Is Ubuntu ready for non-Linux users?

There are so many reasons on why some of you dislike Windows, or don’t want to use Mac OS X; which I can’t name them one by one because the list will take up this whole weblog. So, then Linux will become the best choice and usually Ubuntu is the most famous distro chosen by Linux-ers (Linux users). Aside from having many Linux developers support, Ubuntu also provides rich user interface that similar and even at few areas are better than the two previous pay-per-licensed OS above.

Ubuntu also has gain a great title based on Linux-ers experiences with it; it’s called “Linux for human beings”. But you’ll have to keep one important thing in mind when we’re implying on that title, is that for Linux-ers or for non? That’s what a Linux fans wanted to find out, by challenging (he actually tricked her, he said) his girlfriend named Erin, who’s a Windows user and never use a Linux before.

The challenges are simple basic tasks, they’re to test how fair is a university philosophy student’s knowledge of Windows computer on a new freshly installed Ubuntu 8.04 computer. The Ubuntu was installed in basic config, without any additional apps. And Erin must finish the tasks with no help at all from her boyfriend, can Erin survived and complete the tests? Read on below to find out.

~Erin logged-in, and she adore the stylized Heron wallpaper~
1. Tell me what the capital of Bosnia is: Passed, she opened Firefox and use Wikipedia
2. Watch a video on YouTube: Failed, although Ubuntu shipped Firefox with its own special modification, but it doesn’t tell Erin how to install Flash Player.
3. Download a Spice Girls Album: Passed, Erin had trouble first but then with self-satisfied smirk she used Transmission to download it.
4. Draw a little picture and save it in 3 formats: Passed, but she saved them into unfamiliar formats because she used “Save As...” command instead of “Export…”.
5. Burn an album from my music collection: Failed, Erin couldn’t find the music directory, there is no specific file search in Brasero Disc Burning.
6. Change the speed of the mouse: Passed.
7. Change the theme: Passed.
8. Find a picture in the net and set is as wallpaper: Passed.
9. Change screen resolution: Almost succeed, she set it at 720x400 which is too small for the screen to display it properly, and she can’t change it back.
10. Photoshop a pic of her face onto my body: Passed, she was confused with GIMP’s scattered windows but eventually succeed.
11. Log onto MSN: Passed, after second try.
12. Install Skype: Failed, although Skype has provided a special download page for Linux, Erin can’t find it in Ubuntu.

Looks like Erin got through most of the tasks assigned to her, but her boyfriend make an interesting comment about the result: “It’s surprising how many seemingly simple things become complicated and even out of reach for someone without knowledge of Linux. If she had as much trouble as she did, what chance to the elderly or at least the middle-aged stand?”

So let’s come back to Ubuntu’s slogan up there, can it really provide a friendly user experience for non-Linux-ers? If “friendly” term is a bit vague, how about “isn’t scaring away” new Linux-ers? Just like Erin, she immediately told her friends at IM on how she hates Linux while she was still at task #11. She does probably never will touch a Linux computer ever again after that…

Before you rage into arguments or conclusions, an answer has been provided by Erin’s boyfriend when he updated the blog post; “…we can’t expect people to rely on their “intuition”, because it really doesn’t seem to work, ....I just want windows users to be able to learn it themselves without their own research on the internet or by searching through manual pages."

I’m not gonna prolong this post with discussion on which is better between Windows & Ubuntu / Linux, or what should be fixed in Ubuntu, or any arguments that why does Linux should be build more like Windows. Because Linux is simply a Linux, and as for non-Linux-ers, they should get used to it if they want to use it. Be “intuitive” with Linux to be able to use it, as Jim has said in his comment (#4). Isn’t that what we have done when we first introduced to Windows OS?

The main difference is, Linux is an open platform made by various distros around the globe and that’s the root of these whole issues. I’ll quote Jonathan’s fine comment (#6) to explain this further: “Geeky programmers and designers are the ones who are driving Linux development as you said, and Linux should (and probably will) always cater to them first because of this.”

Read on “The Great Ubuntu-Girlfriend Experiment” blog here to know more on the comments & feedbacks, a little advance warning though: be prepared to open a very long web page because of the 510 comments! And also if you wanted to read the whole Erin’s quest in Linux land, since I summarized the long story to fit into this post.

And how about Palm’s newest OS; Palm Nova, which is made based on Linux platform? It’s our greatest hope that Palm will be able to deliver a powerful OS for its next smartphones, and still have the same “friendliness” & easy to use factor in it as in our beloved ~old~ Palm OS Garnet. And if it does come out as the opposite of all that, then we’ll just have to “get used” to it; won’t we?

Sources are from Content Consumer, via Switched.

[blogged with my Treo 750v]