34 replies to this topic

[srs5694]

perk137, on Mar 6 2010, 02:40 PM, said:

I've never really understood why people say this:  "Ubuntu isn't Linux"!

I doubt if many people mean that in quite the way you imply. I can think of two ways in which a similar comment, or even those exact words, could be meant in proper context:

• Technically Linux is just the kernel. Thus, no Linux distribution is Linux, although they all by definition include Linux. Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, etc., are all collections of Linux and other stuff. This is the point of view of certain people, and it's the official position of the Debian developers. Such people generally prefer "GNU/Linux" when referring to a whole distribution, since so much of the core functionality of most Linux distributions comes from the FSF's GNU utilities.
  
• Because of Ubuntu's popularity in the last few years, some people have taken to using "Linux" and "Ubuntu" as if they were synonymous, but in fact Ubuntu is far from being the only Linux. I just named a few others, and in fact there are dozens (maybe hundreds) of Linux distributions around, especially if you count small or specialized tools. Linux is used on everything from cellphones to supercomputers, and even on Ubuntu's target systems, there are plenty of alternatives that are just as much Linux as Ubuntu is. Thus, the comment "Ubuntu isn't Linux" might not be meant to diminish Ubuntu's status as a Linux distribution, but rather to emphasize that Ubuntu is just one of many "flavors" of Linux distribution. This might be important if somebody is drawing incorrect generalizations about Linux based only on Ubuntu -- say, assuming that they all use APT for package management or start up X automatically when they boot.

[Alessandro17]

srs5694, on Mar 7 2010, 11:06 PM, said:

in fact there are dozens (maybe hundreds) of Linux distributions around, especially if you count small or specialized tools.

According to Distrowatch, 313, not counting dormant or discontinued distributions (else it would be 651).

New distributions in the Distrowatch waiting list are also several hundreds. New distributions are moved to the official list when they meet certain criteria:

http://distrowatch.c...ource=links#new

[privateabstract]

leafhound, on Jan 14 2010, 07:38 PM, said:

Just a shame about the Ubuntu community, over at the forums all they ever talk about is Windows.

Surely you're taking the p|ss?

If not, try joining their IRC. Hardly a mention of Windows at all.

[TopGear]

Moose Tracks, on Dec 21 2009, 02:38 AM, said:

Neither my roommate nor I are Windows people.  I use Mac and he uses Ubuntu Linux.  So here is the problem:

He gets very frustrated with Ubuntu and then downloads and tries out 50,000,000 Linux variants.  He doesn't like those and goes right back to Ubuntu.  Then in about six months, the process repeats itself and then it's back to Ubuntu.

So why is Ubuntu the Linux he keeps going back to?  Is this normal for Ubuntu users?

Well, I used to do the same thing But now I'm stuck at Ubuntu, love it.

[mckooter]

threads a couple days old now, but the OP is describing exactly what I always do

my reason:

Ubuntu makes linux very easy, the forums have the solution for nearly every problem i get, and for me linux is all about making it work, once its working I have very little to do there.

This is my process:

1) Install Ubuntu as a dual boot
2) Get Everything working perfectly.
3) Boot back to windows and forget about ubuntu for 6 months
4) Decide to make a challenge and actually learn more linux and install a harder distro
5) Give up
6) GOTO STEP 1

right now im at step 3 (about 4 months in, ... ALMOST TIME )

[rhlee]

What makes ubuntu popular is the same as what make osx popular, the focus on usability.

[UrbanTechGuerrilla]

After discovering Linux, I tried various distros including Fedora, Knoppix, Mint etc and then settled on Xubuntu, the minimal version designed for less powerful computers, which I used for two years on my x86 laptop before changing machines and going over to Vista...  

The reasons I chose the Ubuntu distros were because of recommendations by Linux veterans that it would be a good introduction. After experimenting with the others, I returned to the Ubuntu family because it was the easiest to use out of those that I'd dabbled with and worked to a degree that enabled me to get my work done.

If I ever returned to the Linux world (which I doubt), my main two choices for a distro would be tied between Mint & Ubuntu.

[Mic87xp1]

I'm using ubuntu and i think it is a stable OS

[~Andru~]

leafhound, on Jan 9 2010, 03:10 AM, said:

He probably keeps going back to Ubuntu because it has a massive online forum user base.

I do the same thing all the time, for that very reason. Ubuntu has a lot of shortcomings but it's still a solid distro, distro hoping just reminds me that Ubuntu is better(at the things he wants to do, please don't flame me) so I just sit around and wait for the next version to come out. I assume he goes through the same issues that I have

[Stoopid Noobie]

I run Ubuntu because of convenience. Ubuntu is "convenient Debian".  

I'm comfortable with old-school distros and have been running Linux since 1999, but I just want to install and get to business with a wide variety of recent packages.

I can run all the distros I might like in VirtualBox, and sample frequently.  That's a convenient way to run Windows (I don't game) too, and with a Linux host I don't worry about malware or winrot or any of the other things I dislike about Windows. Taking Snapshots is handy for trying different Windows software etc.

The heck with dual-booting (I never liked that and used hard drive swap racks early on). Run all the operating systems you like in different VMs in different workspaces at the same time.

I joined here because I want to get OS X up in Virtualbox on Linux, and on Portable Virtualbox in Windows (not in a VM of course).
Once I have good OS X VMs, I can learn the OS without the bother of a dedicated computer.

[Alessandro17]

Stoopid Noobie, on Mar 31 2011, 08:12 PM, said:

I run Ubuntu because of convenience. Ubuntu is "convenient Debian".

Is there something "inconvenient" about Debian? And if so, what?

[apple apple]

Not at all. I started on Ubuntu, and have switched to Debian. Set up may be a little more involved, but it's not that big an issue. Ubuntu wasn't unstable, but I fckd with it so much one day it crashed and I didn't know enough to get it up and running again. Haven't had that problem with Debian. Though if I borked the install, I still wouldn't know enough to fix it. Luckily It's one stable os.

[Acro_Design]

unity.....

um no!

personally most distros look the same anyway and do the same and there guis are interchangeable. i like the one begining with m that uses gnome 3

cant recall the name.

anyway off topic.

i can only use ubuntu for a week at a time but as some company's refuse to make crossover software as they feel a large percentage of linux based users will not pay for the programs anyway. it becomes a matter of what can do the job as good as the stuff i was used to on windows/osx. what compairs to the cs5 package for example? most linux users swear by alternative software. its just not as good. i promise you its not. there good efforts but the whole problem and i meen including linux and all the distros. is that people have to get used to it. and we live in a world with two major OS manufacturers and linux has been around for a long time but its still not mainstream, ask your kids what linux is or ubuntu, they may be able to tell its something to do with a computer but thats it.

to be honest if linux developers sold there OS they may become more mainstream. selling doesn't make you a sell out, as an artist i sell my work but its more the fact that people actually want my artwork, some could apply for this.

i dont wont any trouble and do not wish to cause upset im 50% wrong always. if my opinions upset you then wright an angree pm to me and dont send it

[Alessandro17]

Acro_Design, on Jul 7 2011, 11:25 AM, said:

to be honest if linux developers sold there OS they may become more mainstream. selling doesn't make you a sell out, as an artist i sell my work but its more the fact that people actually want my artwork, some could apply for this.

i dont wont any trouble and do not wish to cause upset im 50% wrong always. if my opinions upset you then wright an angree pm to me and dont send it

Actually I kind of agree. I don't know if "Linux" can be sold, I don't think so because what we call "Linux" is a huge collection of free software under the GPL (in fact "Linux" is the name of the kernel). But I agree that open source developers, not being accountable to anybody, not even to their own users, do as they please. I believe the majority of Linux users or former users don't like the direction KDE and GNOME have being going in the last few years. The Slackware developers abandoned GNOME years ago and now they are considering abandoning KDE as well.
Once the two major Desktop Environments fail, what is left? You could answer Xfce4, but even if it has been improving all the time, I am not convinced it can satisfy every user accustomed to Windows or OS X.


http://www.web2linux...on-the-desktop/

Quote

Other problems can be attributed to the open source movement itself. The infighting is notorious. There’s so many distros on offer that new users are bewildered. There are forks of nearly every popular open source application. There’s no coherence, just fragmentation and bickering. More recently, growing Apple market share has hurt Linux. 99% of desktop computer users have never heard of Linux. The choice for the consumer is simple – it’s Windows or Mac. So, in the words of Lenin, what is to be done?

Further reading: google "the linux desktop is dead", you'll find some interesting entries.

[radiking]

perk137, on 06 March 2010 - 07:40 PM, said:

I've never really understood why people say this:  "Ubuntu isn't Linux"!

I've been using Ubuntu for ~1.5 years, and it works pretty well for me. I like the fact that they are trying to get a user-friendly distro that appeals to the masses.

true i was a hardcore windows fan until i got bored and a wanted to try something new so ubuntu was the first linux flavor that i tried that was way long time ago..its easy to use compared to other linux distros and customizing it kinda easy and u get one click installers in .deb format for some u need to use the terminal..but still kinda cool i made it look like mac os x with open source installer don t remember from where i got it.. i have tried almost all os's but i felt this os is extra user friendly for newbies .probably not many are using as desktop but linux rocks in server platforms it makes people's life easy compared to windows