What is Digg?110 Comments
- schestowitz, on 10/12/2007, -10/+54[sarcasm /] No options? There's also Edubuntu, Xubuntu....
...what's GNU/Linux? Is it anything like Ubuntu OS? - Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -16/+55Exactly.
Here's the logic of someone new to Linux:
1. "Ubuntu is the 'King of Distros'. It must be the best there is, right?"
2. "Why isn't my DVD burner working?! Damn you, Ubuntu!"
3. "If Ubuntu is THE best.....Linux must suck. Screw it....I'm gonna go troll every Linux thread now."
So.....in a way....people who are putting Ubuntu on a high pedestal by pushing article after article about why it's better than Windows are actually *killing* the cause.
What these people fail to realize is that Linux is about having the freedom to make any customization you want. We all know that. That's what makes Linux awesome.
So then WHY are we forcing Ubuntu into people's faces saying "this is the best. try it try it try it try it...." ?? It just pisses people off and drives them farther away.
Shouldn't we be promoting it as one of the many options people have instead of the "end-all be-all" ?
Freedom to choose is what we should be promoting here - not one specific distro. The 1,000 daily articles about Ubuntu are, in ways, depriving people of their freedom to make their own choice - which goes against many of the beliefs driving Linux. - Shadowman, on 10/12/2007, -8/+41I think Ubuntu is way over-hyped but is "King of Distros" because it is based on the already popular Debian, sends out free CDs, and it has the "one man with a vision" that other distros don't have. Mark Shuttleworth is the Linux community's answer to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and many people are attracted to that. And it's marketed as a real alternative to Windows on the desktop. Most other distros seem to have a "use it if you want to but we don't really care" attitude.
But I have a problem with Ubuntu users, many total n00bs, that think Ubuntu is awesome and everything else sucks. They couldn't care less about Linux in general (as schestowitz pointed out). You don't use Ubuntu? What a moron! - brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -4/+31Ubuntu did what other distros failed to do for years: provide an easy method of installing software and drivers, and without dependency hell. Debian actually came up with it first: the apt command and the synaptic package manager. It was completely ground-breaking, except for one small problem: Debian is extremely difficult for new users to install.
Ubuntu took Debian and made it more accessible to a larger audience, that's why it's number one. - MemoryDump, on 10/12/2007, -7/+33I'm sure digg helped push those numbers up!
Ubuntu is a great distro. - gridbread, on 10/12/2007, -9/+35Stop hating Ubuntu, it's an excellent distro.
The community is respectful and responsive, everything I've come across works, or a solution is as far as the forums.
It was the easiest way to get my friends off of windows, especially the casual users.
Good press for a good distro, get over it. - pixelmixer, on 10/12/2007, -7/+30From the posts above the fanboyism seems to be more anti-ubuntu than pro-linux. I use it, i like it, i've used others, i like them too, but I just like the feel of Ubuntu better. + they gave me like 10 free dvd's, so thats cool too.
Anywho, it seems the whole linux distro wars* is more people rebelling against Ubuntu because its getting so much press than it is people glad the linux is getting the press in the first place.
Some people are so stuck on hating Ubuntu because YOUR distro is the BEST... god forbid anything else but your distro gets some cred. This isnt unlike the Mac fanboys or the Windows Fanboys. Like it or not, Ubuntu is the most popular, but its only because of recent changes (the last year or so).
Please note that I boot Ubuntu as my primary on my desktop. SuSE on my lappy. Both duely with Win XP of course. - latova, on 10/12/2007, -8/+23Yeah, we're starting to see distro fanboyism, as if they were different consoles or different web browsers. We're all on the same team here folks. I think what people need to get across is that this is linux and is no different from other distros.
- zionKing, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Who do you think is the King of Bistros for 2006?
- Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12My god....it's a distribution..it's getting popular... Why is it that popular=bad in the linux world? When slackware was popular, everyone I knew slammed it. When redhat got popular, the geek WORLD slammed it...then debian got popular and everyone in my college slammed it... now Ubuntu is popular, and about to be burned at the stake.
The only thing worse are the people who try to install it once or twice, have an issue, and immediately assume it's inferior, even though just as many people have had similar issues with "your favorite distribution goes here"
I use ubuntu because it works perfectly on my current hardware. I used suse on one of my previous computers. I used debian for a long time on my P2 that I swore by from when it was top of the line to when it was dead bottom.
What we really need is to stop squabbling and actually GET one distribution that'll run out of the box on all major hardware. Even gentoo stage 1 has had issues on some of my systems, like compiles that would horribly fail tests even though it and all prerequisites compiled with almost no warnings. - lordsandwich, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15Agreed, and each successive release always seems like a tremendous improvement in hardware detection and pre-configured options that let you spend less and less time editing .confs and the like. For those not fully versed in Linux, it's a blessing.
- mercurysquad, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"it has no decent support, unlike redhat"
What have YOU been smoking?? - 0crabby0, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15King of Distros???
I thought we were an Autonomous Collective??? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12Ubuntu converted me ..... of course I then went and found a distro more suited to my needs ... but back then ubuntu supported my acx111 wireless card the best :)
I'll always be part faithful to ubuntu... - hexydes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I stopped reading this nested thread after the first two posts, so sorry if I re-iterate any other feelings with my post.
Regarding Ubuntu, I would say the following: If your interest is drawing attention towards Linux (for whatever reason; love of the system, hatred of Windows, etc.), then I would say any reason, be it a distro, an app for a specific distro, level of support of a distro, general look and feel of a distro, etc. should be taken as a positive. Like or dis-like Ubuntu, it is very popular. I've used Linux on-and-off over the past five or six years, starting back with Redhat, moving to Mandrake, and then Lindows. I never used any of them for more than a few weeks, because I ran into so many obstacles (drivers, software availability, software installation process, look and feel, OS installation, etc) that it simply wasn't worth the learning curve. However, I installed Ubuntu around three weeks ago. ALL of my hardware was detected and is running out of the box (save NVIDIA drivers, which were easy enough), almost all the software I needed I found in the repository, Beryl (including an easy installation from said repository) makes the system look VERY nice, and slightly more usable....this is honestly the first time I've ever used Linux and thought to myself, "You know....I might be able to actually switch over to this at home..."
At present, I don't have any plans to switch back to Windows XP (co-incidentally, I initially tried Ubuntu due to the fact that I did not want to switch to Vista the next time I needed to upgrade, so thank Microsoft and their shenanigans for my initial curiosity). My current plan is to wipe XP from my computer and dual-boot Ubuntu and SkyOS.
But back to my original point, who cares what distro of Linux people use, or what their reasons are. If the goal is to get people over to Linux, and it looks like Ubuntu is an increasingly successful way to accomplish this...then why would you care if they use Ubuntu, and ultimately try to confuse the users by presenting them with 100 different distros to try? The original comment that initiated this diatribe stated:
"But I have a problem with Ubuntu users, many total n00bs, that think Ubuntu is awesome and everything else sucks. They couldn't care less about Linux in general (as schestowitz pointed out)."
I can't understand why many Linux users have to constantly point out and poke fun at "total n00bs". I've found the Ubuntu community to be the friendliest and most helpful of any Linux community that I've ever had to deal with. They understand that many of the users are new to Linux, and do their best to help them along, so that hopefully they won't just jump ship and head back to familiar waters.
I think the rest of the Linux community would be well-served to find out *WHY* the Ubuntu distro has had so much rapid success, and try to emulate that in their own version/community. - nicku, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13Ubuntu is a great distro, but I was not really impressed with Edgy Eft. I had a ton of problems with it on my laptop that i didn't have with Dapper. I switched to Fedora Core 6 and think it is one of the cleanest looking Linux installs I've seen. Having options is one of the great things about running Linux.
- ramd3z, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11I digg ubuntu because I have used linux for 4 years, started with redhat 8 and ubuntu (kubuntu actually) is the first distro that I would put on my 13 yr old brothers computer and my moms computer and they haven't looked back. It may not be the best linux distro, but it is no doubt in my view the best linux distro to work for my purposes. (getting family away from windows). For that it's a success story to me. Now if your purpose is not to get away from windows but perhaps to push linux desktop to it's limits then there is a good chance you might digg a gentoo article. That's the point, there is a distro out there for you and we should all be glad that ubuntu is doing well or else we'll be shooting ourselves in the foot!
It's starting to sound like we can never be happy with the success of linux. We back it back it but then will always have quarrels relative to our current perception of the state of linux. In other words, it sounds like we'll never be satisfied! It reminds me of the scene in blacksheep when Chris Farley is trying to sell car brakes and ends up burning the car that he's using as his demo. Ah well, maybe this inner-species so to speak competition among us will be good for linux. Only time will tell I suppose. - joeshlub, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11First of all, I'm not sure why memorydump is being dugg down.
Ubuntu is just a flavor of debian, which is a flavor of GNU/Linux. Ubuntu is a great way to get started, as as someone starts to know what they're doing, they can move up the chain to distributions that let them customize and really get what they want out of linux.
Ubuntu is an alternative to Windows/OSX, for those who aren't as tech savvy/don't want to put as much effort or time into switching. This is why it's popular, and I don't think anyone can contest that?
Is Ubuntu the best distribution? no. But is a good first step? Hell yes. So stop trashing it, and be happy for what it is: A great way for more people to expiriment with and get involved with Linux. - tagawa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Might be most popular but doesn't mean it's the best.
- Marthinus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Well isn't that what the Ubuntu team said? Remember Ubuntu 6.06 (L)ong (T)erm (S)upport. The Ubuntu team warned the community that 6.10 will be more cutting edge than 6.06 which in turns means less stable.
- rjprobert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6There's a flaw in this news item. Google trends isn't going to tell you how many people are using ubuntu... its only going to say how many people are searching for it. It could be that there's not that many people using it but those who are using it are doing loads of searches on how to get things working with it ;-)
- Magnis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7@ 0crabby0
You're foolin' yourself. We're living in a dictatorship! A self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working class... - Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Woohooo, buriage for stating a valid point. Bet I know how educated the burier was.
Digg would be a better place if people buried for good reasons, instead of "I disagree and am too stupid to debate".
PS: Feel free to bury -this- post, no problem...I just get annoyed at morons. I have to deal with enough of them at work. - Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@willdiggforfood: Re-read my comment correctly then reply. I'm not sure if you just skimmed it too quickly or you actually have a learning disability.
- Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Best according to whom?
If gentoo worked smoothely, it'd still be a 20 hour install, for a couple percentage points, TOPS, of improvement... and that's if you're good at optimized compiling. But don't forget, the high end optimizations are at a potential cost of stability. So you either have a very stable system that takes forever to install but is no faster than the norm, or a very unstable but -fast- system that takes forever to install.
Don't get me wrong, if that extra 2% stability or speed is critical, go for it...but that's not necessarily best...you have to really -really- know what you're doing to squeeze those percentage points... for most users (myself included, and I'm a programmer for a living), that's a few percentage points backwards instead. - Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6And to add to my previous comment (damn edit limit)...
I remember when redhat got slammed.... but you know what? It was the distro that had the highest chance of "just working" at the time. It came with GCC by default when quite a few others didn't...
Yeah, if anything, my complaint is these friggin "newbie-friendly" distros that think it's for the best to make you WORK to put a compiler on your system.
FTR, though, I think Ubuntu came with gcc installed. Did suse? If so, no problem... If not, guess I'll LFS it next system, or Gentoo? - capitapf, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7I dont think that people hate ubuntu, I think that they are just sick of seeing some lame story about how great it is front-paged every hour.
- thcobbs, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8From a programmer's perspective, this is why I chose Ubuntu as my development platform.
Choice.
Every other distribution I tried locked me in to it's version of GCC and I'd need to manually build any others. Also, it would lead to hell in library compatibilities and upgrades. Ubuntu simply starts out with no localized compiler and you can simply go in and choose the one you want.
Specifically for me, it allowed me to choose 3.4.6 and all associated libraries. Simple as that. If I ever want to upgrade my system, I can just remove the current one I have with Apt and upgrade with still no hassle.
All this is directly in contrast to things like fedora that broke all my programs every time I THOUGHT about clicking that damn RHN link to update stuff. - cynicist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@ Mofo
Long Version
That was Intel's fault. They *forgot* to include an ide controller in their p965 chipset, so manufacturer's scrambled to include one, which ended up being jmicron. There happened to be a bug in the kernel which prevented anyone with the p965 chipset (jmicron controller) using an ide cdrom drive from installing linux. A patch has been released already, and any distribution that is updated regularly no longer has this problem.
Short Version
You'll have no problem installing Linux on a Core 2 Duo based desktop. - DevilotX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I started with Cold Hard Debian... and I resisted Ubuntu, to me, it felt like the enemy.
But I tried it, the breezy release, and with the coupling of Automatix, I've learned to Love Ubuntu.
And it has become my Distro of choice.
The keyword there is CHOICE! My brother, he runs Fedora, he installed Ubuntu and said "It's crap" and I do the same there when I install Fedora, I feel Fedora is crap FOR ME.
But we agree, Ubuntu is good for the Desktop, Fedora is good for HIS desktop, and we both run Fedora file/web/ssh servers at home.
Between the two of us, we are moving windows out of our lives, and that is the direction of Linux, not who's king of the distros, but who gets the damn job done for you. - ubuwalker31, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I think your natural selection argument has some merit. When my Mom was on my dual-boot computer recently, I observed her rebooting from Windows into Ubuntu. I asked her why she was using Ubuntu over Windows, and she replied, "Oh, I am addicted to the game "Five or More"...and I can't get it on Windows!"
Granted, you can play this game on any distro, but Ubuntu makes linux accessible to people who are total newbs.
People will migrate to whatever platform meets or exceeds their expectations. Dual-booting both OSes is the best of both worlds, IMHO. - Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@Phocion55
You rest my case.
Openoffice was overnight. You have to use a non-standard (more work for a newbie who doesn't know what he's doing) binary install to shortcut it. It's a LONG build, and it really is only a handful of percentage points gained (OR lost).
I've installed gentoo at least once from each stage. Stage 1 took me over 8 hours to install on an Athlon xp2100 (This was when that was actually a decent computer). Stage 2 took me over 4 hours. I don't remember stage 3 at all. Suse took me 20 minutes but little things never worked right (It kept resetting to 2000x1500 resolution...i sat 4' from a small monitor). Ubuntu took me almost an hour, but everything worked first time. A couple consistantly crashed during the install, etc etc.
Strengths and weaknesses. You ignored that gentoo really does require a lot of skill to ACTUALLY improve the speed and/or stability, and definitely increases the required time.
I'd definitely do a gentoo over an LFS if I had to do either again. I might do a gentoo for a system that is otherwise perfectly stable and I have a full day to spend reading and another to spend installing. - pilgrim3970, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Because Gentoo guides you through setting everything up yourself, you get a more familiarized feel to it all when it's done."
I have to admit I really like the idea of Gentoo and I do think it lends itself to learning the system inside and out - I just don't have the time to tinker with it (maybe some day...). This is why I went with a distro that you install and you're done. - brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3There is no such thing as "the best." The whole point of being Linux is that its customizable for your particular needs. For someone who has special needs, a special handicapped-accessible version of puppy linux on a flash drive is the "best" distro, for their needs. For a Linux veteran who needs no special eye candy and just wants to code all day, Slackware with Fsck is "the best." For the Linux newbie, a distro like Fedora, or Ubuntu is "the best."
It's all subjective. - gridbread, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Well, most of the stuff has been duplicated, we even have the useless eyecandy through beryl+aiglx, xgl etc...
- hexydes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4^^ Mod this guy up, I think he pointed out at least one of the big keys to Ubuntu's success.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3So if ubuntu is getting publicity and not all other distros,that is == evil ?
i disagree.
there are so many reason i prefer but deep down every body knows why one is sticking to his/her preferred distro.
i will just give a simple example, i am residing in an institutes campus and we experience spikes in bandwidth so it is kind of problematic while downloading multiple disc images and and also when i have to update my system.
And then i found apt-axel, solved all my problem. I am really really happy everything is working and have absolutely no problem.
Sure it will work in debian $ debian based distros, but a lot of stuff won't.
Another example is firefox, just imagine so many ppl were not using firefox but many many open-source browser. Just imagine what would have happened there might not be soo many good extension and web developer would have to do so much more work or worse they would have made IE only sites.
Same reason makes ubuntu good for me and many others. - flappysocks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All my Linux boxes are Gentoo. It's just a slightly steeper learning curve than other distros. The benefits far outweigh any inconvenience in getting it installed. What people don't understand, is that you install it once, and thats it... it mostly updates itself from there on. No more upgrade cycles to wait for.
- inkubux, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yeah but you want to install openoffice and you have a year to wait while it compiles.
- brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I experienced similar problems. Edgy introduced several new problems for me as well.
- Numbski, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I think Terry Bogard might have something to say about this. ;)
Powah. Gaisah. - Punk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Ubuntu was the first distro I kept on my pc for longer than a week and I still use it every now and again.
- arjie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Hmm, actually this _is_ a bad thing. But then, that's why lots of people on the ubuntuforums are actually directed to threads and links to sites which help them decide which distro they should choose.
In truth, you'll see that most people on those forums will happily suggest you try another distribution if there seems to be any trouble with Ubuntu that doesn't seem like it's going away. - mercurysquad, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yup, Ubuntu's got root if you need/want that. Next.
- hexydes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Honestly, it may seem useless, but it makes the experience much better. The wobbly windows give a bit of physics to the window movement, and it honestly helps the eyes track the movement better. When I move over to Windows....moving the application windows around just doesn't feel "right" anymore.
Rotating the desktop is a great virtual representation of what is actually happening. I never liked using virtual desktops when it was just a little icon in the corner to click on. However, now that I can easily and quickly roll around all my virtual windows, I'm actually using them.
While some of the window animations are obviously exaggerated for effect on initial install, I really appreciate them now that I have tweaked them to be very unobtrusive, yet obvious. Again, it just "feels" right now, and the way Windows XP works does not.
So in summary, are these effects absolutely "needed"? No, but are they useless? I'd say definitely not. I know that my usability experience has increased quite a bit, I don't like that they aren't present when I move back over to XP to do things, and this is one of the factors that I'm keeping Ubuntu around and not going back to XP (haven't booted it up in three weeks at home). - Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Got porn?
I don't know of any other distribution that had erotica come standard. There was an erotic wallpaper monthly-calendar hiding on Breezy's package list. Beat that! - Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Digg for Terry Bogard!
- giverson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I think it's quite clear that hell is an MS monoculture.
- mooninite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm using Fedora Core 6 on my Core 2 Duo desktop system with a P965 chipset motherboard and I installed it on a CD-ROM that was on the JMicron IDE controller. All in full x86_64 glory.
Zero problems besides the NIC wasn't in-kernel yet, but it will be in the next release. I'm using the driver from the manufacturer (yes! manufacturer's do support Linux) without major issues. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I dunno, but I've benchmarked Gentoo and Ubuntu and Gentoo runs much better.
But people generally say Gentoo isn't newbie friendly. Well, that's what I started off in.
Automated installs are bad because when something like Slackware or Debian were done installing, I had no idea what was on the system or where.
Because Gentoo guides you through setting everything up yourself, you get a more familiarized feel to it all when it's done.
I mean, I'm sure Ubuntu is good for people who just wanna install it and use it without the extra hassle, but IMO, part of installing new software, whether it's OS or otherwise, is also learning it.
What the file structures mean, what /proc is, all that stuff that new Linux users aren't very familiar with, and are the most afraid of when it comes to switching! -
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