Re: Please, help Linus install Debian!
I think it is fair to say that Ubuntu is starting to fill the void that
Debian wasn't filling--that is, a simple Debian. They even have a
LiveCD, another thing Debian has failed to do. I personally have
enjoyed Debian for a long time, and I haven't bothered with the other
distros. Effort I have put into it has been well worth it, and over
time I have found the system easy to use, as I have learned a lot about
it. However, Ubuntu might be the distro I would install on a desktop
for myself these days. (Definitely it is what I recommend for newbies
who want an installed system.)
It is interesting to keep in mind those things that both Ubuntu and
Knoppix have been criticized for.
Ubuntu: It is not free enough by RMS standards. I think they are
actually working on that, based on what I have seen. They are also
pushing people to define what the ideal open hardware laptop would be.
That's an interesting development.
My criticism of their LiveCD is that it is much, much slower (and not as
love-filled) as the Knoppix LiveCD, which seems to have been polished
and polished out of love.
The main criticisms of Knoppix from the Debian camp are that its hard
drive installation is not Debian (because it violates Debian package
policy) and that it has software that doesn't meet Debian's Free
Software Guidelines. I'm not sure that one can get around this, due to
Knoppix's goals.
Gilles Pelletier wrote:
> "So the only major distribution I’ve never used has actually been
> Debian, exactly because that has traditionally been harder to
> install. Which sounds kind of strange, since Debian is also
> considered to be the “hard-core technical” distribution, but that’s
> literally exactly what I personally do not want in a distro. I’ll
> take the nice ones with simple installers etc, because to me, that’s
> the whole and only point of using a distribution in the first place."
>
> <http://www.oneopensource.it/interview-linus-torvalds/>
>
> So, it seems Linus has the same problem as me(1): I'm sure he could
> install Debian, but he just doesn't want to get through the hassle.
> As he explains, the idea behind a distro is easing things out.
>
> (1) See:
> <http://lists.debian.org/debian-knoppix/2007/07/msg00000.html>
> from: "I treid Etch, recently, and it was too many headaches."
> -------
>
> Therefore, there's definitely some place for a (new) Knoppix better
> than (previous) Knoppix. Maybe Linus would like it! (I'm sure he
> watches multimedia too! :)
>
>
--
Shane Geiger
IT Director
National Council on Economic Education
sgeiger@ncee.net | 402-438-8958 | http://www.ncee.net
Leading the Campaign for Economic and Financial Literacy
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