grahambinns.com

Jorge Castro just sent me a link to this story from El Reg. From TFA:

"The desktop market suffers from having one dominant vendor, and some people still perceive that today's Linux desktops simply don't provide a practical alternative."

So now you know. Hardy comes out next week, by the way, so feel free to go and download an RC ISO and help with the testing :).

Incidentally, in the comments to that article was this:

"Linux is intolerant of users who do not hold a BSc in Computing and who dislike hacking wads of configuration files by hand; and we don't care because we are elitist arses."

The above is true for all versions of Linux (including Ubuntu). It is a real shame that the Linux world doesn't seem to want to create anything which can actually be used by normal end-users.

I really, really wish that this opinion wasn't as pervasive as it so obviously is. So here's a question for you: what can we, the Linux users and developers of the world, do to help make it more accessible for John and Jane Q. User? What is it that you need the most?

Why not go and grab a copy of the Hardy Live CD when it comes out (or use the release candidate if you prefer) and bung it in your PC. You can reboot into Ubuntu without making any changes to your computer and you can give it a road test (bear in mind that running from a CD doesn't make it the fastest thing in the world). If you like it, why not use Wubi to install it through Windows so that you don't have to worry about things like managing your bootloader (which you should never have to worry about unless you want to)?

Go on, give it a shot. You've nothing to lose and lots to gain.

[Edit]

It's been pointed out to me that this isn't really news, since RedHat have never really taken the desktop all that seriously. Also, they're still apparently offering some desktop distributions, though I haven't yet read up on the what and whys of that.

It's also been pointed out that there are a number of comments in RedHat's press release that are pretty clear swipes at Ubuntu, which is a shame but not unexpected.

I thought you might like to hear this story, since it pertains to ourfavourite distro and also to our shop's products.

Picture the scene, if you will: A man, bearded, long-haired,dashingly^Whandsome^W generally me-like, walks through the centre ofLancaster on a busy Wednesday afternoon. He's wearing, proudly, theUbuntu Hoodie as purchased from the very wonderful Canonical shop forthe small sum of roughly twenty of your human pounds.

He passes a group of school kids, perhaps fifteen or so in age, who areloitering with malice aforethought in what passes for the city's mainsquare.

An exchange* follows, with the following dramatis personae:

• KID #1: Stereotypical straggly-haired youth: acne-ridden and squeaky of voice.
• KID #2: Second stereotypical straggly-haired youth, but with less acne and wearing braces on his teeth.
• MAN: Our Ubuntu-hoodie-wearing hero.

KID #1: Mate! 'Scuse me mate!

MAN: Hamnoo?

KID #1: Does it say "Ubuntu" on your top?

MAN: Yep.

KID #1: Cool! Ubuntu rocks!

MAN: Glad you like it. You've tried it then?

KID #1: Yeah. Like, I have to run Windows for school, right, but yeah, I play wi't Live CD for, wassisname - Gutsy. Liked it.

KID #2: What's Ubun-thing?

KID #1: It's like Windows but not, you know, a bag of shite, like.

KID #2: Cool. It's cool, right?

KID #1: Yeah, it's well sick**. I'll get you a CD of t'internet if you want.

KID #2: Yeah, cool.

MAN: You can get CDs made if you want to give it out to your mates. [gives shipit address and details]

KID #1: Yeah, I'll do that. Cheers

... and our hero wanders off into the sunset***, happy to have helpedspread the word a little further.

Footnotes:

• * I've edited out the less intelligible East-Lancs dialect so as to make this readable for anyone who's not me.
• ** 'Sick' is, I'm told by my other half, who's a trainee teacher, the new yoof speak for 'Good'.
• *** Well, Woolworth's, but you get the idea.

I haven't been posting much here, I know. I've been posting quite a bit on Flickr, of which more anon, though, so feel free to head over there and take a look (I'm working on integrating my Flickr posts with this blog).

In the meantime, I thought I'd share an ad that just tickled me:

Called to be a Monk, Nun
or Priest? Take Free Online Test To see if God is calling you . . .
[URL removed]

Ah, the lazyweb. Good for everyone. 

To those of you who have asked - thankfully not seriously as far as I can tell - this isn't me.

From BBC News: Feuding nuns force convent demise:

A convent in Italy is being shut down after a fight between its last three remaining nuns.

So badly did relations deteriorate between the sisters of Santa Clara in Bari that the Mother Superior ended up in hospital with scratches to her face.

The best bit is at the end though, where the article talks about the remaining nun's (the Mother Superior) intransigence on the subject of leaving:

But Sister Liliana is not going without a fight.

She has not once left the nunnery in 44 years and she is not about to be pushed about now.

She has written to the Pope telling him she will only leave when God decides it is time to go.

And since she is devoted to her vow of silence it is not that easy to reason with her.

Someone had fun writing that bit, let me tell you.