In my limited experience, the differences I've noticed are:

1. Ease of use. The combination of packages and installation tools selected in Ubuntu makes most things fairly easy to do.

2. Active community. There is a large and active community of Ubuntu users on the internet. This means that when questions or issues arise, it's relatively easy to find the answers.

That having been said, Ubuntu is not for everyone, nor does it try to be.

Ubuntu is 100% free and has a massive community to support new comers and help them get started. Some of the other popular distributions have free versions and paid for versions.

Hello,
Thank you both for stopping by to post a reply.
Calla

ubuntu being free doesnt make it the most popular. the community is what does. ubuntu has THE MOST active community i have ever seen. that is the only thing. everything else ubuntu has, every other distribution has (to some extent).

package management is the same as debian (and in my opinion, the only reason why apt is better than yum is because of cache search. other than that, i think yum is a better package manager.) yet ubuntu is still the choice for many.

ubuntu does try to make things very easy for everyone, but at the same time (as seen with microsoft windows), when you create something that is user friendly, you include many bugs and problems that are unavoidable.

Hi there,
Thanks for your reply. You mention about bugs in the Ubuntu because it's made as "user friendly." If you don't mind me asking, what are the problems with it?
BTW, I'm currently in the process of learning about Ubuntu as well as the whole world of Linux. I'm awaiting the arrival of Ubuntu CD in about 10 weeks time (I know it's long).

Calla

Message Edited by Calla Lily on 08-27-2007 06:58 PM

not so much bugs, but more like, for example, i installed ubuntu with KDevelop and GCC, yet, the headers werent installed so i couldnt compile anything. then, after having to install the headers, the gcc executable was called gcc-47 (or something like that, it was gcc-"some number") instead of gcc. and because of that, linking became a nightmare. ended up having to just make a symlink.

this is a MAJOR problem for me because the idea behind ubuntu is to make every package available to the user, which is a great moto, however, many programs i use are not available in a .deb package, let alone in a binary package at all, making me have to compile from source. since i had so much trouble just getting gcc to work right, just forget about source installs.

root account is disabled by default. normally, this would be a good thing, except for the fact that when you want to run a root level utility, sudo is used and all you need to do is type in the same password as your login. if your user account gets hijacked, so does the ability to run root level services. that is a big no-no.

then there is the fact that there is no firewall by default. sure, one can argue that if there are no remote services running, there is no need for a firewall, but again, if the user account gets hijacked, an attacker can install anything they want and if there is no firewall to block outgoing traffic, it just makes it all that much easier for them.

now, dont let all of this discourage you. ubuntu is a fine distribution for someone just starting out. as i said before, the community is amazing and they provide enough documentation that all the problems i came across could be solved by the documentation they provide. its just all of that rolled up in one little package for me just really ticked me off. and then, there was the slight performace problem i had on my laptop with it. i keep my laptop at work and only use 3 programs on it (pidgin, xchat and firefox), yet, my RAM kept on getting used (its 512 Megs, more than enough to run all 3). i would just watch my RAM usage go up and up and up.

im probably one of the very few disaster stories with ubuntu, though.

Hi Sakuramboo,
Thanks for your reply. Sounds like you have to be quite computer literate when you deal with Linux and Ubuntu. Can Ubuntu as well as Linux OS be installed or used on any computer? I have Inspiron 640M/E1405. Right now, while awaiting the CD, I'm trying to learn about how to use it. To be honest, I'm quite overwhelmed. People on this forum have said simply boot it from the CD drive, but I remembering reading somewhere that you have to configure your BIOS or something to enable your computer to boot from the CD drive. Once I get the CD, I plan on test driving it first, though I don't know if the CD I requested from Ubuntu website is a Live CD. Is it simple as just putting the CD in the CD drive and following on screen instruction (supposing that there is an on screen instruction). How would I boot it from the CD if my computer is turned off? I guess you have to do a Restart, but during the Restart process, when do you actually put the CD in? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Calla

you dont have to be computer literate, but it sure does help. just doing your every day tasks, there is no reason at all to not use any GNU/Linux distribution. since i dabble in software development, i was turned off by ubuntu. but, like i said, i am probably the one in a thousand that actually had a problem with it.

when your computer is booting, there should be an option to hit a key and enter into your BIOS (usually the f12 or del key) while some have a one key button to select the booting device (usually f2). hit the key and select the cd/dvd rom drive to be the first boot device. dont worry, if there is no media in there, it wont boot and will move on to the next device (should be your hard drive) and everything will boot normally.

Ubuntu ships on a live CD that you can test drive before installing. make sure that everything works, Open Office loads, web browsing works, etc. if everything works, then just click on the install to hard drive icon and it will take care of everything else for you.

see, the problem isnt that they focused on usability. the problem is that they made it a desktop distribution and nothing more. for your average computer user, it does the job and it does it well. but for someone like me who does a little bit of software development, debugging, audio and video manipulation, 3d modeling and animation, basically a production worker, i need a workstation/desktop. many of the features i require to use will require me to tweak and modify too much of the OS to get it working to my standards.

this also brings up the "which distribution should i use?" problem that a lot of newbies face. for someone like me, fedora is the best choice because of exactly what i do while someone who just wants to surf the web, watch movies and the like, ubuntu is a fine choice. for someone who wants to get into the nitty-gritty of GNU/Linux, Gentoo, slackware or some form of BSD is good. but, then there is also the learning curve, for me, slackware was the best for me to learn GNU/Linux on because it just tossed the user to a command prompt, forcing the user to learn everything about the OS to get it running perfectly. not everyone is like that. this is why i suggest everyone to just try as many different distributions as possible and to just use what they feel most comfortable with.

You can put the LiveCD in your optical drive while you are in your current OS (windows, yes? ) and then reboot. Then, follow Sakuramboos instructions on booting from CD. The LiveCD will load everything into RAM (your current OS hard drive will not be touched unless you tell it to).

Running the entire OS from RAM can be a little bit slower than the installed version of Ubuntu (depending on how much RAM you have total).

@Sakuramboo I agree with your concerns about Ubuntu. I feel they made some sacrifices for usability that cut too deep into security. However, it's still a stout OS and if you are familiar with configuring iptables, that is about as much a firewall as something with a GUI :)

Thank you both for your advice.
Calla

The problems you've encountered with Ubuntu aren't unique to Ubuntu. They're endemic throughout the entire Linux community. Someone changes something and something else breaks. But look on the bright side. The problems with unresolved dependencies in Debian based distros like Ubuntu are nothing like the the scale of the problem in distros based on RPM packages. Getting software to run in SuSE is a nightmare and very often the answer is to compile from source.

Thank you, Professor Stallman, for clearing up our confusion.

No, Ubuntu is not 100% free. Stop coming with confusing statements. http://www.gnewsense.org/FAQ/FAQ#toc3

Inspiron 530. To boot from cd / dvd

During normal boot up, display includes the words or similar  'F12 for Boot Menu'.

Press F12 

Boot menu loads... and with luck, displays options on screen

Open your optical drive drawer (either, if you have two !!), insert disk, close drive drawer.

Choose cd rom boot option at the screen.

Press Enter

The process should begin.

 

So, yes, you  can operate the optical unit drawer whilst the Boot Menu is displayed. No need to insert cd or dvd then shutdown / reboot system... Seems obvious, but I understand the thought process.

 

Be lucky, and never ask the flight engineer how to operate a seat belt .. he will rapidly digress into gobbledygook...

 

:smileywink:

 

Edit.

Ooops just noticed the previous posting date :smileysad: