Teaching new Linux users that GNOME is not Ubuntu.
I’m very happy to see that Ubuntu has been a major force in bringing Linux to the masses. Those users get a better desktop experience that they would likely have gotten using a different operating system, while also benefitting from the low cost and the better security Linux offers. Unfortunately, I see a bothersome trend forming: Ubuntu users who seem to be under the impression that GNOME is the only desktop for Linux.
It is in the second last paragraph of that blog entry that I see this problem manifesting itself. The first example is in the sentence that begins: I don’t like the way Ubuntu handles network drives (even Puppy Linux does a better job, in my view) ….. The second example is later on: …. and Ubuntu still looks very average - aesthetically - compared to XP, let alone OSX.
As a commenter to that blog article pointed out, those are not problems with Ubuntu or Linux, specifically. Those complains involve GNOME. Now, Ubuntu does ship with GNOME as its default desktop, so most first-time Linux users may come to think that it is the only software there is. Of course, there are many alternatives, including KDE and XFCE, among a wide variety of plain window managers. Luckily, Ubuntu allows for such software to be installed easily and painlessly.
It becomes a situation of advising new Ubuntu users that they do have a lot of choice available to them. If they don’t like certain aspects of the default GNOME desktop, it is very easy for them to replace it with KDE. Another option is, of course, to recommend the use of a distro like Kubuntu, which combines the benefits of Ubuntu with those of KDE.
So if you’re a Linux user who is setting up an Ubuntu system for a friend or relative, be sure to install at least KDE in addition to the GNOME environment that is already present. You may just make their experience a lot more flexible, and hence enjoyable.