Re: "I do consider Ubuntu to be Debian" , Ian Murdock
On Tue, Mar 20, 2007 at 10:54:41PM -0800, Steve Lamb wrote:
> Michael Pobega wrote:
> > Anything you can do on Ubuntu you can do on Debian, but the truth is
> > that Debian provides much more functionality, stability, and ease of
> > use than Ubuntu
>
> Er, wha? You just had several people tell you that things are easier on
> Ubuntu out of the box and you've the gall to retort with Debian is easier to
> use? Sorry, I've been around Debian going on about 10 years and I'm not about
> to say that Debian's easier to use compared to Ubuntu.
>
I didn't have the "gall" to say anything. In my time I've found Debian
at least twenty times easier to use than Ubuntu, and I've used both.
I've never really had to go back to edit configuration files, except
for minor edits, normally I like to get things done in one job.
I'm not at all saying Ubuntu is a bad distro, I like it and I would
still recommend it to anyone who is a casual computer user (Like a
family member or a friend who just uses their computer to chat/check
email/"MySpace"(All of my friends do that crap)/browse websites. But
as for people who plan on really spending time on their computer, Debian
is definitely worth the effort. Sure it takes longer to configure, and
sure it is a little harder to understand. And yeah, nothing is really
handed to you on a silver platter (Besides apt's binaries), but I
think having computer knowledge (Especially UNIX based) is one of the
most useful things someone can carry with them into life.
You may say I'm biased because I use Debian, but I'm not. Like I said
I have a System76[0] laptop, so Ubuntu came on it by default[1]. All of
my drivers were given to me without any confirmation, and GNOME was
thrown on my computer. GNOME? Yeah, GNOME. I personally don't like
GNOME, and I don't feel like spending an hour purging it and it's
config files from my computer (OT: Why haven't they made the Window
Maker Wubuntu yet?). After using Ubuntu for a while I thought I was
happy with it, until I realized I was not even my first six months
into using it and I had to reinstall Ubuntu five time. Five times! I
ended up getting tired of it, and I started distro hopping. Gentoo, I
don't really care about building from source. SuSe I didn't like.
FedoraCore, I'm not an RPM fan. Debian offered me the tools I love
(apt, dpkg, dselect, aptitude) with the stability I need (I'm
extremely paranoid when it comes to computer problems) and throw on
top Deban's social contract, which means I'll be supporting the FSF
(I'm a GPL-whore).
And as for GUIs, I hate relying on graphical applications to do any of
my configurations. I'm always paranoid that a Xorg update will break
X[2] so I'm normally on the command line. Which is why I hate using
graphical apps to configure my programs. I'd like to be able to
survive on a system without a GUI, instead of cringing to the same
wall as the Windows and Mac users would (I don't mean to attack
Windows and Mac users, but in all honesty how many of them would be
able to get by without their "pretty" GUI?)
Again, this is all just opinion after using Ubuntu for some time and
then Debian for some time. I never even mentioned how Ubuntu's
community, though large in size, is made up largely of Linux newbies.
Not that that is bad, but don't expect to get much help when it comes
to asking any REAL technical questions. Hell, don't even expect to get
any replies until you've bumped your topic to the point where it's two
pages long (I've seen this multiple times, one time it was someone
asking about Edgy's usplash and how to manipulate it). I wish I could
find the link now, but after a short search on the Ubuntu forums I
just gave up.
[0]http://system76.com/
[1]http://system76.com/index.php/cPath/45_55?osCsid=de36b9da1586951f231eeec25cfab951
[2]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Xorg+Update+Breaks&btnG=Google+Search
(Notice: They're all Ubuntu)
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