Ubuntu migration: the sweet taste of freedom at a price

By Stan Beer
Tuesday, 06 November 2007 16:19

Opinion and Analysis

Last time I gave Ubuntu a try was about a year ago when I ran into trouble with Feisty Fawn recognizing my wireless keyboard and mouse. Well I'm happy to report that Gutsy Gibbon has solved that issue - with just one minor hiccup. During the bootstrap process when I have a choice of which system to boot, my wireless keyboard and mouse remain unrecognized until Ubuntu boots by default. However, if I interrupt the bootstrap and go to the BIOS (which recognizes the wireless input devices) and exit without doing anything, all of a sudden the bootstrap program recognizes my keyboard and mouse, enabling me to choose Windows if I want to. Strange! I'm using a Logitech USB keyboard and mouse in case anyone else has had the same problem.

Anyway, with Ubuntu wireless works well! So far I have only installed Ubuntu on my desktop which is hard wired to the router. However, I have booted the Ubuntu live CD on my laptop and it instantly recognized my Belkin wireless router and home network. As soon as I entered the WEP key, I was in and able to surf the net wirelessly.

Meanwhile back on my highly configured desktop, the Ubuntu system, unhampered by resource hungry security software is absolutey flying. Practically every software application I need is already loaded. The only software I've had to download so far have been Skype and the latest Flash plug-in so I could watch YouTube. Both downloads were totally automatic, painless and of course free.

Aside from the office and Internet applications, the sound and video players work great - good enough for me. However, the video player won't be good enough for Web surfers who like to watch videos on popular news sites that only broadcast for Windows Media Player or Real Player. Of course iTunes users won't be happy either. I just like to watch videos and the DVD player is fine and. fortunately, YouTube realizes that there are quite a few Linux users out there surfing the Web.

As far as ease of use is concerned, I don't really see how Ubuntu could be any more user friendly. It can certainly be customised for the ultra-newbie like Everex has done with the gPC and its Ubuntu variant gOS. However, I can't imagine any regular computer user would have too much trouble working with the Ubuntu Gnome or KDE interfaces. By the way, Gnome has improved considerably since the days of Dapper Drake - I don't even mind the tan background anymore.

Installation was dead easy and, as long as you stick to growing list of peripherals for which there are built-in drivers (I needed a new HP Laserjet 3052 anyway), you shouldn't have any more problems than installing Windows. Sorry, that's wrong. You'll have a lot less problems and no extra software to buy - including expensive security software subscriptions. I understand that Ubuntu also needs security - no operating system is impervious to attacks - and I'm currently taking advice on the matter from associates. Any further suggestions would be most welcome.

I could prattle on further about how fast and free this new Ubuntu system is but I think I want to put this thing through its paces under working conditions a little longer. I also want to see how this thing works in a hybrid network of Windows and Linux computers. Stay tuned. Oh, I'm not that anal about back-ups; I want to see what can be arranged without resorting to the command line.