A dillema with my project...

[Adamant1988]

I am currently working on a project to get my school and then my community to at least acknowledge the presence of linux.. maybe even support it. I'm starting with the school for the obvious reason that they have to listen to me, my project is a graduation requirement.

I'm having a dillema though. I want to suggest a distro for them that I can point Home users and everyone else to...

I've narrowed my choices down to
Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xandros.

The pros of using Ubuntu are paramount, and Kubuntu has the same pros, the only thing I dislike about Kubuntu is that it feels as though it's not the 'real' ubuntu (different color schemes and all that) and I feel people may become confused by it and I'll spend more time explaining then actually working on the project.

BUT they are free, both of them, and that's a HUGE plus.

Then on the other end of the spectrum is Xandros, which offers a more 'windows' like experience, and probably THE best compatibility with windows possible. The flaw in it is that it costs money straight off the bat, which is something I dislike as Free makes the switch easier...
Another plus is that it has codec support right off the bat as well.


I need some help deciding which of those three I should back, I can't afford to devide my efforts by pushing more than one of them as an option (I'm working with hardware vendors to attain a computer with a pre-installed copy of the distro of choice (Kubuntu not an option from system 76 though =\) for a student in my school, chosen based on several criteria (need, grades, etc.) and I want it to match with the one the school is using..)

I know there is an ubuntu bias here, but I would hope you can all be objective enough to offer some good advice :)

[Wallakoala]

Personally I think you should go with ubuntu or kubuntu. Out of those two, I would say ubuntu.

The reason? Well obviously I like ubuntu, but if anybody is going to start using linux, I would say go with ubuntu as a beginner distro. Ubuntu was the first distro I ever used, and I knew like zero about linux before it. It was very easy to use at the start and as I slowly learned the command line and other things it became very enjoyable. Also, just comparing ubuntu and kubuntu, ubuntu looks a lot more friendly, but kubuntu is more windows like. In my opinion, you shouldn't be worrying about what is more like windows, because part of linux is learning to leave windows behind and getting ready for a new experience.

Ubuntu ftw.

[encompass]

xandros well, I used to use it... but I move from it because after using there installer I noticed advertisements and things that were not free. That is not nice to see. I would recommend it because it is free and does they same thing.
And having a system look like windows is not really a plus in my eyes. Ubuntu/gnome has made the environ so someone who doesn't know anything about computers can quickly figure out things anyway.
We want people to see the difference, or they won't change from the one that comes preinstalled.

[Adamant1988]

so that's two votes for vanilla Ubuntu then?

[Polygon]

well with my school, at least the info tech computer room has to be a mac or windows computer because they use stuff like dreamweaver and typing programs that is part of the things they teach, and the yearbook and graphic design classes need photoshop

but other then that, all the computers are used for is word processing (open office), internet usage (firefox) and printing (can be set up). if this all your school requires i would just go with vanilla ubuntu.

The only things you would really need to set up is printing, making sure the hardware works and maybe installing flash/multimedia plugins for the web browser and for the actual computer.

and another question, are you planning to have a network set up so that way each student gets their own login? i find that a very useful feature with my schools macs.

[Adamant1988]

that's a really good idea with the users actually... my school just has one big login right now.