Why should i use Ubuntu oveer other Distributions

**rauldinho** · October 23rd, 2008

Hi everyone, recently at my work we'll start migrating the computers from Windows to Linux. I've been using Ubuntu Linux for a long time, so when they told me about the proyect i suggested Ubuntu right away over others distributions. The thing is that right now there are 2 sides in this, people supporting the use of CentOs and the ones supporting Ubuntu. Now, i have my own set of arguments about why we should use Ubuntu, some being the large community behind it, making it easy to find help and support. The people from CentOs side talk about how robust and secure this distribution is and that it doesn't require updating the version so often (that in my opinion is a negative point). But well, that is the scenario right now, so what i would like is to know your opinion in this matter and your experience, so we can make a better decision in the subject at my work. Thanks for any answer i may get!

**Yellow Pasque** · October 23rd, 2008

It's hard to tell which OS might be more appropriate without a little more info as to what you're doing with it. If you're using the computers as genereal-purpose office desktops, either distro should serve you well. Obviously, you're used to Ubuntu and want to use that at work, but it sounds like other people on your team may be more familiar with RedHat/Fedora-flavored Linux (which CentOs is based off of).

The people from CentOs side talk about how robust and secure this distribution is and that it doesn't require updating the version so often

You can get that from Debian stable (currently "etch" 4.0) or Ubuntu Hardy as well.

**estyles** · October 23rd, 2008

Without knowing that much about CentOS, I'd probably be on that side of the argument, despite using Ubuntu and Mint at home. My impression is that CentOS, being based on Red Hat is likely more robust for a business environment. The point about community isn't all that decisive, because there are a *lot* of people using Red Hat-derived systems in the business world, probably more so than Debian-derived, IMHO.

Someone who is more knowledgeable about both would certainly be of more help than I, but my impression, at least, is that CentOS would be a good choice.

**tubezninja** · October 23rd, 2008

Originally Posted by rauldinho

The people from CentOs side talk about how robust and secure this distribution is and that it doesn't require updating the version so often (that in my opinion is a negative point).

It should be pointed out that as long as you stick to an LTS release, you've got a good three years before you really have to upgrade the version of Ubuntu you're using.

Also, it's not like you're paying for these upgrades. And, I think of all the OSes I've tried Ubuntu has the upgrade-in-place down pat, making it the easiest I've seen so far.

Lastly, how is ubuntu less secure than CentOS?

**bodhi.zazen** · October 23rd, 2008

Moved to the Fedora RHEL forums

Both distros have advantages and disadvantages. As far as one being "Better" I think that would be a matter of personal preference.

I would assume the "security" in Centos == SELinux. As such Ubuntu uses Apparmor.

**igknighted** · October 24th, 2008

Centos tends to ship with older, more time-tested applications. RHEL/Centos would never ship with (for example) pulse audio in the state it was in when Ubuntu 8.04 shipped. It's not as "exciting" as living on the cutting edge, but older software = more time for security holes to get patched. Thats why RHEL/Centos might be more secure.

**d_skillz** · October 24th, 2008

I would have to say UBUNTU, personally I think it is more of a headache to use the package manager that redhat uses. Opensuse uses Yast and that is mighty crap. The best package manager I have ever used is synaptic, when it comes to distribution upgrades, no other distro is quite so seamless but upgrades can break apps and systems so sticking to a two year release cycle in Ubuntu LTS I dont think you can go wrong. I also suspect you will convert more desktop users to get it for their home PCs creating a more skill ful workforce. Good luck converting noobs to RedHat.

**estyles** · October 24th, 2008

Originally Posted by d_skillz

The best package manager I have ever used is synaptic,

I like pacman, which comes with Arch. The graphical tools for it are community-driven and buggy, but IMHO pacman is the best command-line tool hands down.

**Sorivenul** · October 24th, 2008

Honestly, CentOS would get my vote.

I love Ubuntu, but in an enterprise/business situation, I would think an enterprise Linux solution would be in order. CentOS is free and fits the bill. The software may be "dated", but as has already been said, it is solid and secure for that reason alone.

I'm assuming package management shouldn't actually be too much of an issue after initial setup, unless employees should want/need to download games to pass the time, which I would think is unwanted. So the whole yum vs. apt-get/aptitude should more or less be irrelevant.

Just my two cents. (No pun intended.)

**cotcot** · October 25th, 2008

As far as I know Centos has something to do with Fedora/RH. I have Fedora installed as second distro to rescue my desktop if there would be a problem or to run an application that fails in ubuntu (as i recently had with genisoimage). The problem I have with fedora is that I cannot get firewire link working. It is not obvious. Some tutorials explain how to do with mixing F9 with previous versions and so on. I tried these but no success.