My Ubuntu Bi**h

This is my only real gripe with Ubuntu. Everything else can be solved by working the repositories or fiddling a little bit with a config file. /etc is your friend.

My problem with Ubuntu lies in their default partitioning scheme. Normally a Linux distro will create /boot, /home, and other sub partitions in the main / file hierarchy. This is good, because should you change distros or upgrade your distro the hard way at a later time you can preserve your /home folders. I wouldn't expect Windows XP to delete everything in My Documents after an upgrade from Windows 2000. Good partitioning style, eh?

No, Ubuntu doesn't do this with any current version. The default for a Ubuntu installation is to make your swap partition as usual, and then place everything else in one giant / partition. What if I want to change distros later but keep my /home files? They're gone, that's what.

Now, don't get me wrong, if you're using Linux you should understand partitioning well enough to do it yourself and create the partitions the way they should be done. It's just not defaulted that way, that's my problem. Ubuntu should make this the default behaviour by their next version, or more people are going to find this behaviour to be irritable.

And before anyone says it, no, Linux isn't ready for the mainstream desktop yet, so yes I do still expect the user to understand partitioning enough to do it on their own. If it were ready for a mainstream installation, my point on partition structure would be even more poigniant.
 
Keeping it all under the root filesystem shouldn't be a huge deal unless you plan on swapping distros. Imagine doing so using LVM... Just add a second disk and move you /home to it.

I think Linux is a lot closer than you think...
 
It could be. Personally I think it would be really nice if Linux were ready for everyday desktop use. Practically everything you would want to use already has it's Linux counterpart, but untill more packages are available with easy to follow installation instructions I just don't see it ready enough.

Imagine trying to explain ./configure && make && make install to the average Windows user. You see what I mean?

And yes, adding anoter disk makes migration seamless. The average end user just doesn't have spare hard drives lying around though. Most of the time, if they had a spare disk, it'll already be in the tree somewhere. In that scenario you can still easily remap the mount points and save your home folder.

So, any guesses on how long Linux has untill it's ready for the mainstream? I give it another year at least.
 
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