# Why Do I Need Ubuntu? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-ubuntu/449233 "2008-05-14T02:23:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-ubuntu/449233/41 "2008-05-15T01:52:43Z")
I keep going back and forth over what to do. They both have their advantages. But the Netflix thing kind of tears it- I loved being able to pop up, say, the pilot episode of _30 Rock,_ or a whole season of _Weeds_, etc. And I was really getting comfortable with Vista. Sorry, son, I know you meant well. Now put it back. Thanks for all the advice and opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-ubuntu/449233/42 "2008-05-15T03:21:19Z")
Probably too late, but if anyone is wondering about how attractive Linux can be, most distribution forums have desktop screenshot threads. [Here](http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=776915) is one for Ubuntu, and [here](http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=47950) is one for Arch Linux, which is the distribution that I use. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-ubuntu/449233/43 "2008-05-15T04:40:02Z")
[QUOTE=Alice The Goon] I keep going back and forth over what to do. They both have their advantages. But the Netflix thing kind of tears it- I loved being able to pop up, say, the pilot episode of _30 Rock,_ or a whole season of _Weeds_, etc. And I was really getting comfortable with Vista. Sorry, son, I know you meant well. Now put it back. Thanks for all the advice and opinions. [/QUOTE] Good. Come back to us and let the computer nerds do what they do. My girlfriend’s brother is a huge Linux fan and he was talking about how he was having a little problem. Of course, I couldn’t resist and said “Hey, I don’t have that problem with Vista. Still have to hijack your mom’s computer to sync up your iPhone?” He did. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-ubuntu/449233/44 "2008-05-15T18:40:15Z")
Yeah, the struggle for me has always been the peripheral hardware that is plug n play with Windows, but has no support in Linux. Historically, things like iPods, cell phones, digicams, calendar-syncing devices, etc have been a gamble. It’s getting much better though, and it’s only the deliberately locked down and licensed devices like Apple and Windows Media that cause much grief. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-ubuntu/449233/45 "2008-05-15T19:38:37Z")
[QUOTE=GargoyleWB] Yeah, the struggle for me has always been the peripheral hardware that is plug n play with Windows, but has no support in Linux. Historically, things like iPods, cell phones, digicams, calendar-syncing devices, etc have been a gamble. [/QUOTE] On the flip side, I’ve found many devices–even as simple as cameras and printers–that plug 'n play just fine with Mac OSX, but require a great deal of monkeying around on Windows. A friend who just loaded Ubuntu 8 reported to me that every single device he owned was autodetected and worked fine with no manipulation–even the ones that had given him trouble on Windows XP. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-ubuntu/449233/46 "2008-05-16T05:43:22Z")
Yeah, I agree, Mac is still the standard by which “it just works” is measured with hardware. I last visited Linux several years ago (Suse 8) and it has improved by orders of magnitude in its ability to autodetect and autoconfig. Right now, I’d say it is about on par with Windows 98 with regards to user burden–most stuff plugs right in, but you still have to monkey with drivers and conflicts to tune your system to get the full experience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-need-ubuntu/449233.md?page=2)