Ubuntu KDE

[goofrider]

I never really liked Gnome until I tried Ubuntu (but then the last time
I used Gnome was back in the 1.x days). Ubuntu provides a realy nicely
polished, compact installtion of Gnome plus some UI tweaks that really
makes Gnome even better. Also, many Gnome/Debian developers use Ubuntu
and contribute to the project, as Ubuntu's release schedule is closely
synchronized with Gnome's, it's easy to understand why Gnome lovers
like Ubuntu.

However, there are many other unique strength of Ubuntu that really
stands out, especially when compared to other Debian-based distro:

    
- *Current, up-to-date releases:* 
  Ubuntu has a 6-month release cycle, pulling the latest packages from
  Debian Testing and Unstable. Thus it creates a better-supported
  release than Debian Testing and more current than Debian Stable. 
- *Ubuntu's APT repository:*
  There are other Debian-based distros with short release cycles (like
  Knoppix and its variants), but they tends to just mix Testing and
  Unstable packages from Debian's official archive without proper
  pinning. As a result, they're hard to maintain as mixed system once
  they're installed, or they must use Sid as the default distro once
  installed. Ubuntu maintains its own archive, so you can have more
  up-to-date packages without having to maintain a mixed sysem or
  forced to use Sid.
- *Free:* 
  There are other Debian-derived desktop distros that have their own
  APT repositories, but the tend to be commercial distros (like
  Linspire and Xandros) that charge a subscription for access to their
  update services. Ubuntu is free, and have a mission statement that's
  as community-spirited as (if not more so than) the Debian Social
  Contract.
- *
  Single CD Installation:* 
  When so many distros requires 7-14 CDs or 1-2 DVDs for each of their
  releases, Ubuntu only requires 1 single CD, and that includes the
  Gnome desktop.
- *X.org:* 
  Debian Sarge is still using XFree86, which means so are most of its
  derivatives like Knoppix, MEPIS, Xandros, Linspire, etc. Whether you
  object XFree86's new license is entirely your decision, but it
  doesn't change the fact that X.org is gaining a lot of momentum and
  probably will become the leading X server in Linux within the next
  year. It's nice to see a Debian-derived distro to take the plunge and
  use X.org.
  

These are things that I can think of off the top of my head right now.
I've only started using Ubuntu for a couple days so I might think of
more in the future.  ;)


-- 
goofrider