Maximum PC

Ubuntu has been heralded as one of the most user-friendly Linux systems to date. And yet they still have so far, so very very far to go before they go any further with user-friendliness.

With my stints with linux lately I have learned that someone at Canonical or in the core development team for Nautilus is not using their heads properly if they want to make the *nix environment more friendly to users. Yes, I'm not speaking to the people who require heavy security or else their entire lives depended on it (why are you using Ubuntu if you want best security?) but rather, I'm talking to those who are trying to aim Ubuntu and their distro's to the 'common' users, as this was something that even Windows Vista got right.

What did they get right? (kind of, all major Operating Systems fail somewhere around this area) they made things configurable with a user interface. What kind of things, specifically? Well, the executable bit portion. I installed Ubuntu on my computer not to get hassled by the Executable bit check for every single file I open. It's the exact same thing (in effect) as UAC on windows was, except can't be disabled?.

In fact, I can probably disable the check by downloading the source code for Nautilus and rolling my own version of it which would be fun but why should I even have to in the first place? This is a dumb desktop where I shouldn't need to worry about what gets executed via double click and what doesn't.

For now i'm going to be depressed and just go back to windows. I mean, windows still has its problems (keyboard shortcuts configurability, for one- I can change what ctrl alt-del does in winXP but not in Windows 7? okay... Oh and what's with that ringing in my ear? not a problem on *nix) but this is just silly.

What ringing in your ear?

I am currently trying linux mint and it seems very user-friendly. Perhaps try this. Also execute bit might be disabled in your bios.

Because it's hard to right click on the file and uncheck the execute box?

Ubuntu -- by which I mean standard Ubuntu, not a derivative/offshoot -- is extremely popular with both newbies and experienced Linux users. But that doesn't mean it's going to completely satisfy every user.

Over the years I have tried various Linux distros, going back to Red Hat 5.x and the long-extinct Caldera. For the first couple of years, nothing seemed to work completely, at least for someone with my then-very-limited Linux know-how. Maybe I couldn't find a driver for my printer or scanner, or if I did find the driver I needed it came in a form I didn't know how to install, or any number of other things. But thanks to the wonderful people in the Linux community and growing support from hardware makers, those problems are almost completely gone now, except for certain exotic devices. (Translation: I'm a little smarter now, but today's distros are MUCH smarter than those early ones.)

Today I run Kubuntu; it has Ubuntu's great software repository and other advantages, but with the KDE desktop I prefer. Before Kubuntu I was very happy with OpenSuse; before that, Mandriva/Mandrake. I would probably be at least moderately content with just about any recent Debian-based or RPM-based distro.

If Ubuntu's "look and feel" comes close to what you want Linux to be like, start there and explore the options. If it doesn't feel right, try different distros until you find one you like better. Or go with a totally different OS -- Windows and Mac OS X are very successful because they're a "good fit" for a lot of people. Use the OS you prefer, not the one someone else says you ought to use.

...and your teeth or whiter and your breath is fresher...

...ya know this thread was well over two months old don't ya?

No matter what hardware system you install it on, no matter how many important updates you download when you try to play a DVD movie it will NOT run.

Install VLC.

Enjoy DVD.

Thank you, Jipstyle.

You're welcome.

That used to bug the crap out of me, too.

FYI, I use exactly the same solution to watch DVDs on Windows.