debain -> ubuntu
 

hi every body
i was asking isn't Ubuntu drived from debian ???
then what is the main difference between them ?
and what to choose ???
can any body help!!!!

Ubuntu is based off of the unstable branch of debian. I believe Debian has a more strict policy for using packages because it has to work on all 11 architectures supported by Debian, whereas Ubuntu only needs to work on a few architectures. So in general, Ubuntu packages will be newer than Debian packages, but they may also be more buggy since they have not been tested as thoroughly.

If you use the Debian stable branch (currently 4.0 release, codename Etch), then you'll get rock solid stable packages with few bugs because they've been thoroughly tested. But they won't be the newest versions of most programs.

Debian has mainly three branches to choose from, Stable, Testing and Unstable. Click here for more information http://www.us.debian.org/releases/ .

Ubuntu is derived from Debian unstable. It depends on the packages from Debian unstable repo and then altered by ubuntu developers to suit their needs. The core of the Ubuntu is still Debian. Debian unstable and Ubuntu are almost same except some changes in here and there. Also, Ubuntu has more polished artwork than Debian and it has more out of the box hardware support than Debian.

If someone has little exposure to linux, he should not feel much differences between Debian and Ubuntu. You can try both distribution and see yourself which suits you better.

Is this really true?

I guess you could argue it does since it typically has a newer kernel at Ubuntu release time. Also Ubuntu includes restricted drivers by default, where as Debian does not.

But I would say it's not a big deal unless you're installing on the newest hardware anyway...

Apart from how Ubuntu is derived from Debian, there is one more important property.

Ubuntu is set up such that the user is unaware that a command line exists, and even the scary root user is not necessary to make the most fundamental changes to your system.

I would say it is closer to Windows XP than to Debian. If you are used to administrative tasks in the command line as user, forget them. They don't work anyway. (Don't ask me how that works)

If you're feeling comfortable with Debian, stick with it, Ubuntu is definitely not a better Debian.

Not that Ubuntu is bad, there are millions of people using it. But it just doesn't appeal to me because of the reasons mentioned. Take the effort tom install it once on a spare machine and you'll see, and you'll know whether you like it or not.

jlinkels

Agreed. I switched over to Debian a couple days ago because I actually want to LEARN Linux. Don't get me wrong Ubuntu is a great introduction to the world of Linux, but I wouldn't recommend sticking with it if you want the full experience.

Agreed, but not only kernel, alsa too. My sound card was not detected in Debian Etch which has alsa version 1.0.13. My sound card needs at least alsa version 1.0.14 to work properly.


Strongly agreed, since I shifted to Ubuntu, I miss Debian like anything. In my knowledge Ubuntu is the most Debian-like distro.