norman wrote: > Here we go again... I will not bore you with the many difficulties I have > encountered, please just accept that, because I like the ideas behind > Ubuntu, I am prepared to try to find ways around them. If I depended on > the use of the computer for my living I probably would not be so > patient.
Norman >>> I really sympathise with you about this, and I have had similar irritations and exasperations (mostly with wifi and printers). I guess, after a while, I've tended to think, "Well, the person who writes and maintains this software is probably doing it for free, in between earning his or her living, seeing to the kids, maintaining the house, and all the other stuff we all struggle with. Then I remember how good the GNU/Linux system in general, Ubuntu in particular, and most of the FOSS apps I run are: stunningly good, and basically stable and reliable, despite the occasional infuriatingly stupid issue of the sort you describe. But things are no better elsewhere. I hardly use Windows at home now, and haven't done for a couple of years, and I'm forgetting what installing software on, and maintaining, that OS were like. But I was reminded yesterday at work (an MS-only firm), when I discovered that a Windows security update had broken a workflow management application that I use regularly. When I contacted the commercial supplier, they basically said I could uninstall the Windows security update (not an option to pursue with my security-conscious employer!), or buy an expensive upgrade to their software. No forum to get help from. No chance of filing a bug report and maybe getting it fixed. No chance of someone else with a similar issue (but more skill than me) posting a fix that I could use. That software breaks is annoying. But software breaks on all operating systems. At least here there's some chance of help from the community. I couldn't see me ever giving that up to go back to a monopolist vendor if I could possibly avoid it, especially to rely on them for making my living. (And I notice that the most frequent reason given on this list for using Win or OSX - apart from, like me, "that's what my employer says I have to use!" - is merely that there's no equivalent FOSS software for some very specific and critical job; never because "they're just more reliable for real work".) So Ubuntu may give you grief sometimes; but don't forget what the alternatives are really like! Mac -- [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
