Re: "I do consider Ubuntu to be Debian" , Ian Murdock
Freddy Freeloader wrote:
> I would have a hard time saying Ubuntu==Debian on a technical level
> too. I just tried an Ubuntu install on a laptop and the process of
> configuring WPA on that laptop was another animal altogether than doing
> the same thing when running Debian.
> To tell the truth the Debian way of doing things, and I'll admit I'm
> biased because I'm far more familiar with Debian, is more
> straightforward and seems more logical to me. It doesn't hide anything
> like the Ubuntu way of doing things does.
I can pitch in here a couple of my cents. My wife usually works on
Windows (mainly because her peers in her lab all use Windows) but her
laptop also had Debian installed (I am her "unofficial" sys admin :).
Last year, I wiped her Debian install and installed Ubuntu so I have
some experience in setting up the new-cool-kid-in-town distro.
Mainly, once I had installed Ubuntu, which was a breeze, I noticed that
I did not have to configure her Nvidia card and her 1400x1050 display as
I had to in Debian couple of years ago (I am sure this has changed
since). The admin part was mostly done in Debian (it is same in Ubuntu).
I could always edit text files, but Ubuntu provided a GUI method to do
the most common things.
The most challenging thing in the whole installation was getting the
wireless working as she wanted. The card itself was detected without any
problems. Basically, it had to work at home, at her lab where she works
and also at another lab which she sometimes visits and, ideally, at any
other hotspot (conferences etc.). I was getting some trouble setting up
this thing the Debian way. It took me quite a while to get it working at
both places, home and her lab, using profiles in interfaces file.
However, the solution was not ideal. IIRC, for any new wireless network,
one had to be root to add a profile. In Ubuntu however, I discovered
network-manager and nm-applet. With these two, the key was never to
touch the /etc/network/interfaces file and configure everything from the
manager -- as a normal user. The nm-applet actually shows all the
available wireless networks and one only to put his/her key to
authenticate. No need to become root. The keys are saved on a per user
basis. This method in Ubuntu actually solved the
wireless-anywhere-connection problem.
Having said that, I must stress that Debian also has network-manager now
and it appears to work as well but I haven't verified.
>From this, I just learned that even though Ubuntu may be based on
Debian, but Ubuntu people make great efforts to present the distro so
that it is much simpler for non-geeks to use and configure.
For the records, I am still with Debian Etch on my machine and plan to
stay with it, and another machine has Debian sarge. My router machine,
connected to an ADSL modem, has Debian Etch on it and also has a
wireless card which is an access point in my home (setting that up was
quite an experience itself, but once it was setup in Debian, I haven't
touched it since).
->HS
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