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Is Ubuntu becoming the generic Linux distro?
blogs.zdnet.com — Has anyone else noticed an increasing number of Linux newbies who seem to think that Ubuntu is Linux and Linux is Ubuntu? Over the past year or so I ’ve noticed an increasing number of newbies interested in taking Linux for a spin - for example, the number or emails I’m getting on the subject from zero a year ago to several dozen a week.
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- likwidtek, on 04/03/2008, -3/+70It's just the sheer popularity. Yes I think a lot of new to linux / new to computers people will very much confuse and interchange the terms linux and ubuntu. It's sort of how Stallman will yell at you if you don't call it GNU/Linux. Because that's technically the proper term. Linux is just the kernal. GNU is the system.
- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -1/+33Most popular? yes
considered the "default"? sure
best for new (and the majority of non-technical) users? almost assuredly
But I'm not sure that makes it "generic" or the "standard", both of those seems to imply that it acts as some sort of reference implementation; Ubuntu has a lot of weird idiosyncrasies (and involved at fairly low levels) that set it far apart from most distributions. Take default locked root password, or the use of UUIDs in /etc/fstab, or some of the Ubuntu-specific default kernel patches, for example. I'm not saying these features should be removed, they're part of what makes it so "user friendly" (well, maybe not the /etc/fstab thing...) I'm just saying they push it out of a "generic, vanilla" categorization and push it into a "Desktop OS where everything 'just works'" niche, which just so happens to be the biggest, most visible niche for operating systems.
I think that Debian (from which Ubuntu is forked) is much better classified as "generic" or "standard". If you want to get down to brass tacks, then really "the generic linux distro" is LFS...- AXNJAXN, on 04/03/2008, -0/+13The fact that people don't know the difference underscores the success of Ubuntu - previously, the only Linux users were the very knowledgeable, very technical set. If people who aren't technical enough to care about the difference are using the OS, doesn't that mean the push for user-friendliness is succeeding?
- skunkman62, on 04/03/2008, -1/+10first, i think the writer meant to say "defacto" linux distro not "generic"
second, people that answer their own questions are retarded.
do i think you're a retard? yes i do- Elranzer, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3I guess this makes DEBIAN the generic Linux distro. Ubuntu is a heavily-modified (the opposite of "generic") version of Debian.
- zigurd, on 04/03/2008, -1/+4Initially I thought I would "graduate" to Debian, or some other distro. Question is: why? There are some distros like Gentoo that have theoretical advantages (why, indeed, should a distro have "releases?"), but when I read about them it's mostly about how those advantages are less big, and the downsides bigger in practice. Meanwhile, Ubuntu keeps getting smoother and more featureful.
- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2As someone who had "graduated" from Ubuntu (to Gentoo in this case; I've been toying with Arch lately as well) I'll give you my reasons:
Ubuntu *is* kind of idiosyncratic (as I outlined above) and usually there is a very specific "ubuntu way" of doing things, and straying from has a tendancy to break things, be difficult and fraught with peril (as an example: I hate UUIDs in my fstab; so i changed them back the the /dev/sda* type entries; I later did some repartitioning, and broke my grub menu, thought I fixed it by replacing the UUID with /dev/sda* there too, only to find it broken again after every kernel upgrade! finally I realized that I had to edit one of the commented-out lines in menu.lst for kernel-upgrades to go smoothly). Also I've found that Gentoo really is significantly faster, even using the same programs, desktop manager, etc. and disabling a fair share of processes add-ons in ubuntu, well, at least after you're done compiling (which isn't really as bad as the horror stories make it out to be; just make sure you set up installs/upgrades before you go to bed, or just super-duper nice them so you can have it going in the background and still work)
Also, lately it seems like Ubuntu may be experiencing some growing pains, In helping a friend through an installation I found (or rather they did, later, being ambitious and filled with newfound Linux-inspired l33tness) the new graphical "multi-screen" setup utility would hopelessly mangle the xorg.conf time and time again; it turned out to be *far* easier to just edit xorg.conf by hand the oldskool way.
Then, again, I helped go through an installation on a new 64-bit computer (after talking for so long about how much nicer Ubuntu package management is than Fedora), only to find entirely random, deep, hard lockups; no clue as to where to start troubleshoot, and obviously something very deep and kernel-related (no keyboard/mouse response at all, even in a text console, no response via network, and lockups would occur anywhere from browsing the web to even being entirely idle at the login prompt after a clean boot). Needless to say I was never able to diagnose or fix that problem (tried reinstalling *and* recompiling the kernel (which is quite difficult on a computer that hard-locks every 10 minutes) and disabling proprietary video drivers, passing various kernel parameters at boot, even reinstalling a past version and dist-upgrading) and eventually we just reinstalled fedora (to my deep disappointment, guilt, and dismay). The fact that 64-bit fedora, and the previous 64-bit Ubuntu release never experienced this problem was (and still is) extremely troubling to me. If anybody has any ideas they want to share, i would still really appreciate it; it's essentially an impossible "oops" to catch, and i never found a similar problem discussed or fixed on the forums or elsewhere.
these were just two isolated incidents, however, so YMMV; and I still think that Ubuntu is the best "newbie" or "non-power-user" distro.
/ramble, ramble... - init100, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1@rootneg2
"after talking for so long about how much nicer Ubuntu package management is than Fedora"
Please explain how Ubuntu package management is "so much nicer" than Fedora package management.- rootneg2, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2Perhaps referring to "package management" is poor wording, and not technically correct (just like "linux" is not the same as "GNU/Linux"...); the package management itself (dpkg/apt vs rpm/yum) is essentially equivalent.
It just seems to my like most of the interfaces to yum are much less user friendly than something like synaptic, which has excellent sorting, searching support and display. With the Fedora graphical package manager, I can either look at a "category view" or use a single option search; when using the search, often many different versions of the same package will appear with no indication as to which is stable/unstable/current/etc. this can be confusing, especially to new users; there is also no way to sort or organize search results. There is also no simple way to filter by installed/broken/upgradable/etc or sort by installed/download size, version, or otherwise. I realize that this is a complaint with the particular default installer GUI, and not the package manager itself; but this is what new users see and interact with.
It also seems like the repositories (both official and unofficial) for Ubuntu are much more organized than those for Fedora; granted, this isn't really the fault of the fedora project specifically, but it is integrally tied to the distribution, and something that users must deal with. Getting something like 64-bit flash or the like is much more understandable in Ubuntu IMO; there is the "unofficial fedora FAQ" but it doesn't really explain what's going on, and requires you to install a package from the web, as opposed to simply enabling a new repository from within synaptic (which at first blush feels more "trustworthy" in some sense).
These are simply my personal complaints, and of course, as always, YMMV... - init100, on 04/05/2008, -0/+2@rootneg2
An excellent explanation. I just wish everyone that says that APT is far superior to RPM would do the same. Of course, both you and I know that APT isn't comparable to RPM. :)
- rootneg2, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2Perhaps referring to "package management" is poor wording, and not technically correct (just like "linux" is not the same as "GNU/Linux"...); the package management itself (dpkg/apt vs rpm/yum) is essentially equivalent.
- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2As someone who had "graduated" from Ubuntu (to Gentoo in this case; I've been toying with Arch lately as well) I'll give you my reasons:
- Stonekeeper, on 04/03/2008, -0/+13You are right. I've been of the opinion for a while that "linux" is not a platform, but an enabler. If we have something that uses linux to give us a desktop OS (and for arguments sake, lets call it ubuntu), then great. People will refer to it as ubuntu not linux, which is fine. They are talking about that operating system, not the kernel. My car is still a Peugeot, regardless of the manufacturer of the engine.
- MWeather, on 04/03/2008, -1/+5"My car is still a Peugeot, regardless of the manufacturer of the engine."
Bad analogy. Gnu would be the car, while Linux would be the engine. Peugeot just did the body work.- Stonekeeper, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Not to me, a dumb car driver. I wholeheartedly believe in the GNU part FYI.
- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -1/+3Stonekeeper IMO is right in their analogy.
Linux is the body work, the frames the looks in which what people actually see while GNU is what powers Linux to be what it is.. GNU is the unseen while Linux is being shown around. You wont be looking at the car and saying "Hey thats a Hemi Engine driving down the road.." No.. it will be "There goes a Dodge Charger which has a Hemi going down the road.." To use the terms in the analogy.. it's not "Hey look at the GNU going down the road." It's "Hey look at the Linux going down the road.."- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1No, Linux really is closer to being the engine, with GNU being the doors, frame, steering wheel, (glibc is probably the transmission) etc.
The kernel is unseen and essentially untouched by users, only affected *via* some interface. All that the users see are bash, ls, grep, chmod, cp, mv, cat, less, nano and things like that; these are all GNU. GNU can be placed around different kernels (like linux, bsd, hurd, mach, etc) and will look and act nearly the same; just like a car can have a different engine but will look and act nearly the same (in terms of the user interface at least, code metrics, running speed and handling might change, however)
Personally, I don't care what people call it, the name has already stuck and people generally know what you're talking about so it's not confusing or ambiguous. But if the car analogy were true, people would be calling it just "GNU", rather than just "Linux", and I do find it a little weird that that has happened (especially considering that GNU was first by a longshot) - Stonekeeper, on 04/05/2008, -0/+1Help me! I'm plural!
- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1No, Linux really is closer to being the engine, with GNU being the doors, frame, steering wheel, (glibc is probably the transmission) etc.
- Darkhacker, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2I think people put more importance on GNU than there really is. You could technically replace all the GNU utils with others and it would still be Linux. If Linux is the engine, GNU is the chassy (metal frame), not the whole damn car.
- nominalgeek, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2the GNU userland was created to /replace/ the proprietary userland tools of old school nixes. It's properly GNU/Linux. Because with the kinda of crowd that ubuntu is grounded for... GNU is what you interact with, you never directly interact with the LINUX. For windows people... Linux is equivalent to what in windows is called ntoskrnl.exe. In the most basic of way.
- humperdeath, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2The car thing is not realistic, as 99.99% of cars come already with the engine built by the same factory. Try another 'vehicle', say a road bike. Mine is Cannondale, but the crank/gearing is by Shimano. So then you can replace Shimano with a less expensive 'generic' set of shifters if you wanted to.
- MWeather, on 04/03/2008, -1/+5"My car is still a Peugeot, regardless of the manufacturer of the engine."
- ninetimes, on 04/03/2008, -0/+23A lot of people will probably get confused about the distinction between GNU, Linux, and Ubuntu. But then, a lot of users I've dealt with had a hard time distinguishing between what was Microsoft Windows and what was Microsoft Office. Seriously.
Most people don't understand the concept of an "operating system", let alone knowing what's done by the OS, what's done by the kernel specifically, what's done by the shell, what's done by the hardware, and what's done by the application. It's a jumble.
And beyond all that, I've had users who thought that OSX and Linux were different "versions of Windows". As in, "The version of Windows installed on Macs confuses me, but I've heard of this new version of Windows called 'linux'." So if you really think these people need to have a proper understanding of the difference between "Ubuntu" and "Linux", good luck making that happen.- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2LOL You should go sell computers sometime and actually see how many people confuse Windows with Office.. *gasp* It gets bad when you hear them say, "Hey look that one is running Office." and it's a blank desktop with no programs running..
- Endemoniada, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1I HAVE sold computers for over a year, and never heard any comments that stupid. There was the occasional "I need a faster CPU, because IE is really slow" and, of course, "but daddy, i really NEED this top-of-the-line gfx card for school work!", but those I blame more on advertising and commercialism, not computer illiteracy.
That people somehow think Linux is a flavor of Windows isn't necessarily bad for the Linux community, but definitely good for Microsoft. They don't care if people can separate Windows from Office, as long as they pay for both licenses.
- Endemoniada, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1I HAVE sold computers for over a year, and never heard any comments that stupid. There was the occasional "I need a faster CPU, because IE is really slow" and, of course, "but daddy, i really NEED this top-of-the-line gfx card for school work!", but those I blame more on advertising and commercialism, not computer illiteracy.
- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2LOL You should go sell computers sometime and actually see how many people confuse Windows with Office.. *gasp* It gets bad when you hear them say, "Hey look that one is running Office." and it's a blank desktop with no programs running..
- willdiggforfood, on 04/03/2008, -4/+29I know my opinion is probably not popular, but I choose to call the OS 'Linux' and omit the "GNU/" on purpose. I do this as a protest against Stallman's extreme ideas against proprietary software.
I love Open Source software, it is great as a business model and it benefits the consumer a lot. But the militantism of the FSF is getting in the way of progress now.
So, I hope I am not offending anyone, but I will continue to advocate against extremism and zealot ideologies that hinder freedom. Yes, developer freedom is also of worth.- trogdor282, on 04/03/2008, -0/+6I figure if you're gonna include GNU/ you should also include xorg/ and firefox/ and openoffice/ and all the zillion other packages as well, to be fair. Or accept that "Linux" is "a software suite that includes Linux"
- KiraDnote, on 04/03/2008, -2/+0Or Ubuntu is an OS that includes Linux.
- MWeather, on 04/03/2008, -3/+5Let's try an experiment. You remove all GNU software from a linux install, and I'll remove firefox and openoffice. Which one of us will have a working OS when we're done?
- GMorgan, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4I have at least one machine with Busybox on it.
True it would be painfully difficult to run the system without GNU software. It would be even more painful without Linux though. GNU is merely the best userland out of many that can run on the Linux kernel.
- GMorgan, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4I have at least one machine with Busybox on it.
- rlbond86, on 04/03/2008, -0/+5Exactly right! Stallman couldn't make a kernel for like 10 years. Moreover, the term GNU/Linux omits X windows, KDE or GNOME, Apache, etc..
As stated by Jim Gettys, originator of X:
"There are lots of people on this bus; I don't hear a clamor of support that GNU is more essential than many of the other components; can't take a wheel away, and end up with a functional vehicle, or an engine, or the seats. I recommend you be happy we have a bus."
- trogdor282, on 04/03/2008, -0/+6I figure if you're gonna include GNU/ you should also include xorg/ and firefox/ and openoffice/ and all the zillion other packages as well, to be fair. Or accept that "Linux" is "a software suite that includes Linux"
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -0/+8Let's not get into the GNU/Linux debates. I was in an argument at LinuxQuestions, where I was practically the whole 'call it Linux'-camp, and the discussion just never stopped so eventually I left. My advice: call it whatever you like.
- raindogmx, on 04/03/2008, -2/+7And this discussion is a great example of what holds Linux from widespread adoption. You want revolution, you want to free the masses of MS Slavery but you keep engaging in bizantine discussions that do nothing but alienate the mainstream pc user. GNU/Linux, Linux, Ubuntu... Windows is just Windows. See, you habve a huge usability problem when you can't even agree on the name of your operating system.
Mac OS is Unix (compliant) and people would call it "Leopard" or "Mac OS X", what's wrong with "Ubuntu"? I think it's great to have a brand as long as it helps increase adoption. If geeks want to help spread Linux around, you'll need to be less anal retentive about it.- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -2/+0It's not just a name. It's about ethics. (I'll just stop right here because otherwise it will trigger a discussion.)
- raindogmx, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3No, it is about what OS will mom use, obviously she doesn't care about the ethics since she's using Windows.
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -0/+0No it's not about what OS your mom would use... GNU+Linux wasn't created because they felt like they wanted to replace Windows with a another/better OS. It was created NOT because other OS's sucked, but because they wanted to have an OS that was free(dom) open source software (ethics; free to share, free to modify, free to redistribute). They didn't created GNU+Linux just because they wanted to make their own, they didn't create it so your 'mom' would use another OS.
- raindogmx, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Well then Linux is sucking because of it wanting to be Che Guevara.
I'm all for free software but dont want to be in need of being freed from free software too. - vincentweber, on 04/05/2008, -0/+0How can you be imprisoned by free software? There is no lock in product.
- abhiroop, on 04/03/2008, -2/+3Ethics???? Its a COMPUTER!!!
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1The GNU project was about creating a freedom open source OS. They only needed kernel because the rest was already done. The Linux project did only have a kernel and they still needed everything else. What people did was fill in the gap of the GNU OS by fitting in the Linux kernel into GNU. The ethical point here was that they called the GNU+Linux OS; Linux. Richard Stallman, the founder of GNU, was pissed because he felt that by calling GNU+Linux just Linux, all the fame was 'stolen' by the Linux project. It's like if Apple took Windows and put in their own kernel inside and sold it as Mac OS X Bill Gates would be pissed because then Apple would steal the Windows fame, if you know what I mean.
- InferiorWang, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2It IS just a name. Other operating systems don't prepend bits to the name just because it is necessary for functionality. You could call it "***** on a stick" and I would still use it, but it wouldn't help marketability. It isn't the goal of every distribution to make a system that anyone can get started on, but if you want to promote Linux as an alternative to Windows, then marketing matters. Confusing the average user over something as simple as the name isn't an effective way to gain converts.
- raindogmx, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3No, it is about what OS will mom use, obviously she doesn't care about the ethics since she's using Windows.
- mahdaeng, on 04/03/2008, -2/+1Exactly. Do you play with LEGOs or with LEGO bricks? Does it really matter?
- HonoredMule, on 04/03/2008, -1/+3Buried because "LEGOs" is a travesty against language and sanity that really /does/ matter.
- mahdaeng, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Please explain. No, seriously.
- HonoredMule, on 04/05/2008, -0/+2I'll send you some Photoshops of my explanation.
- mahdaeng, on 04/07/2008, -0/+1@HonoredMule:
That comment made me laugh and earned you a digg.
:^)
- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -1/+4no, i play with lego.
- HonoredMule, on 04/03/2008, -1/+3Buried because "LEGOs" is a travesty against language and sanity that really /does/ matter.
- SteveMax, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3However, if everybody would call every single Unix system "Leopard", you'd see a problem.
Ubuntu is probably fine as a first distro. It's probably fine as a default first distro. It's fine as someone's main distro, as long as it fits their needs. However, assuming Ubuntu's behaviour to be the "default" in everything is just wrong. Simple example: Ubuntu marginalizes KDE, so should KDE be considered a non-factor just because it's not included on the default?
About "GNU/Linux or Linux" and "Windows is Windows", calling the system GNU/Linux is very much like calling Windows as Microsoft® Windows® XP™, or the whole "photoshopped/digitally altered with Adobe® Photoshop® software" deal. It may be more correct, but it's so awkward that you just don't bother.
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -2/+0It's not just a name. It's about ethics. (I'll just stop right here because otherwise it will trigger a discussion.)
- ZeroSumDivide, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2I think it was Shakespeare that said, "What is a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet." Who cares what noobs call it? Ubuntu's fast becoming the poster-boy Linux distro. If it drives up adoption rates, that's all that should matter. Leave the technical distinctions to the people who actually work with computers as a hobby and/or for a living.
- GMorgan, on 04/03/2008, -0/+5Stallman cares because he thinks it harms his software movement. I think his argument is flawed. The argument is harming the FSF more than calling the system Linux.
- smek2, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1I tried Ubuntu once and failed to even install it. The installer would turn my Screen black and that was that. I then switched back to OpenSuse and live happily ever after.
- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2The beauty of Linux.. You can choose any distro you want.. :)
Right now, I am using SabayonLinux.. Which I feel is underrated.. It set up everything out of box for me except my webcam..though I can fix that, just not worried about it.. and it even set up the Nvidia drivers properly and Compiz Fusion right away without having to fight with it like I was with Ubuntu..though Ubuntu did get my webcam to work.. but not Compiz Fusion.. but then again maybe I'll try Gentoo again when I get a new processor. - InferiorWang, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1I used to have similar problems with Ubuntu and the desktops I was using. If I was lucky it would boot into live mode. 90-95% of the time, however, it would hang at random places during boot. I don't install if the live cd doesn't even work. Hardy has been running great on my new laptop. Nearly everything worked out of the box. Webcam, fingerprint scanner, Fn buttons and a couple of external buttons weren't set up, but so far Hardy has made it very easy to get linux up and running on this laptop. It has been a while since I primarily ran linux and Hardy has me spending most of my time in linux again.
- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2The beauty of Linux.. You can choose any distro you want.. :)
- ninja0, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1This had to be said: Who cares about the linux newbies? Let them be... they are using linux... aren't they? By calling them noobs, you're just pushing them away.
- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -1/+33Most popular? yes
- thewump, on 04/03/2008, -2/+109Ubuntu ( IMHO ) is the best distro for someone to try out if they are considering Linux on the Desktop. Once "adopted" Linux is not like a "starter" musical instrument - it's not like you can and should grow out of it. Even though it's considered a noob distribution, I see no reason to move to anything else.
- martalli, on 04/03/2008, -0/+21The main reason it is the best to start with is the huge community around it. I am a kubuntu user myself, but I started with Mandrake 9.2 way back when. Mandriva is still a great distro, but back then it had an enormous community and any question was already answered somewhere out on google. Now the same is true even more so for ubuntu. In reality, many of the top tier distros and several secondary ones (such as pclinuxos) are great starter distros...but the ubuntu is winning in mindshare and community. Whether that translates into permanent leadership is doubtful unless linux becomes truly common in the near future,,
- Buelldozer, on 04/03/2008, -1/+5I think you underestimate how common Linux is already! It's in your pocket in the form of a cell phone, mp3 player, or pda. It's in the data center running servers, serving websites, and doing database work. It's on the home WAP/router on your shelf, inside your cable or satellite box, and running your NAS. It's on the network core switch at the office, it''s likely inside any VoIP gear you use at home or the office. In fact about the only place left for it to be is on your desk!
Taken in all of its forms *nix has a far larger install base than Windows. You use it and are surrounded by it all day every day, you just don't realize it.- MWeather, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4Which is the main difference between Windows and Linux. When Windows is running on your device, you're painfully aware of it..
- HonoredMule, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Sure, but /desktop/ linux is what martalli is talking about. It is the mindshare tackling desktop needs that propell it onto desktops and into the spotlight, and it is desktop adoption that is needed to sustain the leadership that Ubuntu is bringing to--of course--Linux on the *desktop.*
Mass adoption on phones, servers, etc. only promotes Linux's suitability for the needs it is serving, which is why Linux has taken so long to achieve the polish and usability that is Ubuntu's focus now.
- Buelldozer, on 04/03/2008, -1/+5I think you underestimate how common Linux is already! It's in your pocket in the form of a cell phone, mp3 player, or pda. It's in the data center running servers, serving websites, and doing database work. It's on the home WAP/router on your shelf, inside your cable or satellite box, and running your NAS. It's on the network core switch at the office, it''s likely inside any VoIP gear you use at home or the office. In fact about the only place left for it to be is on your desk!
- scott12087, on 04/03/2008, -1/+22The best distro to start with is the one that somebody introduces you to. If you have a dozen friends all using Debian, then Debian would probably be a good choice, since you can always go back to them for help when you're just getting your feet wet. When it comes to Ubuntu, since it's so popular, most people have it, and there's already a fantastic online community built around it. I've been using openSuse for a couple years, since that's what I was introduced to way back, I really like it, and I've become very used to it.
- ChzPlz, on 04/03/2008, -0/+14I agree - but since I'm the only Linux user in my circle, I went with Ubuntu because of the online community. As a rookie, with no immediate Linux support system, I needed that easy external source of info.
Having said that, I have found that Ubuntu was so straightforward that I have needed negligible support. I would definitely point any other Linux noobs to Ubuntu as at least a starting point.- credence, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3agreed. I had the same experience when I started really getting into Linux w/ gentoo. They had a very comprehensive forum and literally a step by step installation guide that told you everything you needed to do. It also taught some good concepts about how the Linux works (no real details, but knowing how little you know is better than knowing nothing at all).
With Linux, or really with any OS, community is everything. I'm learning to stomach Vista right now until my notebook gets better Linux driver support (***** you, Fujitsu), and I've been googling left and right to get all my software up and running for testing (MySQL, Apache, etc).
- credence, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3agreed. I had the same experience when I started really getting into Linux w/ gentoo. They had a very comprehensive forum and literally a step by step installation guide that told you everything you needed to do. It also taught some good concepts about how the Linux works (no real details, but knowing how little you know is better than knowing nothing at all).
- ChzPlz, on 04/03/2008, -0/+14I agree - but since I'm the only Linux user in my circle, I went with Ubuntu because of the online community. As a rookie, with no immediate Linux support system, I needed that easy external source of info.
- mrbbad, on 04/03/2008, -1/+9It's the best one to use period for its: large community, no need to compile junk, installation ease, and most importantly... it is the closest thing linux has to a firm "standard." I cannot stand the 1 million different linux distros, I wouldn't mind a few great groups with a few different flavors, but we have some new distro come out everyday which isn't much different in the end than what Ubuntu would be...
...So you use slackware and compile everything yourself and manually setup everything yourself? Good for you! You now have the same desktop software anyways.
Linux badly needs strait forward standards. YUM and apt-get ... who cares? Pick one, use one, create "plugins" if you want to expand one, but at least keep to a standard.- rlbond86, on 04/03/2008, -3/+1To call Ubuntu a "standard" is ridiculous.
No admin account, overuse of sudo instead of su, no "real" way to install KDE (without installing Kubuntu), and, most annoyingly, no upstream compatibility.
Not to say that it isn't a very accessible distribution, and it has many, many users worldwide. But to call it the standard just isn't true.
Maybe you can't stand the million different distros, but the strength of Free Software has always been that if you don't like the way it works, you can change it yourself. Linux is stronger because of its many flavors, not weaker.- iRelinquish, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1sudo apt-get install kde
- iRelinquish, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Gentoo after a correct install, with c flags for your processor and compiling your programs from source will beat your binary computer any day of the week. But i dont have the time any more so i went back to ubuntu : )
- ninja0, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1For a main desktop, if you don't want a large hassle, I completely agree. I'll be moving my desktop back to some ubuntu form sooner or later. Currently I'm using gentoo on my main desktop. That will soon phase out into my servers instead.
Everything just works, and its still faster than windows ;)
- rlbond86, on 04/03/2008, -3/+1To call Ubuntu a "standard" is ridiculous.
- dn11, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2I think it is beneficial for the whole Linux community to have one distro that rises above of the rest in popularity and size of user base that can set certain standards - still leaving room for distros that meet the needs of every niche.
- pHreaksYcle, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2I use it because I like it and so do a lot of other people. That makes it easier to get help, ***** loads easier than with Windows. It makes sense for people who don't live in the command line.
- martalli, on 04/03/2008, -0/+21The main reason it is the best to start with is the huge community around it. I am a kubuntu user myself, but I started with Mandrake 9.2 way back when. Mandriva is still a great distro, but back then it had an enormous community and any question was already answered somewhere out on google. Now the same is true even more so for ubuntu. In reality, many of the top tier distros and several secondary ones (such as pclinuxos) are great starter distros...but the ubuntu is winning in mindshare and community. Whether that translates into permanent leadership is doubtful unless linux becomes truly common in the near future,,
- jcannonb, on 04/03/2008, -17/+10The way Dell markets it to consumers, it IS linux. I don't see many other distros knocking on Dell's door or any other manufacturer for that matter saying 'Make me YOUR linux' or 'Add me to your linux lineup please'
- darkchild, on 04/03/2008, -0/+12How about those manufacturers shipping SLED, Xandros, Red Hat etc. The last time I checked you could get machines with SLED from Lenovo, Asus EEE ships with Xandros etc.
- Shadowman, on 04/03/2008, -0/+7Even Dell doesn't only offer Ubuntu pre-installed. You can also get Red Hat Enterprise Linux...
http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx ... - haterofps3, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4Shuttle Just launched a Box that uses "Foresight" Which looks pretty cool.
- zongamin, on 04/04/2008, -1/+1Ignorant.
- Buu700, on 04/03/2008, -53/+2http://digg.com/linux_unix/Linux_users_are_Jews
- nga911, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3what do you have against Jews ?
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2Well since I am a Linux user I am targeted by your offensive post, so let me say to you:
***** off and go to hell. - Aitese, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2I'm sure you'd like me to take offense, but then I'd only reinforce your ridiculous notion that either being a Jew or using Linux is somehow a negative thing. I'm not Jewish but I do use Linux...so your statement, rather than offensive is just wrong.
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -1/+0I am sorry. Me and a friend of mine don't disrespect the Jews but it's an inside joke to use Jews for everything that is offensive. The parent poster was intending to use it as offensive and therefore insulted us. Being a Jew is, ofcourse, not offensive and there is nothing wrong with the Jews. If I offended a Jew with my parent post than I apologize.
- Buu700, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1He was replying to me... not you...
btw let me just point this out: there is NOTHING racist about that article (which was a joke anyways, and if you read it (and look at the picture of Bin Laden) you can tell it's complete BS anyways). Go look up the definition of racism if you don't believe me. I wrote that article (in jest (and with a fake blog + Digg username) of course), and I can assure you that not one word of hatred is ever directed at any race. Just because it happens to have the name of a race or nationality in the title (a laughably erroneous statement), everyone feels the need to get overly sensitive and take offense; in fact, I bet most of the people who would take offense to that are neither Jewish nor Linux users.
- Buu700, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1He was replying to me... not you...
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -1/+0I am sorry. Me and a friend of mine don't disrespect the Jews but it's an inside joke to use Jews for everything that is offensive. The parent poster was intending to use it as offensive and therefore insulted us. Being a Jew is, ofcourse, not offensive and there is nothing wrong with the Jews. If I offended a Jew with my parent post than I apologize.
- orangefly, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1if we are blanket insulting then windows users are lazy and stupid....
- talonstriker, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4Wrong, its more like all Linux users are atheists.
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4No. There is a Christian Linux distro out there with Bible software.
- Qxzkjp, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2I know a little bit of statistics, and a little about jewry.
I use Linux, and my mother is a jew. So, I am a linux-using jew.
My brother uses linux, his mother is a jew.
So, taking this data-set:
number of linux-using jews: 2
number of linux-using gentiles: 0
((2-0)/2)*100%=100%
Therefore, by extrapolation, all Linux users are jews.
...wow! It looks like he's onto something there!
- LANjackal, on 04/03/2008, -5/+37I wouldn't use the word "generic". I'd prefer "standard" or "default". But in any case for all practical purposes it's already happened, no question necessary.
- sloppychris, on 04/03/2008, -6/+52Couldn't agree more. Sure, choice is one of the benefits of the open source world, but it is also a double edged sword. If choice were paramount over everything we'd all be using slackware and compiling crap and doing other stuff I couldn't begin to understand.
The point is, Ubuntu offers two things no other linux distro has provided: a standard, and ease of use. They go hand in hand, because it's difficult for something to be easy to use without a standard to be familiar with it.
We need to foster these two qualities in the open source world. Ubuntu may not be exactly perfect in all respects, but it's the best we have in creating a standard and making linux easy to use. The cool part about the nature of open source, is something easy to use can also provide choice, if the user desires. For instance, in Ubuntu, almost every option can be accessed by a GUI, or if the user prefers, a command line.
This is the power of Ubuntu, and why it makes sense to encourage Ubuntu as the standard it already is.- thtroyer, on 04/03/2008, -6/+241) Slackware is a binary distro. There's really no compiling to speak of. Gentoo is a source-based distro you may have been thinking of, where nearly everything is compiled from source. Really, it isn't as bad as it sounds.
2) 'has provided a standard' -- what do you mean?
3) You mention that open source provides choice, yet you seem to be blind to the diversity opened by the sheer variety of distros available.
4) Customization of Ubuntu can only go so far.
5) Ubuntu is not a 'standard' distro. It is popular and well-known, but in no way a standard. There are many other popular and just as competent distros out there: http://distrowatch.com/
Look. Here's what it comes down to -- there are a lot of excellent distros out there and there is no "best" distro. In fact, I hope there never becomes a 'best' distro. One of the biggest advantages of Linux is its modularity and diversity. What makes an excellent 'desktop' distro doesn't necessarily make an excellent 'server' distro. What makes an excellent 'beginner' distro doesn't necessarily make an excellent 'geek' distro. People will continue to merge and branch open source projects as long as they exist -- to fulfill their wants and needs and because of this, Linux (and OSS) will continue to evolve and grow in ways that proprietary software cannot.
And frankly, I'm tired of the 'Ubuntu is teh best distro ever!!' mentality. I used to think that way too, but I've grown up a bit. I still have Ubuntu installed on my desktop. Gentoo on my laptop. Both distros are amazing, but for entirely different reasons.- phosphodyson, on 04/03/2008, -2/+4In regards to 3), he said "choice is a double edged sword." What part of that idiom do you not understand? It is already known that having too many options is detrimental. The majority of people want limited options. Too few options and people will find it restrictive, too many options and people will find it too complex. There are definitely too many options in regards to Linux distros. Many of them are redundant. The majority of individuals already find it difficult enough to decide on an OS. Having them decide on what distribution of the OS they want is unreasonable. If the OSS community is serious about getting Linux on the desktop, they need to rally behind one distribution.
- secleinteer, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1This is what I'm doing - I've got Kubuntu on my desktop, but now that I've got a laptop, I've installed Gentoo on it. It's a completely different experience, albeit one I'm enjoying.
- tvanwyk, on 04/03/2008, -1/+9"1) Slackware is a binary distro. There's really no compiling to speak of. Gentoo is a source-based distro you may have been thinking of, where nearly everything is compiled from source. Really, it isn't as bad as it sounds.""
Yes and no. I agree Slack isn't evil, or as hard to use as the Ubuntu snobs seem to make it out to be. Sure, Slackware is a "binary distro" in that the install disc is ready to install a compiled system, but beyond the core packages (e.g. http://packages.slackware.it/) you may have to do a fair bit of building (hooray for Slackbuilds). If it's not in mirrors of official packages in *.tgz, you'll probably have to compile it. I've run Slack before - let's just say my compiler was getting a workout.
Good post, though. Dugg for truth.- thtroyer, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Certainly Slackware and Gentoo are more difficult than most; in no way am I saying otherwise. You definitely need to know what you're doing to get a good setup. But then... if you don't know what you're doing, this is a great way to learn. ;)
I might try Slackware soon. I've never used it and the idea of being without a real package manager sounds repulsive -- BUT, if I've learned anything over the years, it's to keep and open mind and not criticize anything too readily. It all (usually) makes sense as you learn the nature/feel of the distro.- Philluminati, on 04/03/2008, -0/+5One misconception I see here on digg is that Packager Managers come with distributions to make it easier for noobs and that real professionals compile from source. [lol just realised you didn't say that at all. I've replied to the wrong commment]
That isn't true. Most professionals use a package management solution. Reasons to compile from source include:
- 1) No binary packages are available for your platform.
- 2) You want to customise or optimise the code further.
- 3) You want a more in depth understanding of how the linux or development work.
If you plan on being a professional you should know how to use "./configure", "make" and "make install". But the truth is, real Linux professionals use package management systems and here's why:
- 1) Sanity. Because you don't have to hand write the configuration file for Apache after you compile the software, it's generally more sane and secure.
- 2) Security Updates. It takes one command to make sure your system is up to date and secure.
- 3) We call them package management systems because the contents of the packages aren't always software. You can put your companies template emails and template documents into a package, give it a version and deploy it to a large number of machines quickly and easily. Because packages have versions you can then upgrade the package when the company changes it's letter headed paper etc. You can put dependencies on as well to bring down new fonts and so forth. It works really well for deploying things like this.
- 4) Speed. They are quick and simple. No need to go and find dependencies. No time messing around. You can set up a server in no time at all move on to the other tasks you have. - tvanwyk, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2Well, Slackware does have a package manager - just not one that automatically handles backwards-dependency. Some people say that doesn't count. I'd say it does - Slackware has pkgtool which deals with special .tgz archives that are found in the official repos. (As an aside, Slackbuilds.org is a site that provides scripts for making your own tgz packages from "regular" source tarballs)
There are third party tools available - for example, slapt-get is (you guessed it) like apt-get for Slack, and can be used as a sort of "training wheels" for Linux or, more importantly, for saving you a huge amount of work if you want to run a full system update. - TrevorBradley, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1I'm a Slackware guy.. I'm 33 and I've been using Slackware since 1996. In fact I'm watching MythTV from my living room on my HDTV and my Slackware HTPC.
I'm posting this from my Laptop, runnig XP. I've tried branching out to Ubuntu, I have dual boot, but I can't get suspend to work.. so I'm back to XP.
I'm really torn. I want to transition to another distro with better package management.. Slackware has been a lot of fun but it is a *lot* of work. I'm a better sysadmin for it. I don't mind compiling my code. What gets old fast is when I'm missing libraries and need to run and compile those first.
I'm looking for 2 different things in my distros: Security for my open-IP web server, and ease of use for my 3 MythTV frontend clients. I've thought about it for years and keep coming back to Slackware for comfort level. Sure I don't like where I am, but I'm uncomfortable jumping somewhere else... :)
- Philluminati, on 04/03/2008, -0/+5One misconception I see here on digg is that Packager Managers come with distributions to make it easier for noobs and that real professionals compile from source. [lol just realised you didn't say that at all. I've replied to the wrong commment]
- thtroyer, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Certainly Slackware and Gentoo are more difficult than most; in no way am I saying otherwise. You definitely need to know what you're doing to get a good setup. But then... if you don't know what you're doing, this is a great way to learn. ;)
- sloppychris, on 04/03/2008, -5/+81) I tried to make it obvious with my word choice that I really don't know how to use Slackware, or for that matter the technicalities of its operation. It is an example of a distro that offers more choices, and because of that, more complexity.
2)By "has provided a standard", I mean it offers a combination of being easier to find support, easier to use, and more popular. If I tried convincing my mom to use linux, I wouldn't want to spend half an hour explaining that it isn't a binary distro because the disk is ready to install on a compiled system and the core packages may need building in either the mirrors or need to be compiled from source, and here's how to do that.....
I could say pop in the disk and reboot. Then if you need it, there is a very large community who are wiling to spend time working with you during the switch, and we've made it as easy as we can possibly setup the process.
3)I admitted that diversity is important. If it isn't clear, then I'm saying that now. It's important. But I wouldn't expect my mom to be willing to spend three weeks testing 10 distros to find the one for her. Unlike us, this isn't how normal computer users enjoy spending their time. I'm saying that to people like my mom, there's value in having just one really good choice. And if she is able to find the time to master Ubuntu to the point where she needs more choices, she can move on then.
4)Ok. I don't think my mom is going to need more than Ubuntu can provide. Again, I'm not talking about people like us who enjoy debating linux issues. I'm talking about my mom, and people like her. They're not going to need more than Ubuntu, and Ubuntu satisfies a pretty good number of more advanced linux users.
5) Ubuntu is the most popular. By far. What other distros are becoming the generic distro? That tells you all you need to know.
My goal here is to bring linux to as many new users as possible. That in turn will bring the attention of hardware manufacturers and improve the experience for everyone. I'm not going to ask my mom to spend 3 weeks trying different installations on her computer. That's just not going to cut it with most normal computer users.
None of this is going to change the way people who enjoy the variety use linux. I'm not saying we should eliminate all other optoins. I'm saying there should be a standard beginner / intermediate linux choice, and Ubuntu is it. - Shadowman, on 04/03/2008, -1/+9Many other distros have been the "most popular". Red Hat was for years, then Mandrake, then SuSE, then Gentoo, and so on. Ubuntu is the most popular now, but will it always be? Maybe, maybe not. What happens if KDE 4 becomes really popular? Kubuntu is not a good KDE distro. A KDE distro like PCLinuxOS or openSUSE could become "most popular".
- Lyk4n, on 04/03/2008, -3/+3They aren't arguing the semantics of "now" or "later". They are arguing which distro is the most popular right now..
- opencoder, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Actually KDE4 is really amazing. I wish I could run all the bells and whistles that come with it though. My computer is really slow. I didn't run it until just yesterday. I tried with 4.0.2, but there were alot of bugs that made it not very usable. Now it runs perfectly. I also like how there is a gtk theme for oxygen. Now all my applications look native which makes me happy.
I do have to say that I might stick with KDE4. But *buntu has great repositories that make it nice. Does anybody know if Kubuntu will release updates to KDE4 on a monthly basis? B/c if not, then I might need to re-evaluate my distro choice.- tehjarvis, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2If you're primarily a KDE user, do not use Kubuntu. It's a horrible representation of KDE. OpenSuSe on the other hand has beautiful KDE. The downside of that is the package management though. But I'd pick OpenSuSE 10.3 over Kubuntu any day of the week for KDE.
- bvdeenen, on 04/03/2008, -1/+0What's not good about Kubuntu? How is PCLinuxOS or SuSE better? apt-get seems to me much better than Yast and/or an rpm package manager. I'm really curious why you think that these others are better.
I used to use SuSE (bought boxes from 7.0 to 10.0) but decided to move away from Novell/SuSE because of the Mono/Microsoft connection.- tehjarvis, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2If you're concerned about yast or an rpm manager being inferior to apt, then try Arch with KDE-mod and you'll understand why Kubuntu is lacking in many ways as a KDE distro.
Ubuntu is a nice gnome distro and their gnome is better than Suse's...but boy-howdy, Kubuntu is clumbsy and thrown together without much thought.
- tehjarvis, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2If you're concerned about yast or an rpm manager being inferior to apt, then try Arch with KDE-mod and you'll understand why Kubuntu is lacking in many ways as a KDE distro.
- 000dom000, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2IT isn't just a question of which distro is more popular. It's the sheer number of people who are moving to linux and in particular, Ubuntu. I know that when someone asks me about the distro they should start with, I say Ubuntu. Mainly because of the community forums and IRC channels and because I know it better than other distros. It's the closest to perfect for anyone crossing over from windows or mac.
- justdbc, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Well, I run Slackware (have for years), Gentoo (moving most stuff to that, despite current politics), and one Ubuntu (Edubuntu, actually) systems. Ubuntu is by far my least favorite. Why? The packages for the basics are markedly stale, and the packages for the applications I most need are paleolithic. And out of the box you can't even compile "hello world" without installing a bunch of basic packages, WTF? The user forums are pits of cluelessness. I much prefer Gentoo forums, where if I ask an esoteric question, I get several extremely cluefull answers.
In general, all distros have their marketing screwed up. They all concentrate on tuning the engine, and spend no effort on applications. I want an application focused Distro. The first distro that decides to give me a reasonably recent and well tested foundation, and the latest electronic and mechanical design automation tools cleanly packaged, I'll move in a heartbeat. Now, design automation may not be what you need, but it is what I need. You might want a different distro. No distro thinks about end users running applications. They all want to flame each other over stylistic differences in package management. They all need to grow up and think about end user needs.
- thtroyer, on 04/03/2008, -6/+241) Slackware is a binary distro. There's really no compiling to speak of. Gentoo is a source-based distro you may have been thinking of, where nearly everything is compiled from source. Really, it isn't as bad as it sounds.
- itseffinkasey, on 04/03/2008, -17/+5Yay! more fan boy wars!
- epohs, on 04/03/2008, -2/+6Please, please stop using the term "fan boy" to describe people who like something.
- flangepiece, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1...especially as everyone knows it's spelt "fanboi"
*cheeky grin* - Kamujin, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1He's not using it to describe people who like something.
He's using it to describe people who think liking something is a religion.
This article stinks of the latter.
- flangepiece, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1...especially as everyone knows it's spelt "fanboi"
- idslite, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Yay! Another troll!
- epohs, on 04/03/2008, -2/+6Please, please stop using the term "fan boy" to describe people who like something.
- Philluminati, on 04/03/2008, -2/+22When someone posts a message saying "I'd like to try Linux which one do I get and from where?" they used to get bombarded with replies each with a different distro and different reason. I think now the popularity of Ubuntu paired with the fact that it's designed to cater for "new users from windows or mac" makes it the preferred choice and I think having 12 replies to your post all say the same thing makes it obvious that if you want to try Linux out, that Ubuntu.com is where you should start.
But I'm not really worried. By reading digg comments it seems like the vast majority of Ubuntu users here are aware that it is merely one flavour of Linux and others exist. I don't get the feeling that they think it's the only one.- sloppychris, on 04/03/2008, -7/+2Being told 12 different answers to the very first question someone asks about linux isn't a good way to start.
- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -1/+17"What car should I buy?"
*dozens of different answers*
"aww damn; I guess I'll just walk...."
??- insllvn, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3or stick with that rickety piece of ***** they have now....
- GMorgan, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2There's no standard car though. The analogy fails because nobody has a monopoly in motoring.
- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3but there is/should be for operating systems?
- cornflakepirate, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1The analogy fails because operating systems are much more complex from both a user and platform point of view.
- raindogmx, on 04/03/2008, -1/+3- "What car should I buy?"
- "Well you could buy a Hummer or what about this Mini, nah probably a Motorcycle hey here look at this Porsche, or what about the Prius... No, I think you should buy a car that has a tertiary flux demuxer so you can recompose its variable trim cogs, like the DeLorean has. If you can't make up your mind remember there are all kinds of vans, minivans, suvs, sedans, coupes... And they're all free! Wow, isn't choice wonderful?"
- "Gee, thanks" - sloppychris, on 04/03/2008, -2/+2Nerds: normal people don't spend time shopping for computer operating systems the way they do for cars. Now matter how much fun we have talking about it, they're never going to do it. Normal people just use computers for functionality, they don't care about the stuff we do.
- Philluminati, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Were not talking about normal people. It's IT people who post these forum questions asking what distro should I use.
- rootneg2, on 04/03/2008, -1/+17"What car should I buy?"
- sloppychris, on 04/03/2008, -7/+2Being told 12 different answers to the very first question someone asks about linux isn't a good way to start.
- Sifter, on 04/03/2008, -1/+69It's becoming the generic Digg story, that's for sure.
- deadbaby, on 04/03/2008, -4/+15Ubuntu has been the standard now for at least a couple years. I used to pick & choose between CentOS, Gentoo & SuSE depending on the task at hand. Not so much anymore. I find Ubuntu is very flexible. It can be bleeding edge (Gentoo), it can be a great server (CentOS) and it's obviously a great desktop. I don't see any compelling reason to use other distros anymore unless I am doing something very specialized.
- int19h, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1I think the crass generalizations will offend users of Gentoo, but I think you're right in the overall point.
- dunbone, on 04/03/2008, -7/+5So, if I was to ask you, "Give me Linux to play with", what would you offer? Ubuntu probably. You gave me Linux. You gave me Ubuntu. There are interchangeable. Along with all the other millions of distros.
- baalzebub, on 04/03/2008, -0/+10i would not be too concerned about it, after the new users just starting to adopt Linux via ubuntu start looking for Linux related help at places like http://www.linuxquestions.org/ they will soon realize ubuntu is not the only distribution of Linux there is, of you know of any point them to websites such as http://www.distrowatch.com/ and they will quickly see there are many distributions of Linux built for various purposes and have various desktop environments for a default desktop, gnome, kde, xfce & etc...
- DeviateSeptum, on 04/03/2008, -1/+21Ubuntu is THE distribution right now. I'm quite experienced with Linux but I love the fact that almost any question I might have can be found by a google search with a answer given for Ubuntu specifically.
- scott12087, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2Even if it is specific to Ubuntu though, it almost always works on any other distribution. Worst case is a couple minor differences.
- shakajumbo, on 04/03/2008, -1/+3 "Worst case is a couple minor differences"
not flaming you at all bro.. but historically, those minor differences can very easily amount to hours of googling, and dozens of web forums to compensate for.
If you're already devoted to Linux, then you may see it as paying your dues, or the price of freedom. But for someone who's on the fence, and just wants to explore a bit.. that exercise is usually more than enough to send them back to the OS they came from. I LOVE how user friendly Ubuntu was to in the beginning. it's defiantly what has allowed me to continue using Linux the entire year I've been using it now.
- shakajumbo, on 04/03/2008, -1/+3 "Worst case is a couple minor differences"
- scott12087, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2Even if it is specific to Ubuntu though, it almost always works on any other distribution. Worst case is a couple minor differences.
- Meekus, on 04/03/2008, -1/+8The huge community and abundance of support is what makes Ubuntu great for me. Any issues I have, I can usually find the answer to. Not to mention the huge repositories of packages available.
- silfiriel, on 04/03/2008, -7/+8well, it should!
the different distros just can't be enough competitive with MS. But if the linux community focuses on one distro would be a "windows killer".- xsquirrel378x, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1and the linux community will NEVER band around one distribution, let alone a subpar one like ubuntu :P
- silfiriel, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2but if everybody worked on it, it will become much more than what ubuntu is now, or any OS.
don't you get it ubuntu or any linux distro is what it is because thousands of people work on it
- silfiriel, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2but if everybody worked on it, it will become much more than what ubuntu is now, or any OS.
- xsquirrel378x, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1and the linux community will NEVER band around one distribution, let alone a subpar one like ubuntu :P
- staple, on 04/03/2008, -10/+16I just wish kubuntu was the generic distro....
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -8/+0Kubuntu is the same as Ubuntu.
- leamanc, on 04/04/2008, -0/+0We all know that. The original poster was just saying he wishes the KDE variant was more popular than the Gnome one.
- Endemoniada, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Well, obviously not, or it wouldn't be a separate distro.
Yes, they share the same base system, and are 100% compatible. But Ubuntu as a whole shares most of its code base with Debian, and Ubuntu and Debian aren't the same.
I think, generally, if they include different packages and have different names, they are separate distributions. That's part of the beauty of Linux and GPL.- vincentweber, on 04/05/2008, -0/+0Then if you typed "sudo apt-get install kde3-core" on an Ubuntu install you'd suddenly have Kubuntu? No.
- wolphcry, on 04/03/2008, -3/+1Kubuntu + Gos and life would be perfect
- codemander, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1i must agree that i do find kubuntu the real darling of the family. Its slicker, cleaner, and doesnt come with beryl preinstalled. Its not the best looking, but i cant get away from how sleek (if limited) that Konqueror is, and how responsive the OS is off the bat. I only use linux at home, so im no expert, but a 2.8GHZ old school pentium junk laptop really shouldn't struggle to run a graphical OS. is it just me, or is that just firefox. Oh no, what have i done.......
- ninja0, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1It is. Kubuntu is just ubuntu but with KDE instead of gnome.
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -8/+0Kubuntu is the same as Ubuntu.
- stateq2, on 04/03/2008, -2/+6If any Linux distro has to become standard, it should definitely be Ubuntu. I have used many other distros, and Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) is by far the best/easiest that I've so far. In Ubuntu, it took me 45 minutes to get a setup that took me 4 days in Slackware 12....true story.
- i88gerbils, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3I had the opposite experience. Slack is second nature to me, and while I don't install binaries making my installation process long Ubuntu didn't work at all!
- xsquirrel378x, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1agreed. BSD style distros all the way
- i88gerbils, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3I had the opposite experience. Slack is second nature to me, and while I don't install binaries making my installation process long Ubuntu didn't work at all!
- Nougat, on 04/03/2008, -4/+3Yes, in just the same way as "Windows" is currently colloquial for "Windows XP Home," when there are Windows [Small Business] Server [NT[4|3.51]]|2000|2003|2008[Core]], Windows XP Pro, 2000, ME, 98, 95, NT Workstation [4|3.51], 3.1, Vista (in all its versions), Windows Mobile [5|6], Windows CE ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Microsoft_Win ... - bsdboy, on 04/03/2008, -8/+2What is this Linux thing again?
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1I don't know. Don't we all use *BSD?
- ha1f, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3Dont't bring that up! For the love of God, keep them away from BSD...
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1I don't know. Don't we all use *BSD?
- LoudMusic, on 04/03/2008, -3/+11Not so much "generic" as it is "defacto". When someone says, "I want to try Linux - what do I do?", their geek friend says, "Download Ubuntu". Why? Because the Ubuntu group did it right, and the geek friend won't have to baby their non-geek friend through using Linux and they know the friend will have a positive experience.
What is it people like about OS X? It 'just works'. Well, Ubuntu is kind of the same way. I've been using various distros of Linux for about seven years and I'm using Ubuntu on my 600m because it 'just works'. No more hassles! It's easy to get new software and it's easy to keep it all updated. And all my hardware works. I actually find Ubuntu 7.10 on my Inspiron 600m to be more enjoyable than OS X 10.4 on my PowerBook.- SnowCrashv5, on 04/03/2008, -5/+4You forget to mention that Apple fanboys are obnoxious and the Ubuntu crowd is developing into the same. They are noobs that don't know the underpinnings of their system and they are speaking with authority about Linux in general, especially when they confuse the difference of a kernel, a distro, a desktop environment and an application.
- LoudMusic, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3I didn't even know it had gone that far. Though I'm not surprised either. Seems I've put myself a bit out of the loop. The only contact I have with Linux users anymore is my immediate group, who are all much more versed UNIX users than myself.
But, I don't know that this is really any different than how it is with Windows, Macintosh OS, or computers in general. There are lots of people who refer to the computer tower as "the hard drive", don't know the difference between a hard drive and memory, or have any idea about the difference between an operating system, file system, or applications. Not to mention that 90% of the population thinks that the web IS the internet.
It's just the blind leading the blind.- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1it's worse that some people even think Internet Explorer is The Internet.
- ZeroSumDivide, on 04/03/2008, -2/+2Kind of like you, huh?
- LoudMusic, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3I didn't even know it had gone that far. Though I'm not surprised either. Seems I've put myself a bit out of the loop. The only contact I have with Linux users anymore is my immediate group, who are all much more versed UNIX users than myself.
- bogslug, on 04/03/2008, -0/+0hey, leave the linux action show out of this!
- SnowCrashv5, on 04/03/2008, -5/+4You forget to mention that Apple fanboys are obnoxious and the Ubuntu crowd is developing into the same. They are noobs that don't know the underpinnings of their system and they are speaking with authority about Linux in general, especially when they confuse the difference of a kernel, a distro, a desktop environment and an application.
- sdm011, on 04/03/2008, -1/+4Yes.
- ePuck, on 04/03/2008, -6/+2Flavor of the week. Which isn't a bad thing!
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2^Troll. Ubuntu is a major distro that you can put next to SuSE, Gentoo, Fedora, Red Hat and Debian. Flavor of the week? Nice try...
- ePuck, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4Hey, a "week" could last years. You don't know the future. All those distros you mentioned were very popular at one time. Becoming the flavor of the week only brings you higher!
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -0/+0I can understand what you mean now; it's popular now but it could be surpased in popularity because a 'better' distro could emerge. I agree with that. But you said it the wrong way... In the Linux world you have a crapload of distro's. Many of the distro's out there are not any different from the other ("Hey let's make our own distro by applying a cool theme and by adding one app so we can claim it is our own, yet no one cares!"). These distro's are flavor of the week distro's because after a few releases (2, maybe 3) they cease to exist after a few _weeks_. Ubuntu is completely different. Saying Ubuntu is a flavor of the week is indeed trolling, but according to your second post I can see that you were not trying to.
- Snuffs, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Linux Mint for example is a flavor of the week.
- ninja0, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Correct. It already has been years since ubuntu has been popular. 7 members of my family use it ;).
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -0/+0I can understand what you mean now; it's popular now but it could be surpased in popularity because a 'better' distro could emerge. I agree with that. But you said it the wrong way... In the Linux world you have a crapload of distro's. Many of the distro's out there are not any different from the other ("Hey let's make our own distro by applying a cool theme and by adding one app so we can claim it is our own, yet no one cares!"). These distro's are flavor of the week distro's because after a few releases (2, maybe 3) they cease to exist after a few _weeks_. Ubuntu is completely different. Saying Ubuntu is a flavor of the week is indeed trolling, but according to your second post I can see that you were not trying to.
- illestlyrics, on 04/03/2008, -4/+5Who cares? Not everybody needs to be some sort of linux expert. If they can get away with just knowing about Ubuntu. That's fine. Believe it or not, some people don't deal with operating systems in their everyday lives, but would appreciate a free operating system that's a bit more secure. I'm happy for anybody who gets the opportunity to use an alternative to windows. I don't care, what they run, or even how much they know about it.
- reKONG, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2I personally haven't experienced this, fedora is the distro that alot of people i know are going with. I think this is probably because our labs run fedora so that is what people are used to.
- hammerhand82, on 04/03/2008, -4/+4Who cares? If it raises the number of Desktop Linux users and helps put pressure on MS, then let it be.
It's what Linux needs to become a true competitor in the Desktop market.
And all it will do is introduce new people to Linux
So by the transitive property
I created Huckabee!!! - stray, on 04/03/2008, -2/+8I certainly hope it is. I know a lot of hardcore Linux users want everyone to use Slackare, Gentoo or another more "pure" Linux, but that just isn't going to happen. My father the technophobe will never want to compile from source or extract a Slackware tarball at /, ever.
- tehjarvis, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1emerge isn't any harder to use than apt-get.
- Tyr7BE, on 04/03/2008, -2/+8Isn't this sort of what people have been wanting for so many years? For almost a decade there has been so much lamenting about how there are hundreds of distros to choose from and no standardization. Well here it is. You want to write software for Linux, make sure it runs on Ubuntu. You want to release your software on Linux? Offer a deb package. I know it's not the same for the corporate world, where Red Hat and to a lesser extent SuSE reign supreme, but as far as Desktop goes, Ubuntu is it.
Quite frankly I'm glad. I know a lot of people who wanted to try Linux and were scared off by all the choices, or they tried Debian or Slackware or Gentoo as their first distro and were overwhelmed. Those still exist if you want to dive deeper and get your hands a bit dirtier, but having a well put together, polished distro like Ubuntu being the de-facto choice for new Desktop users is a very good thing for Linux adoption in general.- grimward, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3One can only hope the community pools their resources around Ubuntu because that would mean that in about two years, we could very well be looking at the actual YEAR of the linux desktop! Also, one could also hope that they're gonna increase the interoperability between MS products and Ubuntu even further, possibly making Ubuntu into THE distro that would run all MS software. And kids, if that happens, ol Grimward here will jump from his Vista ship faster than you can say "omg, you damn traitor!" :D
- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1I actually really started my Linux experience using Debian.. and this was quite a few years back.. around the time slink was their release name. Back when people said Debian was a harder distro to use while Redhat was easy. Back when you manually editted config files and set up your box. I failed to see why people even considered Debian harder.. but the way apt works is just easier than rpm. I hate having to look for dependencies :)
- CannedMango, on 04/03/2008, -2/+6This is a very positive thing for Linux. To have a user friendly distro that many n00bs can associate with is part of the answer to cracking a larger percentage of the main market.
One thing tech people need to realize is that an overwhelming choice of options is *not* a good thing if you know very little about computers. They just want something that works that is easy to get running. So kudos to the Ubuntu community for making it the easiest Linux distro to work with. - amightywind, on 04/03/2008, -4/+5What about Fedora? Ubuntu is okay. I personally use Gentoo because I like to optimize aggressively for my platform. You will not get that with a binary distribution. Most Ubuntu users enter 32-64 bit hell or library mismatches as soon as they try to do something different with graphics or gaming. It is also a good skill to be able to build a kernel for your PC. You get to know the hardware that way. The PCI and USB buses are my friends.
- stranger, on 04/03/2008, -3/+7Funny, I just installed Ubuntu last night before going to bed. I've used live cds of other distros before, but this is my first Linux install.
- Croepha, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1Its easy to get confused if everyone perpetuates miss information and misleading generalizations, for example, Linux itself is not an operating system, its a kernel.
- Smurph0404, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3I'm actually considering installing Linux on my home computer for the first time, and I would definitely go with Ubuntu. My reasons for switching would be stability and speed. I know all Linux distros are faster than windows, and anything with as many users as ubuntu has is probably pretty stable. It's a bandwagon thing, uneducated people like me will assume what is most popular is the safest bet.
- JRPereira, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2Make sure to dual boot first. I'm going to get attacked for saying it, but nothing makes the switch easier than a safety net.
- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1SabayonLinux has been more stable for me than Ubuntu.. and easier.. but then again.. yeah not as popular out there and not as many support options.
- juusux, on 04/03/2008, -1/+4ubuntu is great, however it would be nice if people could discern the difference between it and linux. its human nature though, like kleenex and tissue paper.
- xsquirrel378x, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1band-aids and adhesive bandages
- stereoradiation, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1Operating System = Toilet Paper
Windows = prison-issue 1-ply
Ubuntu = Quilted Northern - ninja0, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Nice analogy...
- xsquirrel378x, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1band-aids and adhesive bandages
- rmxz, on 04/03/2008, -1/+6I'd rather say that Ubuntu is more the generic Desktop.
I know very few Ubuntu server installations compared even to Debian Stable or Red Hat.- CarzorStelatis, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2How many home users do you know who are looking for a server operating system?
- kinadian, on 04/03/2008, -1/+27
- CarzorStelatis, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2How many home users do you know who are looking for a server operating system?
- indicava, on 04/03/2008, -5/+3This is so typical, after years of the linux fan-boys sending out the "move-to-linux" propaganda. Now they're pissed that people actually take it out for a test-drive.
This is exactly the reason why I love linux, but hate the scene, or at least alot of the people associated with it. - SnowCrashv5, on 04/03/2008, -8/+10I've made a hobby out of burying Ubuntu articles in the digg section for this very reason. Ubuntu articles on digg seem to fall in a number of categories.
1. They use ubuntu as a buzz word for something application specific (firefox), desktop environment specific (gnome generally), or that could apply to Linux in general for any distro.
2. It's a dupe article that gets submitted 100 times over in the course of 24hours.
3. It's brainstorm voting spam. Let people browse brainstorm on their own and vote for what they want. You don't see people submitting reddit, shoutwire, or mixx articles on digg asking for people to vote, so stop with the brainstorm crap.
I'm all for Linux spreading, and kudos to Ubuntu for their sucess. Some people have some elitism about Ubuntu as a distro. I have nothing against the technology or it's adoption. But I'm not going to encourage noobs spreading idiocy in the Linux community.- grimward, on 04/03/2008, -5/+5Awwww, are they stepping on your elitist toes? ;)
- ZeroSumDivide, on 04/03/2008, -6/+2Sometimes I think that snobs like you are what keep people from adopting Linux more than any learning curve difficulty.
- SnowCrashv5, on 04/03/2008, -2/+4I've helped switch more than my share to linux, and even to Ubuntu so I don't want to hear it. It's simply about spam and speaking with authority about things they know nothing about.
Listen to a noob talk about security on linux and he or she will sound like a mac user. They have this invincibility complex b/c they don't have to run spybot anymore. - xsquirrel378x, on 04/03/2008, -3/+1if someone wants to pick up and learn, let them do it themselves and learn it instead of being little girls about it. who gives a ***** what OS other people use, no community needs more helpless idiots that cant even RTFM. it has nothing to do with being a snob and everything to do with incompetence
- SnowCrashv5, on 04/03/2008, -2/+4I've helped switch more than my share to linux, and even to Ubuntu so I don't want to hear it. It's simply about spam and speaking with authority about things they know nothing about.
- Jem7vwh, on 04/03/2008, -11/+1I think Gentoo is POO POO.
Debian , Fedora, Ubuntu with the Gnone interface kicks butt!- ninja0, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2you mean gnome?
I have gentoo installed... with gnome.
- ninja0, on 04/04/2008, -0/+2you mean gnome?
- Splutterbug, on 04/03/2008, -1/+3I tried Ubuntu out a few times with my old PC before I switched to a mac a year or so ago. Linux in general intimidated me, I like to think of myself as a techy guy but I'm no programmer, Ubutnu was something I heard was newbie friendly and found it to be as well, if only it had worked with the my USB modem I would have stuck with it.
I think what people need to realise is that whatever OS you have there's a fear that you won't be able to run your regular apps that have been ingrained into you at work and school on Windows , I had this with the mac and it wasn't until they went Intel that I made the switch. This made we realise there's plenty of alternatives that are quicker and smarter to what you are used to. I think people are becoming a lot more tech aware and aware of these choices.- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1so instead of just buying a new Linux-compatible modem, you buy a more expensive Mac? :) Can you buy me one too?
- wbowen05, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1If you think this is bad, I still have to explain to some people who think Linux is another version of UNIX, that they are two separate operating systems.
- UKsHaDoW, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Since linux runs the gnu userspace(To make it useable) which was meant to be a free implementation of unix, they are very similar.
Infact the interface is identical, only the code is different, which the user would never notice
- UKsHaDoW, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Since linux runs the gnu userspace(To make it useable) which was meant to be a free implementation of unix, they are very similar.
- miramardesign, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2Seems to be a good thing in many ways. I wanted to try linux way before I actually did get it installed, but I couldn't figure out WHICH distro to try and how to try it. I tried and failed miserably to install gentoo Couldn't compile it. Then I sampled KNoppix which was cool. Finally I setup a Ubuntu box and I was set.
- JaymezL, on 04/03/2008, -1/+2Ubuntu may be the most popular because it gets the most coverage. I, as a Windows Tech, did not know that Ubuntu is NOT Linux. I don't even understand that distinction. However, in my daily readings on DownloadSquad, EnGadget, Gizmodo, etc. I see lots of stories about Ubuntu that lead me to believe that it is a Linux Distro. If an experienced tech gets confused, it's no wonder an end uswer gets confused.
I am trying to switch my desktop over to Suse10 at the moment. However, I have been unable to locate a decent ISO for it as of yet. I keep downloading something with a corrupted file.- smek2, on 04/03/2008, -1/+3"I, as a Windows Tech, did not know that Ubuntu is NOT Linux." -- wow, no offense, but wow, you call yourself a "Tech"?
- CarzorStelatis, on 04/03/2008, -0/+3He said he was a Windows tech - ie a technician who manages the Windows platform. He wouldn't need to know about Linux any more than someone working in a Toyota garage needs to know about Mercedes cars.
- SharkyTech, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Ubuntu IS a Linux distro, I can kind of see how you would mistakenly think this article is saying it isn't, but only if you've never read anything about linux before. The article is saying that people mistake Linux and Ubuntu as interchangable terms, its not saying that the two have nothing to do with each other.
- smek2, on 04/03/2008, -1/+3"I, as a Windows Tech, did not know that Ubuntu is NOT Linux." -- wow, no offense, but wow, you call yourself a "Tech"?
- ctdf, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1Depends on your taste of Operating Systems. Not that different than OSX+Mac.
- Vidd, on 04/04/2008, -0/+1Yes it is, different. OS X and Windows are not different versions of each other.
- diggmc, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2They said the same thing 10 years ago about Red Hat. Look at the Linux landscape now... Nothing to see here, move along.
- Archcoder, on 04/03/2008, -0/+11Don't complain. People are using Linux. That's all that matters.
- JRPereira, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4Yea, I wish people would get that. I'm still pretty new to Linux and I'm using Ubuntu for both my file server and a couple of my laptops (one dual boots with xp until I can get some things figured out) and it seems like every time I announce that I'm using Linux and have a question, I'm bombarded with all sorts of rants about why I'm not doing everything from the command line and why I'm using Ubuntu and such. It was my original impression that the Linux community is all about being helpful and fighting the evil empire but instead it seems to be everything pushing their own rules and agendas.
I still like Linux though and am trying to make it work for me (aka trying to find quality replacements [or getting windows programs working with wine, which I'm also attacked for] for all of the programs I need to be productive [and maybe a few games], and trying to get things fully configured to my liking). I just wish the community would either embrace the converts a little more or at least just not attack them.- Archcoder, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4Yeah, it's like that with most tech/programming communities. There are a lot of people that just suck the life out of everything by trying to show off their 1337 c0d1ng 5k1llz. They don't actually contribute anything, they just play the role on an "oldbie" and hate on everyone. Rather than pointing you towards an answer they give you 10 reasons why you're a failure and start to question your intelligence.
That's just when you introduce yourself. - UKsHaDoW, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1Stick to the ubuntu community.
A lot of other disto's are elitist.
- Archcoder, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4Yeah, it's like that with most tech/programming communities. There are a lot of people that just suck the life out of everything by trying to show off their 1337 c0d1ng 5k1llz. They don't actually contribute anything, they just play the role on an "oldbie" and hate on everyone. Rather than pointing you towards an answer they give you 10 reasons why you're a failure and start to question your intelligence.
- JRPereira, on 04/03/2008, -0/+4Yea, I wish people would get that. I'm still pretty new to Linux and I'm using Ubuntu for both my file server and a couple of my laptops (one dual boots with xp until I can get some things figured out) and it seems like every time I announce that I'm using Linux and have a question, I'm bombarded with all sorts of rants about why I'm not doing everything from the command line and why I'm using Ubuntu and such. It was my original impression that the Linux community is all about being helpful and fighting the evil empire but instead it seems to be everything pushing their own rules and agendas.
- Ellipsys, on 04/03/2008, -0/+5Unfortunately, when your community "opens up" and attracts more general users, you also attract more "noobs spreading idiocy" as a previous poster put it. However, think about WHY they're doing it. If they are submitting votes, brainstorm spam, and dupes it is because they're excited about Ubuntu (and therefore, Linux) and want to have an opinion in how it is developed. Turning them away or telling them they don't belong because they're not gurus is only going to hurt the adoption that some longtime Linux users have been asking about for a long time. With "noobs" come the potential to have more companies write drivers and programs that are Linux compatible. Embrace them, give them user friendliness. Look at Apple - despite a locked down hardware and software platform, this relatively small base of users has convinced many hardware and software manufacturers to support their platform. Imagine if Linux adoption, with its open attitude grew to be the same size as Apple? So lets make some stuff "just work", and put up with people who confuse Ubuntu as Linux and such. In time, when they're truly interested in learning, more experienced gurus can teach. Like it or not, if open source nerds want to move forward, these people are our future.
- CarzorStelatis, on 04/03/2008, -0/+2According to best estimates, Linux (ie the combined userbase of all the different distros) IS about equivalent to Apple in the desktop market - around 3% each.
- T8erT0T, on 04/03/2008, -0/+10Kind of a silly observation to be writing about. Yes it's popular, yes it's easy, yes it's successful, yes it is often recommended to new users. Quit bitching about semantics. New users will eventually realize there are different flavors and pick up on what Linux/GNU is all about. Don't fault them for an early misconception, praise new users for branching out and they'll learn the ropes in time.
- vincentweber, on 04/03/2008, -1/+1It doesn't matter what distro you use. What's important is that all distro's can exchange files, talk to each other and have the same cmd shell and GNU tools and it will all be fine.
- misterE0, on 04/03/2008, -1/+4yes, and it's a good thing. While it's irritating to us nerd-folk, it's akin to the general public referring to all mp3 players as "ipods" or thinking that AOL is the internet. It's evidence that Ubuntu has done something that linux struggles with: branding. 2008 is the year of the linux desktop! errr...
- brian1027, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1very very true. I think its going to get worse too, because more and more people will learn of linux through Ubuntu
- tiedyeman, on 04/03/2008, -2/+2"Is Ubuntu becoming the generic Linux distro?"
I dunno, is the Pope Catholic?
You're level of insight is sub-optimal. - flashingcurser, on 04/03/2008, -0/+6You will still find a lot of people who think RedHat=linux. They still do even after they are no longer noobs. From time to time you will hear a reference to "Linux 9"
- MWeather, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1I'm still stuck using Linux 2.6 :(
- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1wow I must be more advanced.. I'm using 2.6.22
- nominalgeek, on 04/04/2008, -0/+0Oh noes, time to upgrade to the uber leet 2.6.24
- codemander, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1bummer, me too
- yacks, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1wow I must be more advanced.. I'm using 2.6.22
- MWeather, on 04/03/2008, -0/+1I'm still stuck using Linux 2.6 :(
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