Is Ubuntu bad choice?
 

Hi.
First of all im not aiming for "flame war" thread with this topic. Its just where i live a lot of people dislike and laugh about Ubuntu in bad way or even hate it. They say its parody of linux and trashable distro. I just wanted ask people with experience here what they think about Ubuntu. Is it really mistake and other are better or just people hate that Ubuntu is trying to be user-friendly and popular. Basicaly i am just trying to make discussion with arguments not plane flame like most people do in other forums - they say it is lame but when asked why they dont know..Ubuntu is #1 atm so people should know truth. It would help lot of people decide if they should install Ubuntu in first place and suggest to other people or just pick Debian from which its based on. Thanks

Ubuntu is just as "good" as any other distro. The parent company has made some decisions about the default package set that torqued some people off. But you can configure it how you want just like any other distro.

I typically tell people that any of the major distros (i.e. top 7-10 on Distrowatch) will be just fine, but that they have to find one that fits them. The second thing I tell them is if there's someone helping them install they should use whatever distro their friend is using so that if they have questions they can ask their friend. Once they're comfortable in linux, they can branch out and try some different distros.

I usually ignore other people when it comes to what I like to do.

I would boot a live cd or pendrive and decide for myself. Screw other opinions.


I can run either and do. No favorites. Depends on Hardware for me. I believe in just run what you brung. Other people opinions don't figure into what I do.

Currently, Windows is #1. Decide for yourself if the most used distro is always the best.

For real, there is no such thing like a "best distro". If you are comfortable with Ubuntu, use it. I recommended Ubuntu for first time Linuxers a lot, just because in Ubuntu (or it's derivative Mint) most things work out of the box (I myself started with Ubuntu, too). Then, if you become more familiar with Linux, you have to decide for yourself if Ubuntu is the right thing for you, or if you want to try a different distro. It simply depends on how you use your system, and what you want your system to be.

After using Ubuntu from 8.04 to 9.10 I decided that Ubuntu's way is not the way I want my system to be, so I changed to Debian. After using it for a while I am currently changing my systems to Slackware, but I will stick with Debian on my fileserver. I also decided to use a spare harddisk to set up a virtual system that will multiboot into several other systems, like Debian, CentOS, and what I otherwise want to try.

So it is a simple answer to your question: Use what you want to use, Linux is all about choice. Don't hear to to other people, just learn a bit and show them that you can do the same things with Ubuntu they can do with their systems. Flaming about other distros is a rather normal thing, like Chevy drivers flame against Ford drivers. Don't worry about that.

Yes i agree about opinions. Just even some people with experience say Ubuntu is laggy(especialy Gnome build for ubuntu), buggy, insecure, unstable etc. and other user-friendly distros like openSuse is far better made for desktop use. Also im not choosing distros - i just need fix my DVD problem then i will install one i like but for now im considering try latest 10.10 CD and after trying Mint 9 it wasnt that bad..and even in past when i tried Ubuntu everything worked for me. Maybe just luck.. When i was trying them for first time i just noticed they differ by desktop environment but everything else was pretty much same so i dont know why Ubuntu is exception.

P.S.TobiSGD With #1 i meant #1 popular linux in distrowatch and about windows - if it was free then it would be great 2. Problem is - it costs money. :)

There is no such thing as a bad choice. The point is you have a choice, which closed source doesn't offer you.

+1

I started on Ubuntu (8.04) but use Debian Testing now. Ubuntu is Debian based.

The main thing is that this is Linux. This is your choice and no one else. Once installed you can do what you want to it. Other folks opinions are just that. The importance of those opinions is only what you give them.

I have to say I like Ubuntu for beginners, it is easy to setup and "most" things work out of the box. Having said that Debian, which is what Ubuntu comes from, is so much lighter on RAM and disk space.

I started years ago, 2001 or 2002 I can't quite remember, with RedHat8. Still to this day I have never had a machine that would actually be able to use it successfully after installation. I went back to Windows, bad idea I know, until April 2007 when I come across Feisty Fawn (Ubuntu 7.04) and I've been with Linux ever since. I have tested development versions of Ubuntu and now run Debian Sid/Experimental on all of my machines and I have to say my current setup isn't as buggy as 10.04 was when it was released.

In answer to your actual question I'd say no it isn't a bad choice but I'd also say if you do advise people to use Ubuntu make sure they know there is such as thing as an LTS which may be more suitable to them than a regular release.

Having typed all that I think I should also say that I love Debian and find its DebianLive version a brilliant thing to show people how easy Debian can be to install. For a beginner with a decent PC I'd give them a choice of Ubuntu and DebianLive, show them both and then install whatever one they choose.

Completely Off Topic;
k3lt01 you may be familiar with me from Ubuntu testing as a bad boy.

Check a certain other thread. Cheers, bad boy :hattip:

Now back to our regular programming.

If you want a Linux distribution that requires you to know next to nothing about Linux, then go with Ubuntu, but if you ever want to learn Linux, start with something else.

I disagree with this statement. Ubuntu has helped many people learn the basics and move on from there.

for me, that's coming from personal experience. I used Ubuntu for four years, and was still a complete Linux noob. I've learned more about Linux in the 2-3 months I've been using Slackware, than in the 4 years I used Ubuntu.

That's why i made this thread in first place. To get some real answers about Why Ubuntu is wrong in linux world? Why do people like you say it's not "real" linux and pick something else as replacement. Because its user-friendly? Because you don't need make it like with Linux From Scratch? Jealous cause it's popular? I just don't get it why Ubuntu users are noobs - sure they maybe don't prefer much working with console or configuring system but hey! Not everyone who uses computer is IT specialist! Thats why Ubuntu has moto "Linux for human beeings" not "Linux for computer geeks or server adminstrators". And if Ubuntu is wrongly made for desktop use then why not say direct reasons and arguments? If you know something we don't why not share? Topic is about Ubuntu not other linux versions..
So using Slackware makes you pro(even then u also used ubuntu and moved on which prooves other persons truth that it gives nice start base)? Thats your point? What about others like RedHat..Arch..etc..people who use them are noobs? Once again - using non-user-friendly maybe makes you more knowing than average Ubuntu user but not pro in life or computer world..

P.S.Nothing offensive or personal towards you - it's pure ontopic. :)

P.P.S.I'm writing this post from Ubuntu 10.10 - still can't see why it would be shame to use it..

I agree with the other members who say use what you want, and never mind other peoples opinions about it. Personally, I prefer Slackware to any other distro I've tried, but I wouldn't say any of the others were bad.