Thinking she was going to be getting a run-of-the-mill computer, Abbie Schubert bought one of Dell's machines with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed in the hope that it would allow her to take online classes at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin, USA. When her Verizon High Speed Internet CD would not install, she became confused. Then she found that Microsoft Word could not be installed on her machine, and so she hit Dell customer support with her complaint.Dell were, according to Schubert, not terribly helpful. She says, "The person I was talking to said Ubuntu was great, college students loved it, it was compatible with everything I needed."
Even though Dell told her she could still switch to Windows, their response apparently led her to stick with Ubuntu--a decision that ultimately led her to drop out of her autumn and spring online courses.
WKOW, a television station in Madison, intervened and got Verizon to help her connect to the internet. Madison Area Technical College then showed her how to use Openoffice.org, which comes free with Ubuntu, to open and save DOC files.
Thankfully, she has been able to return to her studies, though she admits, "It's been a mess. I regret ordering the computer."
Who the hell cares! Since when does grammar matter! We all know what he meant!
Yes we do! It's amazing isn't it! At least we got the story!
Man that's annoying! Don't you find that annoying!
Next time, don't criticise another when you're own spelling is not correct.
Questions should end with a ? not a !
If he did use proper grammar, then he wouldn't be proving his point would he?
*ahem*
I believe the word you're thinking of is "your".
I believe the word you're thinking of is "your".
Lol. Look it's the first person to properly use grammar without messing it up and making himself look like a fool.
Not only that but the story is a week old and already well travelled on computing sites.
Last edited by creamhackered on 19 Jan 2009 - 12:02
I agreee, its also fairly standard to link to the original article at the end, much as you would reference when writing an essay or technical report at university or work, original sources should be noted in news stories to avoid copyright and plagiarism.
Original? It's simply paraphrasing the source article. And yes I do have a problem with it which is why I posted here - criticism shouldn't be buried in someone's inbox.
I'm all for original content - some of the articles and reviews here have been very insightful - but some research has to be done to justify that. Clearly that isn't the case here. I don't care whether "most other sites" do it - it's bad practice. Clearly plenty of other people agree. When sites are primarily funded by advertising I believe it is disingenuous to bury the source - it's verging on theft.
If she can't install Open Office she can't install Microsoft Office either.
Sometimes my articles are drawn from several sources, a fact which makes inline citation even more useful to avoid clutter.
What bugs aren't fixed? What is missing? I can't see it as a step backwards, there is now plenty of news and unique content - what's wrong with that?
Last edited by creamhackered on 20 Jan 2009 - 13:48
That's fair enough. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. Obviously we appreciate the work being done by the authors but this sort of paraphrasing and sourcing would be unacceptable on any college course. It just seems that articles are being reworded for the sake of it, whereas before we'd get part of the article and could click the source to see the rest of it.
I'd like to see sources listed unless there is original research or an original assessment of the information. If it's simply two, three or four articles stitched together and reworded they should still be sourced at the bottom because it is a compilation, not an original work. That way there is no confusion and it's a lot more professional. I just fear the current method is potentially in breach of copyright, which is of particular import where ad revenue is concerned.
Sounds funny, but imagine the trouble these people are stepping into by buying without knowledge.
I think OEMs or retailers should offer a very detailed advise about the main differences for this kind of persons.
Sounds funny, but imagine the trouble these people are stepping into by buying without knowledge.
I think OEMs or retailers should offer a very detailed advise about the main differences for this kind of persons.
For some people Windows is very confusing.
I installed and configured my friend's comp (XP) and you would be surprise how many times he calls me for help or things like "How do i remove that Yahoo bar added to Internet Explorer" or "I can't play WoW online today it doesn't work" god damn it WoW servers or your ISP are down today can't you check that online by yourself ...
Seriously i'm not a big fan of Linux (i run Vista and XP dual boot) and it used to be very hard to install and configure Linux. But i tried Ubuntu recently cause a girl i know at my job bought a "Vista Capable" laptot couple of time ago and Vista is [censored] slow on his laptop even without Aero so she wanted it out and did not want to pay for XP so i installed her ubuntu and open office since she mostly just use his PC to sore photo, surf the net and send email. It is now as easy as installing Windows and Office honestly.
If you can't install Ubuntu and Open Office you can't install Windows either.
Sounds funny, but imagine the trouble these people are stepping into by buying without knowledge.
I think OEMs or retailers should offer a very detailed advise about the main differences for this kind of persons.
For some people Windows is very confusing.
I installed and configured my friend's comp (XP) and you would be surprise how many times he calls me for help or things like "How do i remove that Yahoo bar added to Internet Explorer" or "I can't play WoW online today it doesn't work" god damn it WoW servers or your ISP are down today can't you check that online by yourself ...
Seriously i'm not a big fan of Linux (i run Vista and XP dual boot) and it used to be very hard to install and configure Linux. But i tried Ubuntu recently cause a girl i know at my job bought a "Vista Capable" laptot couple of time ago and Vista is [censored] slow on his laptop even without Aero so she wanted it out and did not want to pay for XP so i installed her ubuntu and open office since she mostly just use his PC to sore photo, surf the net and send email. It is now as easy as installing Windows and Office honestly.
If you can't install Ubuntu and Open Office you can't install Windows either.
Your post was quiet entertaining because it all sounded so familiar to me, lol. I would recommend to you what I have done, and that is to feign the same level of ignorance of your friends. If they call you with a stupid question just say "hmm, thats weird, I don't have a clue." That will stop those phone calls
Oh really?
Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean... I just like to be picky.
Seriously i'm not a big fan of Linux (i run Vista and XP dual boot) and it used to be very hard to install and configure Linux. But i tried Ubuntu recently cause a girl i know at my job bought a "Vista Capable" laptot couple of time ago and Vista is [censored] slow on his laptop even without Aero so she wanted it out and did not want to pay for XP so i installed her ubuntu and open office since she mostly just use his PC to sore photo, surf the net and send email. It is now as easy as installing Windows and Office honestly.
Gender-tagging too, it seems!
When people like this woman buy a comp with linux pre-loaded, they common sense will tell them that everything they know will work.
In this case, Office, but they will think that other software will do work just as well when that's not necessarily the case.
@GP007
Not really, it's just an ignorant woman who then shrugged the blame of dropping out of class or something (not very clear) on the tools she was trying to wrongly use. It says nothing about the ease of either OS, just about the ignorance of the woman.
move along, people
Since she's suck an idiot, she gets a TV station to point her to Open Office? What kind of moron is this, I wish she would have returned the computer and dropped out. I don't need her to provide ANY kind of service for me with ANY degree, I'd rather figure it out on my own, no matter what it is, even surgery.....
There are plently of people around who are not technological-savvy. Everyone laugh at the support horror stories in J&FS.
For that woman, what kind of online course was she taking at MATC? She could be taking archeology course for all we know. She just panicked and her story made the news. Me, I am glad that she got help and that she can continue her education.
Yes, there are plenty of people who are genuinely stumped by computers and their complexity.
It's not a reason to call them idiots or morons. Instead, give them a hand
In case most people haven't realized, the vast majority of computer users are not savvy, and do not understand even the most basic of computer concepts. The fact that people are calling her stupid and that she "should have done more research" is just ridiculous. She is not tech savvy. Therefore, even if she did attempt to do research on the topic, she most likely would not have a clue about what to look for.
What's more disturbing is how nobody around her (including Dell), would just tell the girl to install Windows. Obviously, she is not the type of user who should be using Linux. (What that Dell representative said to her is entirely unhelpful and closed-minded).
The Linux community needs to stop blaming people and they need to start being more open, and friendly to explain how things work. That is how Linux can spread. This attitude of blaming people who are not as savvy as they are is quite damaging to their reputation. This incident proves that the biggest problem with Linux isn't the software, it's the userbase.
I'm sorry, but SOMEONE had to say it.
Enough said.
I thought Windows was made in India these days? :p
Marry me.
It's funny that you react on this rather than the ancient and inaccurate gender joke.
Ok i'll agree that she could have at lease looked to see if it had XP or vista. But everything else on the spec list is greek to the average user.
If most things are greek in products I purchase, I consult people in the know.
I took my dog out this morning and he refused to go #2. By not complying with my suggestion, he will inevitably suffer for the rest of the day by holding his feces inside. Dogs somehow seem like they have some sort of intelligence but overall the animal lacks the presumption to predict the outcomes of its' action -or inaction.
BTW, I am not trying to slam the author because it was written quite well. I just don't understand why we have content on here that is related to a customer buying something they don't understand how to use and not having a good customer service when they called about their problem. If I go out and buy a car, I am expected to know how to use it. If I do not know how to use a car, I should take a class or find an instructor to learn how to use it. I mean come on!!! HEADLINES: MAN DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO EAT SUSHI AND ATE TOO MUCH WASABI. INTERVIEW AND NEWS AT 11... ... ...
No, seriously, you can't blame Dell or her.
She probably bought the cheapest computer she could find because she urgently needed one, and I'm sorry to inform you about this, but most people don't know what ubuntu or linux is. If somebody tells them it's similar they'll take that for granted. The Dell helpdesk however could have been a bit more helpfull imho...
1. So, she complains because she isn't skilled enough to make Linux do what she needs it to do (shocking).
2. Dell offers to put her on Windows.
3. She declines and then is "forced" (chooses) to drop out of classes.
4. A television studio and college stepped in to show her how to do all the things she already knows how to do in Windows on Ubuntu.
5. Girl returns to school.
HOW is Dell the bad guy here?!?!
HOW is it a fail if she's back to class?!?!
HOW is this news?
At least she didn't SUE!
It was an online course so I guess she couldn't get her internet to work...
No clue why this becomes news
maybe she did but not mentioned in the news....
maybe she didn't use her time properly to go find proper help from the proper people like Verizon or her school's student helpdesk.
lmao... yea they should I reckon. But really, if you get linux installed on your computer have the brains to do a little bit of research about it lol.
These sort of gender jokes on IT are so damn old and inaccurate.
From the same people that go "wow! a girl!" when someone reveals their identity in a web forum. Usually they don't. Guess why.
The majority of people will (at least in our current economic standing) purchase something based on price, not familiarity and ease of use. She probably saw the price of the Ubuntu PC and didn't realize the differences and draw backs of different OSs and Hardware (most people see a $199-299 desktop exactally like a $1000+ desktop). Infact, she was probably unaware that there was anything OTHER than Windows.
Ubuntu is easy to use compared to other distros I like better (Gentoo & Slackware), but even in Ubuntu there will be some issues that require root access, and the only way to fix those issues properly is in console. Most people haven't used anything console based their whole lives (unless they used computers in the 80s and had to know BASIC i.e. Commodore 64, TRS 80, Amiga etc).
This is a classic case of someone not doing any research before buying. She bought the PC at WAL-MART. And made a big deal about it when she got frustrated at something completely alien to her. You know how many times I get threatened to be sued because I want to charge someone $130 for a complete OS repair and they bitch because I had to diag their computer for HW issues and they bought some warrenty and they cant use their precious? Too many. Why? Because they feel powerless so they have to blame people other than theirself.
Apparently she KNEW OpenOffice was preinstalled (see the last paragraphs in the article), but she claims she didn't know it was compatible.
What. Why did she not try to open a Word document in OpenOffice?
Why did she not try to save a document in the Microsoft Word format?
The million dollar questions.
Agreed. The Million Dollar Questions.
...Questions she was probably asked by Dell Tech Support and the reason why she stuck with it, then subsequently failed at performing those actions.
and DELL is at fault for not making that clearer during checkout or where ever she bought the thing. i mean, if the checkout people saw her buying an Ubuntu machine AND a copy of Office... they should've picked up on that. saved the woman some money.
They aren't, this is clear enough in my opinion (that's the first thing you see when browsing the Ubuntu Laptops section).
Regarding Ubuntu + MS Office during checkout, you can actually run MS Office on Linux.
nope but there are still plenty of people who buy a car without knowing how the damn thing works
Still need windows for other ehem stuff, *cough* games *cough cough*
What obscure ditch did the can-do diy (do-it-yourself) attitude slip into in contemporary consumerist life??
Some people are so dependent on easy-install media & technical support it's mind-boggling. What's even more gut-wrenching is that the masses are easily fed any promotion-of-the-day the corporate giants toss our way. Couldn't she have just researched & installed a copy of windows on a virtual machine if she needed the Verizon DSL cd that badly? As far as OpenOffice is concerned, couldn't she had researched MS alternatives herself before actively turning herself into a charity case just because of her ignorance & laziness.
Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!
Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.