Looking through the forums, there are a lot of posts that seem to end in the following phrase:
“This needs to be sorted out if Ubuntu is going to be ready for the average Joe.”
Its an interesting observation but one that I think is flawed.
Firstly we have to define “Average Joe”. Joe is someone who uses a computer lightly – some word processing, email, web browsing and the occasional game of solitaire. He knows nothing about how computers operate and doesn’t care. Most importantly he views a computer as an appliance – something that “just works”. Lastly Joe solves any problems and takes advice from friends and colleagues with the same attitude to computers that he has.
This, of course, is not the average Linux user. Most Linux users are fairly knowledgeable and understand, indeed have strong opinions on, subjects such as FOSS and Microsoft’s business practices. Subjects Joe doesn’t care about, sadly negating two of the biggest arguments to switch to Ubuntu.
Ubuntu, like almost all distributions, is free. Free to download and free to distribute. Comes complete with thousands of free applications.
Unfortunately this is irrelevant to Joe, because so is most of Joe’s Windows software. His browser and email client came free with Windows and his copy of Office came from a friend at work. The Software & Information Industry Association, (SIIA) estimate 25 percent of business software used in the United States is pirated. Worldwide, 36 percent, possibly much higher in some emerging markets.
Joe cannot program and doesn’t know or care how computers work. Open source is therefore of no direct advantage to him.
Linux as we users know is often far easier to get answers for than a lot of proprietery software is. Google, forums and documentation is widely available.
This is irrelevant to Joe – he has a problem that his friends can’t address then he goes back to the shop or calls the support line.
We cannot deny this one. Linux game support is terrible. I know that many of you will argue for Wine or Cedega – but this is really a poor solution to running software specifically designed to take advantage of the Direct X API layer.
Having worked in a video game store many years ago while at university, I can tell you that the average person doesn’t know how to do anything to install software. If it doesn’t autorun then they aren’t interested. The amount of trouble we had when Windows 95 came out with games designed to run under DOS was amazing – return after return, when all that was needed was a couple of entries in autoexec.bat and config.sys.
In order to keep costs down, many manufacturers take advantage of drivers carrying out a lot of functions commonly carried out in hardware. Take winmodems for example – the codec used are implemented by software and are proprietry, so very few even now work under anything other than Windows.
The fact is Joe isn’t going to buy a graphics card that’s well supported in Linux. He is going to uy the cheaper one then run into difficultites in Linux.
So there we are – that’s my position. We shouldn’t be aiming Ubuntu at average Joe. Ubuntu is a fantastic OS but like any FOSS project, it requires a degree of commitment to learn something new and to adapt to that change before it can really be appreciated.
For those who use Windows, are competant with it and understand something of how their system works – Ubuntu is a great switch to make.
Just not for Joe.
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While I agree with all your points:Linux users are more ‘involved’. I also disagree that it’s ‘not for Joe’.
I installed Ubuntu Feisty for a family down the street. They only play online games, so no trouble there..Just a few FireFox plugins, and a few more to protect them from their own ignorance
Configured their printer and installed iPod support…and it’s done.
Now, 80% of what I did could be done by anyone who reads the installation webpage. Straight out of the box, they had pretty much everything working. Browser, Email, Solitaire, Tetris, etc. The rest, well if you have a basic knowledge of how to use a search engine..help is easy to find.
But even with total ignorance, Average Joe can get Ubuntu running out of the box easy. Because Average Joe doesn’t play high-end computer games, Average Joe doesn’t buy fancy(or cheap fancy) graphics cards, Average Joe bought a low-end desktop or laptop to browse the web, chat, email, and work. All those apps come with the base install. And while integrated graphics processors suck, most work just fine with the base install drivers.
Gamer Joe tho, may have a problem
But that’s what XBox or Wii or whatever is for. Gamer Joe tends to be a bit more computer savvy anyways. They know how to search forums for help, they know their graphics and sound card specifications, etc. Do research before they purchase upgrades, things like that.Then again..Dumb Gamer Joe..well some people just can’t be helped 
All that said, I agree Linux/Ubuntu shouldn’t be ‘aimed’ at Average Joe.
Or to put it another way, I think it should, just in a way that may inspire Average Joe to actually make an effort learn something.
And hate to be all cliché and sappy, but also a chance for Average Joe’s kids to start learning early(Since we all know a 8 yr old who knows alot more about computers than mommy and daddy).
I know there is Edbuntu, but Average Joe isn’t going to install that.
You still installed it for them – there’s the rub.
iPod is a prime example, Apple recently changed the hash so as to prevent the device working outside of iTunes. This requires a workaround that the average Joe will invisage as a failing of Ubuntu when it’s actuallly a deliberate move by Apple to lock in their own software.