[ubuntu-za] Getting the basics right - a reality bytes wishlist

[Casper]

On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 4:49 PM, Reenen Laurie <REENENL at pepstores.com> wrote:

> Getting the basics right is what Ubuntu should be all about.

I agree.

> 1. A better search engine. Let's face it, the current Ubuntu Hardy search
> engine sucks, and in a head-to-head comparison with Windows XP loses big
> time for its inability to do the most simple things, like distinguish
> between various categories of files, refine and edit searches, and yes,
> index ones harddrive.

Agreed.  But it is not really going to happen unless someone plans it
to happen.  A solution is to install the Google Desktop.  This does
work.

> Locate works well for me... ?  Maybe a decent GUI to go over locate?

Lets face it, locate and other tools works for the developers.  But
desktop users need a better search engine that indexes their content
and in this instance Windows is miles ahead.  To be honest, the
majority of Windows users don't know about local search and/or don't
care, but those that need it need it badly.

> 2. Internet integration. Ubuntu is hardly what one could call
> net-integrated.

This has been the real hell for me.  Straightforward connection to an
ADSL router is spot on.  Serial modems are a problem for many though
not all.  I had lots of troube configuring and using PPOE, until I
understood it, knew where to change things and what to do.  Now it is
as easy as pie and works flawlessly.

> 3. Spelling. Are you kidding me, do you expect me to believe that Sun
> couldn't offer the Ubuntu Community a better dictionary?

Yes.  Agreed.  It will happen when the SA community is going to decide
they need localised dictionaries and create them.  The way I see it is
that the whole philosophy of LInux is bottom up and not top down.  Sun
has already done more than they can be expected to do - the rest is up
to us.

My personal experience with many South Africans is that they feel
entitled to sit back and be entertained - they are not going to get
involved and would rather beg, steal or borrow the product that
requires no effort on their part.  However, the  South African Open
Source community including Ubuntu is a very good example of the
exception to this generalism. Still, if we want it, we should create
it.

FWIW, I desperately want access to a good open source Afrikaans
dictionary.  And a Sotho dictionary.  And so on.  But it is not going
to happen unless we do it.

> 4. End to Format Wars - MHT files do not run on Ubuntu. Period.

Wrong.  The Opera browser does load and create MHT files.  Or at least
some of the, for as much as Opera is compatible with the way that IE
renders HTML.

But this is a good point, howerver the rot only starts with .mht
files.  Linux can read .chm files, but I cannot find a way to author
chm files in linux.  I desperately need such a facility.  However, we
have to accept that Microsoft ownes the desktop, and they own the
formats used on the desktop.  And it is going to get worse before it
gets any better.  That is precisely why Microsoft will move 200
million licences of Windows in this quarter.

Winning the war does not lie in conquering the desktop and it's
formats - it lies in redefining what you use to view, create and
manipulate your documents on your PC/Desktop.  In this the most
significant development does not lie with Linux but with the level of
market acceptance for the suite of programs in Google documents.

> 5. Better offline distribution.

I have broadband internet and is among the privileged 2.5% of South
Africans that will ever have broadband at home though my bandwidth
resources is very much restricted by my available budget.  Updating
Linux is a major problem.  For years I have haggled a version or two
behind the current release due to bandwidth restrictions.

We need to address the regular distribution of up-to-date binaries as
a priority.   As it stands now, getting the most out of Ubuntu is
beyond the scope of may schools and individuals due to the
restrictions on South African Internet usage.

If I can pay R70 a gig for bandwidth to run daily updates etc, then I
can afford a subscription service that will supply quarterly updated
DVD's of all the latest Ubuntu debs.  If someone can offer such a
service of mailing source DVD's every four months at a cost of around
R200 per annum, I will subscribe to that service and save money!

> of the ubuntu universe sucks big time and is a huge disencentive to users
> wanting to convert from Windows.

I am not to sure that ease-of-use is why people leave Windows.  IMHO
people abandon Windows because compared with any Linux flavor or even
Apple, Windows sucks far worse.  There are other factors as well, but
neither cost nor ease of use are the real reasons why people choose
Linux.

Unfortunately, this is not an argument with an easy solution in sight.
 The Ubuntu desktop will always have problems in seamlessly
co-operating with or equalling Windows desktops.  Many of these issues
are not goiing to be put right.  I see the control of Windows over the
user's PC desktop becoming greater, not less. Unless off course users
are prepared to define what it is that they really do and how they are
prepared do it.

We have to view this issue from a different set of paradigms, other
than those that Windows has established for us.  If you turn around
and look at this from a Microsoft perspective, you would ask yourself
how is Microsoft going to cope, innovate and maintain any sort of a
revenue stream in the software industry while anything between 10 and
100 million developers are writing software free of charge. No matter
how you pursue that line of thought, two things will happen:  Firstly
the control over the User's desktop through proprietory formats will
be increased dramatically.  Secondly, it is inevitable that OSS/Free
software will triumph in the end - it is a question of numbers.

The adoption of Windows vs Linux / Apple makes a lot of sense for
corporates, but only up to a point.  The question is when will the
real benefits of OSS software, including Ubuntu be realised.

HTH


------------------------------------------------------------
Casper Labuschagne
+27827054416 ; +27219822426 ; Skype=krooninfo ; MSN = casperl at live.co.za

With Linux, everything just works!
Ubuntu Linux - http://www.ubuntu.com