1. Aug 5th, 2006

    Desktop Linux breakthrough: Lenovo preloads SUSE on ThinkPad

    According to Desktop Linux:

    On August 4th, we found out that Lenovo Group, the company that has taken over IBM’s Personal Computing Division, had made a deal with Novell Inc. to preload SLED 10 (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) on its ThinkPad T60p mobile workstation.

    Pretty bold move.

    My money is that they’ll sell some PCs, not lose any money, but not make any impact in the market either. After two/three models they’ll stop. It’s too enterprisey. It’s a cautious move, and cautious moves don’t win you any points.

    Someday, some vendor will start bundling Ubuntu with their PCs. And they’ll give the other two operating systems a run for their money. Cheaper, faster, more reliable. And that vendor will get real marketshare, much deserved growth, and expand it across the product line.

    Why Ubuntu? Because it has a great community, it has passionate users, it’s the top choice of hackers everywhere. Which doesn’t mean a damn to the people who buy PCs pre-loaded with Linux. They couldn’t care less.

    But it means a lot to the people who support them. Their friends, family members, spouses. The people who install MP3 codecs, hook up the digital camera, fix drivers when they crash.

    SUSE doesn’t appeal to me. I can preload my own PC with Linux, thank you for asking. And if I’m helping a friend or relative choose, I’m going to make sure it’s an operating system I can easily support when they come to me asking for help.

    I’m not going to be on hold with Novell technical support, or browse their dim corporatey knowledge base. I’m going to Google the Ubuntu forums, or IM a friend for help.

    Between amazing free support, better than Microsoft can offer to its Fortune 500 customers, and bland pay-per-incident call centers, it’s an easy decision to make.

    And for the record, I run RedHat on my notebooks, but only because it mirrors my servers. For the people around me, I only have one recommendation to make.

    Printable PDF | Posted by Assaf Filed in general 7 Comments »

    1. Aug 5th, 2006

      Rogel

      Assaf,
      can you comment about the pron and cons comparing Ubunto and OS X?

    2. Aug 6th, 2006

      Assaf

      I use the Mac, I like it, but I just don’t “get it”.

      It’s a one-size fits all, artistically designed, values simplicity over anything else, ignoring what came before it or after it, and wrapping it up in a commercialized product. The same philosophy that created the amazing iPod. Because the iPod does so little, it’s a one trick pony.

      The one-size is the wrong size. The best computers are not made by Apple. My Vaio crams more features into the same 13″ frame as the MacBook Pro, but weighs one pound less, has longer battery life and a better keyboard. Then there’s Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer and a lot of other great choices, before we get to the overpriced Apples.

      The artistic design wowed me, but then came the quirks. It got usability all wrong: no right click, awful keyboard with random shortcuts, confusing alt tabbing, etc. Linux doesn’t look at pretty, but it takes the best usability tricks out of both XP and OS/X. If you learn how to use your computer, then you’ll get more done with Linux.

      In fact, it’s the simplicity that killed it for me. I like simple, but not when it becomes a dumbed down experience. After using Firefox, amaroK, DigiKam and Xine, I just can’t switch back to Safari, iTunes, iPhoto or its DVD player. They all feel like Fischer Price’s My First App.

      Then there’s the proprietary stuff. I don’t need a special dongle to connect my Vaio to a screen projector. DigiKam can upload photos to Flickr, and amaroK can synchronize with both iPod and last.fm. When I do a software update, it updates all my apps and drivers, not just the ones made by Apple or Microsoft. The sharing philosophy of the open source world works better than the “we own” philosophy of the vendors.

      And if you want the benefits of UN*X, then OS/X is not it. It has some UNIX roots that it’s trying hard to shake off. I got more out of running Cygwin on XP. Why Apple decided to fix things that were not broken is beyond me.

      So overall I wasn’t impressed. But I still have some reservations about Linux.

      Linux did improve tremendously, installing Ubuntu is a breeze, you don’t need any technical skills to get a great GUI, preloaded with office suite, multimedia apps, and a lot of useful utilities. You actually get more apps and utilities after the first install then XP or OS/X. And plug in a digital camera, printer, iPod, memory card, cell phone, etc, they all just work. Most of the applications you get are as good as, or even better than the XP or OS/X apps they’re replicating.

      But, I bought a first generation Duo Core with the new Intel chipset, so I had to wait a couple of months for the Wifi and sound drivers to catch up. The Bluetooth mouse works better than XP (which it occassionaly disconnects), but I had to Google for the right configuration file to use the back & forth keys. MP3 and QuickTime codecs are not part of the open source release, so you have to download them separately. And I can’t get Flash to do sound, so no YouTube for me.

      For a consumer operating system, it’s not there yet. But if your computer is a workhorse and you’re using it to be more productive, than Linux beats XP and OS/X. As long as you have the time to learn how to make it a better machine.

      I think the best analogy is the trials of using my EVDO card, to keep me connected when I’m outside WiFi range. It works great on Windows, but you have to install the annoying Verizon app which has a clunky UI and just eats up resources. And if I suspend/resume with the card inside the computer, I get the bluescreen of death.

      It took all of fifteen minutes to install on Linux, but I had to Google for the right PPP scripts. Most people would just stop there. I actually prefer to manage it from the command line. And if I suspend/resumse with the card inside the computer I get the black screen of no response.

      As for the Mac, it doesn’t have a PCMCIA slot.

      There’s only one thing where OS/X really shines and nothing else comes close. QuickSilver.

    3. Aug 6th, 2006

      Rogel

      Thanks for the comprehensive review. I’m still hesitating about my next laptop but the direction seems clearer now.
      I would recommend elevating the comment into a post.

    4. Aug 7th, 2006

      Assaf

      Maybe later, right now it’s Apple’s big day.

      Steve Jobs is announcing virtual desktop, SVN, NFS search, Google labels

      But give Apple the credit it deserves. They’re listening to their users, they make it incredibly easy to use for the rest of us, and they’re doing it a century ahead of Redmond.

      They make a big deal about Vista copying OS/X, the sad truth is, Vista is only copying last year’s OS/X.

    5. Aug 7th, 2006

      Rogel

      The problem with windows is that its only copies the outside of last year OS X instead of taking the risk and restart from scratch. I am not sure it would not be less expensive and faster for Microsoft to start the new OS from the base instead of adding code on the same base.
      It is extremely risky and would require adjusting tons of applications but sometimes betting the company is required. My guess is that by not taking the risk Microsoft start loosing the OS market, but it wouldn’t the first time I was wrong :)
      As for the next version of OS X it seems to be light years a head, I only wish Apple will start to open its wall gardens more and allow more freedom to its users.

    6. Aug 7th, 2006

      Assaf

      Apparently Microsoft has two camps inside. One that believes writing a new operating system is the way to go. And one that believes being backward compatiblity with DOS and Windows 95 is critical.

      And there’s a good reason why the second camp wins. If you break compatibility, you risk breaking the Windows/Office platform. The whole business model is based on the fact that everybody is essentially using the same software, it’s easier to lock people that way.

      Which is why their monopoly is so hard to break.

      Apple is not in the business of disrupting Microsoft. I guess there’s just not enough revenues in selling operating systems. Microsoft makes money on over-priced Office, Apple makes money on over-priced hardware.

      But it’s interesting how Apple just sneezes and out innovates Microsoft, even though their main business is not software. And how Sun wishes it could do the same.

    7. Aug 8th, 2006

      Assaf

      Here’s another happy customer.

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