Linus Torvalds on Linux distributions

[karellen]

maybe it has been discussed before, nevertheless I found it an interesting read:
http://news.oreilly.com/2008/07/linux-torvalds-on-linux-distri.html
....the comments are insightful too :)

[LaRoza]

I like his attitude on many things. He is very non-polarising (except for that GNOME thing).

I sort of use Ubuntu for the same reason he uses Fedora (I like Debian better), I am just used to it and the effort it would take extra effort to change.

[karellen]

I suppose when you really know what's under the hood of pretty much any Linux distro, you can't be too interested in how things work but in actually doing something else (and new) from that point forward (I mean developing:D). anyway, imho, he is the man :)

[samjh]

Definitely agree with him.

I, similar to LaRoza, like Debian better. But for me, Ubuntu "just works" without having to tinker with it. Debian is reasonably user-friendly, but it is still quite fiddly, a couple of steps behind Ubuntu in that respect.

[samjh]

double post

[NilsHG]

i have been running arch linux on my notebook for a week or 2 and pretty much all i do is try to configure it and set it up properly. i could have done much more work in these past days... the reason i was toying with arch is that i wanted a more cutting edge, more up to date packages and programs. however, even with testing and unstable repos activated, i am still stuck with network-manager 0.6.5... where my Mint desktop already has 0.6.6. so where is the cutting edge? i am new to arch and i might be missing something. but i am done configuring my pcs. in about 30 minutes i will have a nice ubuntu (or linux mint, havent decided yet) system running on my notebook and in about 60 minutes it is set up the way i want and need it. so pretty much what has taken days and is not done yet, i can do in 60 minutes when i choose a distro that focuses on ease of use and installation.
if i want more up to date packages i still have the choice of compiling myself or i can rely on the huge community and there is always someone who hacks together *deb files of the latest and gratest.
thanks linus, for showing me the way :lolflag:

[LaRoza]

Definitely agree with him.

I, similar to LaRoza, like Debian better. But for me, Ubuntu "just works" without having to tinker with it. Debian is reasonably user-friendly, but it is still quite fiddly, a couple of steps behind Ubuntu in that respect.

It isn't even that for me. I have Ubuntu setup in a way very different from its defaults (Thunar, terminal, Opera, on xmonad/wmii). Debian would be the same for me (100% supported hardware) and it would be faster. I use the terminal anyway for everything, and Debian would work out of the box (Intel hardware).

Perhaps I will switch, but not today.

[schauerlich]

Perhaps I will switch, but not today.

As long as you stay on the forums, use AIX for all I care.

[Keyper7]

I share LaRoza's feelings... I'm thinking about switching to Debian testing, but right now I'm so used to Ubuntu that I'm not very excited about the whole process of adapting all the customizing I do in Ubuntu to Debian. Plus, it's the little, non-necessary but neat, things in Ubuntu that get me... fusing the exit and shutdown popups in one aestethically pleasing popup, the uncomplicated firewall, etc.

That said, I did test Debian once or twice lately and it's become remarkably friendly. I honestly doubt I'd have more trouble customizing it than customizing Ubuntu.

[Bachstelze]

Debian would be the same for me (100% supported hardware) and it would be faster.

Don't get your hopes too high about that. On the same hardware and with the same setups, I never experienced a significant difference between Debian and Ubuntu.

For that matter, Ubuntu really is Debian.