fact is the community needs to listen and learn. its all about user experience. no software is bullet proof, but we should strive for improving the basics.

big steps have been made, long way to go/

2. A plausible theory, except it doesn’t explain #1.

3. Irresponsible behavior at best– it should have been obvious that she was incapable of getting Ubuntu to work the way she wanted without help.

4. Five months later? How long ago were you in college? That’s about the length of your average semester– certainly past the drop deadline. If she did keep it for that period of time before dropping out, she didn’t get any refund.

I’m loathe to admit that raging fanboys are right about anything, but how can people seriously not laugh at this story? It doesn’t make even the slightest bit of sense.

2. She probably changed her operating system, noting that it dropped the price $50, but didn’t realize that it’s not Windows. I find this much more believable.

3. As far as the article is concerned, yes- she contacted Dell, and the customer service rep suggested sticking with Ubuntu.

4. She was probably faced with overwhelming homework piling up, without a computer to do it on. So, rather than fail all classes, drop out early enough to get your refund back, fix the laptop problem, and try again next semester.

The story doesn’t seem like Microsoft propoganda in the least. It seems very much like a true story to me. But, she may have been looking for a scapegoat out of college, and found it. Her true intentions are known only to her. All we can do is judge the facts, and it seems very clear to me that it was a win for her, and we backlashed anyway.

Second, there is no doubt in my mind that the LHB admin was a Linux user. He was tired of the fanboyism that plagues our operating system, and started sharing light on how to make it better. The reason for quitting isn’t known, but I doubt it’s out of fear.

I also read somewhere (don’t remember where; source may be unreliable) that she bought the computer five months ago. If true, WTF?

In short, the premise of the story is very difficult to believe. The two conclusions that require the fewest outlandish assumptions are the following:

1. The whole story is Microsoft propaganda.
2. She made a mistake in deciding to buy a machine with Ubuntu, and now she doesn’t want to take responsibility for it.

Of course, that doesn’t excuse the behavior of those who are harassing her personally on Facebook. That is most certainly crossing the line. Also, those who say she is stupid are incorrect, as I cannot see how even the most egregious case of stupidity could lead to this situation.

Ubuntu is an African word meaning ‘Humanity to others’, or ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

What I really meant: maybe after installation, the Ubuntu system must make it more visible that there are forums and IRC available for getting help. That might prevent people from getting frustrated with their new system. From what I’ve heard so far, once people are seeking help on the forums they are quite happy with it. Only new users (esp. when they are getting the system preinstalled from Dell) don’t know about these help channels and that the people there are really nice.

(No, we certainly don’t need _people_ to be more offensive – fully agree

No, the article is about the Ubuntu community reaction to the support. It’s pathetic, disheartening and frustrating.

In regards to your grass roots campaign to turn all schools to Free Software supporters, I personally have better things to do with my time. Growing the user base of Linux in general will bring about that change anyway, as it has already happened at her school.