Ubuntu Linux goes retail

This is misleading....

You don't have to pay for anything!
You can download Ubuntu from Ubuntu's web site or from P2P networks (faster) and have it installed and up and running and updating in less than an hour. I've done it many times. Just burn the *.iso file to a blank CD and boot from it. The installation is quick and painless. It comes with a great partition manager so you can set up dual-boot with Windows (Ubuntu will do all the work for you on this).

Why anyone still uses Windows and likes being a slave to MSFT is beyond me. I don't worry about drive fragmentation, viruses, spyware, registry stuff, UAC, WGA, nothing. Be free, use Linux. You can do anything with Linux that you do with horrible Windows -- and it costs you nothing and is more stable, secure and FUN!

Ubuntu makes you free (Like - work makes you free)

I now use Ubuntu 8.04 and am most happy with it.

I usually state that I am now 77 years old and have used MSOS since 1987.
This is probably longer than some of the zealots on here have been on the planet.
The biggest advantage is that Bill (the Bastard) cannot dictate what and how I use my computer.
Note the DRM, Reactivation because he thinks you are a pirate, spying on the contents of your computer and closing it down if he (or his henchmen/girls seem to them to be a pirate. No trial , just an execution. Rather like when that fellow Adolf was around.

Of course Linux is largely free to download , install etc., but I don't object to paying for service.
I realise that some,especially Americans want everything for nothing.

But overall it is freedom from the shits at Microsoft that is the biggest benefit of using a Linux OS.
Yes, I have taken all my medication that I have prescribed , so I am (for the Moment) quite rational!

Is anybody forcing you to stop using Windows?

To all the Windows fanboys: if you like Windows and it works for you by all means keep using it! Windows didn't work for me, I thought it was a horrible nightmare. I sometimes spent weeks trying to get things working. I kicked it to the curb 10 years ago and haven't regretted it for even a nanosecond. (Yes, I missed out on all the fun with Melissa and I Love You, etc. viruses.)

Linux does absolutely everything I need. That is not the case for everyone. I don't play games on my PC. Some people need Photoshop for example, my son runs Photoshop with Crossover Office and says it works fine.

I occasionally get some grief with Linux, but it is nowhere near as bad as the grief I used to get from Windows. And with Windows there were problems that I never found a good solution for.

I admit, I would like to see more people using Linux. The more people that use it the more incentive there is for hardware manufacturers to make drivers and software vendors to port their software to it.

What I find annoying is the people that use Windows and complain constantly what a piece of crap it is. Yet they keep buying it and won't try anything else.

-jse

This is going to work out

This is going to work out very well for Linux. How can it not? Sure, Canonical will be flooded with support questions that resolve around the issue of if the mouse is a foot pedal, but at the end of the day Linux will win.

They're not charging you $129.95.

They are telling us in very clear terms that when someone installs Linux, they are saving $129.95. Thank you Best Buy. We now have a dollar value on installing Linux.

The ubuntu downgrade

I think the author is trying to give an altered perspective. First when I saw the title, actually I was pained. Because, 2 years before you could get unlimited Ubuntu CDs shipped home. Then it was restricted to limited numbers. Now, they are charging 20$ (yeah still you get ONE cd shipped home, if u want). But the direction Ubuntu is moving seems to be an emulation of what Red Hat was doing. Once red hat ruled the opensource enthusiasts' desks, with freely available copies. Then they made RHEL and fedora, with the "Enterprise Edition" being charged. Now, Red Hat is thinking of quitting the consumer market and concentrate on the enterprise. So, the "Open Source" movement seems to be just a launch pad to start an enterprise business. Sad.
And regarding windows and Ubuntu, I have tried every version of ubuntu as soon as it releases. And I always have one ext partition in my system running latest Ubuntu. But when it comes to tasks, windows prevails. Numerous tussles over installing drivers, softwares etc is always been there. In 8.04 it has reduced, but ubuntuforums.org will be always on my browser history as I keep on hitting at troubles. For example, though it is great that in 8.04 propreitary Hardware drivers are detected and downloaded, each time a kernel update happens, we have to reinstall the driver.
“…reach users who are unaware of Ubuntu or who are bandwidth restricted …” is not true. If you have to use Ubuntu, you need a broadband connection, most of the drivers are DOWNLOADED. Otherwise you won’t be able to use most of the hardware resources like a graphics card or a network card.

Ubuntu Linux is without a doubt desktop easy and friendly!

Ubuntu is definitely leading the charge for Linux on the desktop. I have used various flavors of Linux on the desktop and Ubuntu is my favorite distro of all time. It gets better and better with every new release. Ubuntu (like Mac OS X) is just plain fun to use. Don't get me wrong, it still has a ways to get to being the perfect desktop OS, but it's quite mature now.

Begging the issue once AGAIN!

"Or, as I'd put it, $19.95 for the operating system and the office suite vs. $279.90 for Windows Vista Home Premium and Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007."

Being that Open Office is available on Windows, your apples for apples comparison is seriously flawed. Of course, you are without a doubt aware of this fact. You are simply begging the issue to make the price differential seem more dramatic than it really is. You've pulled this same B.S. snow-job in every recent article that contains this comparison. Stop It! Or, be called incompetent or just a plain liar.