What makes Ubuntu so great?

[James Takac]

On Friday 27 July 2007 01:26:51 Jimmy Wu wrote:
> Just my two cents:
>
> that Ubuntu is free is great, but I belive joel is looking for what
> separates ubuntu from the myriad other also free distros out there
>
> I think the ubuntu community is one of the biggest reasons for its success.
> Just look at the volume of mails going around on this list alone.  With an
> extensive community comes extensive support for users and developers,
> whether they're total n00bs or have many years of experience.  The fact
> that it's so easy to get questions answered draws people in and helps to
> keep them in (at least speaking for myself).
>
> Another thing is the massive volume of software and packages available for
> ubuntu - it makes it easy to switch to ubuntu, since there's usually a
> replacement or equivalent for anything users switching from other OS's
> might want
>
> I myself have used Windows at home up until a month or two ago, when I
> decided to wipe out Windows and replace it with Ubuntu Feisty.  I have been
> very happy with ubuntu's performance so far, and I'm not really missing
> Windows at all.
>
> Jimmy
>
> On 7/26/07, Matthew Carpenter <matt at eisgr.com> wrote:
> > On Thursday 26 July 2007, Joel Bryan Juliano wrote:
> > > Great CD design and artwork, best of all, it's free.
> > >
> > > On 7/26/07, Fajar Priyanto <fajarpri at cbn.net.id> wrote:
> > > > Hello all,
> > > > I'm writing an article about Ubuntu for my personal website about
> >
> > Ubuntu.
> >
> > > > I want to know what makes Ubuntu to become #1 distro for the last 2,5
> > > > years according to distrowatch.com?
> > > >
> > > > Here is my exploration so far in #Ubuntu IRC channel:
> > > > (07:18:18 PM) ari_stress: hello guys, i want to know... why UBUNTU is
> >
> > #1
> >
> > > > for the last 2 years according to www.distrowatch.com? What makes
> >
> > Ubuntu
> >
> > > > so great???
> > > > (07:18:46 PM) IdleOne: ari_stress, ease of use and a great community
> > > > (07:18:50 PM) sipior: ari_stress: love?
> > > > (07:18:53 PM) ziroday: ari_stress: hey again, its because we
> >
> > "supposodly"
> >
> > > > give the best user experience
> > > > (07:19:17 PM) Terrasque: ari_stress: the new and improved brain wipe
> > > > satelites
> > > >
> > > > Do you have any other reasons?
> >
> > My reasons:
> > * All Free All the Time  (ie. No 'pay-for' versions)
> >        This is more than just being cheap.  It's about pay-for support
> > benefitting
> > from the experience of the ENTIRE user-base and the Free installs get all
> > the
> > software unhindered
> > * Canonical Support Contracts for corporate environments
> > * Server and Workstation use the same repos, even if they have recently
> > been
> > released using different CDs
> > * KDE and Gnome using the same repos, but targetting install CDs
> > * Debian APT-GET and all the power, flexibility, and userbase that come
> > with
> > it
> > * HUGE repository!  I used to install a base distro then compile from
> > source
> > what I really wanted.  Now, I maybe install one package from outside the
> > repos and it's still a deb package (Webmin)
> > * Debian based (Debian has always been solid, if a little unfriendly to
> > n00bs)
> > * OUTSTANDING Community!  From this list to the Wiki's, the amount of
> > support
> > provided by the users is amazing.  If I think "I wonder how I do this
> > with Linux" I have about a 95% success rate of googling "site:ubuntu.com
> > how do I
> > do X" or "site:ubuntuforums.org how do I do X" and I get a hit which
> > explains
> > *exactly* how to get Ubuntu to do so.  Sometimes they are a version or
> > two off from what I'm using, but the concepts are normally all the same.
> > * Beautify usability.  I'm a KDE user, but Ubuntu's Gnome implementation
> > is
> > the best I've ever seen.  The KDE experience is wonderful as well (that's
> > not
> > completely Kubuntu, but I love the wrapping of SUDO into everything)
> > * Culture.  Ubuntu is about an idea, even more than about free
> > software.  This
> > is seen throughout the community at every level.  Cheezy as it sounds,
> > it's
> > about "wellness to all".
> >
> >
> > Those are the top reasons for choosing Ubuntu that come to mind offhand.
> > There are technical underpinnings to most of them, the details of which I
> > will spare you.  The most understated item is "APT-GET".  It makes such a
> > huge difference, allowing real in-place upgrades of systems from one
> > version
> > of the distro to the next, it makes software very easy to manage and
> > install,
> > and it's completely open and well-documented by many third-parties (even
> > IBM).
> >
> >
> > --
> > ubuntu-users mailing list
> > ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> > Modify settings or unsubscribe at:
> > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

Certainly excellent points made. I'll add a lil here. Lilltle or no problems 
with maliscious software, i.e. virii, spyware, etc. Which means less or no 
need of trying to clean a system overrun by them. I've converted a few 
friends to Ubuntu on this alone. 

Another is that if you know your way around Windows you can generally get on 
in and use Ubuntu straight away without too much effort. 

The ease in which it's installed is another plus in my books. Only a few 
general Q's are asked for most people using the standard install proceedure 
and even first timers find it isn't that hard to install.

The way the root account isn't really used for anything adds to the security 
of the system imho coupled with the use of sudo probably making Ububuntu by 
default more secure than many othe Linux distros in its default config