Re: Introduction
tom arnall wrote:
> On Saturday 10 February 2007 07:54, Joe Hart wrote:
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I just wanted to introduce myself. I am a new Debian Etch user. I've
>> switched from Kubuntu since I read about the new partnership of Ubuntu
>> and Linspire. While I think the merging of the systems might be a good
>> idea for new Linux users, those who have some experience with Linux will
>> most likely feel that CNR is not the way to go.
>>
>> Needless to say, I will do my best to contribute to THIS community and
>> not THAT one. I find that both of those projects take far too much than
>> they give back. If it weren't for Debian, neither would exist.
>>
>> I am looking forward to Etch being marked Stable, and am quite curious
>> to what the name of the next Testing Branch will be.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Joe Hart
>>
>
> I booted from the Ubuntu CD the other day and was very impressed. It got my
> wireless card right off. Back 6 months ago when I did a Debian install from
> the minimal cd, I had to recompile the kernel etc to get my card to work.
> Does anyone know if this has changed?
>
> I am thinking seriously of recommending Ubuntu as a starting point for new
> users. Comments on the advantages/disadvantages of this idea are encouraged.
>
> What is involved for a user to switch from Ubuntu to Debian?
>
> thanks,
>
> tom arnall
>
The main advantage Ubuntu has over Debian is the easy access to the
restricted (non-free) Linux drivers. I'm pretty sure Ubuntu loads some
non-free drivers by default, which is why it has better out of the box
hardware detection.
For laptops Ubuntu is a good point to start new users on, yes, because
it takes way less time to configure and get running than Debian.
Eventually when your friend learns how to work with Linux, he/she should
switch over to Debian for ease of use (But definitely not ease of
setting up).
For desktops I find Debian to be a pretty easy to use and stable OS, and
I would recommend it before Ubuntu. My friend has a new desktop
computer, and it took me less than an hour to set him up dual booting
between Debian and Windows. Everything was set up, and anything that
didn't work out of the box took only 5 minutes to get working. It was a
pretty simple experience, and in the end his computer turned out to work
better than even my own.
The main problem with hardware detection usually lies in wireless
internet, which is usually only a problem with Debian (And less often in
Ubuntu).
(@Tom: Sorry about sending it to you personally, I must have clicked the
wrong button without noticing.)
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