Ubuntu: Desktop Linux's Success Story 68
Johhny writes "What is it about Ubuntu that has enabled it to grow so much? This distribution has clearly built on Debian's success but it has more than a few other things going for it. Ubuntu has become one of the most popular versions of desktop Linux despite its many differences from some of the other popular versions out there, including its scheduled releases and its counterpart, Kubuntu. The article takes a look at this distribution and tries to find out how Ubuntu defied the odds. This article generated a really informative comments page at OSnews."
Does this mean that a successfull distro must be (Score:4, Interesting)
Debian scores higher then I expected and since debian is hardly cutting edge it must be because its package system is considered so good. I can only think that this is also the reason that gentoo actually is visible despite the fact that it is a beast (I use it myself so I know what I am talking about).
It seems that the choice of software is less important. ubuntu is gnome by default (as far as I know) if you want kde it is called kubuntu and since in general KDE seems to be more popular (/me runs from an angry mob of Gnome fans + assorted fans from the gazzilion other desktops out there) it is odd to see a gnome distro score so high.
Oh well good luck to them but lets not be too optimistic about this shall we? The survey was after all only asking wich linux distro people had installed with no option for NONE. Ubuntu having x more installs then suse means very little when you realize both are fighting over the table scraps left by MS.
Although, IF the PS3 + HD addon does indeed have the capacity to run user choosen linux apps (IBM's own site reports that they ported it succesfully and it can run most PPC (mac) linux apps without modification) then we might see a huge potential market for linux being opened up. MS will probably not allow windows to run on the PS3 (although a sony spokesman did suggest that the cell should be able to run any OS) so that leaves the field right open (Apple has already declined to use the cell in its new computers) for linux.
Can you imagine millions of living room desktop machines? Supercomputer linux. Droool. Oh and no driver problems since you will know EXACTLY what hardware is inside a PS3. The biggest handicap of linux (no drivers for every piece of crap hardware outthere) solved in a flash.
Worth considering I think for any distro that wants to be handed a few million virgin computers with NO ms inside and a hardware maker that would love to shaft MS like it has never been shafted before.
Is it a success? (Score:5, Interesting)
Is it successful because of the number of downloads or ordered CDs? We all know that is not a very reliable measure of success. The number of searches on Google? The number of positive articles submitted on the web? Doesn't say anything about actual usage, as we all know.
For most companies support is important. You can't afford to have a desktop no one can fix if something goes wrong. Which is why Xandros could be attractive to companies, or maybe Fedora/Red Hat/SuSE. Ubunto might be solid as a rock and work out-of-the-box, but I doubt companies would use it unless you have people that can support in in-house, or from a company (that you've actually heard of before). Which is basically why people use Windows. It "works" and you can easily get support if something goes wrong. And you've got Office. (Again something most people think is exclusive to Windows).
As for users .. For most users "Linux" is just like "Windows", just more isoteric (read: difficult) .. but free. (Free is not always a good thing, remember that. Free means crappy and unsupported to some.)
The distro names have no meaning to them, just like the difference between "Windows XP" and "Windows 2000" might be lost to them (except that they might know XP is newer than 2000, and newer means better .. right?). What is important to most is that they can read their mail, surf the web, write documents and play an occational game (raise your hand if you've heard of someone that don't like Linux because "games don't work").
What it all boils down to is .. this "success story" seem an awful lot like preaching to the already converted. It's "successful" to a limited community. Just like Gentoo was "successful" a while back (and still is, except that no one's talking about it anymore). Next year something else will be "successful". And people will still use Windows .. :\
(K)Ubunto is a nice distro. No need to hype it.
I second to that (Score:3, Interesting)
Make everything fit on a CD, plus the essential stuff that'll run your PC. Plus don't give out too archaic, or too dumbed-down error messages.Make adding and removing programs a snap.
I just love the Synaptic Package Manager. To Windows users, its like Critical updates on steroids. Like I said, everything just works, and everything's, convenient. That's the word I was looking for.
Re:Ease Of Use (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, Ubuntu certainly is not the first user friendly distro. IMHO it's not even the most user friendly distro. Suse has far better (and easier) systems management with Yast and Mandriva has been known for its friendly interface for years. In hardware support Ununtu doesn't seem to be the top of the crop either.
It must be something else.
I think the reason for Ubuntu's popularity is Debian. Debian always has been a distro with a large userbase, but it was never aimed at anybody except nerds. Dispite that Debian was used by a large number of 'normal users'. They al seem to have converted to Ubuntu now.
Lots of ubuntu users I know are in fact ex-debian users. They're al very happy they found a polished debian distro (and rightfully so, Debian is rough round the edges).
Also, I think Debian users are traditionally quite vocal. I think it's likely this has skewed the statistics in favour of Ubuntu (and Debian). Fact is: measuring market share of linux distributions is a very hard thing to do. I don't believe any stats unless random people on the streets are polled. Polls on the internet are always skewed since the people polled are people wanting to be polled. It's a consious decision to go and vote for your favorite distro.
Re:Ease Of Use (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm usually a commandline guy, have been on Gentoo for years and too complex GUI programs just scares me away, just as it would scare away new users without computer knowledge. Ubuntu and Gnome is right on target for me and many others.