Recycled Computing

Xubuntu on Pismo: It Works, but It's Not as Easy as the Mac OS

- 2008.06.16

Report from the Xubuntu front:

Okay, there is no trash can or recycle bin. This means that you have to use the file manager to delete things you don't want. Since there is no temporary trash can, once they are gone, they are gone. It's a little like using a tightrope without a net.

I really am used to the Mac OS. If I want to put something somewhere, I usually just drag it over. To be fair, this was an issue when I took a course in Microsoft Access. The other students would use the keyboard commands and wonder why I was dragging and dropping information into various fields: Old dogs and new tricks.

A number of alert readers pointed out to me that Xubuntu is not going to continue its commitment to the PowerPC chip.* Yep, but I wanted to take a look at this software, and the Pismo was the only thing I had to try it out on. I really imagine it being useful if someone hands me an old Windows laptop - or maybe trying to install it on a Kanga or WallStreet. Every once and a while you have to try something new.

I had a difficult time getting my wireless network connections working. Xubuntu recognizes my AirPort card, but it does not automatically lock on to my wireless network at home. It doesn't seem to want to use WPA.

My work network is open, but I have to direct the network connection to latch on to it. Mac OS X jumps from one to the other with no hiccups.

I have decided to explore the packaged software - I am using AbiWord to write this document and will use Thunderbird to email it to Low End Mac. Xubuntu comes with Firefox and a Gnumeric Spreadsheet program as well as Orage, a calendar program. Orage is no iCal, and I have yet to use the spreadsheet. Given those limits, I can still see loading Linux on a old Windows or G3 laptop or using it on an ultraportable. On an ultraportable computer, Xubuntu would be great for a smaller (and lighter) laptop configured to be a word processor, emailer, and web browser.

This is my first experience using Linux, and I have to say I would rather use it than Windows. I haven't had to really customize it yet, so maybe after I attempt to get the wireless set up for my home network, I might have a different point of view. But all in all, the system works fine, performance is a little faster than OS X 10.4.11, and it has the stability of Unix software.

What we take for granted is the amount of thought and work that goes into building the Mac OS. Apple has created an operating system that hides most of the grunt work that other systems require the user to do. A Mac is the equivalent of a toaster. You just turn it on, and it works. You don't have to think about it. It is, indeed, the computer for the rest of us.

Just a brief note after watching the Keynote presentation on the latest iPhone: I can foresee a day when children will be issued iPhones at birth.

* PowerPC support will continue, but it's community based, not done by Canonical, the company that oversees the Ubuntu family.

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