Ubuntu to become even easier to use!

Ubuntu is well known for its wonderful ease-of-use, especially for new Linux users. With every release, Ubuntu has been breaking ground by making Linux "just work" for millions of people. This tradition is set to continue with the next release (7.04), code-named Feisty Fawn.

I recently posted about the need for Linux to strive for ease-of-use first, and then to become fully open source after that. The Chicken (user-friendly Linux) needs to come before the Egg (completely open source Linux). It appears that there are more and more people agreeing with that idea.

For example, Eugenie Loli-Queru wrote an article entitled "A Call to Distros: Give Users What They Want". In this article, she explains that Linux needs to be easier to use. She suggests that Linux distros should include important non-free software by default so that users do not have to "tweak" their systems just to watch a movie, listen to a song, or play a 3-D game. Well, Eugenia, your call has been answered by Ubuntu.

As a result of the recent Ubuntu conference at Google's headquarters, a list of planned features has been created for Feisty Fawn. To learn about these features and their assigned priorities, take a look at this specifications page in Launchpad.

Here are the "Essential" and "High" priority features that I am most excited about:
However, there are some people who are opposed to including non-free binary drivers by default. Their main argument is that by including the non-free drivers, it will remove pressure from ATI and Nvidia to open source their video-card drivers.

I agree that this will reduce pressure in the short-term, but I believe that providing some non-free software is necessary to accelerate the adoption of Linux on the desktop. Once the desktop Linux market is big enough for Nvidia and ATI to notice, the open source community can then begin to apply pressure to get the drivers open sourced. If that fails, the community will be large enough to either write new open source drivers, or they will choose to buy from a graphics-card vendor who provides open source drivers.

I hate to keep repeating myself, but I have to admit that Ubuntu has once again impressed and surprised me with the great improvements they make every release. With that in mind, I will keep my eyes open and try to find areas where Ubuntu is not doing well. If you have any ideas about that, please leave a comment on this blog. Together, we can continue to make Ubuntu the best "Linux for Human Beings".

Update: I wanted to also provide a link to this article, which also talks about the new features planned for Ubuntu 7.04 (Fiesty Fawn). The thing that got my attention is the talk about X.org automatically configuring itself, simply by detecting the hardware.

Comments

  1. Anonymous11/15/2006 11:31 PM

    I strongly disagree with your statement about using non-free drivers to bring more people to Linux.

    The audience that this tactic is made to attract won't care about free software. They will just ignore the "education", and use it as long as it works. They won't help us put any pressure on ATI or Nvidia.

    We need to entice the crowd through other means. Once we get them, they could become great activists to help us when they find that their X isn't accelerated. They will want it fixed very badly.

    I personally love what Ubuntu has done for making a great distro. Unfortunately the tainted kernel, and non-free software are unacceptable. I'll be heading to gnewsense.org from now on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11/18/2006 4:34 PM

    I also have to disagree. Many people seem to have lost track of the goal. If your goal is to create proprietary software that many people use, MS has already done that. It's called Windows. If your goal is to provide people with a choice - specifically the choice to use Free Software (or Open Source software), turning Ubuntu into proprietary software won't accomplish that.

    I think users who value their freedom over a market share report will simply switch to a free distro if Ubuntu goes non-free.

    In any case, there is already a free alternative for the ATI driver and a free accelerated nvidia driver is under development. The performance of free, 3D accelerated drivers continues to improve.

    I invite you to help us make the free drivers better instead of encouraging users and distros to use proprietary ones.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tristan Rhodes11/20/2006 4:46 PM

    I appreciate the comments by Lonnie and Anonymous. Let me address your concerns.

    First, I want to point out that 99.99% of the software available in Ubuntu (including the application repositories) will still be open source. However, the 0.01% of non-free software has a very visible impact on the user experience. That is why Mark Shuttleworth said that shipping proprietary drivers is the best way to allow users to experience the rest of the free software stack.

    If the average user can't listen to music, watch a movie, or play a 3-D game, then they will not get a chance to use the other 99.99% of free software that is included with Ubuntu.

    Lonnie - Yes, the people that will be attracted by this tactic will be the average computer user. They are looking for software that simply works well for them. If they can get that without having to pay for it, then they will use Ubuntu. These users will appreciate the great open source operating system they get for free, and would be willing to listen to Ubuntu when considering the purchase of a graphics card. The pressure on ATI and Nvidia will not come until Linux has the "weight" to threaten the sales of their products. This is the Chicken and the Egg question, and I believe the Chicken needs to come first.

    Also, I am glad you have a free alternative to use (gnewsense). Open source is all about providing users with the power of choice. You can choose to use the software, or you can choose to modify it and use that version. (Of course, there are many benefits to pooling our resources around good open source projects. I hope gnewsense will help improve Ubuntu, and Ubuntu will help improve gnewsense)

    Anonymous - I am always excited about the development of open source replacements of proprietary software. I encourage people to use those drivers, and to help with the development of them. Perhaps this story will end similar to that of of Java. Java was slowly being replaced by ever improving free java clones, so Sun decided to open source the software.

    In conclusion - I know where you are coming from, since we share the same passion for open source software. We are both concerned about losing sight of our goal, which is a completely open source operating system and applications. What we disagree on, is how to best reach this goal.

    Every great accomplishment in this world has involved taking some risks. I believe that including some non-free software in the short-term will actually advance free software in the long-term, and it is a risk we should take.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous5/06/2007 11:29 PM

    Really!? I thought Ubuntu meant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_%28ideology%29

    ReplyDelete

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