Martin Fitzpatrick wrote:
Welcome to the list alan,
Thanks
I realise just now that my recent presence on the
gmane.linux.ubuntu.user.british is mirrored anyway.
I have just joined the list and hope to be helping at LinuxWorld. I am
a recent user of Kubuntu, having started linux three years ago with
suse. I really appreciate the Ubuntu approach and the energetic and
friendly efforts to spread the distro.
What prompted the switch from SUSE to Ubuntu?
I demo a number of distros, and was originally inhibited by the ubuntu
version(s) 5.10 text based installer, although otherwise I was
attracted by the good community feel of the ubuntu family of products.
When 6.06 appeared with a more gui installer, then I began looking
more seriously. Suse 9.3 through 10.0 is a very comfortable distro,
and has good internet based (and retail pack) support, and I like/d
the corporate feel anyway, with its implication of longevity. Along
with the Ubuntu community positiveness and energy, there is a good
drive to spread Ubuntu. Suse promised a 'lizard blizard' and has made
some moves, but the 5 CDs and the novell licence, although not being
an inhibitor for small scale installs, make it harder to attract a
mass 'spreading' activity, except via more corporate channels. Ubuntu
etc is free by policy. A single CD is very convenient - and a live CD
gives two birds with one stone, and there is windows FOSS things on it
also. The shipit facility and the CD pack is attractive, the pack
design gives a 'retail' feel to things - competing in the realm which
'customers' actually understand. All these aspects are strategic
bullseyes. Oh, and of course, the distro is a good well balanced one.
The updates facility is very competent, while the suse 10.1 updates
facility is getting pretty slow and unattractive, I get an impression
of lack of focus there.
I started out on that
(for a brief 5-10minutes before the install died), then Redhat. While
Ubuntu is far from perfect it certainly doesn't reduce me to despair
as often as the alternatives! I'm including Windows in that too btw.
I don't count windows. There seem to be a fair % of people
(experienced users) trying to escape it as I did.
Suse is still a comfortable distro to use, and I find pclinuxos very
appealing, although it has not yet gained enough following for support
of newcomers to linux I think, that can take a lot of attention in
support forums.
I run (mostly single handed) the Infopoint table at the Bracknell
Computer fairs monthly if I am available. The table has rapidly become
a defacto Ubuntu Kubuntu distribution point, other distros are not so
attractive to newcomers - who are the main attenders.
What success do you have handing out CDs
Around 10 or 15 per day to people who approach and come to discuss
maybe more sometimes.
and do what sort of feedback
do you get? It's always good to hear people are having success
introducing people to OSS
The initial measure is in what they choose - a retail looking pack is
far more attractive than a home made copy with no colour pack. (btw
even colour packs containing home made checked iso burns would be
attractive...). For my part I am glad to reccommend Kubuntu to a
windows escapee because of the basic distro and not least the
community and its obvious promise for the future.
It took me personally a couple of years to start a linux try
seriously, and a couple after that to feel at all confident. Unless
there is a close local group to hold peoples hands, it could take some
time.
I have had few return to discuss it yet, once per month is not close
enough contact to get a feel in a few months, I would like a local
venue to offer a local install fest and club, but -another story.
- in many ways the individual stuff is where
the biggest impact can be had.
I am convinced that is a basic truth, unless linux is pre installed by
dell etc for popular use. I had first hand experience of the then
windows 3.1 being chosen in preference to OS/2 by team leader end
users in direct contravention to a main IT policy in the company. I
had the discomfort to chair the decision, and was visited by our
company heavy gang but the users still won. OS/2 was a better more
stable os and we used it for control systems. The reason for OS/2
unpopularity was simply that all the end users had windows at home!
Do you get into much post-introduction support?
Not yet locally but I have a small yahoogroup set up awaiting any very
local users who are not yet confident to contact a full LUG (which can
be a bit daunting). Almost all the computer fair Infopoint activity
so far has been with people who have never really installed linux
(yet) but are encouraged to be actually *seeing* it. I note that these
have decided to investigate a changeed OS first, then come and talk.
Many others are yet uninterested, or have not yet noticed.
--
alan c
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