From what I've seen, we talk the talk but pirated Windows is still the choice OS, at least for personal computers.Originally Posted by Copper Bezel
bean stalker
From what I've seen, we talk the talk but pirated Windows is still the choice OS, at least for personal computers.
Chocolate-Covered Ubuntu Beans
Ubuntu Cappuccino Scuro
No sir.
Won't happen. lol
Cake for coffee's sake
Re: India, that's probably true - it's not as if I've been there, and I don't mean to make an assertion if my only support is rumor and hearsay.
Re: the main topic, with all the buzz Mint has been getting of late as an alternative to Ubuntu, I've been wanting to comment on this. There's a perception of an animosity between Mint and Ubuntu that I just don't think is accurate, and I don't know what it would mean for the projects to "compete." Even if Mint switched entirely to a Debian base and used no Ubuntu code, I don't think I'd be convinced that they could exist as competitors. Mint is a garage operation that existed to make Ubuntu just a little bit easier to switch to from Windows, and it accomplishes that goal in part by including software that a full-fledged distro like Ubuntu couldn't legally include and in part by having very little identity of its own, basing its decisions on user requests.
That latter means that it isn't invested in any particular piece of code and can be a bit more objective in its selection than other distros, theoretically, that make contributions to the code and have internal reasons to want to promote them. It also means, though, that there's no path for innovation at all. And they do have some investment in their single unique contribution of the Mint Menu, given its presence now under Shell.
Every distribution has some ratio of two roles, one of selecting, packaging, and maintaining software and one of developing code, either for upstream projects or for unique purposes within that distribution. Mint is all about selecting and packaging. Ubuntu selects, packages, and maintains Debian software while developing its own unique code for Ubuntu-specific purposes. Through Canonical, it also offers built-in services for its cloud system and commercial software, and it does publicity work that other distros don't. But it's not doing the kind of core development that Debian is, it doesn't pretend to do so, and it's utterly dependent on its relationship with Debian. That's not surprising, considering how it started and who Mark Shuttleworth is, after all.
And I don't mean to treat Debian as the ultimate source for everything, or underplay the extent to which Debian itself depends on the Gnome team's work, the kernel devs, corporate driver support, etc., in addition to countless other smaller projects. There are a lot of people depending on a lot of other people out there to get the final product to market. But that just underscores the extent to which the final product isn't an accurate representation of that particular distribution project's contributions. Most of the code is coming from somewhere else, and some of the biggest contributions can be invisible or separate from the operating system's code base entirely (*cough* Launchpad.) Unless you're Red Hat, Debian, or SUSE, the operating system itself isn't really what you stand to bring to the table.
If Mint wanted to switch gears to become something like Ubuntu, a unique spin of Debian, it wouldn't have the development team to offer anything close to what Ubuntu does. It would also need to build a relationship with Debian and with commercial software distributors, and the first step in that process would be stripping out all the illegally-distributed packages it ships with.
It would be starting from zero on the project Ubuntu's been doing since 2004.
That's not impossible; done for the right reasons, it'd be a noble attempt. But to think either that Mint is even attempting that, or is there now, on the basis that it's getting some press for making one change in the default software selection vs. Ubuntu upstream, is extremely premature.
Last edited by Copper Bezel; November 14th, 2011 at 05:59 AM.
Gee! These Aren't Roasted!
First Cup of Ubuntu
Did you really think this through?
Two Problems:
1) You used the real name for Mint, but Linux Ubuntu for Ubuntu, which isn't a real name
2) You compared the two of them in different scales, which is kind of bad.
Gee! These Aren't Roasted!
Details on the right side of the graphs (A,B,C,D,E,F).Did you really think this through?
Two Problems:
1) You used the real name for Mint, but Linux Ubuntu for Ubuntu, which isn't a real name
2) You compared the two of them in different scales, which is kind of bad.
There's nothing like "mint herbal tea".
Last edited by Ric_NYC; November 14th, 2011 at 11:58 PM.
I Ubuntu, Therefore, I Am
I'm not worried at all about where ubuntu is ranked as long as it keeps working for me. Both distros are big and aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Rankings are for fanboys to argue over.
First Cup of Ubuntu
But who would search for "linux ubuntu" when the name is just "ubuntu"?
Gee! These Aren't Roasted!
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