I can understand enthusiasm, and even sometimes zealotry. But please, before you hijack the library computers and arbitrarily install Ubuntu on them, please, please think twice.
You’re going to infuriate the librarians. You’re going to alienate the staff and the clientele. And you’re going to confuse and bewilder a lot of people that might not even know you. Who’s left that will listen to you explain why it’s better?
And do you really want everyone’s first experience with Linux to be such a hatefest? This is about convincing people that Linux is a better idea. Not force-feeding them a new way of doing things.
It’s just bad karma all around.
Agreed. It’s one thing to ask if they want to try ubuntu from a live cd and educate them in the positives and negatives of going to open source. Just installing a new operating system on computers which aren’t yours, without permission, is more likely to give people a bad impression of Ubuntu than anything else.
Actually, considering his responses in the forum, I’m surprised this guy actually able to figure out how to install and run Linux. This guy literally makes me angry. And you’d figure that someone who uses “colorful” abbreviations like “b’coz” or “urs” would exhibit exactly that kind of wanton disregard for university property and policies.
It never crossed his mind that all he is doing is making more work for the IT people who will have to come in and re-format these machines and load XP back due to policies and practical reasons. I mean, how can they know that the Ubuntu sitting on these desktops doesn’t contain some clever trojans? Assuming they are a windows shop, they wouldn’t even be able to use their regular tools to diagnose these machines and make sure they are clean.
This is not spreading the word about Linux. This is selfishness – he just wanted to use Ubuntu on the library machines so he installed them without ever thinking twice about what did it mean for other students who have never used anything but XP. Ugh…
Yeah, that was a bad idea…. 😐
I suspect the story to be a fabrication. 1) You ever try to get a school computer to boot from CD? The BIOS is usually locked down tight. In most libraries, you can even turn if off. 2) India? This guy’s ‘texting’ is more like a 11th grade high schoolers, rather than someone from Hyperbad India. Unless, of course, he’s an American high school student working in Inida. 3) Final year of Engineering, and he responds to an answer with ‘sorry, i can’t understand this’ (not even capitalizing, are we now?). If he hasn’t figured how to search for answers himself, he’s pursuing the wrong career. 4) Students, in India, downloading torrents on library computers?? Wow, things are very different there. If their internet speed is anything like I’ve heard, the students must hang around the library for a few days.
Things just don’t add up. “Elementary, Watson.” (Holmes never said, “my dear…”)
At the very least, he could have made the story a bit more creative and dramatic.
This whole story looks like a joke, but if it’s true it’s a very bad one.
I cannot imagine someone doing that in my library. Yes, we have windows machines but they are secure from malware… and too-curious users 😉 Nobody can run any program which isn’t allowed to run, not to mention booting computer from cd or usb.
Our machines are too weak to run Ubuntu from live cd for a test, but we encourage our clients to use open source applications. We offer them Firefox, Open Office, Gimp, Inkscape and so on. And I always have some spare cds with newbie friendly ditributions like Ubuntu or PCLinuxOS to give away.
Too much zealotry can easily give even the best ideas a bad name…
omg.. not a great idea :s