banasw01
August 26th, 2005, 07:10 AM
I tried Linux and other operating systems back in 2000. I tested every major distro of Linux, even tried some BSD distros, SunOS and BeOS. I like some things about every one of them, but every one of them had a down side.
I decided to see what's new in the Linux distro world. Last few weeks I downloaded 14 Linux CDs. I like that so many Linux distos have a Live CD version. This allowed me to try many of them without installing.
Finally, I installed Ubuntu and I thought that I just died and went to heaven!!! Finally I found a Linux distro that is very user-friendly, sets up most of my hardware, is a solid base to install more applications that I want and looks uniform and is overall pleasing to the eye!!!
Of course Ubuntu is not perfect, but in my opinion Ubuntu is a GNU/Linux distro that has a potential to become a great destop OS. I was not sure where to post this, but I am just so excited about this distro that I felt the need to write something about it.
Here is a list of things that I looked for when testing different Linux distros:
1) Does web/network card/internet work?
2) Does smb:// network neighborhood work? Can I connect to other windows machines on my LAN?
3) XFree86/xorg working? Cursor? Mouse?
4) Sound working? Can I play mp3? (tested with xmms)
5) Can I play .avi, .mpeg and most other video formats?
6) Can I access my USB flash drive? (Intelligent Stick 64MB)
7) Can I setup my printer and print easily?
8) Can I mount other hard drives easily? ntfs/vfat
9) Is there a good package manager? Can I compile programs if only source is available? Can I add more programs easily if I need to?
10) Does the desktop look good? Is it elegant, well organized, and coherent?
NOTE: I am happy that Gnome finally looks good. When I tried Linux in 2000, I remember Gnome being a bit ugly looking.
Of course there are many more important issues (like security, etc), but when I am trying to choose an OS for my desktop those 10 concerns are most important to me.
I decided to see what's new in the Linux distro world. Last few weeks I downloaded 14 Linux CDs. I like that so many Linux distos have a Live CD version. This allowed me to try many of them without installing.
Finally, I installed Ubuntu and I thought that I just died and went to heaven!!! Finally I found a Linux distro that is very user-friendly, sets up most of my hardware, is a solid base to install more applications that I want and looks uniform and is overall pleasing to the eye!!!
Of course Ubuntu is not perfect, but in my opinion Ubuntu is a GNU/Linux distro that has a potential to become a great destop OS. I was not sure where to post this, but I am just so excited about this distro that I felt the need to write something about it.
Here is a list of things that I looked for when testing different Linux distros:
1) Does web/network card/internet work?
2) Does smb:// network neighborhood work? Can I connect to other windows machines on my LAN?
3) XFree86/xorg working? Cursor? Mouse?
4) Sound working? Can I play mp3? (tested with xmms)
5) Can I play .avi, .mpeg and most other video formats?
6) Can I access my USB flash drive? (Intelligent Stick 64MB)
7) Can I setup my printer and print easily?
8) Can I mount other hard drives easily? ntfs/vfat
9) Is there a good package manager? Can I compile programs if only source is available? Can I add more programs easily if I need to?
10) Does the desktop look good? Is it elegant, well organized, and coherent?
NOTE: I am happy that Gnome finally looks good. When I tried Linux in 2000, I remember Gnome being a bit ugly looking.
Of course there are many more important issues (like security, etc), but when I am trying to choose an OS for my desktop those 10 concerns are most important to me.