When will Ubuntu finally score and beat all the other distros?

[jan]

...including "Microsoft distros" :D

Hm, pretty high at DistroWatch's for a while already, what can we expect next?

[mstlyevil]

...including "Microsoft distros" :D

Hm, pretty high at DistroWatch's for a while already, what can we expect next?

To do that ubuntu would have to be everything to everyone. Since that will never happen, I will have to say never.

[Jucato]

I don't think it would, nor that it should try to "beat all the other distros." Competition is good, but if you make that the very foundation/reason for a distro, I don't think you'll end up with a good product. Let Ubuntu try to be the best of what it can/wants to be. If, by doing so, they happen to "beat" the others, then that is just a consequence/result, not the objective.

[towsonu2003]

When will Ubuntu finally score and beat all the other distros?I hope never... I like the possibility of being able to try 500+ distros, even if I won't... I just like it.

[blackant]

ya, I hope there will always be competition.
Maybe not the first but at the second so that Ubuntu will always trying to improve and becomes 1.. :P

[jsmidt]

I hope never... I like the possibility of being able to try 500+ distros, even if I won't... I just like it.

But what if ubuntu could become like a world, where they are so many parts and aspects of Ubuntu that all the flavors of Ubuntu are like 500+ distros.

[towsonu2003]

But what if ubuntu could become like a world, where they are so many parts and aspects of Ubuntu that all the flavors of Ubuntu are like 500+ distros.
na-a
I still want slackware and gentoo around.

Oh, and, don't forget debian... no debian = no ubuntu...

[mstlyevil]

But what if ubuntu could become like a world, where they are so many parts and aspects of Ubuntu that all the flavors of Ubuntu are like 500+ distros.

First I don't see that happening. Second there will always be different Distros that do something different or better than Ubuntu. This is in the very nature of open source.

[Virogenesis]

It never will another distro that bases itself on ubuntu might mind but even then its highly unlikely unless novell move over to deb I doubt we'll ever see a outstanding distro that will come preloaded who knows but one thing for sure is both redhat and novell are known names and are known for good support and its support that users require.
A community based distro is never going to be as good as one that a company supports thats the thing you have to remember.

Users want manuals, they want proper nvidia drivers pre loaded, they want a good hardware list such as printers and scanners.
They want customer support and these are the things ubuntu doesn't offer but for a community distro its great.

[Jucato]

It never will another distro that bases itself on ubuntu might mind but even then its highly unlikely unless novell move over to deb I doubt we'll ever see a outstanding distro that will come preloaded who knows but one thing for sure is both redhat and novell are known names and are known for good support and its support that users require.

... that's one long sentence you've got there. :eek:

Anyway, the very nature of open-source is anti-monopoly. So it will never probably happen that one distro will have everything that everyone wants. (Heck, even Microsoft doesn't have everything that everyone wants.) Besides, the very philosophy of Ubuntu (not shipping propriety formats) basically disqualifies it in the race for beating all others out there.

[K.Mandla]

I hope never...
I kinda hope never too, although to be honest I can't say why. I mean, if everybody used Ubuntu, what would we post to the forums? :D

[klahjn]

Honestly, i don't think Ubuntu is far from exceeding other distros as far as ease of use. Prepare to be wading through thousands of posts that may or may not be questions answered several times in other threads. Prepare for the questions that are either so simple you can't simplify them any more (ie: Do i access my computer by clicking computer) or they simply are way out there (ie: the penguin is staring at me!)

[BoyOfDestiny]

Honestly, i don't think Ubuntu is far from exceeding other distros as far as ease of use. Prepare to be wading through thousands of posts that may or may not be questions answered several times in other threads. Prepare for the questions that are either so simple you can't simplify them any more (ie: Do i access my computer by clicking computer) or they simply are way out there (ie: the penguin is staring at me!)

I'm just glad if there are more Linux users period (overlapping with windows/osx/whatever). In situations like that, people will hopefully favor more open formats... Hear me out on this. A little while ago I had a professor who had a mac. As such, assignments were due in PDF or plain txt. Sweet! In other cases, I have to submit in .doc and .ppt, abiword and open office came the rescue for me in that case... but as formats get more locked-down or patented... I rather avoid the danger of a mono-culture that is windows. I like it when software can run on windows, os x, beos, linux, etc etc... Portable is good! If having multiple distros to choose from encourages competition, with the benefit of "sharing" with the GPL, I think this is the best way to go.

[beercz]

What do mean "finally score" and "beat all the other distros"?

What criteria do we use?

For example, ubuntu beats Windows for me because of stability, reliability etc ....

Found the question confusing!:confused:

[BWF89]

...including "Microsoft distros" :D
Mabye in 15-20 years.

[Lovechild]

Never.. nor should it.

Now can I make a bad pun on your reproductive qualities?

[arctic]

...including "Microsoft distros" :D
Never. This is a fact. There WILL always be other distros. \\:D/


Hm, pretty high at DistroWatch's for a while already, what can we expect next?The distrowatch numbers do not really reflect the userbase of a distro. Fedora, Debian and Gentoo still have a bigger userbase than Ubuntu. And most users, once they ar comfy with their distro don't see a reason why they should check distrowatch regularly. Once you have distros like e.g Arch up and running, there is no need to check for new releases as you don't need new isos. ;)

[Steve1961]

That's not really the point is it? Linux is all about choice and there's lots of very good distros out there at the moment, including Ubuntu. I personally hope that situation continues and that Linux generally continues to make the sort of progress its done in the 18 months that I've been using it.

[s_spiff]

well..i'm a late entry into the linux run.. but..i like the look of the future... yeah probably u can't have the same gorgeous msn messenger as in windows xp...but still nix will get there if it goes at this pace!
regarding the support that a company offers vs. a community based distro :
1) community based is free...
2) has a forums/irc channel, where you have your issue sorted out in minutes...
3)1st hand experience wrt to use of the distro..
4)company based .. you need to dish out cash..
5)after dishing out he cash..you realise that it doesn't detect so and so..and issue cannot be resolved.
6)Customization is not as fun as cmmunity based distro...

also a noob point : ubuntu has 'SHIP-IT'..i'm yet to come across a distro which will ship 5 cd's from US of A to India..Free!!!

[ember]

It will happen on the 23.05.2023, where Mark will release his secretly prepared release called Mubunto which has the long expected super cow powers. Joining his forces with the infamous forces of the Illuminati, he will then reach his ultimate goal of world domination.

[kabus]

...what can we expect next?

it's all detailed here (http://geekz.co.uk/lovesraymond/archive/cancomical-lynchpad).

[az]

Once free-libre open-source software accounts for ten percent of the desktop marketshare, hardware vendors will take notice.

From then it will be a question of why pay for the cow when you can get the milk for free? Software will become (once again) a services industry and the tables will turn. Software will not be a produsct, but rather something you make money from supporting and improving. A non-free-libre application will become the rare, unsupported freakish little application that freeware and shareware is today.

[az]

it's all detailed here (http://geekz.co.uk/lovesraymond/archive/cancomical-lynchpad).

I love that comic strip!



"Canonical’s Launchpad.net is currently not free software. The FAQ on the site explains no more than this. I contacted Mark Shuttleworth about it and he told me this:

Mr. Shuttleworth has yet to deny eating babies."

Launchpad is not for distribution, either. Free or proprietary software is software that is distributed. That is determined by the licence under which it is released to you. Launchpad is not released.

[nickle]

Well ubutntu beats all distros currently for me because it is the only one I have... Who knows, maybe it will stay that way....

[Jucato]

Launchpad is not for distribution, either. Free or proprietary software is software that is distributed. That is determined by the licence under which it is released to you. Launchpad is not released.

Wasn't there a rumor that Mark might launch Launchpad (ugh, redundant) under GPL later on?

[sapo]

Ubuntu is going to rule the world, along with google :eek:

[az]

Wasn't there a rumor that Mark might launch Launchpad (ugh, redundant) under GPL later on?
That's the point. Once it is to be released, it should be under a GPL licence. It is not released. GPLed software is something you run on your computer. Launchpad only runs on Canonical's computers.

[KiwiNZ]

Once free-libre open-source software accounts for ten percent of the desktop marketshare, hardware vendors will take notice.

From then it will be a question of why pay for the cow when you can get the milk for free? Software will become (once again) a services industry and the tables will turn. Software will not be a produsct, but rather something you make money from supporting and improving. A non-free-libre application will become the rare, unsupported freakish little application that freeware and shareware is today.

I don't believe that will happen.There is too much investment at stake.Money speaks louder than Utopian ideals.

[az]

I don't believe that will happen..

Which one? Ten percent market share or that hardware vendors will go where the wind blows them?



There is too much investment at stake..

Software quickly becomes obsolete. You invest in what gives you the best return. There is no reason why proprietary software has to keep giving you a better return. It doesn't make sense.

It makes more sense for people to make a ton of money by using their computers and not for software companies to make a ton of maney by *preventing* people from using their computers. Software is a services industry. You pay the programmer for services.


Money speaks louder than Utopian ideals.

That's my point. Money is closely tied to common sense. It's not a utopian ideal to want to be able to look at your car's engine. It's just common sense to not buy a car which has the hood welded shut.

People are just not stupid enough to want to buy a car with the hood welded shut. In the software world, most people were not given the choice until now.

If a car salesperson showed me a car, but prohibited me from looking at the engine, I would think I was getting ready to get screwed. Wouldn't you? There would not be a market for such a car. I certainly wouldn't buy a car that I could not send to any mechanic I choose.

[Brunellus]

most consumers treat their devices as magical black boxes anyway. I certainly know only the bare minimum of what goes on under the hood of my car. In fact, the only thing I use whose operation I can confidently understand is my bicycle.

The economic push in FLOSS will come in the same way that it came for factory labour: the development model drives down costs, increases efficiency and productivity, and benefits more people throughout the economy.

It's not about "knowing what's under the hood." It's about better tools, cheaper--which is what FLOSS will deliver to industry. Freedom of software will be a corollary, in the same way that freedom from serfdom was a corollary of the development of industrial capitalism.

[KiwiNZ]

It's about better tools, cheaper--which is what FLOSS will deliver to industry. .

I have had no one who has been able to prove this to me.There has been no proof the has convinced me to move the unit I manage to open source.I would of course like to reduce costs,however at the end of any assessment it is clear that there would be no cost savings in a move to open source,in fact the opposite ,costs would increase. I am sorry to say the for the medium to large enterprise model open source is just not in the market.

[s|k]

Let's all give an ubuntu CD to our friends and relatives for their birthday (along with whatever other gift we were going to get them). That will help spread it!

[hscottyh]

I have had no one who has been able to prove this to me.There has been no proof the has convinced me to move the unit I manage to open source.I would of course like to reduce costs,however at the end of any assessment it is clear that there would be no cost savings in a move to open source,in fact the opposite ,costs would increase. I am sorry to say the for the medium to large enterprise model open source is just not in the market.

It all depends on the project! I have successfully written a Time Management system for my company including touchscreen timeclocks with 100% FOSS, using the LAMP model. It's bascially maintenance free and tailored specifically to our requirements. It would have taken about the same in house development resources and 60K worth of CALS to implement a proprietary solution. About 200 employees get paid from this system every week. This system has been running for 3 years and has cost nothing but about 20 hours of my time for maintance over this time period.

The right tools for the job should be considered for every project. Sometimes the correct tools are FOSS and sometimes not. But nothing is ever as black and white as the above quote.