Mike Hall - MVP wrote:
A day after it was released, some patches came down the tubes, and they
have been doing this since 7.10 was first released. If I didn't know
better, I would think that Ubuntu users are being treated like guinea pigs
for an OS that clearly wasn't ready..
It's obvious that your experience with Open Source is very limited and being
viewed through the eyes of the Closed Source world with which you're more
familiar.
The difference between a Linux distro and something like Windows when it
comes to updates is this ...
With Open Source, a distro supplies not just the operating system and a few
little apps, but many Open Source applications (over 25,000 software
packages with Ubuntu). With Ubuntu, all the software packages available in
the "main" repository are supported by Ubuntu in terms of providing updates
through its Update Manager software.
Since the "main" repository contains many many Open Source software
applications, updates are provided FOR ALL THIS SOFTWARE as they become
available. So when someone installs Ubuntu 7.10 for example, a release that
was issued in October of 2007 and does this install months after this
release, one will see ALL the updates for ALL the software packages that
Ubuntu directly supports. Although some of these updates may include bug
fixes, usually they are there because of security updates. If some piece of
Open Source software is found to have the potential of having a security
issue, when it is patched, it is included in the updates. The frequency of
updates isn't as you suggest because what is already installed is so bug
ridden.
Not surprising then, that with Ubuntu, a new user and one unaware of how
this stuff works, will think, WTF, is this release so buggy that all these
updates have to be installed immediately after installing the OS. That is
the impression I'm getting from what you're saying. I hope that what I've
posted helps clarify this.
Now, let's compare it to a Closed Source system like Windows...
One installs Windows XP for example, then goes and installs all sorts of
Windows software available in all sorts of forms: from freeware, to
shareware to commercial retail purchases, etc. Unlike in the Open Source
world, the user then is responsible for trying to keep track of all that
software on an individual basis in terms of keeping it updated to fix both
security problems and bug fixes. Microsoft provides an automated way to
keep the core Microsoft software updated through it's monthly updates. All
the OTHER software you run however isn't automatically fed to you as
required. Because it is Closed Source, the seller might not even make its
users aware that there are problems with the software and updates/patches
are required. It becomes the responsibility of the end-user to try and stay
on top of all this, which is a daunting task! It's only when a crisis
happens that Windows users can even figure out something is wrong and then
hunt around to find out WTF is going wrong and whether a fix/patch is
available.
If you wanted to make an honest comparison of the effort to keep a Windows
system patched AND all its installed software compared to an Open Source
distro like Ubuntu, one has to conclude that the Open Source way is so much
easier for the end-user and a far more intelligent way of doing this.
To conclude ...
The Open Source and Closed Source paradigms are not the same. They operate
completely differently. IMHO, Open Source is BETTER. It's easier for the
end-user and tends to address issues much much quicker than they are
addressed in the Closed Source community. It's more the norm than not, to
have a security patch out for an Open Source application when discovered in
a day or two. With Closed Source, no one knows as it's CLOSED! Some may
never get addressed, some may take months or even years to get addressed
and even Microsoft's once a month fixes are nowhere near as quick as Open
Source fixes.
Get it?
Cheers.
--
Vista will make you speechless!
http://tinyurl.com/38zv7x
Proprietary Software: a 20th Century software business model.
Q: What OS is built for lusers?
A: Which one requires running lusermgr.msc to create them?
Frank, hard at work on his Vista computer all day:
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/compost.htm