A Question For The Ubuntu Users?

Question

Ubuntu is a great way to introduce a Windows user to Linux, because it is the easiest distro out there, and you can install it from Windows, and uninstall it from Windows. My question is, how many of you have been using Ubuntu for more than 3 months? Why? Do you feel that it has become bloated, compared to it's father, Debian? Are you planning on switching to another distro in the future?

Answer 1

I have been using Ubuntu since 2005. Always a dual boot with Windows.

Before Ubuntu, I used Red Hat/Fedora.



I opted for Ubuntu because:



1- of its magical Synaptic package manager. I think you understand what I mean, don't you?

2- of its simplicity and the fact that it is not bloated at all, at least compared to

Red Hat/Fedora that I used to use.

3- of the excellent community support.



I cannot answer your question as to whether or not Ubuntu has become bloated compared to Debian because I never used Debian. But I know that Ubuntu is Debian-based.



I have fiddled around with Mint, Gentoo, Back Track, and SUSE.

But I only got convinced that Ubuntu is still my best distro.

So, I have no current reasons/plans to switch away from it.

Answer 2

Hello; I use Ubuntu Linux everyday ... and one of the reasons I recommend it is that it seems very easy. To be very proficient with Linux (any type) I would recommend getting a book, it will help you to understand why linux is different and thus make it more user friendly. 1. Installation is very normal ... the prompts are simple dialogue boxes and most of the time the default is usable (except for time, and location of course) User Name and Password are simple. The disk partition is a graphic of how you want the the Hard Drive divided (if you want the hard drive divided). 2. Look and feel ... As someone else said it "looks" a lot like windows. That is to say that the prompts are windows like. On the taskbar you have the "Applications" very easy to understand and "System" again pretty much what you think it is. "Places" is a great little utility very much like "Windows Explorer", for navigating around the system. There is your Name and The Date ... Self explanatory. All the "linux unique" things like workspaces are not hard to figure out if you take the time and use the help screens or a good book. Ubunto is using the Gnome GUI by default and the organization of the various tasks are in a simple and user friendly approach. I have used the KDE GUI and I find it a sort of difficult (more powerful than I need). I installed Ubuntu on my buddy's computer, he is a computer novice, and he made the transition very easily. I don't think he will go back to windows. Now lets consider applications ... some applications like Open Office Suite are so similar to the MS Versions (Microsoft Office Suite 2003) that the learning curve is virtually flat. Other Applications like Scribus are unique to Linux and one must take the time to learn them. Enjoy the Linux Experience, Bill

Answer 3

My preferred distro. is Linux Mint. When Linux Mint was first launched in 2006 it was no more than a few extra repositories bolted on to Ubuntu. I first used Linux Mint when it was release 3.0 and based upon Ubuntu 7.04 (see below)

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Test-Driving-Linux-Mint-Cassandra-56041.shtml



Back then direct comparisons could be made however these days although Linux Mint still uses Ubuntu repositories it is the only thing the two have in common. Otherwise they are utterly different so you might as well be asking OpenSUSE vs Fedora ! Thats literally how different Ubuntu and Linux Mint have become.



The best of the bunch is Linux Mint 9 without question plus it benefits from the Long Term Support of Ubuntu 10.04



An interesting release to take a look at is Linux Mint Debian Edition. It requires a little more thought when working with than its Ubuntu based sibling but remember Ubuntu was originally derived from Debian in any case (mention this to any Debian purists and wait for the scorn to head your general direction)

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=66



Having said all this I am not saying Ubuntu is inherently bad however its had its glitches down the years (most notably 8.10) which was truly awful on release and Linux Mint 6 suffered the knock on effect and only became good just prior to the release of Ubuntu 9.04 which was outstanding and also the last release to use ext3 and grub-legacy. After which everything became ext4 and GRUB2



Linux Mint releases and the Ubuntu releases all of which I have worked with



Mint 3.0 (Ubuntu 7.04)*

Mint 3.1 (Ubuntu 7.04)*

Mint 4.0 (Ubuntu 7.10)*

Mint 5 (Ubuntu 8.04 LTS)

Mint 6 (Ubuntu 8.10)*

Mint 7 (Ubuntu 9.04)*

Mint 8 (Ubuntu 9.10)

Mint 9 (Ubuntu 10.04 LTS)

Mint 10 (Ubuntu 10.10)



*denotes obsolete



Currently running



Linux Mint 10* (kernel 2.6.37/Nvidia 260 and Firefox 4.0 Beta 7)

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=67



Linux Mint 9* (kernel 2.6.37/Compiz 0.8.6/Compiz 0.9.2 compiled in C++/Nvidia 260 and Firefox 4.0 Beta 7)

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=52



Linux Mint 8* (Compiz 0.9.0 compiled in C++ and Nvidia 260 on a Custom LiveDVD)

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=44



Linux Mint Debian* (Compiz 0.8.4 and Compiz 0.9.0 compiled in C++ on a Custom LiveDVD)

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=66



Windows XP Professional SP3





LUg.

Answer 4

For desktop use I feel that Linux Mint is better, though it really depends on what the user is trying to accomplish. Red Hat and any of it's derivatives i.e., Community Enterprise Operating System., is a definite for Enterprise use and servers. I think that when it comes down to it, most are comfortable with what they start out with and thus don't care to move.

Answer 5

Screw the weaning of windows users, put 'em right on Red Hat! (jk) Seriously though I put Ubuntu on as a dual boot with XP about a year ago. I haven't even booted to it in a couple of months. I think that if a user needs a GUI they should just use XP Pro. If you’re in a business environment and want command line just use Linux. I don’t find that it’s anymore stable and it’s just seems so foreign after using MS Windows products for so long. If you mean “bloated” as in larger, I say yes. As for why, I wanted to see what the hype was about and heard that it was more stable.

Answer 6

red hat sucks...



i would say that Mint is a little more friendlier than Ubuntu and i do think Ubuntu is getting bloated.