Using Linux causes girl to drop out of college
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I saw this earlier and thought it was some sensationalist crap that using Ubuntu (and Linux in general) is bad. Some girl who wanted to have Windows on her laptop got Ubuntu and pparently she says it caused her to drop out of college.
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/08/ubuntu-college-girl-dropping-out-laptop/
IMHO, regardless of what the issue someone has with GNU/Linux is and how they choose to vent, as a community we might not want to be so quick to bash. (Community in this sense being the GNU/Linux users as a whole)
(But, what the media said did make me slightly upset/angry)
And..... going to the news b/c you can't use an OS isn't the best idea.
I had seen a video of this earlier maybe years ago but without the annoying reporters who don't even pronounce the heretical "ubuntu" right. After seeing the follow up video, I can identify a strong myth about GNU/Linux, which is the myth that "it is not for everyone" because you "have to be a tinkerer"
Now imagine I were to go back to 1850 and argue that we should really limit how much we talked about literacy around slaves. After all, it's not for everybody, right?
"Tinkering", the news reporters' euphemism for what is really hacking, is for everybody EXCEPT one type of people: the type we can't afford to have any of, namely digital slaves. If you don't have knowledge of what makes computers work and how to communicate with them, you are the digital age equivalent of an ignorant illiterate fool, and as a certain someone said , "there is NOTHING more tainted than IGNORANCE".
As society, including everything from Government to entertainment and beyond, leans on technology as a satisfying crutch, technological illiteracy will be more and more dangerous.
It looks like the girl is still using Ubuntu, maybe one of us can find a way to contact her or at least see to it that she gets educated about her Freedoms.
I want to make sure females especially know about how to build a technological future based on goodness. Seeing her in that annoying way with that whiney tone consequentially frustrated and discouraged me at first, but as they say, a change of heart can occur.
Unfortunately part of GNU/Linux education is telling people that the world up to this point is built upon basically criminal intents to colonize and divide, this may seem like making things worse before making them better, but it is what is is...
Its obvious this young woman is completely genuine and is simply frustrated. She didn't get what she was expecting and doesn't want Ubuntu. That's completely understandable. As a GNU/Linux user, I don't want to force anyone to use the system I use; nor would I want anyone to be talked into using GNU/Linux when they don't want to. Dell should give this woman what she wants and what she paid for.
The irony is the situation is actually the other way around. As a student you are often expected, and sometimes even required, to use proprietary software. When you're doing class work, completing assignments or projects; or sharing work with other teachers and students, you're expected to use proprietary, usually Microsoft Office, software. This is completely unacceptable, free software alternatives, should be offered and their use encouraged.
I noticed a few inaccuracies, in the original report, while talking about word processing, the reporter says something like .... "Ubuntu comes with OpenOffice, not Word .... ". Windows operating system doesn't come with Word either. A full version of Word has to be bought separately, as part of MS Office. The price of MS Office from Dell is between $100 to $350 extra.
The frustrated student says Word is not compatible with Ubuntu. While thats correct, OpenOffice is compatible with all versions of Word. It didn't seem to have been explained to her that she could still write, edit, open and save documents using Word file formats. In fact, OpenOffice and LibreOffice has an advantage. It can open and edit the new Office 2010 .docx format, whereas older MS Office versions need an extra plug-in just to open the file.
Personally, over many years, I've found OpenOffice to be far more compatible than MS Office, with every file format. For example, recently someone sent me a .wps file. It's another Microsoft proprietary file format, from MS Works. I opened the .wps file, no problem, using OpenOffice. Then I switched to a different computer, that had MS Office installed and it wouldn't open the same file.
Just another case of someone expecting G/L to be just like Windows, even though almost any user will tell you it's better or not the same. There's a great article on this issue: http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
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While that Linux != Windows site holds some truth, it's really quite wrong in many places. I don't even mean the stupid metaphors of cars vs. motorbikes, that barely work even in the intended sense. The worst thing is, the author implies people actually have more rights to the software when they get Windows, then when they get "Linux".
Many people are simply oblivious to the huge work of the free software community and don't want to believe, that GNU/Linux is intended for everyone. Barely someone understands what's going on with software and everyone is full of ideas that are just like some sort of propaganda. I've met perfectly educated people (relatively illiterate in computer use though), that would argue "Linux is meant for programmers/computer experts" "Linux isn't right for me" (without ever trying it out) "I don't need Linux" "the software market works very well, there is no need for change".
It's really sad to see how stuff like that story about the Dell notebook gets shown on TV news, only makes everything worse than it already is...
I think the major problem is that people who go from Windows to GNU/Linux need to realize that, although they can do 99.9% of the things they did on Windows (web, email, word processing, videos...,) G/L is *not* Windows.
For example, in the video I noticed that she had put her Verizon CD into the computer and got an error that said something like 'setup.exe can't execute'. The woman obviously had no idea that .exe programs don't run 'out of the box' for G/L because it's for Windows only. Of course, neither she or the reporters know this. She probably didn't even need the CD if it was a average router, nor the 'Network Manager' it included, but nevertheless this was an error to her because it worked before on Windows. She was also not aware of the fact that she didn't need to run Word because of OpenOffice.
The response from the 'community' is extremely disappointing, although not altogether surprising. I wonder how many of the 'users' who attacked her were really G/L users.
If it's default installation people want (obviously not in this case) a major computer maker (Toshiba, Acer, Dell) that sells a whole line of computers seriously, like in popular retail stores, would over time increase G/L's popularity.
Anyway, the solution is not to spend years trying to write Windows compatibility into the kernel itself (possible, but not probable or smart,) but to do the best we can to correctly educate users of the differences, advantages and disadvantages. Otherwise, what's the point?
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That's more or less a fault of the marketing of Windows. Microsoft and Apple both like to push the "PC vs Mac" dichotomy, so lots of people probably don't know that an .exe is a "Windows program" but instead a "PC program." Since a "PC" is not a "Mac," and Dell computers are not "Macs," then logically, the Dell computer is a "PC" and hence must be able to run "PC" software. So she is probably bewildered to discover that Verizon's software, which is probably advertised as being compatible with "PCs," will not run on her "PC."
People DO NOT KNOW about the alternatives. This is DELIBERATE work from Microsoft and Apple. This is one of the reasons why I personally cringe when someone defines "PC" as "Windows computer" (Even worse is "PC, Mac, and Linux", as if a "Linux" is a separate kind of computer, probably only for terminal-loving geeks of course... ugh).
This also leads to a situation where Windows-specific problems such as malware, poor security, etc. are labelled as "computer problems" by the media and by the antivirus/security industry. A Windows virus is called a "PC virus" or "computer virus" instead. See http://techrights.org/2010/04/21/windows-rarely-named-and-shamed/
Of course it's deliberate. That's Microsoft's strategy, along with Apple, Google or any other company. By associating a common technological term, like PC (which ironically was popularized with the Apple I if my comp history serves me right) companies can work with what people already know and become 'commonplace'. This is the same strategy that companies like Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, and Coca-Cola use. Say baby shampoo to someone and they'll probably think first of this and not this. Say cola or coke to someone and they'll probably think of Coca-Cola, not Pepsi. This even shows in image searches.
So Microsoft starts using the term, and Apple along with every other computer (not PC anymore!) company start using the term because most people have engrained the formulae 'PC == Windows', 'Mac == Apple Macintosh' and 'Anything == Too techy' into their head, thanks to Microsoft.
Of course, just because it's popular doesn't make it good or right; the technical term for PC doesn't involve Windows at all. The only 'innovation' Windows made was that it became popular, not exactly revolutionary. Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink, but the first cola so that gave it an edge over future competitors not to mention the ridiculous amount of memorabilia from Coca-Cola.
Here's an interesting note: Pepsi came out a few years after Coca-Cola, and Coca-Cola is still more popular. UNIX (basis for Linux and quite popular then,) came out over a decade before DOS, and almost two before Windows 1. Which is more popular? Obviously not the former; by the time GNU/Linux came around, the damage was already done.
So Windows became ubiquitous with PC after Apple's decline during the 90s, and the rest is history. It reminds me of how the word 'hacker' became so over-used and dangerous sounding.
This is just the way these companies work. Unfortunately, it seems FOSS has to work around them until companies see that it doesn't have to be that way.
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I've read this story before, and my opinion on it is mixed. The news story itself is shoddy, what with its references to "open source" and how GNU/Linux is for technical people and "tinkerers."
But I think the behavior of the Ubuntu fans is unwarranted and uncalled for. This person expected to buy a computer with Windows and ended up with one running GNU/Linux. Yes, GNU/Linux is the overall superior choice both in ethical as well as practical terms, but the abusive comments from Ubuntu users don't help her understand that. She's understandably scared and confused.
I also understand perfectly that a college would want its students to run Windows. We know it's stupid and downright wrong, but the average college doesn't. I've been to my college bookstore and I see books about how to use Windows, Office, etc. Schools that offer "computer" classes really offer "Windows" classes, and "computer literacy" really means "Windows literacy" (see, monopoly at work here...). Lots of these people are stuck in the mindset that a "PC" is Windows, and there are only "PC and Mac." We can't really blame the student for this. Heck, maybe the college requires some proprietary courseware, or she signed up for internet courses that require proprietary Windows plugins or ActiveX.
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