Back when I started computing (in 1978 at age 11), Microsoft was a 3 year old company, Apple Inc didn’t yet exist, nor did the GNU Project or the Linux kernel – or probably most (or dare I say all?) of the people who have posted on this board.

I use Ubuntu, a flavor of Linux, for my desktop PC. If I were to use a server, I’d use another distro. Each has their good and bad to them, so why the elitism and in-fighting? I don’t use some distros for my desktop because I simply don’t have the time, inclination or the desire to sit there and geek-out for hours on end compiling, tweaking my PC that I just want to use.

For new users, I recommend Ubuntu, but I also educate them on other distributions as well. Realize that 90% of the people out there just want to create and edit documents, images, print, browse the web and email. They don’t want to ungz, untar, run a makefile, then a ./configure etc. They aren’t going to compile Gentoo from source. Those who ARE more technically adept, already know about or are using Linux (in their flavor of choice) already. These same technically adept people do NOT shop at Best Buy, they shop at Micro-Center and NewEgg, places like that, etc.

There is no need to covert the geeks, no need to preach to the choir. We already know. It is the end-users, the general public, the masses pf people who treat their PC the same as they do a microwave or TV that we are trying to reach, and like it or not, Ubuntu is the best form of Linux to do that with.

As for switching the words out “Ubuntu” for “Linux”; people use incorrect terminology all the time. For example, it’s not “the systray” in Windows, it’s actually the “Notification Area” – yet who calls it that? Most people don’t have a “router”; they really have a Layer 3 Switch (which is a Layer 2 switch and a router combined into one unit). How about saying “Kleenex” (a brand) instead of “tissue”? Look….people using incorrect terminology is nothing new. Is it annoying? Yes, but new? No. Not at all. Now you can spend your time trying to correct everyone, or you can just live and do what you do. All of this in-fighting and separation between people over operating systems, terminology, political systems, religious systems, it really needs to just stop, and humankind really needs to wake the F up.

Marketshare and mindshare is important. You cannot shrug it off. Marketshare brings with it momentum and momentum brings with it a lot of adavantages. (Look at microsoft! gasp!). Ubuntu is the most popular distro around, whether you like it or not. And this does translate into some benefits. Look at how AMD released versions of drivers compatible with ubuntu over the last two cycles (and karmic in the last month) which was not available for other distros. Look at how most open source projects offer debian/ubuntu debs allowing easy install. For a newbie and compatibility and ease of use is very important.

Interesting you are sick of standards yet at the very next line you argue for LSB. RPMs had problems with dependency management; apt was superior. By your argument debian is a broken, non-standard distro and they cannot even do propoganda.

Ubuntu adds value to debian. It is a combination of marketing, ease of use, good hardware detection, one cd distro, sane choice of defaults, choice of one application per category, backed up by apt and the debian universe repository. None of these is by itself unique, and for each of these factors there is at least one distro that does it better. But the combination is unique to ubuntu.

Every user brought to linux is a win for linux and a win for the user irrespective of any distro. And the point of freedom is each user is free to choose and use linux in the way they want.

Linux is not ubuntu, but ubuntu brings new users to linux and guess what ubuntu does not lock people into their distro. Nobody is forcing anybody to stay with ubuntu. People are free to move to other distros, some do. A lot don’t, suggesting that for a majority of desktop linux users ubuntu does the job perfectly well.

“Keep the space clean? Leave us alone?” Why the elitism? Why force your ideology on the rest of us?

@Ubuntu fanboys: Can you please shut up? Frankly, if you want to market yet-another-Windows-clone, go for Mac, and leave us FOSS alone. I am tired of your insistence on Ubuntu and whatnots, and the whole argument on how GNU/Linux is no more than a mere replacement of Windows and Mac. I am sick of the kind of call for “unity” and “standard” and “for market share,” where all you really want to do is to make everyone use the same thing that you do, the screwed up distro stolen from Debian project. If you please, the LSB (do you know what that is? No? shame on you) recommends rpm, not deb, so Ubuntu is no more than a broken, non-standard distro that offers no more than propaganda. And, again, if all you want to do is no virus, can you just throw those users over to Mac? Thank you very much for keeping the space clean.

Frankly, the most powerful thing about the whole GNU/Linux thingy is that it offers a great educational and personal-empowerment opportunity, where the users (WE) finally wrestle back the control over our machines, our data, our lives. THAT is the point of FOSS, of community, source, and whatnots. Do you think that your dear friends can afford spending 3 hours of their TV watching to learn how to live better? Do you think that they can spend some minutes in their Facebook time to understand what needs to be done to be productive? Thank you, but GNU/Linux has been thrown down low enough. It is a, first and foremost, professional, server-oriented, and powerful system, for people who care about their lives to use. If your friends need cuddle up with viruses, come on, there are tons and tons of antivirus programs out there, many of which are quite capable. Leave us alone, will ya?

You (and others) speak about Ubuntu standing on the shoulders of giants (Linux, Debian, etc) but fail to mention how Ubuntu naturally reciprocates by doing the heavy lifting of encouraging people to try something different.

Just as a Windows user first learns they are using Windows, then learns that Windows is made by Microsoft, Ubuntu users will naturally learn that Ubuntu is built in-part on Linux and so-on.

now do you want these unskilled and quite possibly uninterested people to become linux-based-operating-system users? (how) does the whole open source/free software/linux ecosystem profit if they do become users?

i don’t know for sure. i imagine that it would be beneficial to become more mainstream to sensitize the public on the topic and to push 3rd party vendors on more compatibility.

for these people it is not only about features but also about marketing (with all its aspects and facets). and canonical does a great job marketing its “ubuntu” product.

if you accept this premise (the non-contributing users and the need for marketing) you will appreciate canonicals contribution; if not, then there is enough space for ubuntu and your favorite distribution to co-exist.

However, the problem comes when the term “Linux” is substituted with the word “Ubuntu”. This is what is causing the disturbance. Ubuntu is Linux, but Linux is NOT Ubuntu. You can bury your head in the sand all you want, and claim that Ubuntu is doing a lot to evangelize Linux. Sure, I’ll buy that. However, looking around at other communities, there is a boiling sentiment about the term “Ubuntu” supplanting the term “Linux”. It’s as if the users, and Cannonical themselves, seem to forget exactly what Ubuntu really is – a Linux distro.

We need to spread the work about Linux, there is no doubt. Linux needs marketshare, and users need to realize they have a choice. Linux is wonderful, and Ubuntu is a wonderful distro. But, these ripples within communities are dividing us. We are infighting because of reasons such as this. This infighting is the worst thing that can happen to us. Realize this… Please do your share to open minds about Linux, and give credit where it’s due. Ubuntu is a flavor of Linux, and not some other OS such as Haiku.

1) Linux is more accurately the name of a kernel, and not a complete operating system. A better term is “GNU/Linux”, or a “distribution based on Linux”. (To echo one poster’s point, I cannot go to kernel.org to download a replacement for an operating system like Apple’s Mac OS X).

2) Those who want their computers to just work, and who don’t want to have to learn arcane computing terminology need an easy entry point into the F/LOSS world. Ubuntu (love it or not) is a great entry point.

3) Beware of convicted monopolists (or their apologists, or their envoys) lurking in forums and injecting poison to derail positive and constructive discussion of F/LOSS issues. They may even be cloaked.

4) If your goal is to “Ubuntize” your community, help those around you, your friends, your family, those you care about. If your 3 closest friends/family aren’t using Ubuntu, then it matters not what the rest of the world is using.

5) Start locally. If you already have your friends and family on board, start a LoCo. Every town and city needs one.

6) With respect, I think we need a better term than “Ubuntize”.