
The Many, the Humble, the Ubuntu Users - type0
http://fossforce.com/2017/01/many-humble-ubuntu-users/
======
mangecoeur
After years of mucking about with different distros, Ubuntu was the one that
stuck. More than that, its the one I install for friends and family - helping
people save money turning creaking winXP/Vista machines into sleek and simple
Ubuntu ones - no muss, no fuss, a webbrowser and music player is all they
really need - and it still works today as well as the day Ubuntu was
installed.

~~~
aphextron
Seconded. I have tried every distro under the sun and come back to Ubuntu as
my daily driver on desktop and laptop. Nothing comes close in terms of package
availability, ease of use, firmware, inter-op with non-free software, etc.

Also I never understood the hate for Unity. It is the most responsive,
performant, intuitive, and helpful GUI I have ever used on Linux.

~~~
maxxxxx
I don't get Unity at all. I use Ubuntu maybe once a month and every time I
have trouble remembering how to use it. Is it really intuitive to you?

I also have installed it on some machines for friends and family who are less
computer literate. They understand Windows, OSX, iOS, Android and Gnome after
a while but Unity is just hopeless.

~~~
PuffinBlue
I'm curious what you/they 'do' on the desktop?

Maybe it's the dash thing? Maybe the lack of a list of things to scroll
through to choose a program?

I've always found unity pretty simple and easy. It seems to handle all
graphical tasks fine and if I need a terminal I open a terminal.

------
nonsince
I love most of Ubuntu's tools, but I can't stand Unity. It's ugly, it's slow
(compared to other Linux DEs, obviously, it's still Fast Enough for most
people), and worst of all it shows all the graphic pornography I have in my
pictures folder when my colleagues try to use Super-F to find things after
being used to macOS. I prefer Elementary because it fixes #1 and #3, or
Xubuntu because it fixes #1 a bit, plus #2 and #3 splendidly

~~~
nickpeterson
What about the textual pornography, is that safe from unity?

~~~
nonsince
Doesn't show up on the preview, you should be safe

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gravelc
Have to agree with this; I recently went on a big distro downloading binge, as
I was sure I was missing out on something that was more modern, shinier, and
had sexy features I didn't know I needed 'till I tried them.

I ended up deleting the lot. For me, Ubuntu just works, and has the features I
like, is well supported, and has a strong community.

I satisfied myself with a new theme and desktop background. Then again, I also
drive a Camry :)

~~~
noahadavis
I've been using KDE neon which actually works very well. The core of it is LTS
Ubuntu (currently 16.04), but the Plasma DE gets updates pretty much every day
and KDE apps get updated about once a week. Except for one time when my
proprietary nvidia driver stopped working after a big update to the DE (now I
use the nouveau driver), it has been pretty much flawless in terms of
stability.

~~~
gcp
Hmm, looks interesting. I use KDE on Kubuntu 16.04, but have been annoyed by
some memory leaks in Plasma that eventually cause Plasmashell to lock up at
100% CPU in the Qt GC system.

I tried upgrading via the ppa backports but the updated Plasma broke a ton of
things. Given that my demands on the DE are really minimal it made me consider
switching off of KDE.

------
Dowwie
I came to complain about my experiences with Ubuntu's issue management process
but realized that I ought not complain about something I get for free, is
incredibly powerful, useful, and managed by an army of volunteers.

So, I'm not complaining about it and am thankful for what I get, despite my
struggles interacting with their change management policies.

~~~
gcp
As you as complaints are balanced by positive feedback about what works, never
feel bad to complain.

------
type0
In some ways Ubuntu has kinda lost it's course with the whole Unity
unification. Fedora 25 spins are now much nicer use if you don't mind
upgrading every year and if you want LTS type of system Ubuntu still rocks,
although I find it much less stable than it used to be.

~~~
david-given
My father used to be a big Ubuntu fan, before Unity came along, which he
instantly hated (describing it with words like 'childish' and 'tinker-toy'). I
tried him on various alternatives, such as Mint or KDE, all of which were
pretty unsatisfactory for various reasons.

But then, just recently, I gave Ubuntu another try, and discovered that MATE
is an out-of-the-box installation option --- and it's lost all the Unity
nonsense and now provides a clean, stripped down, unfussy desktop environment
where everything works and nothing gets in your way. Both he and I like it a
great deal, and because it's an official Ubuntu release it's way more stable
than Mint is.

~~~
type0
> and discovered that MATE is an out-of-the-box installation option

Yeah, Ubuntu MATE is nice, when using net-installer i.e MinimalCD one could
get just the Ubuntu + MATE + system-utilities without all the bloat and then
just add the preferred programs no fuss, no buzz.

------
indubitably
"But despite the sneers, I kept hammering a theme in speech after speech and
conversation after conversation that went sort of like this: “Instead of
scratching only your own itches, why not scratch your girlfriend’s itch?"

Jesus. I am not a screaming social justice warrior. But really, is this trope
of women being computational idiots going to last forever? Why does the
community put up with it?

There are a MILLION other nouns that could fit into this sentence.

~~~
justanotherbody
Full quote

> “Instead of scratching only your own itches, why not scratch your
> girlfriend’s itch? How about your coworkers? And people who work at your
> favorite restaurant? And what about your doctor? Don’t you want him to spend
> his time doctoring, not worrying about apt get this and grep that?”

I'm guessing the line was born from an attempt to share Linux with his SO.

~~~
RileyKyeden
I'm not sure about the person you replied to, but it's the presumption that
the reader is a straight male implicit in that question that bugs me. Unless
the author is known for his bi/lesbian audience...

~~~
WayneBro
The probability that the audience is male is greater than 85% in the tech
industry though.

If a bi/lesbian audience makes it OK then a high percentage male audience
should make it OK too.

~~~
RileyKyeden
It's not that one thing or another makes it _okay_. There are more neutral
ways to phrase it that don't needlessly exclude _vast_ potential audiences.

> _Instead of scratching only your own itches, why not scratch your partner’s
> itch?_

> _Instead of scratching only your own itches, why not scratch your lover’s
> itch?_

> _Instead of scratching only your own itches, why not scratch your
> sweetheart’s itch?_

> _Instead of scratching only your own itches, why not scratch your mate’s
> itch?_

Depending on who you ask, at least a plurality of men are at least a little
bi, but a double whammy of homophobia and biphobia keeps them closeted. Why
make them twitch a little when a small change in wording solves the problem?
Being a good for-public writer is all about maximizing your potential audience
without diluting the message. "Girlfriend" rather than any of a slew of more
neutral terms needlessly dilutes the message.

Personally, I would cut the question entirely since restricting the message to
partnered people doesn't serve any purpose.

~~~
WayneBro
> ...that bugs me. Unless the author is known for his bi/lesbian audience...

OK, well you said it yourself. It bugs you unless the author has a bi/lesbian
audience. So either you were wrong for saying that or you're wrong here. Which
is it?

> There are more neutral ways to phrase it that don't needlessly exclude vast
> potential audiences.

In this situation, there was no vast audience that was excluded. However, in
any case (thankfully) you're under no obligation to please every single
minority group with your speech.

> ...restricting the message to partnered people doesn't serve any purpose.

Gee, I bet you're real fun at parties. It was one little line item out of a
list of other situations. _Try_ getting over it maybe?

Also, try being yourself instead of attempting to please every single other
person in the world (and failing, since it simply cannot be done). Life is way
easier and more fun if you just accept yourself instead of constantly trying
to contort your personage to please others.

When I say things, they're coming from my point of view. Not yours or anybody
else's. So, I might put something about "wives" in there since I'm married.
(Oh, the horror!!!!!) You're being selfish by denying me my point of view and
demanding that I not offend you in any small way.

What right do you have to demand that I couch everything in neutral terms??

You have none. Your complaint is ridiculous.

~~~
RileyKyeden
Not a single one of your interpretations of my words was correct. Take a deep
breath and read again, with the understanding that I'm not making a...

> _complaint_

It was a simple, honest, friendly suggestion on word choice from one writer to
another. This was a professional courtesy, not the rabid screed you misread it
as. What I did is constructive criticism, something I see lauded here a lot at
HN, and with good reason. You misread it as something very different.

You can either read again, interpreting it in a reasonable manner, or you can
take your own advice:

> _Try getting over it maybe?_

And move on. Either way, my participation in this thread is over. I'm not sure
if you're the author of the piece, but you're behaving the way an
inexperienced writer does the first time they receive anything other than
praise, and I find it very annoying (which means you're probably not the
author, given his credentials).

Bye. :)

~~~
WayneBro
> Not a single one of your interpretations of my words was correct.

There's no other way to interpret it. You spoke quite clearly. I challenge you
to find one person who would interpret it any differently than I did.

> It was a simple, honest, friendly suggestion...

No it wasn't. It was a complaint. You said "...presumption that the reader is
a straight male implicit in that question that _bugs_ me."

> Take a deep breath...

Says the guy who gets bugged that somebody said the word "girlfriend" and then
proceeds to complain about it on HN...

That's hilarious.

> ...or you can take your own advice...

I didn't get annoyed by something so ridiculous in the first place, so there's
really nothing for me to "get over".

I don't mind refuting and correcting people like you. It needs to be done or
else we'll end up in a world where nobody can be themselves.

> Either way, my participation in this thread is over.

Good. Next time you should really consider participating in the first place if
all you have to add is that "something bugs me".

~~~
DanBC
> I challenge you to find one person who would interpret it any differently
> than I did.

I do. I think your interpretation is bizarre.

~~~
WayneBro
OK. Explain yourself and your interpretation. I don't know what it is...

Starting with his first comment here -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13444512](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13444512)

Is that a complaint or a suggestion? He is saying that it was a "friendly"
suggestion and that I somehow interpreted it as a complaint.

It also clearly says that he would NOT be annoyed (i.e. it would be OK) by the
author's words if the author is known for having a bi/lesbian audience. True
or false?

There's really not much there to misinterpret. So, I look forward to hearing
your own analysis. Thank you!

------
lnanek2
> Like Ubuntu, it just needs to do its job extremely well and with little
> fuss.

Come on now, if it was a quiet open source project, I'd agree. But it's funded
by a multi-millionaire and pours a lot of gas on the fire you wouldn't see
otherwise. Ubuntu is self sustaining now from its corporate support contracts,
but it got where it is in the typical startup fashion of burning investor
money and shows up in news quite often for a Linux distro, not just doing a
job without fuss.

~~~
nickrivadeneira
I think the quote is suggesting that the OS provide little fuss, with no
reference to fuss from the organization.

------
mkawia
Long time ubuntu user here , I 'd change the wallpaper and install some basic
software and that's it . I'd use and installation for ~2 years

------
agrw
[https://elementary.io/](https://elementary.io/) pay zero or donate if you
want.

~~~
holtalanm
I was going to mention Elementary OS, too.

It is essentially Ubuntu, but with the Pantheon DE. Don't try running it (or
Unity) inside a VM though, unless you like having input lag.

The best DE i've found for a VM is either MATE or LXDE. XFCE isn't bad either.

