OT: What's the deal with Ubuntu?

[John Summerfied]

Kanwar Ranbir Sandhu wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> There's a lot of talk around the Linux camp about Ubuntu: why? I've read
> some reviews about it and a few snippets here and there of users
> opinions on it, but I still don't get it.
> 
> Short of installing Ubuntu myself, can anyone give me a quick run down
> on why Ubuntu is apparently rising like a rocket?  Any big differences
> between Ubuntu and Fedora, besides the fact that Ubuntu is based on
> bleeding-edge Debian?

While I'm using FC3 atm, I'm happy to recommend Ubuntu or Kubuntu over 
FC to newcomers.

It's easy to install, works as well as any and arguably better than FC3, 
and there's an enormous software repository behind it - basically all 
the 13000 or so Debian packages. Consequently, you don't needs lots of 
add-on repositories.

If I installed it on my peecee with a wireless card (which is supported 
properly by Linux) I'd expect it to just work. No stuffing round with 
firmware;-)

I plugged my camera into a U box. Gthumb popped up - pretty much like 
iphoto on my Mac.

There are a few Macnuts on the paid Ubuntu team, they know how it should 
be done. More or less. I would expect that powerbooks and thinkpads 
would be laptops of choice fo Unbuntu.

Sort of against it are
1. One install CD.
2. Everything else is  download.
3. Only the software  on the install CD is formally supported.

I have pretty-much standard Ubuntu and FC3 desktop installs. The 
downloads for U are vastly less than for FC3. If you want some semblance 
of stability, U is to be preferred. I think it's fair to say FC is a 
rolling beta.

U gets new releases each October and April. There's a published schedule 
saying so.


One of the things I like about Debian, is when I hear of a-package I can 
mostly install it thus:
sudo apt-get install a-package

Likewise Ubuntu.

Note: there are fine GUI tools in U for those who want/need them.


-- 

Cheers
John

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