What is Digg?26 Comments
- inactive, on 09/01/2008, -2/+14I recommend Ubuntu if you're new to Linux because it's so user friendly. Installing programs is just point and click.
- SVOboy, on 09/01/2008, -4/+10Ubuntu for the win (or the msi wind)!
- smotpoker, on 09/02/2008, -0/+3From the admin perspective they are about the same. From desktop perspective:
-Debian defaults to gnome rather than kde
-Debian does not use any Mozilla branding and use their own Mozilla builds/patches
-most Debian packages/distro-versions are better tested but have slower release cycles
-Debian has fewer proprietary codecs by default
-Debian tends to have less documentation for/about desktop apps these days since more desktop users prefer Ubuntu (though most of Ubuntu docs are still applicable to Debian to some degree and vice-versa) - tvanwyk, on 09/02/2008, -0/+2Slack and Arch. Mmm... KISS.
Though you should have included 3 more in the list. You would have got more Diggs. - johndavidjack, on 09/02/2008, -0/+2OpenSolaris & Solaris are my personal faves. Bitch and a half to setup though. But the benefit is enterprise grade software and stability, and I have all of the same multimedia and software support from my CentOS and Fedora days...
- smotpoker, on 09/02/2008, -0/+2Maybe not the best example, you can do that with most distros ;). Even in gentoo you can install most programs with a simple point/click through porthole (not sure how often since I don't normally use it and I would think package masking a dep due to testing/bugs would interfere on occasion)
- ToadLeg, on 09/02/2008, -1/+3Linux Mint FTW because you don't need to install things like codecs and browser plugins after installation.
- secrity, on 09/02/2008, -1/+3I currently run Kubuntu, and I am tempted to try Debian to see the differences.
- Rolcol, on 09/02/2008, -0/+2But the Gentoo installation is what would drive my friend's dad away from Gentoo.
- smotpoker, on 09/02/2008, -0/+2Haha, yeah it can be intimidating to say the least :P.
Don't get me wrong, I am not recommending gentoo for average desktop use[ers], just pointing out that most program installation is that simple in most distributions.
I understand citing easy application install/upgrade as an advantage of desktop Linux over Windows/Mac but not any of these distros over the other since it is equally simple on most of them - smotpoker, on 09/02/2008, -0/+2@doo
"Are you sure ?"
I am fairly certain... Like most truly free Linux distros, Debian frowns on and doesn't provide a whole lot of stuff that is not open by default (or used to). Instead, you often have (or had) to add extra repos and explicitly have Debian install them. This includes libdvdcss, realplayer, wmv/wsf and other codecs.
This was one of the bigger complaints about Ubuntu for a while as well (since it is debian-based it had the same problem)
"What default are you talking about ?"
The "Desktop Install" default. Nor did they come with totem, mplayer, xine or any other multimedia packages AFAIK. Mind you, I haven't installed Debian as a desktop system for about 1.5 years so it is possible this has changed recently but I doubt it because they are (or were) particularly wary of legal issues involving proprietary codecs.
"Can you provide evidence ?"
The only evidence I can really provide is google. Since I cannot sort results by date and many people use Ubuntu instead now, I am not sure how telling the lack of recent results is. I am not willing to search through more than one page of results to verify something I'm fairly certain is true to someone I don't know. Anyway, here are some howtos as recent as 10/2007 that describe the process of installing codecs on and AFAIK they haven't made any new releases since then:
http://thelinuxway.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-ins ...
http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2007/04/install-mult ...
http://www.debianadmin.com/install-libdvdcss-and-w ...
If you want more evidence you will have to find it yourself or test it on your own debian system. Even if all you have is a server, you should be able to ssh -X in and apt-get install mplayer (remember to "xhost +" first!) and then try to mplayer something.wmv - johndavidjack, on 09/02/2008, -0/+2Well, Ubuntu specific administration only accounts for a small margin of the industry, and it doesn't even really get into heavy databasing, clustering, etc types of operations.
- raisputin3, on 09/02/2008, -2/+3netBSD, gentoo, Linux From Scratch so you actually learn something because of the inevitible problems you will have under un*x
- tvanwyk, on 09/02/2008, -1/+2Dugg for making a brand new insight.
- Digglet69, on 09/02/2008, -1/+2"For the win" what ever happened to FTW ?
- johndavidjack, on 09/02/2008, -0/+1^^^
Well, I assume you weren't manually editing the file, because that's what usermod is for. I mean, unless somehow the entire syntax of the file is screwed, you could probably fix that by booting with a livecd and correcting the error. Probably could just copy/paste the /etc/passwd for from the ubuntu livecd over the one on your hard drive. Weird though... - manacit2, on 09/02/2008, -0/+1so it comes with *all* the browser plugins already installed? Sweeeeet
- motang, on 09/02/2008, -0/+1Yeah gOS is pretty cool, I am thinking about putting that on my eee box.
- raisputin3, on 09/02/2008, -0/+1My Ubuntu box just completely crashed and I have several years of un*x administration under my belt. Tried to create a couple users and suddenly the password file was demolished. Literally had 1 entry in it. This is all on a fresh install as well.
- MikeonTV, on 09/02/2008, -0/+1Zenwalk is a fabulous distro for machines with low resources!
- kephas, on 09/02/2008, -1/+2I went from Slackware->Gentoo->Linux From Scratch->Ubuntu, but really this is only a good option for someone who wants to administer linux computers. The average user can probably just use and learn Ubuntu specific administration without really needing to know what's going on underneath the hood.
- 3242130193, on 09/02/2008, -0/+1From now on, before I read these kinds of articles, I am going to try to guess beforehand which distros they are going to mention. This time I chose
ubuntu, pclinuxos, opensuse, fedora, mint, xandros, mepis
I got 5/7. - jamesmcm, on 09/02/2008, -0/+1I just switched to Linux Mint (had to reinstall Ubuntu after Cedega/BF2 broke Nvidia drivers). Whilst packaging the codecs might be convenient, the reason why they aren't normally packaged is because they are not free software, as their source is often closed and they are often covered by patents.
Also, I don't really think Mint is different enough from Ubuntu to be counted as a seperate distro. But then i suppose that brings up the issue of whether Ubuntu is different enough from Debian, etc. - dooooo, on 09/02/2008, -1/+2"Debian has fewer proprietary codecs by default"
Are you sure ?
What default are you talking about ?
Can you provide evidence ? - inactive, on 09/02/2008, -2/+38. gOS
It's actually my favorite one.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/59/GOS_ ... - andypop481, on 09/02/2008, -2/+1Zenwalk? gentoo? Ubunut? Kubunute? Xandros? Yeah why hasn't Linux caught on.
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