Has Ubuntu reached the point yet where it's user friendly for most users?

Question

I remember once before (1-2 yrs ago) if you needed to configure ANYTHING in Ubuntu, you needed to go use the command line. How is it today? Can I use it as my full desktop? Can I take it to presentations around the country and not embarrass myself because the projector won't work? Does it work well when I have to connect to various static networks?

Basically, is it user friendly enough that I don't need to fight it in order to do things.

Note: After my last experience, I absolutely positively refuse to use command line.

Answer 1

Although I found it to be user friendly, I temper that with the fact that I am around computers all day. There were enough little quirks in there to cause me more than one headache.

A straight windows user trying to switch from windows to ubuntu may have trouble,but a seasoned computer veteran should have little problem doing basic tasks (i.e. presentations, coding, etc).

Answer 2

@scubabbl

A straight windows user who doesn't spend all day on their computer probably runs into enough quirks in windows that cause quite a bit of headache. I don't see how using Ubuntu would make the process any worse.

Answer 3

I use it as a full desktop, with dual monitor, and desktop effects, but honestly...

if you don't EVER want to see or use a command line... you probably aren't going to like it.

As user friendly as it is, the command line is like the life-blood of any linux. There are GOING to be times when you need to manipulate things with it directly. The Ubuntu community does make it quite easy to do things using the command line though. (step by step instructions)

I was also intimidated by the command line initially and have learned it over time. Once you start to learn a few tricks with the command line, you really do see why people use it. You can do lots of things much faster (like rename files)

note: I really do think it is quite easy to use, especially if you know a linux guru who will initially set up all the hardware for you (which is the hardest part)

My mother (who still doesn't grasp the idea of tabbed browsing and often needs my help to compose an email using gmail) uses ubuntu on her computer every day and thinks it's worlds better than windows.

Go figure

Answer 4

@Kibbee
Touche. +1 to you.

The only real difference being most windows users learned on windows. Having to unlearn and relearn is I think a harder task for the average user than the initial learning.

Answer 5

I use Ubuntu all the time... it is my work environment and my home laptop. It works beautifully for everything I need it for, though as others have pointed out, there are times that will require extra hours to resolve an issue (mostly initial setup of the machine if anything, at least for me).

As others have pointed out also, you WILL be in the command line... accept it. And I would like to ask, why do you fear it so much? There is a LOT of power in the command line, especially for programmers and highly computer literate people. There are many command line tools that will just be so much easier and faster to do the things you need to do than any existing gui. It just takes time to learn them... but that's true of anything new and different, right?

Answer 6

Why don't you try it out yourself? You can use the Live CD and try the OS before installing it on your system.

Answer 7

I wrote a blog post about Ubuntu a month or so ago. Ubuntu is getting closer, but there are still numerous things with Linux that will keep the grandmothers of the world from using it. It doesn't mean it isn't getting better, because it is. But let's not count our chickens before the eggs hatch just yet.

http://keithelder.net/blog/archive/2008/07/08/Installing-Ubuntu-Linux--Is-It-As-Perfect-As-They.aspx

Answer 8

Sort of. Two weeks ago I would have said yes. But I teach a first semester Linux admin course in which we install/configure several distributions, and I usually start with Ubuntu since it's generally the smoothest and requires minimal tweaking after the install. Last Friday, however, a number of students ran into the 82% problem - that is, their installs either hung temporarily (10 minutes to an hour) or failed at 82%. The simplest solution, and the only one they could implement and understand in the second week of classes, was to pull the network cable and restart the install. Although this will work well for me as an example of the kind of troubleshooting one often has to do when installing/configuring Linux, it is also the sort of thing that discourages casual users - and students who are new to Linux. Prior to this, though, Ubuntu has installed flawlessly the last four times I taught the course.....

Answer 9

the commandline is in fact very userfriendly for newbies. It's way easier to just send them a little code snippet to cut/paste into the command line than to navigate users through "go to file->open, select the directory /etc, click on groups ..."

Answer 10

Mostly. Once Ubuntu is installed, there's darn little you have to do to with the command line. (I use it because I'm used to it.)

You might want to be careful about upgrading versions. My laptop's sound wouldn't work on 8.04, and I wound up upgrading to 8.10 to get it back.

I've had a few issues with it, but then I've had a few issues with Windows of various sorts. Once installed, I don't see any reason to avoid it for user-friendliness reasons.

Not to mention, if you're afraid of the command line, what are you doing here?