Why do you use Ubuntu and not other distros?

[tico]

Just curious about it.

[regomodo]

don't know. I've triedmany different distros (not just debian based) and always end up in *buntu.

[raja]

I think most users of Ubuntu are here because it is one of the easiest distro to start linux with. I was using Mandrake for some time before, but Ubuntu was the first distro I found myself completely comfortable in.
At the same time, I also think you pay a price for the ease of installation and newbie-friendliness of Ubuntu. So to really explore the full possibilities of linux, you should try out another distro. I started using Arch a couple of months back and find it better in so many ways. May have been difficult starting off with it, but it is an easy transition after 2 years of Ubuntu. And now I find myself preferring to work on Arch more and more. ..

[Nezing]

I do.Mandriva Spring Edition 2007,on my second desktop.To be honest,I installed that,before Ubuntu.It was a nice learning curve,as previously,and I'm talking a few years here,I'd tried Red Hat.But at that time,I was probably "not yet ready for linux".,but Mandriva had been recommended by friends.
Then I watched a BBC interview,with Mark Shuttleworth,talking all about Ubuntu.So,taking the plunge,I tried the live cd-over XP.I was hooked very quickly,and did a full install.I stay "with it",because it is easy to use,and the forum here is second to none.
I still use Mandriva,on my second pc,but Ubuntu Feisty is the one for me.It has all the "stuff" I want,and where as Mandriva is used as a test bed by me,Ubuntu is the distro I dont "mess" around with.So far,I've had a few false starts,a couple of self inflicted re-installs,but touch wood,everything is now up to scratch,and running fine.Plus,I'm learning all the time,so that cannot be a bad thing.

[cobrn1]

I'm planning to start trying out a few other distros just for fun, but I use ubuntu as my main linux distro because it Just WorksTM. it's really easy to do everything with, really reliable and stable. I can add experimantal stuff if I like, or I can pick-up thr latest current stable release and know that everything's going to a-ok... which is what most people want from a pc, especially if they need it to do work on.

[rustybronco]

Because of being able to find almost any answer to my linux installs.
I tried sabayon 3.3 mini edition and liked it BUT I did not care for portage/karoo and it was not that stable with my hardware (ati- rv100, wusb54g).
I have tried about 20 distros and keep comeing back to ubuntu.
p.s. and the (in my opinion) fresh clean look of it as opposed the a kde gui.

[vexorian]

because of this: http://www.ubuntu.com/community/ubuntustory/philosophy

[Dimitriid]

The big 3:

1) Really friendly and GUI driven with extremely easy and convenient tools like synaptic, yet customizable enough that I can choose to configure eveyrthing on vim if I wanted to/need to.

2) Live CD that ( if your system is supported on the version ) is guaranteed to always work and make a great recovery/emergency/portable tool.

3) Great community which is huge, mountains of information, troubleshooting and help available.

Those 3 make Ubuntu my choice.

[tico]

because of this: http://www.ubuntu.com/community/ubuntustory/philosophy

These are very good reasons. Didn't know this Ubuntu philosophy till now. Thanks for the link.

[Depressed Man]

Mainly the community (it's helped me alot). Especially things like Wubi that assisted me with the transition. And my previous attempts to get into the Linux world in the past with other distros didn't turn out so well.

[hidey]

Well actually just today I decided to dive head first into PCLinuxOS. I've been interested in trying another distro as well as KDE for a while now. I'm still tinkering with it but I am noticing some things it does a little better than Ubuntu. Probably not ready to convert just yet, but since we've got the freedom of choice might as well practice it. 8)

[Hex_Mandos]

I've tried other distros, but Ubuntu is the one that makes me feel at home. Ubuntu has a great community, frequent updates and vast repositories. No other distro can give me this combination of factors.

Also, I like adding to Ubuntu's critical mass. Ubuntu is one of the few distros with the potential to challenge Windows on the desktop, so I want to support it by adding my weight (as a user) behind it.

[AndyCooll]

I started off with Fedora Core. Which was generally fine. However I struggled to get NFS and Samba working (when I look back now I wonder how I ever struggled, but I did!)
I then tried Ubuntu and got these networking aspects aspects working without any hassle. And I quickly found most other aspects easy to use too. It really did just work.

Since then any problem I've come across I've nearly always found the answers on these forums. And in the process I've learnt plenty about my network, and can do so many additional things I could never do on previous OS's. I've even converted my missus over, so this house is Ubuntu only.

And I stay because it does everything we want and need. And at the moment there's no need to change.

:cool:

[Freddy]

It's many things behind me using Ubuntu.

1) The base system and awesome repository's. When I need things they are there, no repo hunting or conflicting packages inside conflicting repository's.

2) I don't need any of the big desktop managers, we some have friendly people packaging up Enlightenment17 for me.

3) The community. when I need help there's always someone there for me.

4) The community (again). Everyone that has ever taken the time to write a how to, I thank you, I have learned a bunch from you. I wouldn't be able to compile Enlightenment17 from CVS without you.

5) Stability.

6) There are plenty of more reason, but those were the biggest ones

[~~Tito~~]

I don't use that many other distros because this was my only distro and I will only try others in VM of some sorts and if I like them I'll put them on a external hd or a flash mem stick or card.

[dakuran]

I haven't explored other distros yet, Ubuntu was my first plunge in2 the world of linux, and as most ppl have stated, its rather user friendly, I still prefer using terminal as much as possible as adverse to jus doing everything in nautilus/GUI

I've heard the distro Arch thrown around bee4, I'm not to sure as to what its based off of, but I'm pretty interested...

~2 Arch Users...

Whats the Biggest diff between Arch & Ubuntu?

I have a 2nd partition sitting here, waiting for a new distro 2 try =]=]

[BuffaloX]

I tried Debian,
It's quite nice, but when I tried to install flash, it complained that it couldn't find Firefox, probably because it's called ice-weasel.
Anyways I had a few other small hurdles, so I decided to go back to Ubuntu.
I installed X-Ubuntu, then added Gnome, my system is much faster now. :)

[ynnhoj]

Whats the Biggest diff between Arch & Ubuntu?

I have a 2nd partition sitting here, waiting for a new distro 2 try =]=]
quoted from the archwiki page "arch vs others (http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_vs_Others#Arch_vs_Ubuntu)":

Arch has a simpler foundation than Ubuntu. If you like to compile your own kernels, try out bleeding-edge CVS-only projects, or build a program from source every once in a while, Arch is better suited. If you want to get up and running quickly and not fiddle around with the guts of the system, Ubuntu is better suited. In general, developers and tinkerers will probably like Arch better than Ubuntu.

the goal of arch is to be lightweight, and simple. but you have to get your hands dirty a little bit.

[BDNiner]

I use SLED at work, but ubuntu is the first distro that i am very comfortable using. It has almost completely replaced my win XP machine at home. Once i am fully comfortable i will switch my windows box to a file/media/backup server.

[dakuran]

quoted from the archwiki page "arch vs others (http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_vs_Others#Arch_vs_Ubuntu)":


the goal of arch is to be lightweight, and simple. but you have to get your hands dirty a little bit.

So seeing as I am still pretty new to linux, do you think I should try Arch? I mean I'm open to any other distros, I just really don't know where to start :confused:

p.s. thx 4 reply

[lyceum]

1. Ubuntu works.
2. I could not get Gentoo to install when I first started checking out Linux/FOSS
3. Canonical.Ubuntu are not selling out to Micro Soft, but seem willing to work with them if they were willing to do that.
4. Ubuntu is free (as in price) and as free (as in beer) as can be in today's world.
5. Ubuntu works.
6. apt-get rocks
7. The forums/other users are awesome.
8. Ubuntu is easy to install, easy to use and (did I mention?) it woks.
9. It is easy to get rid of the brown
10. Ubuntu works.

top 10, no order.

:guitar:

[hizaguchi]

I use Ubuntu because it requires the least tinkering to get new things working. That's due to the combination of great repositories, checkinstall, and tons of users posting packages and howtos all over the internet.

[jeremy1138]

I've been using Ubuntu since version 7.04 came out and I love it. It's easy to use (or would be if I had like any other computer in the world but the one I have!) I've tried a few other distos including Knoppix, Fedora Core, and Mandriva and I hated each one of them because of all the hangups and other screwups that I had while I was using them. Ubuntu is the only distro that I've tried that hasn't given me any of those problems. I love it and I'd recommend it for anyone!

[popch]

I used to use SuSe with various laptops and some desktop PCs, became a bit disenchanted with the Novell deal, then I read a semi-favorable recension in a E-Zine (could have been ZDNet, don't know any more).

Switched to Ubuntu because the WLAN worked out of the box, the initially installed apps were quite sensible and adding more apps is very easy indeed.

[a12ctic]

Because it is easy to deploy, well known (providing better support and more how-tos), and smooth and customizable enough for me. Also, Debian was the first distribution I really loved.

[Samhain13]

I'm new to this whole Linux thing and Ubuntu is the first and only distribution I've tried so far. I've been using it since November of last year, dual booting with Windows XP until I fully uninstalled the latter in early January.

While I would love to try the other distributions available out there, I just can't find the time to tinker further with my PC right now. Nor do I think I'll have time in the near future. I do experiment with using desktop environments though, since I can just start a session using one or another-- I currently have Gnome and XFCE.

Suffice it to say that I use Ubuntu and don't currently experiment with other distributions because my machine is already working according to my requirements.

[Spr0k3t]

I've tried many distros. I've got several live discs that I tinker with from time to time but my primary is Ubuntu. It just seems to be the best Linux desktop for my needs. The support in the community is top notch.

[goumples]

I've used SUSE before. That was easy to use and good about hardware detection like Ubuntu.. the real difference isn't the actually software but the community behind them. The user community at Ubuntu is second to none.. I've never come on ubuntu forums with a technical question that didn't get resolved quickly.

[Alexander2007]

I use Ubuntu because of its ease of use, rock solid stability and excellent community support. I have found other distributions such as openSUSE and Mandriva lacking these areas. Ubuntu currently provides the best end-user experience in the Linux world.

[raja]

So seeing as I am still pretty new to linux, do you think I should try Arch? I mean I'm open to any other distros, I just really don't know where to start :confused:

p.s. thx 4 reply

No harm trying.
If you have a spare disk, that is an easy way to start, otherwise install it in a separate partition and dual boot. I tried Arch initially by installing it in Virtualbox.
The main difference between Arch and Ubuntu is that Arch doesnt bend over backwards to provide newbie-friendly gui frontends for everything. All configuration is through a couple of config files which are very clean and simple. Also it has a rolling-upgrade system, so that you dont have versions frozen every 6 months, but instead have new program versions coming out all the time.
In day-to-day use, I find it more flexible, easier to understand and much faster. I am also able to use more uptodate packages in Arch compared to Ubuntu. But I think the Ubuntu community is larger and you are more likely to get answers in the Ubuntu forums than the Arch forums.

[Happy_Man]

At this very moment, I have Kubuntu, Arch, and PCLinuxOS on here. There are many reasons I stick with Ubuntu:

1) My speakers don't work with any other distro except Ubuntu.

2) There is just so much support out there for this distro above every one of the others. In the beginning, I needed help; now it just feels great to be giving back.

3) Ubuntu is, for some reason, easier to customize for me. I have no idea why.

4) I dunno. I just can't stay with another for too long. Both PCLOS and Arch run faster on my system, but I can't leave Ubuntu. They just did a really good job with it.

[ynnhoj]

So seeing as I am still pretty new to linux, do you think I should try Arch? I mean I'm open to any other distros, I just really don't know where to start :confused:

p.s. thx 4 reply
i don't think it would hurt to try arch. read the installation guide (http://www.archlinux.org/static/docs/arch-install-guide.txt) first to get an idea of what you're getting into (installing the base system is really quite simple). once you have the base installed, the arch wiki (http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Main_Page) and bulletin board (http://bbs.archlinux.org/) ought to provide all the help you would need to learn pacman (arch's package manager) and get xorg and a window manager up and running.

if for some reason you don't like it, or become frustrated, you'll still have your ubuntu partion.

[RAV TUX]

Just curious about it.

A currently don't use Ubuntu, currently I use Oz GNOME 1.0 (http://cafelinux.org/OzEnterprise/node/9) on my primary computer, I use PC-BSD 1.3.01 (http://www.pcbsd.org/) on my old computer which I will be giving to my Dad soon.

Ubuntu was and always will be my very first Linux distro. ;)

[Darkhack]

1.) A new release every 6 months with 18 months of support plus Long Term Support (LTS) releases. I know exactly when a new version is coming out and how long before I need to upgrade. I'm probably going to stick with feisty until the next LTS (8.04) unless gutsy has some key feature that I really care about. Otherwise I'll just skip it.

2.) Large community. It is the #1 distribution on Distrowatch (http://distrowatch.com) and that means I have plenty of support. When I need help with Linux it is pretty easy to come by instead of trying to ask for help with Unknownix or a weird distro that no one has ever heard of.

3.) Debian based. APT is my favorite package manager.

4.) LiveCD with an easy installer. Also the fact that it only requires one CD. Fedora and SUSE annoy the heck out of me needing 5 CDs to install. Yes I could use a DVD but I still have to waste my time downloading an extra 3 gigabytes of software I will probably never use. Ubuntu has everything I need and is so good that I only needed to apt-get a handful of packages after installing from the disc.

5.) I'm not limited to one DE/WM. Canonical officially supports Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu and there are unofficial spin offs like Fluxbuntu. I can keep all the power that the distro offers me but use a desktop that I like.

6.) Latest kernel. This is similar to the first item (6 month releases) but some distros will continue to release new versions but run all the new software on old kernels. My wireless device wasn't support until 2.6.20 and at the time when feisty was released it was one of the few distros using that new of a kernel.

7.) Simple and easy to use. Designed for the desktop so all my common needs are met. Very few elitists and people with attitude problems. Ubuntu isn't my first distro so I'm not a completely new Windows convert but the fact that the community is so opening and welcoming is a very pleasant to me.

[Sunflower1970]

Using all flavors of Ubuntu, either as my current DE, or in a VM....

Right now, I'm comfortable with Ubuntu. I've tried other distros, either live CD's or in a VM,but Ubuntu seems the easiest to navigate around in. And the community is the best. Whatever question or problem I run in to, I can find the answer quickly. Also, with two people using all three computers, I really can't be switching DE's around very often. I might cause hubby to go crazy if they changed all the time :biggrin:

I did triy SimplyMepis KDE4 Beta liveDVD today, and ooo. Reeeally niiice. Once I wipe off Windows XP in my partition, and SimplyMepis is no longer in beta, I might just install it in its place (or PCLinuxOS...haven't decided yet...and I'm not ready to let XP go just yet...)

[Arisna]

I don't remember how I wound up here exactly. I think Dapper came out and I was tired of rebuilding my Gentoo installation frequently, so I switched. I'd already been using GNU/Linux for two years, so I jumped right in and started helping people at the beginner forum. I felt useful or something.

I also really like FreeBSD. I went through a couple different battles with it, and as of the latest release, I think it's great and am keeping it on my desktop/server. Ubuntu supports my laptop hardware much better, though, and it is easier to use for a desktop in a number of ways. Now, I get the best of both worlds with the power of SSH. :)

[ivra]

OK, I am from Bulgaria. In my country we use Microsoft from school (ms dos, etc.). I am 31 years old. I used windows from 3.1, ( i can't remember exactly). In my country most of the people I suppose 80% ( or more it's my opinion) use pirates copies of Microsoft products you can read on blogs and news about that. You can found everything what you want and you can take it from the street and bazaars...

So I have never problem with this how much it cost. It was "free" for me :) I never like this OS (Windows). But before two years one friend give me a CD with Ubuntu I think it was 5.04 ( I am not sure about the version ) or 4.07 (excuse me if i mistake the date of release version) and I like it very much that I can use on my olds computers and have very good and quick software and it is legal. When I used windows i prefered Netscape and after that Firefox browsers.

In this 2 years i check SUSE, mandrake, kubuntu, xubuntu, Debian, one Bulgarian version TELIX 1.0 ( that version was based on knoppix) After that the new one TELIX 2.0 based on Ubuntu - Some version of Red Hat, but i feel very comfortable with Ubuntu and Gnome.And the Ubuntu community - philosophy and one more thing that Ubuntu will lead GNU/Linux to be more effective and compatible.

Now I put on my MSI S420 Laptop - 7.10 tribe 4 and so far it;s more stable for me from 7.04. Ubuntu found all my hardware and it's very easy to work with it. Switch my USB WIFI and like plug and play without to do nothing it's simple work. MSI are design for Windows XP and Vista.

So that is for me. Excuse me for my English and the long post.

[init1]

Just curious about it.
It's stable, and it has apt-get. Those are the main reasons.

[~LoKe]

Because Debian won't detect my USB CDRom.

[cmat]

My reason is that it can be used by everyone. I can do my programming and spreadsheets while other users can access the web and download music. But my biggest reason is that to me it doesn't suck as hard as other distros. And I used Blag, openSUSE, Fedora, and Arch. Debian is good though and isn't on my list.

[puppy]

I'm a pragmatist, and Ubuntu is the only distro that doesn't give me headaches when I install it. I've tried out both Linux Mint and Suse 10.2/10.3 very recently and htey have both given me problems immediately after installation, ending up in an unusable system. Ubuntu never does that to me - it's install and go every time since Dapper :) Perhaps it likes me or something :lolflag:

[julian67]

The stock Ubuntu is very nice but imo not really any better than Gnome offerings from some other distros (though it is easier/quicker to install) but Xubuntu is brilliant, really outstanding and at least as good as Zenwalk and Vector and other lightweight desktops. The breadth and depth of the community are what keep me using (X)Ubuntu as there is advice and solutions for pretty much anything you want to try.

[r_l]

The installation is really easy with the live-CD, especially with its partitioning ability to create a dual-boot system for the ease of migration.

[vishzilla]

I first started with Ubuntu and have never looked back. The community is really active and the forums great. I have tried openSuse, but had installation problems eventually went back to good ol' Ubuntu :)

[runningwithscissors]

I _don't_ use Ubuntu. I use other distros. :)