Ubuntu Users' Stories
Below you will find Ubuntu Stories submited by people all around the World. Most of them are in english, but we are also allowing other langauges.
If you want to contribute add your own story, help us to make this page more popular by telling your friends, posting it on your blog, digging it (etc), or contact us at ubuntustory@centrologic.com if you are able to translate it to your native language.
Who is using Ubuntu?
Check out who and why is using Ubuntu Linux. Read the stories below.
Nath, IT Technician
After working in IT for a few years i have started to see some linux distros appear with customers on there laptops, so as part of my job i decided to explore linux for my self. I installed Ubuntu on my laptop thinking i would learn about it... i never would have thought it would become my main OS for study, Email and word processing.
I highly recommend it, even started to push customers to it when there requirements meet the specifications.
- E-mail
- Word Processing
- Internet Browsing
Tom, retired
I've been working with PCs for a long time now. I started out learning computers in the Air Force. Then I bought my first PC (Gateway) in 1993 running Windows 3.1. But in 1994 I was taking an Image Processing class for my Computer Science degree. I heard about Linux and bought a CD. I installed it with a dual boot and was running X11 sessions to do my class work. Years went by (still a Windows slave) until about 2 years ago I dual installed Ubuntu 8.x in a dual boot with Windows XP. Played with Ubuntu for a while then got rid of it. In April 2010 I installed Ubuntu 10.04 in a dual boot with XP and since have found almost all the software I need for free. Ubuntu has been very stable with just a few crashes I had in May (I think kernel upgrades have fixed that, or video driver upgrades, I'm not sure). I'm using Ubuntu 10.10 now and love the Gnome desktop (I don't know if I'll stick with Ubuntu though if they go to the Unity desktop). I'm still dual booted with XP, but I only go into XP to update it and all of its programs that Ubuntu doesn't need (antivirus, antispyware, etc.). But eventually I see myself wiping clean my XP install and having Ubuntu only. I've already moved all my mp3s to the Ubuntu home partition and drastically shrunk my XP partitions using GParted. Go Ubuntu!
banosd, E-Commerce
I remember Ubuntu started gaining a lot of momentum around the time of the Dapper release so I gave it a try. I was initially impressed that it was easy to install and use and worked with my hardware. It was like a whole new world opened up. It did not cost money, none of the software had nag screens and it seemed like Openoffice and Amarok were making a lot of progress. Still, it wasn't until Gutsy and discovering the plethora of support online that I became comfortable using Ubuntu full time. Unfortunately, I still have to dual boot because there are some programs and games I like using in Windows.
Ernest Karlsson, I administer a school computor system as well as teaching.
2007 we decided to migrate from MS Win on all levels, both server and client. After looking at and testing dozens of Linux OS:s I fell for Ubuntu for 2 reasons.
1. Apparent ease of use (apparent because I found out that 7.04 was not that simple to implement due to hardware)
2. Being a South African working in Sweden nostalgia griped me when I saw the word Ubuntu. The meaning of Ubuntu is also the ideology behind the Swedish Folk High School system in which I work.
The first year was a bit of a shambles mainly because of the consultant we chose and hardware problems.
This summer I installed 10.4 through the whole system and am so relieved to be able to work with such a stable system. We still have to use Windows for certain applications due to the kind of courses we have and a central administration system used by all Folk High Schools.
EJ Hill, Author, Technician, Theologian
In short I work with PCs daily, and used Ubuntu on and off for little over two years. Transferred to Ubuntu permanently (no dual-boot) with the 10.10 release. I'm enjoying it so much that I started writing about it over at my Blog, Ejays, to document my experience. Love Ubuntu. Love Gnome. Love Ubuntu Tweak. Love Synaptic. Just one thing that I miss - proper alignment of icons - think XFCE ;-)
Siddharth Fadnis, Applications Developer, ScrumMaster
This was when I was in UK working for a client, and my brother came visiting me. He studies at IIT Bombay India, and was using Ubuntu since quite some time. He taught me all about it, and installed it as fun on my laptop. It was a breezy experience, I could not imagine an OS could install within 20 mins. Since then I have never looked back. Have majored from Wubi to a full Ubuntu installation. And there is never a moment I need to go back to Windows.
stuart tanner, Engineer
i have used nearly all windows platforms ad for me there was to many problems, the final straw was vista crashing on me twice losing a lot of important files.
I came across Ubuntu by chance with stumble-upon about 3 years ago to me Ubuntu is great free software that cant do anything i need it to, from letters to pdf, surfing the net, email, music you name it it s there.
in fact after 3 years (currently running 10.10) i no longer use windows on any of the computers and laptops in this house.
my 2 daughters lover it on the laptops as it so robust compared to windows i did try windows 7 ultimate but found this to be of poor quality compared to Ubuntu.
i will never go back!
Jamie Cruell, What do You do for living? (IT student
I love Ubuntu! I have been using the distro since 2008 and its been an adventure. Windows has really played out and UBUNTU is making arise with the open source. I recommend it for every PC user!
Ron Schreiner, Biometric Security
It's been a long road since I started computing at age 12 in 1978 - 32 years and counting. I've used every version of Windows ever made (including server versions), Mac System 6-9, Mac OS X, UNIX, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, SlackWare, Red Hat, CentOS, and a few others as well; but my favorite operating system is Linux; and my favorite distribution of it is Ubuntu.
I can geek-out and compile with the best of them; but it's more about time and convenience because I don't have to compile from source for a simple desktop system. I've taken it a bit further by adding other programs, wallpapers, configurations, etc to Ubuntu; then by using remastersys, I have my own distribution of it which I can install on all of my PCs as well as those of anyone who may be looking for an easy alternative to other operating systems on their PC.
MixedUpEric.com, Network Engineer
The power of open-source software is amazing. Why you ask, you pay a lot of money for your Operating System, then you pay a lot of money for your Microsoft Office and then when it comes time for the next release you pay that price all over again. Lets not forget about all the money spent on anti-virus software. To make matters worse you just payed all this money with something with security issues all over the place.
Linux offers so much and Ubuntu is a very simple to use operating system with a large user base and a ton of open-source software in there repositories.
I will never look back. I manage a windows network because for some dumb reason this security hole of an OS is the standard. I manage it all from my Linux workstation. I will never use Windows again. I will do what ever I can to make sure my money never ends up in there pocket.
Martin Wildam, Software Developer
Was more than 12 years on Windows. Then had a few reliability issues (hardware defects without any useful error message or hint, unreadable CD-Roms although could be read fine in other machine etc).
First converted at home then in 2009 also in the office and now I am fully on Ubuntu (currently 10.04.1 using NetBeans for Java development). Project documentation written since years only with Open Office (after several big annoyances experienced editing a doc or xls in different versions of MS Office).
Lechatelier, Chenical Engineer
What I used before: Ibm 5100,Apple DOS & proDOS, MSDOS,Win 3.1,Suse 6.3,OS/2,Windows 2000/Xp,Libranet. As I was not happy with Windows (Virus, BSODs, low configurabilyty) I tried Debian, because that was what NASA used (if you can go to Mars, Jupiter etc you can also select a good OS, but it was very hard to set up. Then I found that weird name Ubuntu which they said was easy to use derivative of Debian backed by a wise business/TI guy so I tried first version, have been using it since first version.
Kriss, dad, It - telesupport
My first encounter with linux was during my education. Basicly it was handing out Redhat 8 discs and pointing us to a website. Thats it.
It did however flip a switch in me though all i was taught was to set up some basic servers. All monkey see, monkey do.
Later I started messing around with a security distro. Batch scripting was fun!..
Only reason i kept using windows was cause i like gaming.
I first started using Ubuntu 9.10 KDE but decided I might as well go gnome since most people i knew who was using ubuntu was using this.
Ive really grown to love linux as a whole and ubuntu IS alot like windows where windows has its forces. It looks quite familiar for windows users. But I have no fear of viruses and such.
After setting up WoW running really well in my ubuntu I love it more for every day that goes.
I had to size down a few pictures for a resume and it was just so smooth and easy just typing gimp into my synaptics and letting it do all the work of downloading and installing it.
Its like having every program you could ever want at the tip of your finger. No messing around to find the right download site. Biggest problem is simply finding the name of the program you want.
Its at a point where I actually belive its easier to find help with just about any issue for linux than it would be finding help with a Windows issue.
Its free. Its alot more safe.
Often now when i support somthing in Windows I catch myself thinking that this task would be SO easy to do in linux..
Personally i belive that Just like adult movies made the VHS system popular despite it being far from the best format there was, Windows is like that. If general games would be as easy to run in Wine as they do in Windows, Linux would become ALOT more popular amongst the general population.
David, Retired
I have been playing with Ubuntu for a couple of years now..Running it off the cd and not installing it..Well Vista crashed on my lap top and i was going to have to learn new OS anyway probable windows 7 so i installed Ubuntu and it has worked great and cost me nothing.. It takes a little while to get use to it just like any new version of windows but it is faster and you don't have to spend so much time trying to prevent spy ware and viruses from being installed on your computer.. Well worth the effort to learn it and i will never go back to Windows..
Abhishek Vashisth (INDIA), Engineer - Networking (NETGEAR)
I started using UBUNTU about 4 years back. Its fabulous to use, but i found hard times getting its application softwares and still face issues while installing them. Its desktop animation features are great. Lightening fast speed on internet, great virus protection (as compared to damm gate's WINDOWS), network stability, etc are its wonderful features... hmmm... Lots of thing are there to share, but don've time enough to do. Meanwhile, THANKKSGIVING to "Team UBUNTU". GREAT JOB GUYS...
Shoaib Nawaz, Software Developer
I started my journey of computing from DOS and then on Windows from 1995. In 2002 I wrote my first C program. The last programming script I wrote in 2007 on .Net
And after that I joined a firm whose policy was to join Ubuntu or Mac (only for rare cases). Here I experienced on a dual head display with productivity and stability.
Gradually I stared to promote Ubuntu and provide assistance to newbies. An Urdu literary boy, Khalid Nazir is an example who became a fan of Ubuntu with no backup as Windows.
Lenin, Web Application Developer, PHP (ZCE)
Well, I had been using linux for long. But didn't think of using solely linux as my PC's OS until I used Ubuntu. I have been using Ubuntu at work and at all of my PC and laptops. I work on LAMP(Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl/Python) technology and for that Linux is ideal platform of choice.
You can follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/nine_L
Luke Albertson, Student (looks like a lot of us are!)
I've been using Ubuntu for 5 years now and exclusively for 2...and it's been great! It's always a pleasure to start the year with a fresh distro full of software that most P.C.-goers would have to mortgage their houses to Microsoft just to afford. The ease and speed of the keyboard and terminal-based comands (and even the GUI's) provide for an unmatched experience of speed and versatility. I'm hooked and could never go back to using something that didn't let its user (and owner) hack it apart.
Your name Robert Schlueter, Retired
I used Windows going back to 3.1. I was never really happy with Windows, I was never really proud of my computer. Sure it had a lot of power but it was what is was. I got to point that I got pissed off within seconds of booting Windows. I started to search for an alterative. I ran the live CD's and settled on Ubuntu. Now I kick myself for putting up with Windows all those years not to mention what all those upgrades cost me. It didn't take log to get to the point of getting rid of Windows completely. I just love my system now and I make better everyday.
Mark Henry, Student
I switched over to Ubuntu many times. Counting I switched over four times. I got tired of Windows. Switch when Windows 7 came out. There was no spark any more. Everyone or Mostly everyone had Windows and it was boring I basically had no more fun. With Ubuntu, I get open source and many programs. Installing was so easy. Just installing is good for a new experience users. Windows is my secondary Dual boot while Ubuntu is my primary. I'm OK of not having the programs I used in Windows, I just find ways or other programs that does that same. Switch over to Ubuntu and go Open Source :3
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