what advantage will I have to install ubuntu over other OS?

[afrasiab]

Can anybody elaborate that what advantage will I have to install ubuntu over other OS? I mean what features will I be getting after installing ubuntu which I won't get on other os

[guiverc]

I suspect what you're asking could only be properly answered in an opus.

Ubuntu is easier than Debian, newer software than debian-stable (though that can be impacted by the releases of each; my debian-testing/sid using LXQt is almost the same as my Lubuntu 20.04 using LXQt as far as desktop).

Ubuntu has far more hardware support than any BSD I've used.

Ubuntu or any GNU/Linux gives me far more control over any version of windows, and I own my data and not just the IP or the legal rights over that data.

Ubuntu and flavors provide far more choice, which also has negatives; without the depth of choices in windows the lack of choices mean you're can't spend time getting your machine perfect, just changing a few colors & getting down to work; for some (without discipline to stop themselves) this is a plus.

I can choose the desktop I want, by selecting a flavor (or for people like me that cannot decide, add my other desktops onto my existing Ubuntu system - though I wouldn't recommend this for newbies; and Ubuntu can't have as many desktops installed as I can put on other GNU/Linuxes)

Ubuntu has a huge software base, near the largest of any GNU/Linux.

Ubuntu is efficient, I run a supported release (Lubuntu 18.04 LTS) on laptops with single core pentium M boxes with 1GB of ram and can do what I need the machine to do. (It's not alone, I have two such machines and debian runs on the other laptop with ~same specs).

For companies or anyone who needs to play, Ubuntu has a very easy to understand release schedule. My Lubuntu 18.04 was released in 2018-April (thus it's 18.04), the next LTS release will be released in 2020-April (without looking at the release schedule I'd bet 2nd last Thursday of that month). The interim releases are every 6 months in April & October, always a Thursday and usually a week before the last Thursday in the month). With other OSes (eg. debian or *******) it's that easy. This will mainly be useful for corporations/organizations.

The end of life of products is also very easy, Lubuntu 18.04 LTS came with 3 years of support, so adding 3 to 18 means it'll reach EOL on 2021-April (18.04 + 3 = 21.04); if I wasn't using the flavor I'd have had 5 years of support, but on older machines Lubuntu is just better, let alone I prefer LXQt or XFCE over the GNOME experience (ie. the choice argument).

Ubuntu has a great community (no community is perfect though)

Ubuntu has the largest number of users for any POSIX system, which is a huge benefit when you have problems, it also has loads of support options.

Much of what is happening in Ubuntu is open to the public, not hidden away with only occasional public statements (yes the company Canonical behind Ubuntu is a closed company, but as companies go it's actually pretty open).

It's open source, so if I want to know how something works, I can `apt source` install the source code, look how something works, if I'm so inclined. This can allow me to learn, allow better use of the product when I need it, even if I rarely use it.

Every OS has pro's & con's, like everything else. I don't just use Ubuntu though, I pick the best tool for the job, and very frequently that is Ubuntu.

[crip720]

For most of computer use, probably not much. Linux, Windows and Mac will all do browsing, email and other programs quite well. Most of the advantage will come if you want to use linux on older computers, that windows/mac will run slow on or if you want to change how linux looks. Some people like that linux is free to use and there are more choices. All OSs have their good points and bad points.

[sdsurfer]

From a simplified viewpoint,

- Anything you can do on another OS you can do in Ubuntu. The programs are different, but they demonstrate equivalent results (documents, graphics, video, etc.)
- Most programs that do those things are open source and don't require purchase or subscriptions.
- Both the O.S. and those programs, being open source, have thousands of skilled developers reviewing the code and finding the bugs with no other motivation than to build something awesome. Contrast that to say a (likely overpaid) developer for Microsoft or Apple who is paid for their work, and is usually is pigeonholed in a position within a corporate structure who may see issues and is in many cases powerless to fix it.
- Review the thousands of posts discussing performance. Any Ubuntu OS boots faster, has less issues than others, and had a far more robust and documented logging structure that helps determine problems.
- You are not under the boot of a corporation after your wallet. Upgrades and updates don't cost a fortune (nothing, actually.)
- As a developer, this one is good for me: the server is part of the OS by default. You don't have to install WAMP or LAMP or tweak and fiddle to get a local web development environment, just put your stuff in /var/www/html or create virtual local hosts to emulate actual servers. For example, I have "tests.com" on my local environment and it never goes out to the web.
- If you can't let go, a virtual machine will allow you to access Windows and sometimes Mac programs. A common option is a dual boot using Grub. If you really need to go back to that other OS, restart and load it up.

The down side, which is not really a down side: there are learning curves to implement and tweak the OS and the programs that run on it. I say not really a down side because this learning curve can be exciting and dare I say fun at times. In some cases you're forced to learn how your OS and programs work, dig into code and get your hands dirty, and IMO that is always a good thing.

[CelticWarrior]

The down side, which is not really a down side: there are learning curves to implement and tweak the OS and the programs that run on it. I say not really a down side because this learning curve can be exciting and dare I say fun at times. In some cases you're forced to learn how your OS and programs work, dig into code and get your hands dirty, and IMO that is always a good thing.

Really really really NOT a downside.

You weren't born knowing about the other OS, were you?
No, at some point you had to learn about it as well. So, if you started with Ubuntu the required learning curve in the persent would be about any other OS .

The problem is so many people were dumbed down by the other OS, the one with the biggest market share in desktops/laptops, to a point that they have an hard time understanding that that OS is not an intrinsic part of using a computer but merely one of thousands of options, most of them Linux based.

[afrasiab]

I suspect what you're asking could only be properly answered in an opus.

Ubuntu is easier than Debian, newer software than debian-stable (though that can be impacted by the releases of each; my debian-testing/sid using LXQt is almost the same as my Lubuntu 20.04 using LXQt as far as desktop).

Ubuntu has far more hardware support than any BSD I've used.

Ubuntu or any GNU/Linux gives me far more control over any version of windows, and I own my data and not just the IP or the legal rights over that data.

Ubuntu and flavors provide far more choice, which also has negatives; without the depth of choices in windows the lack of choices mean you're can't spend time getting your machine perfect, just changing a few colors & getting down to work; for some (without discipline to stop themselves) this is a plus.

I can choose the desktop I want, by selecting a flavor (or for people like me that cannot decide, add my other desktops onto my existing Ubuntu system - though I wouldn't recommend this for newbies; and Ubuntu can't have as many desktops installed as I can put on other GNU/Linuxes)

Ubuntu has a huge software base, near the largest of any GNU/Linux.

Ubuntu is efficient, I run a supported release (Lubuntu 18.04 LTS) on laptops with single core pentium M boxes with 1GB of ram and can do what I need the machine to do. (It's not alone, I have two such machines and debian runs on the other laptop with ~same specs).

For companies or anyone who needs to play, Ubuntu has a very easy to understand release schedule. My Lubuntu 18.04 was released in 2018-April (thus it's 18.04), the next LTS release will be released in 2020-April (without looking at the release schedule I'd bet 2nd last Thursday of that month). The interim releases are every 6 months in April & October, always a Thursday and usually a week before the last Thursday in the month). With other OSes (eg. debian or *******) it's that easy. This will mainly be useful for corporations/organizations.

The end of life of products is also very easy, Lubuntu 18.04 LTS came with 3 years of support, so adding 3 to 18 means it'll reach EOL on 2021-April (18.04 + 3 = 21.04); if I wasn't using the flavor I'd have had 5 years of support, but on older machines Lubuntu is just better, let alone I prefer LXQt or XFCE over the GNOME experience (ie. the choice argument).

Ubuntu has a great community (no community is perfect though)

Ubuntu has the largest number of users for any POSIX system, which is a huge benefit when you have problems, it also has loads of support options.

Much of what is happening in Ubuntu is open to the public, not hidden away with only occasional public statements (yes the company Canonical behind Ubuntu is a closed company, but as companies go it's actually pretty open).

It's open source, so if I want to know how something works, I can `apt source` install the source code, look how something works, if I'm so inclined. This can allow me to learn, allow better use of the product when I need it, even if I rarely use it.

Every OS has pro's & con's, like everything else. I don't just use Ubuntu though, I pick the best tool for the job, and very frequently that is Ubuntu.

thanks for such a comprehensive reply. you really elaborated it very well. The best think I found is that most of the programs are open source so I don't have to pay for them

[TheFu]

thanks for such a comprehensive reply. you really elaborated it very well. The best think I found is that most of the programs are open source so I don't have to pay for them

Unless the programs use Qt. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pa...ore-Commercial

[afrasiab]

Unless the programs use Qt. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pa...ore-Commercial

what type of programs use Qt? I mean there might be alternatives to these programs

[TheFu]

what type of programs use Qt? I mean there might be alternatives to these programs

As with many questions, google and wikipedia have answers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...e_that_uses_Qt

But the Qt license changes are very new. How it gets handled by each project is yet to be seen. For a small project, $500 is a big problem.
Back in the late 1990s, my team decided to stop using Rogue Wave and moved to the STL C++ libraries in about 6 months. We had all sorts of RogueWave licenses - per developer, per platform. We were supporting 12 platforms. RogueWave got bought out because their business model collapsed. That happens lots of times, especially with software libraries.

[sdsurfer]

Really really really NOT a downside.

It is for many people, which is why I mentioned it. I have worked on my own vehicles all my life, and convincing someone to save several hundred dollars for getting their hands a little dirty and a couple hours of their time is a difficult task. It's a decent comparison. You know what they say, teach a person to fish . . . .