Walt Mossberg gives Ubuntu the cold-shoulder

Captain Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal Brigade delivered a pounding frontal attack to the good folks in the Ubuntu bunker today, sounding off about the Linux OS distribution that's been taking a lot of people (but not old Mossy) by storm. According to his review yesterday of the burgeoning (and free) Canonical operating system, Walt Mossberg says that although Ubuntu is, "Relatively slick," he feels that there are too many, "little complications and hassles that will quickly frustrate most people who just want to use their computers, not maintain or tweak them." Apparently, after testing on a stock Dell system with the software pre-installed, Walt argued that the lack of codecs for playing some audio and video formats, trouble connecting iPods, and a trackpad which can't be adjusted, are just a few of the problems that most people will find intolerable in the open-source OS. Mossberg talks about users who, "...simply want their digital products to operate as promised, with as little maintenance and hassle as possible," and feels the answer for them is Windows or OS X, not the new, untested, and unpolished Ubuntu. While we don't agree on every point, perhaps this will push Canonical to tighten up its OS and really target the mainstream. [Warning: read link requires subscription]

[Via Crave]

[humpty @ Sep 14th 2007 5:35PM]

FYI: Mossberg is the biggest Apple FanBot on the face on the planet.

[AlexP @ Sep 14th 2007 6:05PM]

Did you actually read the review before you typed this?

[just a resident cynic @ Sep 14th 2007 6:52PM]

I agree with AlexP..... surely you haven't forgotten poor Mr. Pogue?
[http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/06/david-pogues-iphone-musical-sing-a-long/]

[shaliron @ Sep 14th 2007 8:39PM]

Perhaps it wasn't 'elegant' enough.

[nikster @ Sep 14th 2007 9:11PM]

I can't believe there are so many Linux apologists around. Hey, stuff doesn't work out of the box. No apologies, it should work out of the box.

Ubuntu 7 already does some things, like make it easy to use proprietary drivers. So my ATI graphics card worked right out of the box. That's the way to go and frankly the only way that is acceptable for the general public. Does my aunt even know what kind of graphics card is in her machine? Let alone that there are proprietary drivers for it? What drivers are? No, no, and no.

Ubuntu is on the right path, but not quite there yet. Mossy isn't even so much an Apple fanboy as a "things-working" fanboy.

[robert @ Sep 14th 2007 9:19PM]

Wow, he recommended WINDOWS and OSX?

He must really hate Uber-buntu if he recommended both!

[Kamujin @ Sep 14th 2007 11:29PM]

Mossberg should show alot more respect for the community that saved his beloved Apple from the path of extinction. OS 9 was a dead end. OS X is nothing more then BSD with Quartz slapped on top of it. I expect they would have stolen the Linux kernel, but since only 1% of the world knows what BSD is, it was probably alot easier to pretend they invented BSD.

[wWw @ Sep 15th 2007 12:24AM]

Mossberg is showing us the length of his penis in that pic.

[Kaden @ Sep 15th 2007 2:21AM]

HE'S A TOOL

[Liam Billington @ Sep 14th 2007 5:40PM]

Walt Mossberg is overrated.

[AlexP @ Sep 14th 2007 6:06PM]

And so is Ubuntu.

[Jon @ Sep 14th 2007 7:15PM]

And so is Apple.

[Steveorevo @ Sep 14th 2007 7:18PM]

At least in Ubuntu you don't have to reboot for every installed driver, application, update, moving the mouse, printing somethings, looking at the screen... etc. etc.

True, Ubuntu is missing alot of thirdparty fatware that breaks everything else...

[Trace The Hedgehog @ Sep 14th 2007 7:48PM]

@Steve

Rebooting my computer is less of a hassle than installing programs on Ubuntu.

[nebulus @ Sep 14th 2007 7:57PM]

seriously hedgehog, installing new apps on ubuntu without rebooting is piss easy ....

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 14th 2007 8:06PM]

Click, wait, run. It's really hard!

[culbeda @ Sep 14th 2007 9:55PM]

There is a big difference between "It's easy" and "It's easy if you know how".

People are used to popping a CD in or visiting a website and clicking "Download Now" without being dependent upon someone building a specific package for their distribution of Linux to gloss over a glaring flawed Linux software model of everyone developing each component independently.

[kev @ Sep 21st 2007 9:41AM]

@Steve

You do realize that the ability to use Ubuntu is dependent on how able you are to use something called a 'search engine'? It's a marvelous invention really, especially since it finds things that are well documented.

[dj-kenpo @ Sep 14th 2007 5:41PM]

it's interesting that all I ever hear from linux fanboys is that "it just works" in comparison to say windows which apparently doesn't.

then we have mosberg saying, it doesn't "just work", I could even play an mp3 without downloading the codecs for it.

seems like a very honest opinion and review from him. good OS, but not for mainstream users.

[dj-kenpo @ Sep 14th 2007 5:52PM]

I meant to say "couldn't even play an mp3".. not could..

[John @ Sep 14th 2007 6:08PM]

I thought "it just works" was the Apple fanboy slogan.. which would make sense because OS X is a pretty shell over Unix. But really, Linux is a pain in the ass to manage if you aren't dedicated to managing it. If you're looking to just turn on your computer and do stuff, looking up trac repositories and installing packages probably isn't your thing.

[Matt @ Sep 14th 2007 6:16PM]

I hate the way he phrased that in the video...

He made it sound like a 'codec' is something extremely complicated and only Linux needs. Anything playing MP3 will have an MP3 decoder, its just that when you pay $200 for Windows some of that money goes to paying the license fee.

HOWEVER, installing the MP3 codec ain't that complicated. I did it just by getting it through apt, but I think if you open Add/Remove programs and type in MP3 its just there and you can click install.

Mouse sensitivity: you go System -> Preferences -> Mouse -> Motion and all settings for sensitivity and acceleration are there. No different to going into the Windows control panel.


I admit that it isn't completely polished, but he picked out the strangest things to have a niggle at. If I wanted to run down Linux I would say about (despite there being a huge range of apps) there are still some programs without Linux equivalents, graphics cards can be a bum to set up, and flash is difficult to install on 64-bit distros. Those are the kind of more important picky bits, not that you have to click one extra time to access the mouse settings.


Basically, Linux ain't perfect but he chose the weirdest things to complain about (including issues which don't exist) when there are plenty more problems with switching.

[Pc_Madness @ Sep 14th 2007 6:30PM]

I could be wrong.. but isn't Gutsy going to prompt when the user tries to play a format that isn't supported and download the codecs automatically from apt?

Hes kind of clueless though.. codecs are needed on all platforms.

[DaveH @ Sep 14th 2007 6:53PM]

Feisty already downloads the codecs you need to play MP3's. Just double-click on one, and it'll intercept you, tell you about what's happening, do it, then play your file. What's wrong about that?

[Oban @ Sep 14th 2007 7:21PM]

Too bad he could not stop being a complete tool and just download VLC Media Player - I use it for every OS and have not looked for a codec in a couple of years.

[dj-kenpo @ Sep 14th 2007 7:31PM]

I love these replies. Everyones so quick to disregard mossburg or say that he just doesn't get it. all you have to do is open terminal or do yadda yadda. "it's easy".

it's clear things are unclear, otherwise he would not have noted them. there are people that type email address's into web address bars, and don't understand the difference between internet explorer and firefox. I know, I support these people. my paretns and my friends parents.

the beauty of open source is that bugs can be fixed, and additions made.

Instead of attacking mossburg, perhaps the correct approach upon recieving criticism is to take that criticism and fix what's been criticized, or at least make it more clear via a short cut or pretty lil icon.

in the end it's actually easier to simply fix something then it is to argue with people and tell them it's not broken in the first place.

[max @ Sep 14th 2007 5:43PM]

Thats b.s, my ipod works straight out of the box, so does my girlfriends, just plug it in.
and the "lack of codecs" name one distro that comes with proprietory codecs installed? you will get sued if you ship them pre-installed, thats why you can EASILY apt-get them, hell, totem even says "sorry, found no codec for it mate, want me to download it for you?" If people are too lazy to click "yes" and let it download gstreamer then they should just return the pc.

[dj-kenpo @ Sep 14th 2007 5:55PM]

imagine if you unpackaged your ipod, that you just stated you have, and before you could play any mp3's it asked you to connect to the net to download codecs.

a) there would be some confused folks.
b) those folks would be annoyed
c) those folks would just get a different mp3 player.

I get what you're saying, but you need to be able to look at both sides. simply saying someones lazy is not a valid response, its an excuse for the product

[John @ Sep 14th 2007 6:10PM]

This isn't comparing it to other distros of linux, it's comparing it to the mainstream OS and its irascible little hanger-on. And Windows comes with WMP, which plays MP3, and OS X has iTunes, which plays MP3s. That's his point.

[James Buckley @ Sep 14th 2007 7:38PM]

Ha, you forget! You need to connect to the internet to get iTunes as Apple can't even be bothered to include a CD. At least in Ubuntu I can transfer songs to my iPod 'out-of-the-box'.

[Steveorevo @ Sep 14th 2007 7:41PM]

imagine if you unpackaged your computer, you can visit your favorite web sites you have to apply security updates, reboot, go to your sites discover you have to upgrade your browser, download a massive OS altering files, reboot, then reboot again... lose all the active sites you were looking at...

a) that just plain sucks

In Firefox that comes with Ubuntu, you just go to your sites, if you need to upgrade click upgrade, thats it.

The OS doesn't have to reboot, the browser (may) shutdown and restart, BUT all your active web pages and tabs are restored instantly. Now thats why Ubuntu is slick! Because the OS upgrades just as seemlessly.

Doesn't it seem like everytime you reboot on Windows after a 'spontanous security patch is installed' that it takes longer, and longer, and longer for Windows to restart? Wake up people!

[Standingfast @ Sep 14th 2007 5:43PM]

If someone non-tech savy person wanted to switch to linux, and they asked me which was the best version, I would say Ubuntu hands down. ^_^

[Oban @ Sep 14th 2007 7:26PM]

nonsense - you cannot categorically say what the best linux is, when different distros work better for different users for different applications. What are you doing? routing, hacking, forensics, watching movies, functioning as a server, what type of server, etc. The best version of linux is most likely the one that you compile for your purpose.

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 14th 2007 8:17PM]

"non-tech savy person"

That pretty much says they want to get on MySpace and open email. I think Ubuntu is good enough for that.

[wayan @ Sep 14th 2007 5:49PM]

If users "simply want their digital products to operate as promised" then they would bequickly frustrated with Windows anything. Ubuntu is a dream of operational ease by comparison, no matter the driver install requirements.

[dj-kenpo @ Sep 14th 2007 5:57PM]

actually XBMC is. not ubuntu OR windows.

[Herbert Neal @ Sep 14th 2007 10:49PM]

Sure, I can't wait to see them try to install the Deer Hunter game that they stoled from the walmart.

[Hastings @ Sep 14th 2007 5:51PM]

I hate to say this, but I actually agree with him on this one.
I installed Ubuntu about a month ago on my old Dell 700m, and I think I finally have it all set up. Installation was definitely easy for me, but it couldn't play MP3's out of the box, playing any movie files resulted in "black screen" playback, and when it finally worked it wouldn't work in fullscreen mode.

One month later, I think Ubuntu is the best computing experience available today - as long as you don't intend to play games. Once you get it all set up, it can't be beat. The community is extremely helpful and patient with new users, and it's really cool being able to do things like flipping four desktops around in a 3D cube. Windows users shit their pants when they see me do that in my lectures.

He didn't really say he didn't like Ubuntu, he just didn't recommend it for the "average user", which I think is a fair statement.

[Lattyware @ Sep 14th 2007 7:21PM]

Gaming might be around sooner than you think.
a) Open Source ATI Drivers
b) Unreal 3
c) Valve recently opened a position for someone to port windows games to Linux. Linux steam would be the grail. Not a certainty, but interesting and hope inspiring.

[bocardo @ Sep 14th 2007 8:43PM]

Actually, I'm typing this from my Inspiron 700m with Ubuntu (since the beginning of the year) right now. Since I didn't have the install disk for the latest and greatest version (7.04), I just used the older one (6.10), which after install prompted me if I wanted to upgrade to the newer one. A couple of clicks later, I'm using the pc like always while the upgrade is downloaded AND installed in the background. Once done, it just told me to reboot to finish, which WASN'T mandatory. I just kept on browsing until it was time to shut it down.
Now, the codecs issue, it WAS more difficult in 6.10 (it told me which package to download from the Applications-Add/Remove menu),
but in 7.04, it was just a matter of opening a file using a patented codec and it would ask me if I wanted to install it. Just a couple clicks ant it was business as usual. Video worked perfectly, as did all the games I tried (which aren't many (Neverwinter Nights was one of them), since this laptop is just awful for any kind of 3d apps, but it still manages to provide a pleasant experience with the 3d desktop and eyecandy turned on).

Please excuse any weirdness in my post, but I'm not a native speaker, AND am mainly self-taught, playing computer games and by reading (and most of that from the internet)

[Daryl Herbert @ Sep 14th 2007 9:50PM]

"Linux steam would be the grail"

The question is, can Valve get DRM to work within Linux? If not, I can't see Valve selling new games that way.

The other thing Valve could do with Linux compatibility is to improve the tools Valve licenses to other developers. Valve makes tools to help with multithreaded game development. Maybe one of Valve's customers wants to make a game that supports Linux.

[kruptok @ Sep 14th 2007 5:51PM]

Anyone with at least 1 finger and half a brain can have their Ubuntu Linux system set up however they like it in a matter of minutes. It's not any more involved than setting up Windows or OSX the way you want... oh, and Ubuntu is also free.

As for iPod connectivity, I understand iTunes is compatible with Windows and Mac, not Linux. As soon as Apple wants to make iTunes compatible with Linux, iTunes will be compatible with Linux. The ball is not in Canonical's (Ubuntu's) court on that matter.

All in all, Ubuntu is far less "bloated" than Windows (esp. Vista), and you can change that however you like. I personally prefer to not have extraneous, arguably useful processes running in the background, consuming ~1Gb of RAM (Vista requires 1Gb of RAM to run, or so I heard).

My 0.02 cents worth anyway...

[Diego souto @ Sep 14th 2007 5:51PM]

well he is nuts..

[CraigJ @ Sep 14th 2007 6:25PM]

Unfortunately, that's not true. Most of the people on Engadget, Digg, etc. could, yes. Your average non-computer literate person would probably have a problem with it because they lack the fundamental understanding of computers and how they function, knowledge that most of us take for granted.

[neuralrust @ Sep 14th 2007 5:51PM]

Ok, Walt but... Ubuntu (and all of its software) is F R E E and runs on every PC on the planet, not only on expensive design-ish stuff...

[Blair Thiessen @ Sep 14th 2007 5:53PM]

For video codecs it's simple

open terminal and type

sudo apt-get install vlc

after that you can play almost any video in VLC. Installing many programs is this simple. Yes the basic user it is still to complicated to do some things but it's mostly because they are use to the ways of windows, some unbuntu things are not that much harder and once you get it working it runs nicely.

[AlexP @ Sep 14th 2007 5:58PM]

How is that simple?

It's simple when you don't have to read a manual.

[dj-kenpo @ Sep 14th 2007 6:00PM]

ya, my mom would totally know to do that without being told.

[3rdsun @ Sep 14th 2007 6:01PM]

Automatix is even easier than that. simply choose Automatix in Synaptic and install. Choose to install codecs and presto. most other software cna be had by using a package manager. Simple and efficient.

[AlexP @ Sep 14th 2007 6:03PM]

How is that simple?

To know this, I'd have to do a research on the web or get my hands on a manual.

Simple = not having to do something like that.