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Thinking About Ubuntu? Think Again, Says Mossberg

Posted by Naomi Grossman Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007, 11:38 AM ET

Small business owners need to cut costs wherever they can, but unless you're a real techie, going for Linux's free operating system could be a mistake. At least that's what WSJ tech guru Walt Mossberg says.

In his review of Linux's Ubuntu (Mossberg says that readers clamored for him to look at Ubuntu because it's a more mainstream user friendly version of Linux and his interest was further piqued by the fact that Dell began selling some of its machines preloaded with Ubuntu) Mossberg acknowledges that Ubuntu looks a lot like Windows or Mac OS X.

But he stops far short of a whole-hearted endorsement. "Even in the relatively slick Ubuntu variation, Linux is still too rough around the edges for the vast majority of computer users," he writes.

He details the ways, big and little, he had trouble navigating and controlling Ubuntu and while he does say that the people at Dell told him there are workarounds for many of the issues he had and that improvements are planned, he maintains that for regular, non techies, the system is still too complicated to be used easily.

What's your experience with open source? We want to hear from you.

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