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Re: Introduction

Michael Pobega wrote:

tom arnall wrote:
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?


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).
I disagree about the wireless situation. If you check out unbuntuforums, you'll see a LOT of people explaining how to use ndiswrapper, which of course is not the best solution, but for some devices the only solution. The same can be said of some printers.
I see no advantages of using the standard Ubuntu over Etch. There are however, specialized versions such as edubuntu, Ubuntu CE and even Ubuntu Ultimate Edition that are Ubuntu with additional packages. For that matter there is gNewSense that is Ubuntu - non-free.
Ubuntu is QUITE popular, and you can think of it in this way: Even if you don't like it (or it's marketing), at least it is bringing more people to Linux, and the more people using Linux, the better the hardware manufactures will support it.
Ubuntu Dapper is good, Edgy is a bit buggy, Feisty, from the looks so far will be even worse.
Now is a good time, because of the problems with Vista, people will possibly look for alternatives. It will be hard to break the MS stranglehold on the desktop, for users afraid of the command line, all versions of Linux are still too complicated. The Ubuntu/Linspire team could help. 

Joe
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