Comments on: First Impressions: gOS ‘Gadgets’

By: SmellyGeekBoy

SmellyGeekBoy — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:40:05 +0000

It just seems odd to me that it gives almost enough freedom to make it look how you want, but then omits a few simple options (colour settings, button placement) that other distros do have. I totally agree in the “all or nothing” approach, but gOS seems to be partway between.

I have to agree though that gOS shows a lot of promise, and it really is shaping up to be perfect for netbooks and more technophobic users.

That said, as a slightly more experienced Linux user I personally like a little more freedom. I did start the review with “…here are some of the thoughts I have about gOS from the point of view of a long-time Linux user and enthusiast.” after all.

Each to their own anyway. Thanks for your thoughts!

By: James Hughes

James Hughes — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:31:14 +0000

gOS is clearly intended for people that want a system that just “works “without the complexity of a system with features not used or without too many choices (causing confusion). Ever tried to set up a system for a grandparent or elderly parent and you’ll know exactly what I mean! I don’t like getting calls saying they “lost” their movable button/toolbar because they dragged it off the screen and it “disappeared”!

If you want to “tinker” with a system get one of the other distros for heavens sake! I look forward to reading a review of a major Linux distro where the reviewer actually criticizes the distro for having to edit config files to get it to work rather than seeing it as a major problem or thinking that it is a feature that the average non-IT graduate user wants (they just want it to work out of the box!)

I like the direction gOS is taking – its been a long time coming (and I hope there are other Linux distros in the making that take a similar approach to target specific audiences rather than a one size fits all approach – like scarily Windows!).

By: SmellyGeekBoy

SmellyGeekBoy — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:38:21 +0000

My overall impresssion was really very good. If it were a few years back, it’d be classed as one of the better distros out there. Unfortunately (for gOS), Linux has come a long way in the past few years and users now expect a minimum standard of performance and polish which the Gadgets beta doesn’t seem to have.

That said, please do bear in mind that it is still a beta and that I fully expect these issues to be fixed in the official release!

By: Mike Eberhart

Mike Eberhart — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:17:24 +0000

Thanks for the review. I was wondering what that gOS would be like, and I figured that it would be somewhat easy to install and all being that it is based on Ubuntu. What I wasn’t sure about is whether the gadgetry added any sort of significant value above and beyond the base Ubuntu (or, heck, OpenSUSE or anything along these lines). I’m getting the feel I will wait for the full production version (versus Beta) and then at least try it out for kicks. Appreciate hearing your experiences.