[clue-tech] ubuntu linux

[Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier]

Hey all,

> Anyone been running it?  Thoughts?

I'm running it on my laptop, desktop(s) and think it's great. My main
desktop is an Athlon64 3000 with 1 GB of RAM and a dual-head Nvidia
card (5500, I think, but don't quote me). Everything runs fine -
getting the official nvidia drivers and "twinview" working was pretty
easy. (Twinview is Nvidia's version of Xinerama.)

It seems very user-friendly, though my concept of "user-friendly" is
probably not quite the same as everyone else's.

Basically, Ubuntu is the best of Debian for people who want faster
release cycles and a more user-friendly desktop. I'm enjoying it quite
a bit. There's a huge selection of packages in the "Universe"
repository, so just about anything you'd want to run is just an
apt-get away.

The release cycle is much more sane, as well. New releases every 6
months, and each release is supported for 18 months, if I recall
correctly. So, install the most recent release now, and you won't need
to upgrade for 18 months or so, unless you want to when the next
release comes out in 6 months. They also have an unstable version that
can be tracked, for the brave souls who like to live on the bleeding
edge.

If someone asked me whether I'd recommend Ubuntu, SUSE, Fedora Core,
Mandriva (aka Mandrake), Slackware or anything else for their desktop,
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Ubuntu.

> Also, in a classic case of me too, I see there is the KDE based ubuntu -
> kbuntu - http://kubuntu.org/

Kubuntu isn't really a "me too" so much as a Ubuntu+KDE - which is
awesome for anyone who wants Ubuntu but would prefer to use KDE.

Just as a side note, the Ubuntu Universe repository has packages for
Xfce and several other desktops as well - so it's not limited to
GNOME, though that's the focus.

Best, 

Zonker
-- 
Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier
xonker at gmail.com
"Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, doctor, and I'm happy
to state I finally won out over it." ~ Elwood P. Dowd, "Harvey"