F.U.D (Fear Uncertainty and doubt)

you’re indeed a m$ employee or you just want tons of visits to your blog to make some $$ (you can do this without spreading F.U.D. you know)

if Linux doesn’t get marketshare, then manufacturers won’t solve these problems.

thanks for spreading F.U.D, steer away new linux users and not helping us get some marketshare.

you may have earn a few $$ , but your credibility is ruined dude.

and if you want you can delete my comment. But all over the internet there are forum threads saying the exact same thing about your style of writing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt

Fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) is a tactic of rhetoric used in sales, marketing, public relations, and illiberal democracies. FUD is generally a strategic attempt to influence public perception by disseminating negative (and vague) information. An individual firm, for example, might use FUD to invite unfavorable opinions and speculation about a competitor’s product; to increase the general estimation of switching costs among current customers; or to maintain leverage over a current business partner who could potentially become a rival.

The term originated to describe disinformation tactics in the computer hardware industry and has since been used more broadly. FUD is a manifestation of the appeal to fear.

No offense, but try getting compatible hardware next time. I’ve never heard anything good about printers from ‘brother’. Only problems and more problems.

Wow. Been running Ubuntu for about 3 years now and SUSE before that. Here’s my process:

1) Hook up printer wires.

2) System -> Administration -> Printing

3) New Printer button

4) Both local printers and network printers show up, select it. I’ve never had to know the printer’s IP address, though I generally do know it. If it’s a Samba printer I have to select “Windows printer via Samba,” which is a real drag, but pretty sure it’s similar to XP at least.

5) Pick Manufacture/Model. You’re ready to go. I’ve yet to run into a printer that doesn’t have a driver under CUPS. Granted, you may have to pick an older driver (my HP OfficeJet 6310 wasn’t listed when I first bought it, but, surprise, the OfficeJet 6300 driver worked fine.)

6) Print a test page.

7) Start up Xsane, pick the scanner, scan.

Not sure where all your steps come from.

Look, there’s no doubt that even Ubuntu, which is the distribution that comes closest, isn’t desktop ready for everybody. There’s basically two groups that Ubuntu fits: Those who are looking for an internet/wordprocessing appliance, and those who already know computing standards, or are willing to learn. For those that want to do more than the simple stuff, but aren’t willing to learn those extremely tough things like a text editor and a terminal window, Windows is probably better.

The way I look at it, I’ve got a system that will do everything Windows Server 2003 will do at a cost lower than a crippled version of Vista. I built my parents a new system for Christmas last year for less than $400 that surfs the web, emails, and writes Word documents like a champ, and I guess I consider 25% to be a bit high a percentage of a new system’s OS. As an added bonus, I’ve learned more about the basics between networking, scripting, and configuring my system in the last 3 years than 20 years of Windows and Mac use before that. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to and Linux gives me a chance to do that, rather than hiding all the guts behind a GUI that treats me like the village idiot. I can’t think of anything I’ve had to do with my system in the last three years that I couldn’t do with the GUI, though there’s a lot of things I do on the command line because it’s simpler. faster. and uses a lot less overhead.

On the other hand, I’ve spent far more time on the XP systems at work trying to figure out how to tie all our printers together with the network and our proprietary Windows-based ERP solution than I have configuring my Linux box. If it wasn’t for the “net use” command, our printers wouldn’t even work with the ERP, and that’s two different Microsoft products (Server 2003 and XP).

Granted, user experience will vary, and there’s plenty of people that have no interest at all doing anything on a computer that doesn’t involve a mouse, and would rather pay for their operating system, antivirus, applications, and support. But calling it a “dumb” decision…well, you’re just trolling for flames.

http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting/Database/DatabaseIntro

It’s unfortunate you bought a barely compatible printer for your Linux box. I usually try to get people to dual boot with an existing windows install for just these kinds of reasons.
Linux is not hassle free computing it can be but only if your willing to look before you leap. Things like the wine database, the open printing database and others are there to give you an idea of what will, might and won’t work for you.
Due to heavy research you may not pick the most popular product for example I bought an archos 605 instead of an ipod touch. Personally I could not be happier with my choice it has a bigger screen and is very Linux compatible.
When I first found Linux I was very excited I thought it was the greatest thing ever but as time wears on I’ve realized it was the right choice for me at this point and time but not necessarily everyone, but that doesn’t mean people should not at least consider it with an open mind.

It’s not an Ubuntu issue. The printer manufacturer doesn’t want to make an open source driver nor release the printer specifications…

Just like to point out, that for all your vaunted Linux experience, you’ve immediately booted into Linux and attempted to install it the ‘Windows Way,’ that is, trawl around the internet looking for a driver and trying to install it before even attempting to let the software you have at your disposal work for you. Did you look at the nice fancy cups install printer dialogues? I’m reasonably sure that if you had, you may have found your experience a little bit on the simpler side. In fact you wouldn’t even need to find a driver CD like you did for Windows.

On a different note, why are you begging for flamewars? You repeatedly insist that using Linux is a dumb idea, then submit your own post to Digg. Clearly you would prefer to use Windows, but that doesn’t mean that noone should use Linux. Many of us happen to prefer it. I wouldn’t say that it’s vastly better than Windows and I wouldn’t say it’s any worse than Windows, they both serve different users and purposes. You claim to be unbiased, but your Linux posts read in an increasingly degrading and condescending tone, whilst your Windows posts read (even going through the ‘hell’ of an XP install) happily enough.

Let’s look at your conclusions from the past few posts:
Printer Difficult to Install in Ubuntu: “This is why Ubuntu (or any kind of Linux distribution) is a dumb choice for the ordinary computer user. This is why Linux is just not ready for the ordinary home. Unless you have all these hours to waste every time something goes horribly wrong in Ubuntu, and trust me things will go wrong, Linux is not a viable choice for your home computer.” In other words, use Windows it’s so much easier!

XP Install Task Horrendous: “I’m now happily enough running both Windows XP and Windows Vista on my two primary machines. But I’ve learned a very valuable lesson after these recent struggles and experiences. Windows is no more perfect than Ubuntu Linux is when it comes to a pain-free computing experience.
BothMicrosoft Windows and Ubuntu Linux “just work” when shipped to you in a pre-installed state on a computer. But once you have to dabble in performing OS installations yourself, you’ll have to overcome technical obstacles of an almost equal testing nature.” Call it a draw, but I’m happier now I’m back in my XP. No mention of the contrast between the apparent difficulties you suffered attempting to install software on your new system, and the ease with which this can be done on a new Ubuntu System.

I can understand if you don’t think Linux is ready for mainstream use. I’d probably agree with you. But please stop sulking whenever you get called a biased ‘Windows Fanboy.’

> What do you think?
I think you are a moron.
Why?
Because you failed at basic logical argument.
Let’s take a look:
1. You installed a particular printer on Vista easily. Conclusion: Vista is ready for the desktop
2. You failed to install a particular printer on Linux easily. Conclusion: Linux is not ready.
WRONG!!!
By your logic, that means that all I need to do is find one example where Vista failed to install and run a hardware to prove that it is not ready. There’s plenty of example out-there. Biggest example. Try to install XP on a Dell XPS m1530. Good Luck

What you did was making a generalization based upon one separate incident. e.g. O.J is a murder and he’s black. Therefore all blacks are murderer.
This is the dumbest and weakest form of argument.

Had you research the priinter before buying you would have seen the “known-bug”. You didn’t.

So you see, the problem here isn’t with Linux nor Vista nor the printer driver. The problem here is with your argument. Your flawed logic. Ergo you’re a moron

I used XP from 2003 until feb this year when my two pc and a laptop were converted to linux. Since you said your a long time linux user how come you dont know that some printer company are not supporting linux? If you googled it you will know that HP printers have excellent linux support. I dont have computer education just a home user, been using ubuntu since feb and I like it more than XP and Vista.

Stop trolling weirdo. If you want attention, go to the mall and offer free hugs or something.

I agree with your article completely. It’s interesting that anytime someone points out the obvious, that Ubuntu or any other version of linux just isn’t a substitute for Windows for most users, the internet goes crazy.

Ubuntu is a fine linux distribution, definitely one of the better ones. However, the sad fact is that it simply cannot match Windows as far as usability for the average person.

Linux has improved remarkably over the past few years, but it still has some way to go. And before anyone asks, I use Ubuntu as my primary OS. But I can still be honest enough to recognize its faults.

The only issue I take with your blog posts - and those that defend them - is that you’re pushing an assertion here (not an opinion) that using Linux on the desktop is a DUMB idea. That’s basically calling out all desktop Linux users, myself included since I do use Ubuntu on my laptop, and saying we’re dumb because we’ve made a dumb choice.

I could completely respect what you have to say - if you’d expressed it as an opinion - but you’re not. You’re expressing it as a fact and that’s where I, and many others, take issue. Do I think it’s a dumb decision to use Vista on the desktop? Yes. I do. That’s simply my OPINION though. If you’d rather not incite flame wars it’d be a good idea to include a disclaimer stating that what you have to say is an opinion… Since you haven’t done so, explicitly noted from the very first paragraph of this blog post, then of course you’re going to get the wrath of a multitude of people who feel their intelligence is being insulted.

I’m sorry your experience with Ubuntu was unsatisfactoy. Mine has been awesome and I’m looking forward to experimenting with other distros. I wish you luck with Vista, as I have a hard time working in that OS, but Ubuntu and XP (which I still use on a semi-regular basis) suit me just fine as far as usability is concerned and I’ve experienced little to no issues with either of them. Especially none of the issues you’ve stated in this or past blogs.

Just my two cents.

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, I love Linux.

But you (Pablo) are simply in a “politically incorrect” position. Computer “conservatives” such as you and myself have the maturity and common sense to look at the facts and draw reasonable conclusions, whether or not they fit our pre-ordained desires.

Computer “Liberals” simply want to form a “cheering squad” around Linux/Ubuntu. Any criticism whatsoever will bring on the severest consequences.

Reminds me of a time several years ago when I could not get the mouse buttons to switch (I’m a “lefty” ) on a distro with KDE. The check box had no effect. I asked the forum for help and got a cryptic, half complete response that required command-line work. Not being savvy at all, I spent about and hour filling in the blanks and finding the folders, sub folders, etc as to where to edit the command line necessary.

When I replied back to let the forum folks know I had succeeded, I politely suggested that they fix this bug so that the check box would work correctly for those folks out there who would not be able to complete the command line fix. Their attitude was “f-you! they can learn command line or continue to be M$ losers!” Learned my lesson! Never, never, never dare to criticize the the Great God of Linus Torvlads!

I suppose I’ll just keep plugging along and figuring out things for myself. I swear I’ll never treat a novice who needs help the way I have been treated by some Linux-folks. And as you stated your Linux knowledge is way beyond mine and you still have trouble.

Now I will say that my first choice for a printer would have been HP. I have 2 older laser jet printers that I have been able to configure on the CUPS web site with no problems. But if the Brother unit was supposed to be compatible you would have no way of knowing what a bear it was going to be without trying, so the “Monday Morning Quarterbacks” should cut you some slack .

And as for hardware drivers and it being the manufacturers responsibility well………. it ain’t going to happen unless there’s a profit to be made. So you folks out there who have the ability could really help all of us “morons” and spend a little of your eating, sleeping, and breathing time writing some descent drivers so us “morons” and “FUD-aholics” could have a little more time to eat, sleep and breathe!

I have connected a Canon scanner and five different printers to my Ubuntu computer at different times (2 different HP inkjet, a Brother Laser, an Epson printer/scanner and a Canon inkjet. Everything was found straight away by Ubuntu (even on LAN) and worked perfectly.

I installed a dual boot (Ubuntu 8.04 and Windows XP) on my Dad’s computer where, for years, he used to just have Windows XP. He prefers the Ubuntu. (By the way, my Dad is 73.)

So what is the problem?

I have intelligent friends who still choose to use Windows for various reasons (it’s what they are used to, they think they don’t have the time to learn a new system, they rely on IT professionals who have no knowledge of anything but Windows or Mac, etc). All of them regard my use of Ubuntu with interest and some even with a little envy. One now has installed a dual boot.

Sadly, some other people appear to feel the need to try to justify all the money they have spent (and will be forced to continue to spend) on Microsoft by slagging off any alternatives.

If the pro-MS, anti-Linux people’s claims were true the number of Linux users would be decreasing instead of growing.

YOU’RE RUNNING UBUNTU. UBUNTU is a POS. I’ve used it to and can tell you it breaks and has lots of bugs. Try debian or something more stable. You’re a n00b.

Go be amish or something. You should stay away from computers.

I wouldn’t be so critical of your post if it weren’t so inaccurate. Sadly, it is. Going back almost a full year, Ubuntu has had what you could call a ‘plug-and-print’ system. As in, you plug in the printer, wait for the computer to recognize and configure it, wait for the ‘printer has been successfully installed’ message, and get to work. Occasionally, you have to choose which driver to use. That’s about it.

I have used this many times at my student’s homes; I need to print something from my Ubuntu laptop, they have a printer, I plug it in and wait a minute. They have all been highly impressed with the fact that it did everything on its own, without having to go on the web and find drivers or install from CD or any of that Microsoft nonsense. So far, I have installed printers from Xerox, HP, Canon, and Lexmark without a single failure. Ubuntu has some problems, as any OS does, but printing is no longer one of them. I read somewhere that you had worked with 7.10 and 8.04. If that’s true, then you are a liar or an idiot, your choice.

Sigh….vista better than Ubuntu…..sigh you are not able to use linux….ah ah ah

It’s interesting that I came upon this article, cause my HP printer just installed on Ubuntu, but using HP’s installation disk took a long time to install on my XP machine then would not share. Thanks MS for the useful error message. A reboot fixed that, but I still can’t connect to my nice Ubuntu printer from vista, but the XP machines are fine. If anyone has any tips on getting vista to print to my Ubuntu printer, let me know.

Since this is pretty much a flame war, I just want everyone to know Ubuntu,other Linux distros, macs, XP and vista *censored* me off from time to time.

Vista > Linux

Pablo, you must have known you were asking for it when you wrote this article.

People in the Linux community often incorrectly assume that the reason people don’t choose linux is because they decide not to spend the time to learn how to make it work.

1. People shouldn’t have to learn how to make it work. It should just work. Hello reality? Windows isn’t quite there oftentimes as well. Mac OSX has kinda woken up to this - it is a solid system, with familiar roots, and a so-simple-my-dad-gets-it GUI.
2. Even if people had the time (and who does? only the Linux geeks) to make it work, that doesn’t mean that they will get it, honestly. Or they might after a few years of classes/reading/etc. But they shouldn’t need to do that. Because we aren’t talking about grasping how it works internally, we are talking about USING it.

As a full-time programmer myself, I have to admit that I can picture these commenters as people running around with their fingers in their ears, screaming “Linux is great” and ignoring the writing on the wall. They discount real people’s real experiences as something that’s wrong with the user or how they perceive Linux or how smart they aren’t.

I hope a Linux distro can one day be as reliable, supported, intuitive, and usable as MacOSX. I long for that day. Until then.

Thanks for sharing your real experience, whether or not your logical arguments are pristine.

For those ready to flame me, I am not a Mac fanboy. Yesterday I installed Windows Server 2008 on my dell laptop over my frustration with software creep in XP and have every piece of hardware and software working great although a lot of it was not supported or even “doable”. Works better than Vista at least, has all the same capabilities and more.

Came here via a google search looking to solve my problem with printers in combination with Vista en Ubuntu, and I must admit, I fully agree with Pablo. Ubuntu is a fine Linux distribution, but it is simply not ready for prime-time.
I won’t call anyome computer-savy enough to run it as his desktop dumb. But for someone who just wants a computer that works, stick to windows. Then at least you cn just buy a printer and know it will work. Ubuntu is still too much work for the masses, precisily the point Pablo is making.

What’s your point? Your hardware didn’t like linux? My God! Have you ever tried hooking up a mac component to a windows machine? Try an old apple iie or commodor component. So what. Not everything is fully compatible. Now, try getting five windows computers of different versions talking to each other and a linux and a mac and a unix. The last three can set up in minutes, if not seconds. I guarantee you will spend a few hours configuring your windows machines. So linux has some rough edges. And Windows claims to be king. For the amount of market share in the WORLD that M$ has, it ought to be a polished diamond. Vista is far from perfect…..

Do me a favor, smartass: why not spend all that time writing in the help forums instead of bashing a perfectly good concept - volunteer driven open source software. That’s right, as in, we know we’re not perfect, but we’re TRYING to make a better world. M$ is the Exxon equivalent of the computer world. Sure, wind energy may not be able to power everyone’s home, but is that an excuse to discredit it and hail oil as supreme God for all eternity?

I don’t understand. I’m just going from newbie to intermediate user and it took me roughly 15 > 20 seconds to install an HP photosmart all-in one. Ubuntu recognized the printer and installed the drivers for me. I have never seen anything so easy. HP camera was the same thing. I don’t have one fraction of your knowledge or ability but don’t have any of your problems using linux. I must say, it makes me wonder where your paycheck comes from.

I am in complete agreement with Pablo. Linux may be a good concept to break the undesirable MS monoply but just because it is a good and noble concept does not mean it works. These Lusers (Linux Users) refuse to see why Bill Gates was successful … as for me the more I see of linux … the more I admire Bill Gates. Anytime you vent your frustration with linux you will have these Lusers attack you. I have tried using Linux several times … and go back to the monopoly of MS … because it works.
I have spent countless hours looking for solutions on the internet and trying to type in those commands … not one of them has worked. Two things that will not work on my linux installation wireless is not recognized and the printer will not work. XP and vista took just minutes … and that is the difference … as a user I do not care about the excuses that it is community driven … and there is no commercial backing etc. etc. … it is good as a hobby … a good substitute to playing chess perhaps … but as a real useful os … it is not and I wish these Lusers will stop lying … if it works for you well and good … but it does not work for most of the people … you can just visit the countless forums and see people tearing their hair out … but Lusers refuse to see that and will attack anyone who speaks the truth about linux … as you can see above. Thanks Mr. Pablo for being honest.

I hooked up a hp photosmart 3310 all in one printer and at first it didn’t work so I turned it off, added new printer which ubuntu installed before I even turned it back on. Infact I was told the printer wasnt connected so I turned it back on and there it was ready to use. Xsane works very well and is a lot faster than hp’s own software working on XP which I used until a few weeks ago when I when I wiped it off and installed ubuntu 8.04. The only trouble I have is with firefox not liking web pages optimised for I.E. and for those pages I use my win98 machine. Should also mention that my win98 machine couldn’t play dvd’s until I put ubuntu on it with gstreamer, windows media player simply wouldn’t play dvd’s as only media player 10 and above do that and win98 doesnt support that. I dived into the deap end by having a dedicated linux computer but I find linux does a lot more than windows and pulls info off mobile phones and cameras as soon as you plug them in. Dont need software from sony or ericsson etc just plug and play. For the record I’ve used computers since the 1970’s and have used everything from apple to IBM and have found my current 1.6ghz single core pentium machine performs just as well as a high spec dual core but this computer I have is made from parts that were going to be thrown out, the north bridge has a small heat sink from an AMD mother board super glued to it because it is smaller than the original. The ram cards run at 133 mhz(super fast when they came out a million years ago). So there you go, a backyard put together by someone who hates computers and has never used linux before can get a computer to work with a printer using ubuntu 8.04 LTS. If anyone has trouble installing hardware on Ubuntu then look in the easiest place first before going looking for drivers, as a general rule Gstreamer, Gxine, Xsane and volume control are excellent applications to have. Gxine is very powerful with the sound when playing movies. Xsane is bloody good with the printer. Thats my two cents worth.

Yeah right. It took me a year to get my network printers to work on a Microsoft Windows network, and some remote printers still don’t work.

They worked right away in an (Ubuntu) Linux environment.

Furthermore, like all hardware, you have to match your hardware with your OS. There are now legions of printers that “just work” out of the box in Kubuntu / Ubuntu.

Or are you basing your review on 5 year old versions?

Compare that to Windows Vista, where half of my hardware suddenly “shut down.” I had to return my Vista PCs for XP, and then shortly threafter switched them to Kubuntu.

There’s no question you haven’t kept up to date.
—————————————————————————–

Debian, Ubuntu 8.04 and LinuxMCE (64 bit 0710 RC2) / Kubuntu 8.10 user. Yeah, I also still dual boot XP at tax time and so my kids can play some of their games. Oh, grow up.

I have a nested LAN configuration at home, to keep a business network separate from the LinuxMCE network.

As a hybrid Core/Media Director I use a Walmart $299 W3644 Gateway/eMachine with 64 bit Sempron (at 2.1 GHz, 512KB L2 cache, 1600MHz system bus), 1Gb dual channel DDR RAM, nVidia GeForce 6100 series integrated video with 128 Mb shared video memory, 160 Gb HDD, DVD-CD RW.

Integrated into my LinuxMCE home automation network are Greyfox wired analog cameras, Bluecherry video capture board, X10 automation with CM11A serial port controller, HTD MA-1235 12 channel whole house audio amplifier (set-up for nested 5.1 surround sound), ViewSonic Cine5000 Home Theater 720p Projector, Jandy pool controls.

I use a Buffalo Network Attached Storage, and a RAID 5 Netgear ReadyNAS. These devices are vital to my networking.

I programmed software for multiple military projects, and have networked university and large businesses. I have used VMS, Unix, DOS, Windows, Apple operating systems (including OS X) and Linux. I have networked using Novell, AppleTalk, NFS, Samba (Windows protocols).

I am currently dabbling in Beowulf processing (cloud computing) and am interested in *nix based distributed supercomputing at locations like Lawrence Livermore laboratories.

I prefer NFS networking (Linux), which is much more robust and reliable than other protocols. However, due to Windows and Apple PCs remaining on various networks, I also use Samba (Windows based) and Bonjour/Renedezvous protocols (Apple based).

Recently I have converted several networks to primarily Ubuntu (servers)/ Kubuntu (desktop) networks with groupware and internally managed services.

I had attempted this in the past with Windows servers, but this was cost-prohibitive and caused a significant amount of down-time, angst, and loss of productivity. Previously I ran two businesses (for several years) on Windows XP Pro, and liked this OS. However, a plague of rootkit infections knocked out a series of boxes and Microsoft refused to help (without significant amounts of capital outlay) to repair the systems. Further, hardware failures were difficult to accommodate in the Windows paradigm, whose operating system licensing is tied to hardware components. Furthermore, the purchasing department bought several PCs with Windows Vista, which did not work on the network and was not compatible with networked operations. After 2 months of attempts to accommodate Windows Vista, they were returned and replaced with XP Pro machines. These problems lost my business tens of thousands of dollars.

Because of this I then switched to Linux based systems. Since that time, I have not had a single similar problem on any Linux machine. My business is now approximately 80% Linux-based, with some 20% of legacy machines not yet converted from Windows. Initial lack of acceptance of conversion by Windows users to Ubuntu Linux has been overcome by using Kubuntu as the desktop. Now, acceptance is immediately achieved.

Most of my business PC desktops now run Kubuntu Hardy on them, and my home PCs (and laptops) have Kubuntu Ibex. My servers are all Ubuntu (generic) servers with LAMP installations (although I am trying postGREsql, which isn’t as well integrated into groupware solutions yet).

Richard Stallman is my hero. Linux Torvalds is second.

I’ve got the same printer, and it took a few minutes to install using the package manager. It automatically found the printer on the network.

This article makes the author look ridiculous.