When is networking going to 'work in Ubuntu ?

I have been having problems getting ppp0 and eth0 up as concurrent connections, and there are many people with similar problems. It just doesn't 'work' in Ubuntu, network manager has many bugs and wicd may seem a solution, but it has no dialup support.

Why is networking so 'easy' with Windows, and yet so 'hard' in Ubuntu ?

I think this poster said it well.

If new users are to be 'attracted' to Ubuntu, then the networking functions and interfaces, need a serious overhall, and significant re-development.

Let's face it, if a user can't connect to the internet, what good is the OS ? (to them).

People can't even get ICS going. Some can, many can't, what's the problem ?

Oygle

oygle said:

People can't even get ICS going. Some can, many can't, what's the problem ?

Some people can read tutorials, many can't.

Moved to RD.

Some people don't want to have to read a tutorial, they just want to press a few buttons and get connected to the internet, and share the connection with other computers.

Sounds pretty simple doesn't it. :popcorn:

oygle said: Some people don't want to have to read a tutorial, they just want to press a few buttons and get connected to the internet, and share the connection with other computers.

Sounds pretty simple doesn't it. :popcorn:

Very simple indeed. Please go ahead and code an app to do it.

Ubuntu, like any other piece of Free Software, is provided "as is": if you like it, take it; if you don't, leave it. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?

Reading a tutorial won't solve the networking problems. If it was that 'simple', why are so many people having so many problems ?.

Further to that, which tutorial/s will solve _all_ the current networking problems ? Please supply a URI.

The answer is not a tutorial, the answer is networking that "works".

oygle said:

The answer is not a tutorial, the answer is networking that "works".

This is ridiculous, you're just being a troll and I really feel like closing this thread.

If networking didn't "work" on Linux, how does it power more than 50% of the servers in the world? Magical pixie dust?

Networking isn't for nubs.<period It doesn't matter what OS your using. When I got started with ms I had all kinds of issues with networking. Once i learned how to do it on windows, when I started using Ubuntu the networking transision was seemless for me. I don't think it's a matter of Ubuntu being harder you just don't know what your doing

swoll1980 said: I don't think it's a matter of Ubuntu being harder you just don't know what your doing

Correct. :)

NM cannot handle more than one connection, so how do I solve this please ?

Well, you do have a point here. NM *is* retarded, just don't use it. ;)

I must say, even after I got my wifi working in Ubuntu, Suse, and Fedora, it was still a pain to get other people's home networking stuff going. Drivers seem to be the big issue since consumer level devices generally do not come with Linux drivers. My friends in college did not pick up linux because their cards had a ton of problems. We tried many tutorials, but to no avail. I like Linux, and I like Ubuntu, but I cannot recommend it to people who have better things to do than to go through many tutorials which might not even work.

oygle said: Some people don't want to have to read a tutorial, they just want to press a few buttons and get connected to the internet, and share the connection with other computers.

Sounds pretty simple doesn't it. :popcorn:

If you don't care to read up a bit on the software/OS you are using, then Linux (Ubuntu) isn't for you buddy.

I also thought my wireless "just didn't work", it turns out I made some mistakes along the way when trying to install/configure drivers etc. When I first followed a tutorial point by point, it took my 5 minutes max, to set up an perfectly working network connection, wireless (wep, wpa) and wired.

I guess most people give up before they try.

billgoldberg said: If you don't care to read up a bit on the software/OS you are using, then Linux (Ubuntu) isn't for you buddy.

I thought the whole purpose of the Ubuntu experiment was to try and take Linux to the masses?

The masses don't want to spend all their time looking up tutorials and code.

The mases also don't setup computers themselves, most users pruchase preconfigured computers, where all the hard work has already been done. If you don't want to set things up yourself, buy a computer with Ubuntu preinstalled.

JIm

oygle said: Some people don't want to have to read a tutorial, they just want to press a few buttons and get connected to the internet, and share the connection with other computers.

Sounds pretty simple doesn't it. :popcorn:

You aren't likely to have good luck with anything if you aren't willing to read some directions when you run into a snag.

Understandably, there are a lot of out-dated tutorials out there, but that's no excuse to refuse to read the directions. We've all put in our time in on google looking for answers. Most times, right as I get discouraged and think I won't find my answer, it's the next page I look at. Once in a while you gotta be willing to work at it to get what you want.

If you aren't willing to work at it, you aren't gonna get far at all . . .

Although it's true that willingness to read is connected with Linux, Windows makes it easy enough that you don't have to, which is probably why people like it so much. I cannot look down upon the people who do not want to have to use tutorials, because I'm sure they have much better things to do. But if Linux wants to compete with Windows, it has to be simple, easy and brief to set up any sort of hardware. If you say "linux might not be for you" then you discount most of the population.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I can pop in an Ubuntu LiveCD and be on the internet within about 60 seconds on a brand new computer. That's been true of every computer that I've tried - probably about a dozen. That doesn't happen on Windows. Not only does it take an hour to install and get to a usable desktop, but networking isn't natively supported. If I don't have the driver disk that came with my motherboard, I can't connect to the internet. If I want to be able to, I have to download the drivers from... get this... the internet. Which I can't connect to...

Windows not being able to connect to simple hardware interfaces without driver disks is a major sticking point IMHO. Linux supports way more hardware than Windows. The difference is that the hardware manufacturers are perfectly willing to support Windows by releasing drivers - Linux has to figure that stuff out on its own.

None of my friends will adopt Linux because their WIFI <---WIFI wont work. Perhaps network cards using a cable work, but many people are on wifi now and it just doesnt work or you have to spend hours getting it to work. I'm not saying its the case for everyone, but 5 of my friends couldnt get it to work even with my helping them and mine was a pain to get working.

estyles said: I have no idea what you're talking about. I can pop in an Ubuntu LiveCD and be on the internet within about 60 seconds on a brand new computer. That's been true of every computer that I've tried - probably about a dozen.

Are you able to get ppp0 going (e.g. a mobile broadband connection) and ethernet working, concurrently, with Network manager and Intrepid ?

billgoldberg said: If you don't care to read up a bit on the software/OS you are using, then Linux (Ubuntu) isn't for you buddy.

There is no tutorial, or other documentation, to use ppp0 and eth0 with network manager on Intrepid, because it is a (major) bug. The developers of NM have confirmed this.

If there was something to read to fix the networking, then I'd be reading it, ... but, .. there is not. :(

It's not only the type of connection I have, people are having trouble with Wifi connections, even with getting their ethernet recognised.

Please spend some time in the networking & wireless forums, and see how many are having problems, .. and then advise those people of a tutorial or other documentation, that will solve their problems. ;)

oygle said: Are you able to get ppp0 going (e.g. a mobile broadband connection) and ethernet working, concurrently, with Network manager and Intrepid ?

I do have wireless working fine on 2 different computers, but your subject says "when is *networking* going to work in Ubuntu"? It does, 100 times easier than it does in Windows. In Ubuntu, and most Linux distros, it "just works". In Windows, you have to search for driver disks.

It's a hell of a lot harder to find drivers for your on-board ethernet without an internet connection than it is to plug your laptop into a router for 5 minutes so you can find instructions on how to fix your wireless. If you have WIFI, then you have a wireless router, and 100% of wireless routers I've seen have a place to plug into. Most of the people that claim they can't get online *at all* because their WIFI doesn't work are trying to steal their neighbors' bandwidth. OTOH, if you can't connect at all because your OS is too brain-dead to use onboard ethernet, and don't have a driver disk handy, then good luck to you.

As for some, maybe plugging in isnt an option, and that isnt for you to state something arbitrary about.

Also, the issue was that many people simply cannot get wifi to work no matter what. Tutorial after tutorial and nothing. I cant say it works for them, which is why they use Windows.

Look, I'm not trying to say that Windows is better, I'm saying that many people I know have made real efforts to use Linux, even the newbie Linuxes where just about everything is done for you, but they could not get their hardware to work at maximum capacity or at all. I am lucky that I know the workaround for my own wifi card, since the native drivers do not work, but I suppose that's the thing...in windows, there is only one way to make wifi work and you can bet for a fact it will if you have the proper software, which you should have if you actually bought the computer.