSIE bookmarks to FF, so I would be
fairly useless, but surely it can't be that difficult to do.

What I have said about the games and applications accurately reflects the
responses in this thread.  However, when I referred in my previous e-mail to
"the odd Windows app", I was gearing more toward home users - not corporate
enterprises.  Indeed, this whole 'straw poll' is aimed more at end/home
users than corporate users.  Also, 'the odd Windows app' is not necessarily
the best choice of words on my part.  Instead, I mean certain apps that some
people seem stuck on, or for which there is no suitable replacement.  Most
people who responded only mentioned one or a few applications, other than
games.

As for hardware, probably half the hardware that allegedly works with
Windows works out of the box, actually does.  Nevermind that this is a side
issue.  Even if there is 'lots of hardware' that doesn't work with
GNU/Linux, there is much that does, and is no reason for a person to go so
far as to "not recommend GNU/Linux to anyone".  I have a Kodak digital
camera, an iAudio U3, an old Handspring Visor, and two printers that work
with both SUSE and Ubuntu.  Those are the kinds of devices an 'average' user
would want to plug into their GNU/Linux box.

Getting back on point, his comment about a GUI tool for GRUB is utterly
ridiculous in the context of a typical user.  I have never had a reason to
edit my GRUB menu, let alone need a graphical tool to do so.  I only ever
edited my Lilo menu once - back with Red Hat 5.1.

Again, I'm just saying that Ken's remarks are extreme.  I view his position
as pretty ridiculous.  My original comments in response, when considered in
their context, demonstrate precisely why I say that.
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