What do you like best about Ubuntu?

[Chris]

I've been using various Linux distros for a little while.  I started
with Slackware some 11+ years ago and I've examined just about every
distro since.  Debian has been my distro of choice for the last 5 or 6
years.  That is, until Ubuntu came along.

Here are a few of the things I like best:

* It's Debian based.  Debian's package system can't be beat.  Both the
quality and design of the system and the shear number of packages
available. (1)

* The install actually works and is easy to use.  The older versions of
Debian with the BSD-like install used to install fairly well but ever
since the Debian-Installer fiasco started I've always had to install
using Knoppix and debootstrap (I still don't care much for Debian
Installer though).  The Ubuntu partitioning system is a little weird
with its default "wipe the whole disk" approach.  The MacOS X or Windows
way seems better.

* The GUI is usable.  It has an office-oriented feel and a minimal
number of applications installed by default.  This is the only Linux
distro I've ever used where the Application menus are actually usable.
Most distros put so much stuff in the menus that I can never find what
I'm looking for and I don't even use most of the stuff in them anyway.
In the past I end up just using the shell to do everything.  Ubuntu is
my first time fully utilizing the GUI in Linux.  There is still some
stuff I wouldn't install by default (eg. games), but it's pretty lean.

* It's up-to-date.  GNOME 2.8, 2.6 kernel using UDEV, etc.

* The MacOS X "no root account" sudo approach is nice.

* The huge application repository.  OK, I mentioned it at the start, but
it is nice.  Especially since even though Ubuntu is GNOME focused we can
still use KDE if we want (or like in my case applications like K3B and
Kdevelop).

* The whole "pictures of humans" thing aside, I really like the Ubuntu
logo, theme, etc.  A lot of people would probably say this isn't
important, but the image of a product is the first thing people see and
is what draws them in to learn more and makes them feel good while using
it.

* This community is nice.  However most starting communities are, lets
hope it stays this way.  :)

OK, that's enough good stuff for now.  I would really like to see even
more GUI applications for doing common admin stuff (more like MacOS X
has).

My single problem I have at this point isn't really Ubuntu specific
because all distros are starting to have this problem:

- The boot time is way too long.  Especially since the introduction of
things like Hotplug and similar.  Windows has been getting faster while
Linux has been getting slower and slower.  Ubuntu seems to take forever
to boot.  There has got to be a way to just load the kernel and then
start GDM right away.  Let the network, hotplug, and all that other junk
start in the background.  Some things might need to be updated on the
fly like Windows does after the GUI is already running however.

For comparison:
Windows XP SP2 boots to the GUI in 17 seconds flat.  This is with 8 USB
and 3 Firewire devices connected, it's even faster without those.

Ubuntu boots to the GDM screen in 48 seconds and requires an additional
5-10 seconds to log into GNOME.  It's the same computer with the same
devices.  That's three times longer than Windows and feels painful after
doing the Windows boot.  On slow computers like my old laptop it's
unbearable.

Anyway, just thought I would share my ideas.

-- 
// Chris


(1) Gentoo is OK, but wasting time compiling large packages is not fun
and the payoff is often minimal.  I've tried to get binary-only Gentoo
systems running but it just didn't work as well as the source based
stuff.  Gentoo is OK if you want to learn more about UNIX/Linux and
tinker around but I actually use my system for real work so every minute
wasted costs me money.