Re: price of the 3 debian cds much more expensive than what it is told on the website

[Johannes Wiedersich <johannes@physik.blm.tu-muenchen.de>]

> Ubuntu and Kubuntu are not Debian; while based on Debian, they really
> are different distributions, with different goals.
>
> The main differences are the fact that Ubuntu (and its sisters kubuntu
> and edubuntu) have strict 6-month release cycles, while Debian does not;
> and the fact that the default Ubuntu installation has a lot more choices
> made for you already, whereas a Debian system makes less of those.
>
> Both have their advantages and disadvantages; for example, Debian will
> "release when it's ready", meaning that the release will be delayed if
> there are too many bugs still open. While I don't expect that Ubuntu
> will ship with many bugs, they are a bit laxer in this. Of course, that
> also means that you can never tell for sure when the release will
> happen, and that our release cycles typically take longer (so the
> software in the latest release is, on average, older than the one in the
> latest Ubuntu release).

That's what debian stable is about. You don't have new versions of 
software packages every half year to get used to.

Every software installation involves a compromise between stability (few 
updates, older, well tested software with few bugs) and fancy new stuff 
(many updates, software not as well tested, system changing often, risk 
of introducing more bugs). On this balance Debian leans more to the 
first, Ubuntu more to the second.

Ubuntu tries to provide more security (= ie, less bugs) by focussing on 
fewer packages (ie. less choice for the users).

Pick whichever suits you better! After all that's what free software is 
about.

Johannes