I hate Ubuntu
I hate Ubuntu. I immediately lose respect for anyone who runs it, and especially those who advocate it. Here’s why:
Name 20 features, release-for-release or year-for-year that have not come from Redhat. Redhat basically runs the show when it comes to Linux. This includes things like NetworkManager, Gnome, Xorg, GCC, glibc, LVM, KVM, kernel, file systems et al. Redhat has developers making significant contributions to the entire FOSS software stack upstream.
Ubuntu on the other hand pulls most of the heavy weight packaging from Debian with each release. They then perform minor patching and testing. It generally lags behind Fedora by a release or two in parts of the software stack. I never see @ubuntu or @cannocial email addresses in upstream changelogs.
So tell me again, how exactly does Ubuntu innovate? They even struggle to release a new theme with each release, and artwork is about the only original thing in Ubuntu.
Yes, Ubuntu is stable because they are standing on the shoulders of giants. Most of the hard work is hashed out before they ever import software into their repositories. This is fine, and what FOSS is all about, but I prefer to be in with the leaders rather than the followers.
What really irks me and what has really brewed my hatred are Ubuntu users. They seem to think Ubuntu is responsible for all that is good in the FOSS world. I have just proven how false this is. In my experience, Ubuntu support mechanisms (IRC, mailing lists, forums) are much less helpful than the alternative.
If you want a nice desktop distro, run Fedora or OpenSUSE. If you like control, run Gentoo. If you need stability, run RHEL/CentOS or Debian. But please, don’t feed the idiot magnet that is Ubuntu!
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February 26th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Do you want to know what Ubuntu has done that others haven’t done well … Marketing. They may not be the newest or the best but the have obviously done a reasonable job of getting their name out there otherwise you wouldn’t be writing this blog post.
Goto debian.com, redhat.com , suse.com and ubuntu.com and compare what you see.
Debian, I imagine, is a little intimidating to the new comer to linux, their homepage doesn’t look particularly friendly.
Redhat and SuSE homepages are all about enterprise, servers, virtualisation. This is hardly going to intice the average windows switcher.
Goto ubuntu.com, (ok they do have a banner for EC2 servers but..) theirs is the only page that mentions things like laptops, desktops, webbrowsing, wordprocessing, instant messenger. This is what ubuntu brings to the table.
And as for your final comment “But please, don’t feed the idiot magnet that is Ubuntu!”, well that just sounds like elitist bullshit!
Just my opinion :-)
February 26th, 2009 at 10:05 am
… you need to relax and stop “hating” users of any OS. In fact, I don’t really appreciate you’re attitude being associated with the broader Linux community. You’re post has just done more harm for Linux (fedora and opensuse included) than good. Out of curiosity, does you’re email appear in the change logs? In any case it doesn’t matter.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Where to begin.
Why not the innovation issue head on. If you want to know where Ubuntu has innovated all you need to ask yourself is why does it have more users (probably) than any other distro. And why has the community of linux users grown (contributing some to other distros as well) since Ubuntu came on the scene. And the answer is really obvious: user experience. Ubuntu isn’t the ideal of how most people want to use their computer, but it’s closer to that than any other distro. And it knows how to sell itself, how to get attention, how to reach out to people in various ways. You can have the most wonderful product in the world but it’s not gonna make a difference if noone knows about it. And it’s also not gonna make a difference if upon using it for half an hour this “wonderfulness” is nowhere to be seen. The reason why people “hate” Ubuntu is the same reason why linux couldn’t attract all these people who are now using it in the first place. They just don’t get what most people want out of their computer experience.
Don’t get me wrong, Fedora is great. But for developers. And hey, I’m a developer, but I don’t use it. Why? Because the user experience is more important to me than the developer experience. And that’s why I run Gentoo and Ubuntu, they’re just better to *use*. As a user I DON’T CARE where the code is coming from. I care that it’s put together in a way that’s great to use.
And so you complain that users think all this stuff is coming out of Ubuntu. Isn’t that annoying? Yeah, sure it is. Just like all those lemmings think Apple invented everything when in fact all they do is take existing products and ideas and integrate them. But the point isn’t that this perception is wrong. The point is that people need to understand that this is what there’s a market for. Well integrated, easily discoverable products.
And I’ll tell you what else. Fedora is better to use today than it was 5 years ago. Why? Because Ubuntu has taught us something.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Their “innovation” is the consumer-orientated marketing campaign and methodology to make Linux easier (and arguably more palatable) to average Joe consumer.
OpenSUSE and Fedora are providing more for the average non-technical user but it is still kludgy and lacks some of the niceties that people new to Linux and not interested in digging into the details appreciate.
As for the changelogs, wasn’t there a snit about Ubuntu not passing anything upstream to Debian and because of that they are now passing up to Debian and not further up?
February 26th, 2009 at 10:26 am
“Gnome, Xorg, GCC, glibc, LVM, KVM, kernel, file systems et al. ”
Gnome, Xorg, GCC, glibc, file systems ALL predate, originate and continue to develop outside of Red Hat. KVM they just bought. Qurmert was the developer of that code and was a start up funded by venture capitalists. Till the buy Red Hat had no more to do with them than Ubuntu did.
I also find it interesting that as much as you decry no upstream feeds you will in the same article advocate CentOS. Its a good OS, I use it, but it is even more flagrant a usurper of Red Hat code than Ubuntu is of Debian.
Ubuntu has its problems but I can think of a lot worse issues than whether they are contributing to upstream development.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Agree with above.. Ubuntu was the first distro that, to me, felt like like a complete product and for my hardware at the time (and present), it just works.
I used Redhat for 3 years and then 4 years with Gentoo and whilst it taught me alot of what I know about Linux today it was always a fiddly ride.
Ofcourse Ubuntu stands on the shoulders of giants. Have they ever claimed otherwise? What they do right as numerodix says is that they got the user experience bang on and it shows.. judging by how popular it is.
And seeing as you apparently hate the distribution because of it’s users.. well that says more about you than it does about Ubuntu.. It’s a damn good distribution that works as advertised most of the time.. that’s not so bad a thing now is it?
Has to be said that I never use anything but Debian for servers though..
February 26th, 2009 at 10:43 am
I must agree with the 1st response above. I used Fedora before it was Fedora (remember the free RedHat desktop?). Anyone remember RPM hell?
Yum came about because of Debian’s Apt and Mandrake’s urpmi. SuSE came out with YAST. I do not wish to downplay Fedora/RedHat’s contributions to Linux and FOSS at all. However, it did not become a “user” distribution until Mandrake and SuSE said “Look… it’s like RedHat… only easier to use, maintain, and update!”
Ubuntu has taken Debian and said “Look… it’s like Debian… only everything has the name you expect (IceWeasel anyone?), the performance you desire, along with ease of use, maintenance, and updatability.”
A Linux distribution is merely a gathering of open source software based upon the Linux kernel as the core of the OS. Ubuntu has merely created an easy to use, easy to swallow package that gets headlines. It is quick to install and get up running. Most items are automatically configured without wonking around in text files. It is a good grouping of open source software based upon the Linux kernel. Are they perfect? No! But, they started others thinking “Why can’t our distribution be as easy?”
February 26th, 2009 at 10:51 am
It feels a bit odd to be judged as a person simply because I run a particular distro. Judge ideas, not people.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:53 am
“I immediately lose respect for anyone who runs it, and especially those who advocate it.” – you’re too stupid to state that!
“So tell me again, how exactly does Ubuntu innovate?” – who said Ubuntu innovates? It’s just make things SIMPLE for noobs aka ex-Windows users, and even advanced users that need speed and don’t have time to compile the WHOLE fucking system (read: Gentoo).
Oh… and… please, please, do us all a HUGE favor and DO NOT write anymore!
February 26th, 2009 at 11:00 am
I don’t have to read this article and all i have to say is your an ass!
February 26th, 2009 at 11:06 am
just another fedora fanboy ranting..get a life dude
February 26th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Well, do I really need your respect?? Guess not…..
February 26th, 2009 at 11:47 am
hm…to hate it you have to love it first. just move on, you did not pay for it and why complaining!! crazy people really…
February 26th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I use Ubuntu. I’m aware that Ubuntu did not magically appear out of the ether. I know that there are other great distributions out there. And I can really do nothing but snicker at my-OS-is-holier-than-thou powernerds.
February 26th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
@numerodix IMHO, user experience in fedora, today, is better than how it is in ubuntu and, if you really were a developer, you would probably care more about “who” writes the code instead of “who” put it together, like you wrote
that in fact is what the GPL cares about :+)
btw, as written on reddit:
canonical writes closed source software, like this: http://www.canonical.com/projects/landscape
canonical uses closed source software, like launchpad (the webapp itself) https://launchpad.net/
debian is good, ubuntu isn’t
ubuntu doesn’t put its attention on free software and the same do most of the noobs that approach linux via ubuntu
while free software instead is the only thing that matters, because otherwise you could be running macos, windows or whatever and it would make no difference
if you care about why people should use linux instead of windows, you would probably care about free software and probably dislike (at least partially) ubuntu
February 26th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Instead of just using Ubuntu, there is a very vocal group of fanbois that just happen to have little Linux experience for many of the reasons in the comments above.. they are all marketing and cater to Windows users. I am constantly attacked when I point out the benefits of a source distro like Gentoo, an exciting bleeding edger like Fedora, or a true server OS like Debian and RHEL. It is frustrating.
I see a lot of PKB in the comments. Just because I don’t like Ubuntu doesn’t mean the product is bad. Ubuntu carries the same false elitism and fanaticism any time you point out shortcomings. I refuse to be part of such group mentality.
February 26th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I agree completely with your sentiments about unoobtu. The only thing it really has going for it is an owner who is a corporate insider who was able to effectively market it. As a side note I’d like to ask all the commenters who pointed out the size of the unoobtu user base. – Does a large user base mean winblows or mac is superior or does it simply mean sheep will always follow the hype machine? Now getting back to the article I do admit you are for the most part correct about the contributions of RedHat and Suse. But must disagree that they are the most stable or have the best user experience. There are many distros available and all have their strong points and many are by far superior to RedHat and Suse. And as far as your comment for control use Gentoo? Gentoo was by far the worst source based distro I ever tried. Use Lunar or Sourcemage instead.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I’m using for a year now and it’s my first satisfying linux distro. I installed it and it worked out of the box. It’s stable and it’s easy to maintain. Ubuntu is bringing linux to the masses, giving them a great first use experience. I think that’s the main plus.
Ok they use the techniques other provided. Isn’t that one of the pillars of open source? Share your knowledge and make it available for others to benefit from. I know ubuntu is not the fastest and first in line to implement new technology, but from a user point of view, I rather have something which is tested thoroughly enough, than new techniques which make my programs crash. Troubleshooting can be fun too, but not when I’m doing work on it.
I haven’t tried fedora and opensuse yet, but I tried a couple of other smaller distros. All of them took a lot more configuring to get them running, had a more complicated installer. If I didn’t have a working linux to learn from and experiment with, I would have had a much harder time to install them.
You could say I could also use Debian. I’ve tried that and there I can either use an outdated stable release or an up-to-date unstable release. Plus when installing it, I had to make a lot of choices of which I would have had no idea before using Linux. I don’t like al the choices ubuntu made for the included applications. But at least they gave me something to start with.
And I can always compile from source, if I really want/need a new version of a program which isn’t available as a binary package. As soon as I find an alternative which is as easy to maintain and has other benefits like being faster or being more bleeding-edge and is still stable in every day use, I’m more than willing to switch, but so far I’m still looking.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Kev009, you’re not making sense to anyone here that I can tell.
I don’t even know what the hell you’re talking about when comparing hybrid cars, or Ubuntu falling flat on it’s face upon “closer inspection”.
For the record, I’m a developer that has been using Linux full time (desktop and server) for 6 years now and Ubuntu in particular for the last two. So obviously Ubuntu caters to more than just a Windows user.
You’re post about vocal Ubuntu fanboys (and other jibber) is ridiculously hypocritical. Take yer Fedora, shove it up yer arse and start saying something intelligent and constructive.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Martin,
Unless you plan on being an amateur sysadmin, compiling from source on a binary distro is a bad idea. You will need to keep track of security fixes, library changes, and bug fixes then update accordingly.
Fedora has the speed and bleeding edge you desire, yet it pretty stable (more so a few weeks after a major release). You get all the new features that make Linux fun, and all the new development toys that improve productivity.
If being an amateur sysadmin is your thing, definitely check out Arch Linux or Gentoo. FreeBSD is also really good here, though you can choose to use it as a “Debian” or “Gentoo” work-a-like depending on how you install packages from Ports.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I can’t take seriously any article that suggests using Suse. It’s shit.
Though I do agree that many Ubuntu users are clueless and don’t know where linux ends and Ubuntu begins. They just assume it’s all Ubuntu and probably haven’t even heard of GNU.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Kev009
If u hate ubuntu and love fedora keep it to yourself. It’s all linux kernel anyways and what is cool about linux is every distro has it’s own characteristics. Ubuntu is made easy for noobs. To take users away from windows. Show a noob fedora and then show the same user ubuntu. I think the user will automatically will like ubuntu much more. Especially for software installations (Add/Remove programs). I haven’t used fedora for awhile since fedora 8 which was buggy and I didn’t like. I also heard RedHat uses fedora for beta testing purposes. At that point of course u will always have bleeding edge.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Just what the Linux community needs – The needless breeding of internal discontent. Way to go, d-bag.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Needed a good excuse to finally stop reading planet larry. Thanks!
February 26th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Kev,
Thanks for the tips. When I compile from source, it mainly are applications to create music. I don’t think there’s a high security risk there. The library updates and bug fixes are of course more of an issue, especially the dependency breakdowns.. :(. As soon as I’ve found the right program for me, I wouldn’t mind that though.
I’m trying out arch on an old laptop at the moment. I hope it will be fast enough to make it a usable system for normal usage. I’ve been wanting to try out gentoo for some time. But compiling from source is a rather painstaking experience on such an old system (p3-800;128MB;5GB-4200rpm-hdd) and I haven’t got a more recent spare system to try it out.
I’ll check on fedora and will read some reviews about it, maybe try it in virtualbox or on my old laptop. I know I can install it next to my current xubuntu install, but a virtual hdd is easier to remove and I haven’t got enough space to spare to run 2 systems on a semi-permanent base, since it will take some time to get used to it and decide if I like it better or not.
@Jerry : If you can’t see the fun of discussions, why join them? I just think kev started a discussion, by telling why he doesn’t like ubuntu and giving others the possibility to present their arguments.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I agree 100% with the blog. Ubuntu is actually a good distro, but that’s because it’s really Debian, plus the bulk of the Debian repositories. (Well, it’s not as stable as Debian, because Canonical takes Debian and runs some custom scripts on it which add a few GUI “enhancements” that ultimately break some of the software in the Debian repositories). It’s the Debian folks who do the real development/testing, and the Ubuntu fanbois who ignorantly assign all the credit to Ubuntu/Canonical, the latter who do relatively little for open source compared to entities like Redhat, Novell, and Debian.
Ubuntu is the most overrated distro ever put out. It’s not nearly as good as its fanbois portray it to be — certainly not moreso than many other distros. Its “success” is all the result hype and fanboi “marketing”. Ubuntu is the Microsoft Windows of the linux world. And its forums are a cesspool of misinformation and fanboi posturing. Ask a question in a gentoo forum and you’ll get a real, accurate answer. Ask that question in an Ubuntu forum, and you’ll get 10 responses — 5 being factually incorrect or useless, 4 being off-topic fanboi advocacy, and 1 being a link to the answer in the gentoo forum. And the ubuntu moderators encourage the poor quality of their forums.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Thank you great review. Finally some one said it!!
Ubuntu is a Leech :-)
February 26th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
heh, the blog post is garbage, it’s just interesting to see the comments though nonetheless :D
we all know we are noobs here for ..
1. true users doesn’t have time for clueless trashing blog
for commenters..
2. you commented in this blog post because you feel the need to, it’s a testament that you still have something to learn, only comment on those intelligent bashing blogs, not this..
February 26th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Kev009, I don’t think your attitude brings anything to FOSS and Linux.
There are possibilities to make something positive and non destructive…
You want to make something positive?
Be a tester, a coder, write positive articles, etc.
If you want, start here:
http://www.johannes-eva.net/index.php?page=ooo_hidden_ruler
(I know, it’s kind of advertising my ideas…)
February 26th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Come on dude, GNU/Linux is a big family, and there must be some division of labor. Ubuntu does the work of offering a easy-to-use OS to desktop users and brings more and more people to Linux. Ubuntu makes it, and does a good job.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
while i agree most of what you say has some truth in it. but i have to say its really unfair, redhat,suse, and debian have been in this linux/FOSS business far longer than ubuntu so naturally there have more contribution, ubuntu has never one time claimed to the creator of many of the products it uses, infact Mark Shuttleworth once remarked that ubuntu provide the glue that makes all the technologies gel. nobody has ever under estimated the amount of work that Debian that put into debian to make ubuntu what it is. and in fact many of ubuntu developers are also debian developers. what your article lack is objectivity which was lost to the wind with the title. it seem you just don’t see anything good about ubuntu and just want to throw everything at it to discredit it. you talked about canonical being using closed source software i mean what has that got to do with anything.. canonical is to ubuntu what redhat is to fedora and novel to suse they are not necessary the same. why do i like ubuntu. because from the word go its focus has been the Linux desktop.something Redhat conceded to windows a long time ago http://is.gd/l2SW http://is.gd/l2T8 it has long been the norm that Linux is for the servers a Linux desktop was not only unprofitable but also impossible to sell to mainstream. looking at the Linux space before the advent of ubuntu and tell me which distribution focussed on home user or the average joe. ubuntu came and changed all that. it made the world see that Linux not only works on the desktops but its a better options. and while redhat and novel where making deals with hp and dell on the enterprise space. ubuntu struck a deal with dell to sell Linux computers to home users. the ordinary average joe like me was now able to buy an high end machine (dell xps m1330) that runs Linux. fine redhat,novel and debian have all done a great job to make the tools are use on my ubuntu work, but its ubuntu that afforded me the opportunity to use this tools on my (and my girl friends laptop) through the way its all glued to work. am not a geek am just some regular guy who wants a system that works, ubuntu gives me that and for that am for ever greatful just as i am greatful to Redhat,Debian,Novel,FSF, and everybody that test,develops, and meantain free software
February 26th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Don’t have a problem with them leeching; they clearly put out a better product at the moment. Last time I tried Fedora the package manager broke in a way I couldn’t recover from and that’s enough to make me shun it for a while.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Ubuntu has been talking about working more with upstream – we’ll see. Recently, they’ve mavericked a new notificationsystem and they say they’re sending it upstream but I don’t think they worked upstream building it. Ubuntu needs to find a reliable business model like Red-Hat or Novell and a community model Fedora and OpenSuse or risk separating itself from the Linux community farther.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Again, lots of PKB(pot-kettle-black) and people who can’t handle criticism of The Messiah Distro.
A lot of comments are latching on to me pointing out how Ubuntu does little for upstream. Upstream contribution is a means, not an end. A project as large as Ubuntu — and with the funding of Mark Shuttleworth — should be a good netizen and contribute upstream (and hire upstream devs) but this is not my primary gripe.
One commenter pointed out CentOS — prime example. CentOS is a direct build of RHEL source RPMs with branding changed for legal reasons. It doesn’t claim to be otherwise, and CentOS users are not pious or arrogant about using it. In fact, it largely serves a market that RHEL wouldn’t otherwise touch, those who don’t have the money for support and can run their own systems. These same users would use Debian or the likes if this wasn’t possible, so CentOS is really closer to symbiosis with RHEL than you think (RHEL gets testing, user share, and experienced admins).
The point I was making is that Ubuntu works and is stable largely in part because of other distros. When fanbois spout off about how great it is and how “this one time I used Fedora and it broke” need to pay their alms. The reason Ubuntu is stable is because Fedora is making sure that GCC 4.4 builds and has as few regressions as possible, so while it gets a ton of testing in Rawhide and F11, it is stable by the time it reaches slow Ubuntu.
February 27th, 2009 at 2:46 am
You sir are an idiot.
I don’t need to explain why I think so, I just say so.
February 27th, 2009 at 5:33 am
I’m a happy Xubuntu user. I’ve tried AT LEAST 15 other distros, but it just works for me (and my hardware).
I doubt you started out as a knowledgeable user, so why the contempt for the people who are beginners? You too were once a “n00b.” Not everyone can compile and configure their system from scratch and Ubuntu works for them.
Saying that you “lose respect” for simply running an OS just makes you sound like a snob.
February 27th, 2009 at 7:14 am
People that use Ubuntu can spell. Apparently Fedora and openSUSE makes people dumber.
February 27th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Well! Did i change to Linux from MS coz of Debian or Opensuse or Redhat or Fedora? the Answer is No No No and again No.
It was Ubuntu which inspired me to change to Linux which one of the other Distros which u listed there did! So much for the other NON Inspiring Linux u love! I dont rant about wat u like and wat u feel! I dont want to gain ur RESPECT!
I love Ubuntu and thats it! Bye
February 27th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Like you, I hate Ubuntu and all the little ‘buntus. But for somewaht different reasons. I have attempted to install various releases and found all of them wanting in innovation, awkward to manage and apparently (to me) missing the essential Linux configuration management tools or features. I have been using Linux since the mid 90s and I cannot understand how it has become so popular when Debian, Slackware, Fedora and many others are so easy. I suppose they thought to outdo windoze in some way – it doesn’t work for me. However, for those who love it, carry on. I have happily given up at the last sad bird.
February 27th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
[...] http://www.kev009.com/wp/2009/02/i-hate-ubuntu/ “I hate Ubuntu. I immediately lose respect for anyone who runs it, and especially those who advocate it. “ [...]
February 28th, 2009 at 5:10 am
Hate is a strong word. I am not too fond of the assumption that Linux = Ubuntu everywhere. This is even happening on Slashdot but the worst has to be googling for a howto or some other solution. Often the top links are Ubuntu specific and usually they don’t have the answer anyway, just the question and 50 replies that are no help at all. At the same time I am glad that Ubuntu has made Linux more mainstream. There are benefits to that but like you said, Red Hat does a lot of the actual work. Novell and even Intel contribute more code than Ubuntu.
February 28th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Will you please allow me to keep on using Slackware ?
February 28th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Inventing a new technology and adding something technical to FOSS isn’t the only way of innovation.
Think of it like this: And architectural engineer is the best man who can design a safe, strong and lasting building, but when it comes to interior design, an interior designer is definitely what’s you’re looking for.
So, we can say that, people at RedHat, Gentoo and Debian and architectural engineers who designed the strong, reliable and safe technology, and then ubuntu came and bundled all those great inventions together in a way that an average, naive user can use, enjoy and depend on.
For example, if you try to convert an, English teacher who know nothing about programming from Windows to something like Slackware, then you’re complete idiot (which you are by the way).
In my opinion, Ubuntu did a great innovation by establishing the first Linux distro that can really be used in the mainstream. And the biggest proof to to that is that companies like DELL, ASUS, System76 have chosen it over the large number of distros we all about (even Fedora).
Just to wrap things up, take a look at the world of Netbooks, and tell me how many netbooks are using Linux (almost all of them), and what distro are they running (mostly Ubuntu). Right then, if you still think that Ubuntu didn’t create anything new, then that’s enough to say that you’re a hopeless pathetic moron.
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Soooo… how are you feeling after all these posts, most of them against you? I was right? Ha ha ha…
BTW…. did you know that many governments are using UBUNTU as we speak? That’s not a trivia question ;)
March 3rd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
MNC,
The only lesson learned is that fanbois can’t take blasphemous talk of their Messiah Distro. The only thing I should have done differently was title this “I Hate Ubuntu USERS” because that would more correctly reflect my views (see my CentOS comment above, and how they are not pious and arrogant).
Most of the comments against me are PKB. The people that concede Ubuntu is all marketing are correct. Marketing is bullshit, its what you do when a product can’t sell itself and you have to convince people otherwise. Let Linux win on technology, that’s what it is all about.
Not strictly related.. but have you seen this https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FeatureList ?? Probably the most innovation a distro has ever done in one release.
Oh, and when you pay $300 a year for my VPS I might care what you guys think I should write on _MY_ blog. Have a nice day ;-).
March 6th, 2009 at 11:54 am
I started using Linux 10 years back with RH. Off late I switched over to Ubuntu and came back to Fedora. I call tell one thing: Ubuntu was all fun, great starter. But, when it come to serious business, my choice is Fedora. Because it provides what exactly I need. Ubuntu is way behind Fedora in this perspective.
March 7th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I have just recently switched from Windows XP to Ubuntu, although my first computer experiences were with TOS 1.62/2.06 on Atari ST. So for me using Linux is feels more like a return to my Atari days… anyway back on topic… I cannot understand your hatred for me because I use Ubuntu. I was given a Live CD of Fedora 10 and Linux Mint and tried them, and from a ‘n00bs’ point of view they all looked pretty similar because of the GNOME environment but I installed Ubuntu because for a beginner it didn’t seem as imposing. That’s not to say that I won’t try out Fedora or OpenSUSE or Mandriva in the future, but I’ve only been using Ubuntu for about 2 weeks now and still trying to assess whether or not I can do the things I used to do with windows in Linux.
Kev, You must get a great sense of achievement compiling and developing for Linux – I know I felt similar achievement writing programs for GEM/TOS in Lattice C for the Atari ST, but I just want something that I can install and not spend hours/days configuring so that I can emulate what windows did for me – I just don’t have the time or the motivation these days (I have a family and a life afterall)
But thanks Kev for introducing me to the nice ‘friendly’ world of Linux Elitism…
March 10th, 2009 at 1:29 am
In my experience of average computer user and FOSS addict, I’ve used several distros to end up with Ubuntu. What’s good in FOSS is that you can choose whatever you want. That’s freedom. I wanted something that “just work”. For me, it was Ubuntu. For you, it can be another distro as your need.
You seems to live in the past. Wake up! GNU/Linux is not the geek’s OS any-more. Anyone can use it. Most of the Ubuntu users don’t know a word about compiling, server administration, and other enterprise/geeky stuff.
You hate me, I still don’t hate you.You are just an extremist and fanatic. Don’t you feel yourself like linux’s benladen ? I still believe you could be human. I still believe you’ll came back to reason.
March 11th, 2009 at 1:54 am
[...] permalink Fedora bloggers claim they are the most popular: Another 100,000+ week for Fedora 10 California Quantum Anti Ubuntu rant: I hate Ubuntu | Kev009.com [...]
March 11th, 2009 at 7:22 am
You have something to say, that’s good. But please, leave the hate aside. That says nothing constructive. It will only generate more hates.
If you have critics which you have, just say it…without hate.
March 11th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Well, all this ubuntu hating is starting to sound childish. If Ubuntu wasn’t doing something right, why are the other distributions lagging in user numbers? I am not saying the other distros are bad or even worse than Ubuntu, but you can’t argue with the facts. Ubuntu has brought linux to the mainstream and this is a plus for the whole GNU/Linux community.
A user’s first linux experience might be with Ubuntu but then might switch to another. There is nothing wrong with that. Remember the aim of gnu/linux is to provide a free OS and free people and their computers. Now about insulting people for what distribution they use, that is just utter BULLSHIT. It is the kind of closed-mindedness that GNU/Linux is against. Don’t be stuck in your stupid emotional state of envy towards Ubuntu users.
Take pride in your distribution, whichever one you run and take positives from others to improve yours. That is what Ubuntu/Fedora/Gentoo and other distribution users do and that enriches the community. Besides, this linux world of ours will be rather unpleasant if we had only the four or so distributions that you’ve mentioned as the good ones.
YOU ARE AN IDIOT AND I HOPE YOU AREN’T LET OUT OF YOUR BEDROOM UNTIL YOU ARE WELL ENOUGH TO BE AMONGST THE CIVILISED AND DIVERSE WORLD OF OURS.
A CLOSED MIND IS A GOOD THING TO LOOSE!!!!
March 11th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Kev,
I have to disagree. I’ve downloaded and tried several distros over the years and Ubuntu is by far the easiest to install. Yes it based on Debian but that’s what Linux is all about, “Take it and make it……better!”
March 11th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
http://californiaquantum.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/another-100000-week-for-fedora-10/
Eat it fanbois. Show us how Ubuntu computes their statistics. Read the comments on that thread for complete analysis.
March 12th, 2009 at 2:34 am
I didn’t bother to read all comments but did a search and did not found anyone mentioning UPSTART . Done by Ubuntu, used by Red Hat now. Also, Launchpad will be open sourced. Also, companies have different size, ages, and customer bases and thus, different profits and number of employees.
Still, relative to the kernel, Canonical’s contributions were below Gentoo’s (!!!!!!). I can only up they match in the future the contributions they make with the level of Marketing and newbie-friendliness they excel at.
Also, read: http://ldn.linuxfoundation.org/blog-entry/free-riders-canonical-and-greg-kh
March 12th, 2009 at 4:39 am
That being said I got curious enough to download Fedora 10 just now :p
I AM a rather informed user. But I haven’t tried Fedora in a while, so I guess now it’s a good time. Doesn’t mean my previous comment was incorrect ;)
March 12th, 2009 at 4:43 am
It doesn’t surprise me that all the ubuntu fanboys attack you for telling the truth. Canonical doesn’t contribute anything to the community. Most of their upstream patches are rejected for two reasons: 1. The patches are gui changes & 2. The patches break other things. Canonical takes things from other distros and the fanboys like to claim it as new & exciting. The fanboys can’t stand it when something negative is said about their overrated distro.
March 12th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
More Ubuntu fail:
http://thunk.org/tytso/blog/?p=347
“This become especially noticeable on Ubuntu, which uses many proprietary, binary-only drivers, which caused some Ubuntu systems to become highly unreliable, especially for Alpha releases of Ubuntu Jaunty, with the net result that some Ubuntu users have become used to their machines regularly crashing. (I use bleeding edge kernels, and I don’t see the kind of unreliability that apparently at least some Ubuntu users are seeing, which came as quite a surprise to me.)”
March 18th, 2009 at 5:25 am
I have both Ubuntu and Fedora on my system(s). For package updating, Ubuntu has a very nice easy synaptic program. Fedora has YUMEX.
While YUMEX has a different looking interface, it performs as well, albeit more slowly then synaptic, in deciding dependencies and what must be processed.
Yumex keeps no history, and therefore begins each time from zero. Yumex allows you, between runs to add or remove a repository. With Yumex, you can completely avoid yum, the lower level software updater.
Right now, Fedora boots faster, and appears to run more quickly for my applications of interest.
April 1st, 2009 at 12:26 am
I must say…this is very interesting.
Moreso the comments from the many Ubuntu users over anything else.
Its like talking to people who are Windows fanboys….90% of them are clueless, yet they will tell you to stop hating windows (even though you are absolutely free to do so). I was nearly positive most blogs were made for sharing opinions and such, yet heaven forbid someone share an opinion you don’t like. How ridiculous it is to tell someone to stop blogging about hatred of a product or anything of the like. How many Windows hate blogs are out there, and how many of the Ubuntu users would be happy to linger in their presence, saying how amazing they are with their new linux distro.
I don’t agree with all of the article, yet I myself don’t really care for Ubuntu, so perhaps I’m biased. I usually laugh to myself a bit when people mention HOW 1337 they are because of the distro at hand…but again, that is just me. A classmate and I fight the constant distro war of Ubuntu verses Gentoo, but in the end…linux is about choice, and what YOU want as a user. Freedom, ah what a beautiful thing. Many people should run Windows, or Ubuntu, for anything else would end in a mess… perhaps that means job security for me (on second thought, perhaps they should be forced into other, more complicated distros >:D) If the screaming ubuntu fanboys and girls want something simple and easy to follow (as in well marketed and trendy) then let them have what they’re using. I’ve gained the knowledge that not all Ubuntu users are mere fanboys, nor are they all mislead sheep…for my classmate is far from such.
I like the love trip a lot of you commenters are on, it makes me feel all fuzzy and warm inside, like a hippy.
But deep down I know I thrive on the wars OS’s cause,
for they involve criticism, critiquing,
figuring out who are the real idiots, and who knows what they’re talking about…
and of course, a lovely, yet bloody, debate.
Debate is an amazing thing.
April 12th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Ouch, burn! Didn’t know you felt that way about it, man. :)
April 19th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Personally, I hate Gnome with a passion. When using it, I fell like my IQ is immediately reduced by 50 points.
Kubuntu is ok, but at that point I would rather go with OpenSUSE for Desktop and CentOS for my servers, and for sure, Gnome is terrible.
With that said, you’re all free to use what you like, but again I say, Gnome is terrible, but does work for non-power users that don’t know any better, or like playing with those little ABC blocks for kids.
May 2nd, 2009 at 9:09 am
Well, most of you are developers or just advance user of linux basically. So be mature man!!!! You don’t need argue about who’s the best, you know who is best? the best among them is user. OS is made for user according to their requirement.
We love linux, it just does not matter what distro we are using. we are using ubuntu or fedora or openSUSE or whatever with the same feeling of freedom. we use it because we like it that’s important not that some stupid had said it’s bad then it is.
It’s nice to choose the best but for me I’ll choose what I feel comfortable with. IT COULD BE UBUNTU, FEDORA, OR ANY DISTRO IT JUST DOESNOT MATTER!!! WHAT MATTER IS JUST YOUR HAPPINESS…….
“LINUX IS USER-FRIENDLY BUT JUST BIT CHOOSY ABOUT FRIENDS”.
May 11th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Ahhh… newbies writing posts.
You might have years of linux experience, but when it comes to FOSS philosophy, my friend, you’re a newbie.
CHOICE and FREEDOM.
There you have it. It’s easy isn’t it?.
June 4th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Wow. You hate a distribution and judge people because they use it? I’m sorry, but that’s kind of lame. How are you any better than any Ubuntu fanboy by ranting and making blind sweeping insults? If anything you’re making yourself look like an elitist jerk, and I doubt anyone in the SUSE or Fedora communities would want you to represent them. Anti-fans/haters are just as bad, if not worse, than fan boys.
I am a Linux power user. I use Ubuntu. I also use OpenSUSE, KateOS, Slackware, and Debian on occasion when appropriate. I also frequently use Window Maker as a WM.
Not all Ubuntu users are “fan boys”, and in my experience the haters, like yourself, are often much more vocal. If you don’t like Ubuntu, don’t use it. Plain and simple. Choose something else. That’s the beauty of Linux.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
To be quite honest, the thing that put me off ubuntu was the userbase – Coming from a gentoo background, I gave ubuntu a try. I had issues with the sound system (pulseaudio) and ISA sound cards on an older computer – I tried all of the obvious solutions to the problem, then I naturally went to the IRC channel for a bit of help. But those who lurk in the ubuntu IRC actually have less idea of what’s going on than the average gentoo newbie. I got sent to all the solutions I’d tried, even when I said I’d tried them, they thought I was too newbie to know what I’m doing.
For heaven’s sake, just because you don’t know the answer to a user’s complex question doesn’t mean you should treat your users like idiots(!)
And, now, I didn’t bother to read the rest of the comments, but I did see a couple of words like “user experience” – Ubuntu? Sure, that’s fine – lowest common denominator. It works. Kubuntu, however? Not impressed at all. It’s common knowledge that only a fraction of the development time of ubuntu in general goes to the kubuntu project. And it shows.
June 14th, 2009 at 12:08 am
A little late to this, but I somewhat agree. What I think you don’t understand is that new Ubuntu users don’t know how the open source and free software world works, as they are mostly Windows converts. So, you have to give them time to grow. You can’t expect a new Ubuntu user to understand how things work here, they’re used to the impersonal dealings with Redmond. Give them time, some of them learn how to contribute. I started with Ubuntu, and now I’ve joined some mailing lists and help out in IRC…and when I started, I had no idea what either of those where.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
The machine is a tool. When you need that tool it doesn’t matter if it’s made by Craftsman or Honda.
The saying goes, ” It’s a means to an end. ”
All the major distributions comes stock with a broken Xorg 7.5 that offers superior regressions over Xorg 7.4 stock for Intel Graphics. That means it sucks on laptops, netbooks. An extreemly limited autoconfiguration for attached devices such as Wacom tablets, wireless mice, and trackball mice. Half assed support for 3D graphics on Nvidia and ATI. There is hardly any video or retail DVD playback without hacking.
All major distributions come packed with the same development tools, gdb, ddd, gcc. They have the same media players. The same word processors. The same web-browsers.
What’s the difference? Nothing.
You’ll have a hard time playing DirectX games in Wine, WineX, VmWare, VirtualBox. Adobe Flash will run terrible full-screen. And your family will just beg you to reinstall Windows XP.
Are you in this world to help people or hinder them? That is the only decision in life.
Help or Hurt.
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I agree partially with you
i’m sorry for my bad english.
see, as some people have said above, ubuntu just aims for noobs rather than giving a complete and scalable workstation or server.
But, that’s the good thing of linux and that’s something many of us seem to forget, because the specialization of distributions makes a linux for different users with different needs.
Unfortunalety, as you can see very few newbies seem to care if a linux performs better than the other one, they just want something that just plain works and is just easy to manage, and that’s how the distro war begins and this old elitism begins to arise.
I actually use Fedora, Mandriva, and I plan to change Ubuntu with Debian, just beacuse Ubuntu is not fitting my needs anymore, but it doesn’t mean Ubuntu is bad or inferior.
Remember that using different distributions isn’t only a matter of need but a matter of like too, and most of us may disagree deeply with each other beacuse of the simplest issues, and the segregation of entire linux communities just make the things worse.
I’d wish that people just use linux distribution( s ) for their needs rather than ranting among each others because they belong to “foreign” communities.
I’m glad that ubuntu is gaining strength because of a very rich southafrican man (Mark Shuttleworth, the second astronaut turist in the world, etc.), he has lots of money to promote and merchandise a linux operating system for free (i’d prefer something like this than micro$hit actually does).
I’m also glad fedora is a bleeding edge system which also is a good candidate for a reliable web server (that is, if you update it enough so it can gain stability) , i’m glad for the debian community because they’re porting their system to the GNU/Hurd Kernel, stability of the system and also a good candidate for a data or web server, i’m glad of Mandriva because is really easy to use and it’s KDE implementation is really fast and you can even consider to use it as a realiable data server.
Every linux distribution someone would like to use are to enjoy them, not to make a fight for the simplest of the issues or differences.
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Most of the work, if not all, that has gone into linux, was done to make it easier to use, in one way or another. Then when more common users switch to it, they get bashed, and made to feel dumb for doing it. All they really want to do, is use their computers to get things done. If it’s office work, or just surfing the web, they have a life outside of their OS.
Sure, I use Ubuntu. Not because I have some insane idea of it being the greatest OS on the planet, or anything like that. I use it because it works, and it works simply. I understand it, and I get things done with it. Without the hassle of having to worry about viruses, and without the expense of having to buy software.
Rather than attacking people who use some other OS, I tell them why I use the one I do. I don’t try to cram it down their throats.
Do you have an entire closet full of clothes of the same color, and call everyone names for not wearing the same thing you do? I’m hoping you don’t, but your post suggest that you do.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:17 am
wow, this is gay…. who cares about all of this fancy pants i know more about code than you do bull-crap… Ubuntu has opened the doors to bring down our OS masters… rejoice! This the the day that we have been waiting for! stop fighting amongst the ranks.
November 25th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I agree fully, Ubuntu sucks and i’m changing mine ASAP. Its slow, It doesn’t allow me to do anything, and having to go in and add apps is a time waster.
November 26th, 2009 at 3:30 am
[...] upset to see Ubuntu becoming successful while their own efforts go unrecognized. As Kevin Bowling describes the situation, “Ubuntu is stable because they are standing on the shoulders of giants,” [...]
November 29th, 2009 at 11:55 am
How can you lose respect for a PERSON based on the OS they use. I mean you might lose respect because someone is a criminal or hits women or something extreme, but an OS??? Seriously??? lol pathetic
November 30th, 2009 at 4:49 am
i find it very interesting to read all of these opinions. varied opinions. i started trying ubuntu about 2 years ago and struggled… so i put it off for a year and tried again… struggled again but not as much and i didn’t quit on it the second time. what i liked about ubuntu is that i could get it running easily. now what i like is that i am starting to learn how to run in the shell (terminal actually) and not just a ui, since i was a windows users for too many years. i like what the gnu/linux systems stand for and proud now to be part of that system (which includes ALL distros). i respect all users of any gnu/linux distros and it is sad to see when one distro users cries “foul” about another just because of their lack of vision for the whole. i appreciate ubuntu to give windows users a chance to actually use a gnu/linux system and then from there they can learn the truth about windows and even maybe find another distro they like better or not depending upon their needs or tastes. i must say that giving credit to where it is due is difficult because without ubuntu i might not have known linux at all… so i have to give credit to ubuntu for giving me a way out. but i also give credit to gnu/linux for starting it all. or should i give credit to the unix system… or to the man who made the first computer… or to the monkey that became the first man… how far backwards do we give credit? i am just happy that i am not in windows any longer… what difference should it make after that? oh… and remember… Don’t Worry, Be Happy… =D
December 30th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Well, the post has almost 1 year but I’ve read it today. What I can say is that I’m not a technical guy, just a regular user. I don’t care about what my OS has inside. On the other hand, I don’t like Microsoft and its policy. So, 7 years ago I tried Linux for the 1st time (Mandrake) but it wasn’t a good experience. Just one example: I spent 2 days of Google search on my Windows to find out how to activate my Internet access (through my brazilian provider). I don’t have interest on becoming a technical guy. So I gave up and after some weeks I formatted the Linux partition.
One year ago (exactly one year ago: it was on a December 30, 2008), I installed Ubuntu and in 2 hours I had everything working, my wifi network included. And today I have dual boot with Windows in my desktop and my netbook but I’m going to Windows only once a month or so.
I think that’s the difference between Ubuntu and other distros. I just want to use the computer and, if it’s possible, without Microsoft software.
Linux is a wonderful idea, a wonderful philosophy, a wonderful ideology. But to this idea become real for everybody it’s necessary to surpass the less than 1% desktop marketshare that Linux has today.
If Linux wants to go mainstream, it needs a marketing approach even if we don’t like it. So, if Ubuntu helps to grow Linux marketshare, it’s good for everybody (including the people who hate it).
February 15th, 2010 at 8:39 am
Hate hate hat!
March 9th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
I hate Ubuntu because they spend too much time listening to arrogant dicks like you and not enough time listening to their “idiot” users who just want their computers to work out of the box.
Assholes like you are the reason desktop Linux is the failure that it is today.
“Less than 1% of our market uses our products! Woo!”
I’ve tried a dozen distros over the years, including several years of solid daily Ubuntu use. Ubuntu’s the best, but it’s still a pile of crap, and I’m ready to try a Mac.
May 2nd, 2010 at 1:33 am
Here’s the thing: every linux distribution uses work from other groups. Debian for instance uses a) the linux kernel, b) the gnome desktop environment, c) xorg, d) a crapload of other stuff they didn’t come up with. I somehow came to the conclusion that open source and linux was about that sort of thing, building on the work of the whole open source community. Nowhere was it stated by anyone, anywhere in the community to my knowledge, that subset a of the linux world may not use the work of subset b, because the people from that group thinks the other are losers.
I know that people in the debian world are sore about ubuntu developers taking packages from their repositories and such, and it would be nice to see more new things come out of canonical and not debian, but they do their share of work on the usability side and making things work side, so I think it’s an arrangement that’s starting to work out well.
Use your distro of choice, but don’t be so elitist as to think you have the right to look down on people who don’t see things the way you do.
June 1st, 2010 at 2:08 am
Idiot magnet that is Ubuntu!
So accurate it’s amazing. All the posts on the forum are just an excuse to “get beans”. Waxing lyrical about how much they hate MS and claiming superiority for running Linux even though they clearly can’t even use a search engine.
Ubuntu is the most spoon-fed crap ever, as for the other OS you mention here you loose too. Go research the foundations of BSD. Thats real Unix. ALL the above you mention are patched, hacked, add-on crap.
All Ubuntu does is support a hate campaign against MS.
Peace!!
July 6th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Hmm, I liked Ubuntu Linux before reading your petty diatribe, and I still enjoy it after. I have nothing against Microsoft Windows, but I have my reasons for liking Ubuntu:
1: Easy to install. It asked me for my name, time zone, and password, and neatly positioned itself next to my Windows OS in a dual-boot configuration.
2: It works. I didn’t have to hunt down drivers for my computer; everything worked on the first install.
3: It’s fast. In seconds, I’ve booted up and am ready to read e-mail and browse. No need to hibernate or sleep, shutdown and startup in Ubuntu is just as quick.
4: It doesn’t pretend to be the best. Unlike the MacOS, certain Linux users, and…well, you know, it does what it does very well. It doesn’t pretend to be the best at one thing, but for me it really delivers the goods.
5: Near as I can tell, it’s quite possibly the best chance at converting Windows XP users faced with the end-of-life of their OS. Get these people, and Ubuntu stands a strong chance at expanding the OS market beyond the Microsoft majority/Mac minority.
6. It just works. I’ll admit this is probably a Linux trait, but I’m not worrying about Viruses and spyware.
7. Ubuntu users don’t pretend to be better than everyone else. They tend to be more confident in their choice, and are the quickest to state, “Use whatever works for you.”
8. Whenever a friend who is struggling with XP and doesn’t know the difference between Root and Shell follows my advice of “Just try Ubuntu” switches over and constantly thanks me for the advice afterward, it demonstrates that it’s not just me.
9. Does making configuration and the addition of software and features easy a bad thing? I don’t care if it attracts idiots, I only care that it makes my life easier…and it does.
10. It’s made my life easier, no other Linux distro can say that.
July 17th, 2010 at 10:32 am
i truly agree that ubuntu sucks
they dont make the sense of integrating basic audio codecs and video codecs
and more ever also everything they think of installation is via terminal and directly conneccted to internet
i have a modem and ubuntu does not detects it
modem has drivers for MAC OSX AND windows
bt for ubuntu the company sayys i have to manually compile and buld it
are you nuttttssssssss not every body is a programmer dese days just to connecct to internet i have to compile and integrate the modem dirvers so that i can get connected to the internet.
they try keep modifying hell lot of things but just dont make sense in basic
no debian files to direct install software just like apple store or windows have
i sincerely say……….. UBUNTU SUCKSS DONKEY BALLS
July 26th, 2010 at 2:29 am
I’m amazed people still haven’t discovered that desktop Linux is a lost cause.
July 26th, 2010 at 11:38 am
I used to be quite a fan of Ubuntu, but I do see some flaws that I do not like about it since 9.10.
1. Software Center – The old way of getting programs was that I could choose all of the ones that I wanted from a list, and then accept the packages that are needed as well as the ones I chose. This was much quicker, as I could choose all that I needed at one time and then let it all download. With the new software center, I have to either search or click a one program, click the install button, click to accept it and any extra packages, and then wait. If I try to do multiple downloads, it locks up.
2. New and incomplete software – I use Pidgin as my IM, and with newer Ubuntu distributions, this was replaced by Empathy. The problem is not that it got replaced, as I can put Pidgin back, but that Empathy is there in a popular distribution. I think that it is good that a distribution showcases unfinished software in a distribution, but not when this distribution is one of the distributions that many people get into when switching from Windows. It seems like Ubuntu might be more fun for those who are into programming, who could benefit programs like Empathy. I’m glad that there are alternative IM programs out there, but for a new-user Linux Distribution, I think a fully working IM program with some customization would be better than having this. Empathy doesn’t seem complete to me.
Now Ubuntu is great for those who want to start out with Linux at first or have some sort of curiosity. All that is really needed is to ask not just the computer enthusiasts about what Ubuntu should be, but also hold equal opportunities for all types users to speak out and give opinions about the compiling effort that Canonical does, and for Ubuntu (this is the most important thing) to change for both the average user and the computer enthusiasts.
The next best step for Canonical is to come out with much better drivers for hardware, but I doubt that and I’m just asking too much as is.
July 26th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Kev009,
I really don’t understand why you should lose respect for some/anyone running a particular OS that doesn’t get you drooling over.
You see, I’ve been an Arch Linux user for almost three years now, and I’m loving it a lot. It it comes in very small package compared to most other preconfigured distros, runs very fast, is highly configurable (I can setup a server or an HTPC using the same base installer) and what-have-you.
That said, I must confess that my first intimate introduction to most Linux concepts and practices was facilitated by Ubuntu/Unoobtu/Ubombtu/[put your term here]. You see, I’ve known Linux since way back in 1999, when I first work as a network administrator at a Banking corp here. But I had never been interested in using it on my laptop and desktop and, worst of all, to support my carrier (I had decided to sticking with being a Windows admin).
But that all changed when I saw Ubuntu in 2005. Its vision really took me, and my co-workers managed to convince me to take the plunge (one foot at a time). Long story short, I decided that I need a rolling release distro that doesn’t have the hassles commonly found in, for example, Ubuntu. Thus, the switch to Arch.
What I want to say here is, Ubuntu really serves as a good starting ground for those who really are new to Linux. It can be brought up and running in less time than Gentoo, Arch, Slackware, and even Fedora (Fedora is a state-of-the-art distribution). Most importantly, their community is more (much more) open and tolerant to novices, a quality that most other communities lack. That’s another thing that Ubuntu has tried to innovate in — enforcing friendliness within its community. In this ever increasingly complicated world of Linux, novices really need some folks to help them get on their feet — nobody is born with Linux knowledge. That’s one other thing that seems to be left off by most other distro communities.