Idea #10425: Ten sticking points for new Ubuntu users

Written by loki the 28 Jun 08 at 15:27. Category: Accessibility.
Related to: Nothing/Others. Status: New

Description

Michael Reed identified 10 points that seem to be common sticking points for new users -- that is, problems that have the potential to prevent a new user from adopting Ubuntu in the long term. These problems span the entire Ubuntu experience, but they all have two things in common: they are all serious enough to evoke the dreaded "I tried Linux but it didn't work" excuse, and they are all solvable.

The ten improvable points are identified in the article "Ten sticking points for new Ubuntu users", Michael Reed, June 27, 2008, http://www.linux.com/feature/139214

Short summary (see the referenced article for advised solutions):

* Screen setup
Ubuntu is still bad at properly detecting and setting up the display

* Boot management
I'm against the idea of making things unnecessarily flashy, but GRUB is both feature-poor and complicated to configure.

* Mounting
It's a shame that Ubuntu doesn't come with a GUI tool to configure the boot-time mounting of new partitions.

* Installation
The Ubuntu installer: it's not very forgiving of network errors, often hanging at about 92%.

*sound configuration
Sound under Linux is a bit of a mess. There are a lot of different systems. When things go wrong, users have to hit the forums and the config files.

* Networking: IPv6 support
Version 4 of the Internet Protocol (the layer that connects software to the Internet) is in the process of being superseded by version 6

* Power and hibernation
Power management is vital for laptop users, and hibernating a desktop computer can be a cool approach to startup and shutdown.

* Email migration
One of the most common things that new users want to do is migrate their email from their Windows setup.

* Documentation
How about providing some documentation to help get new users started

* Building from source
Ubuntu's package management implementation constitutes a significant enticement for the potential switcher in its own right. However, building packages from source is unavoidable when a desired package isn't in the repositories or the version in the repositories is out of date.

By addressing these 10 points, Canonical can improve the Ubuntu experience for new users, and retain more of them who might otherwise become frustrated by problems with relatively simple fixes.

Tags: accessability beginner improve usability

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Comments

Vadim P. wrote on the 28 Jun 08 at 17:47

It's 'Ten sticking points for new Ubuntu users by a Linux expert'.

I doubt he did any kind of research based on normal use cases, and this is just his opinion of what he thinks are the points.

Building from source? Come on.

IPv6? Who cares.

zooounds wrote on the 28 Jun 08 at 18:24

Ipv6?!

It's ears from happaning...

eapache wrote on the 28 Jun 08 at 18:34

AFAIK, Ubuntu has had IPv6 suppory since Feisty :)

Ati500 wrote on the 28 Jun 08 at 23:08

I agree with Vadim P., I doubt there are much people caring about IPv6, and regular users don't want and they don't even need to build from source. I consider myself an experienced Linux user, but I can't remember when was the last time I installed something from source. The Ubuntu repositories are fine and if a package is outdated, there is a chance to find a newer DEB at getdeb.org.
But, I think that the other things mentioned can make the switch for Ubuntu harder for an average user, especially boot management, mounting and sound configuration.
So you got my vote.

uaneme wrote on the 29 Jun 08 at 03:03

* Screen setup
+1 ok, not detecting it ricght thats one, but after that it would be nice to have access to higher resolution and refresh rate settings.

* Boot management
+1 GRUB should be more user friendly, flashy looks, maybe later (if they don't slow things down ...it's just about booting)

* Mounting
+1 GUI please.

* Installation
+0 I'm not aware of hangs due to network probs but if thats the case fix it

*sound configuration
+1 and now lets take the headache from pulse audio, Pulse audio has nice features but its full of hickups and glitches. And missing a GUI. OSS ALSA PulseAudio JACK who is next? The future is real time audio without latency, glitches etc..

* Networking: IPv6 support
-1 IPv6 is already up and running, but not many use it yet.

* Power and hibernation
+1 Ubuntu should be more energy saving, all PC's should.

* Email migration
+0 never looked into this (i use webbased email, it saves me the spam)

* Documentation
-0 there is a help feature active but for some that might be a little to basic, and the Ubuntu documentation website might be out of reach for newbies who can't get their wifi working.

* Building from source
-1 i never had to build anything from source, ok there are one or 2 apps that i wish to see working on Linux

so that makes +3... Yes Ubuntu should improve, but i think this article is a bit out of balance.

steve196 wrote on the 29 Jun 08 at 18:50

No one, who commented here about ipv6 read the article.
I quote:
Version 4 of the Internet Protocol (the layer that connects software to the Internet) is in the process of being superseded by version 6. By default, Ubuntu supports the new version, but many Internet service providers have not switched over yet. When IPv6 support has not been implemented properly by an ISP or by a broadband router, an Ubuntu user can experience slow access or even a total lack of access to the Internet.
From reading the forums it seems that Ubuntu may have defaulted to IPv6 support too early. IPv4 support can be re-enabled, but it involves editing configuration files. If Canonical has decided to be ahead of the curve, it should make it easier for people to switch back to IPv4.

HDave wrote on the 30 Jun 08 at 02:29

This idea by itself is not actionable. I think it would make sense to create individual ideas for subset of the 10 issues that you think are a priority.

aysiu wrote on the 30 Jun 08 at 03:08

You could probably take out a number of points by just making sure more people have a first contact with Ubuntu through preinstallation.

Yfrwlf wrote on the 27 Sep 08 at 18:10

For the "building from source" problem, of course that means having a cross-distro standardized package format, or in other words, the package managers out there need to make themselves compatible with at least ONE format that actually gets widely used, for example RPM managers should be compatible with DEB and vise versa, and if that can't be done and more metadata is needed in order to install a program successfully, a new format needs to be created to address whatever remaining issues there are. The Burgdorf Packaging API is a project the Linux Foundation is working on to resolve this problem. Users shouldn't have to change their OS to a different distro just to have access to a particular piece of software, nor should they do so to have access to new drivers, and developers should not be forced to package their program for a zillion different distros.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=857052
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/Burgdorf_Packaging_API
http://0install.net/index.html

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