Ubuntu Linux Preview Released

psykelus writes "Ubuntu Linux, a Debian-based distro (formerly flying the flag of 'no-name-yet.com') annouced a preview of their first release (Warty Warthog) earlier today. Ubuntu is the most shiny Debian-based distrobution ever, sporting Gnome 2.8 and an extremely streamlined, mostly automatic installation & configuration process." For a limited time, they're also sending out free disks on request.

Comments

Sounds awesome.

[mcc]

But there's been ... like ... nine Debian derivative distributions to come out in the last year.

How do I know which of these will follow through, which of them will continue to be active in a year, and which ones will have maybe two more minor releases then just sort of peter out? How do I know what will happen to this one, in the long run? How do I justify not just taking the safe route and installing vanilla Debian?

I'd love to have a "user friendly" Debian distro to recommend to people so that they aren't stuck using Mandrake, but when three projects aspiring to that title crop up a year... can I consider them safe to recommend? I just don't know what to do.

Re:Sounds awesome.

[Beatbyte]

your "BEST of everything" != my "BEST of everything"

that's the problem. it's a flaw (if you see it as a flaw) that's fundamental to the system.

Re:Sounds awesome.

[drinkypoo]

Gentoo, regardless of what stage you start from, will teach you more about Linux (and by extension Unix) than debian will, assuming you are not using the GRP. Just doing the install teaches you a bit about setting up a system. In fact I recently had someone tell me that gentoo was the thing that finally led them to building their own Linux-based system from scratch - not a solution I advocate for much of anyone, except when building embedded solutions... but still interesting.

Debian's only advantage is that you can reasonably run your system on binary packages. However, gentoo is always up to date, has nice tools for mangling builds... er I mean managing, I think. And everything is built with your chosen options and support for exactly what you want, with your choice of libraries where applicable. It comes at a penalty in compiling time. You can install very rapidly by using the stage 3 build but if you decide to update to the latest you will be recompiling most of the system anyway, so I don't think there's much point to doing it that way unless you're in a big hurry. If you nice your upgrades then you can be doing other stuff while they build.

Re:Sounds awesome.

[sp0rk173]

I honestly don't think there is a good reason. Probably the main difference is that debian might be a bit more difficult to tweak to use the latest packages, whereas Gentoo stays pretty up to date, even when you don't have it keyworded (read: stable). For example, I'm expecting Gnome 2.8 to be in portage within a couple days. Infact, packages are getting merged in slowly. The downside to that, of course, is that an early adopter (again, a keyworded, "unstable" portage) might have an unstable system. I've always used keywords and have noticed very little, if any, instability. With gentoo, you just learn more. That's the reason i use it. I like things to play with to expand my knowledge on a subject. Gentoo does that. Gentoo also has a very intelligent system for handling rc scripts, that seems to just work. rc-update is just awesome. The downside to Gentoo (and it's a highly over exagerated downside), is it's compile time. To put things into perspective, I emerge sync (update the portage tree) daily. For the past week i've had maybe one or two small programs that needed to be updated, and the total compilation time was less than 10 minutes each time. Even with the compile time, the system is perfectly usable while the compile is taking place. Now, if you wait a month between each emerge sync && emerge -u world, you're going to be compiling for a LONNGG time. Your key to using Gentoo successfully is keeping it up to date.

What it comes down to isn't whether or not Gentoo or Debian is intrinsically better than the other, rather which of the two suits you better. I've used debian, and I didn't like it. I come from a mainly BSD background, so i appreciated portage, i appreciated a more simplistic rc script setup, and i appreciated the merits of a source-based distro. Gentoo just fits me. I suggest you try both, and come to a conclusion on your own. Otherwise, you'll be tainted by dogmatic views from both sides, trolls, and flames.

Re:Sounds awesome.

[LiquidCoooled]

Because I don't believe in rebooting a computer to run a specific program.

That blows, its like going back to ZX Spectrums with tapes.

I want to run what I need to run on the box I am on.
I expect it to take a matter of clicking and almost instantly having the software up.

I dont ever want to have to "reboot into windows to play a game". Fuck that! I haven't paid thousands of pounds for computer hardware over the years to regress.

[/rant] Ahhh, I feel better now :)

BitTorrent Link

[BenFranske]

Since the site seems to be down, how about someone who has it putting up a BitTorrent link?

As Long As...

[suss]

As long as its IRC client doesn't join #Debian on freenode by default, like Knoppix, Kurumin and all those others do or there will be hell to pay.

People can't seem to get it into their heads that #Debian is for Debian and not derivatives and they should ask for support from where they got it.

Re:Rare

[the arbiter]

"defrag ext2" "lack of Token Ring support" Brilliant AND hilarious. Nice troll. I applaud you, sir.

x.org

[sewagemaster]

would anyone know if it contains x.org packages? it would be nice to try for us to try out on a debian/debian-based distro without the need of compiling anything or risking breaking the system :)

Debian perfect for this...

[Chuck Bucket]

with debian's background it's the perfect linux distro to support things like this. Just use anaconda (open from red hat) for the installer, then apt for updates, have it point to a mirror for the new distro to support newer (yes, less stable) apps for install, and you'll have a great OS, with the structure of Debian, but w/o the upkeep (which I happen to like, but I digress...)

THis lin-distro has 'wow' factor in my book.

CB()^&*$&^)!

Re:Why is this necessary?

[makohill]

I think you're oversimplifying each of the projects out there. I know from my work with Debian that Debian itself means a lot to many people. Debian has a lot of things people like -- tons of packages and a great package management system for example -- but that's not enough for everyone (or even anyone).

For many, Ubuntu may be little more than Debian with frequent time-based releases and a more polished desktop -- which alone is a benefit over other distros and even windows

For others, it will be the emphasis on translation and internationalization that seals the deal.

Since many of the developers on Ubuntu are Debian developers, we're going to start by making a distro that has all of the things we like about Debian and puts them in a easier, more managable package that fixes some of the most frequently heard problems and annoyances with Debian that are tough to fix within Debian for a variety of reasons.

Re:The question is ...

[Anonymous Coward]

technocrat is down with 504s
also the comment count hasn't been updated for yonks

Re:I was talking about this just the other day

[theantix]

Exactly. I have been wanting something like this for a long time now, but the hypercommercialized debian-based distros like Lindows and Xandros dropped the soap big time -- just didn't fit what I wanted. So I'm stuck as a sort-of-happy fedora user, and then all of a sudden two interesting projects pop in out of the blue, aimed at people who want the best of Debian and Gnome.

I've tried both UserLinux and Ubuntu, and so far Ubuntu seems a bit more promising to me. The Gnome 2.8 is darn purdy, and they've done some nice customizations to it also.

Yoper is also great.

[Anonymous Coward]

I just installed Yoper on my brothers computer, which can only run win98 or some version of Linux.
I previously had Suse 9.1 on there and it ran rather slow.

I installed Yoper yesterday and that computer seems to be running smoothly! I love it as it's easy to use, my brother is impressed as it runs quickly.
The forums at Yoper are quite helpful as well.
Configuration and installing programs isn't bad at all!

Well said.

[bogie]

Mucking around with your distro and editting config files isn't all its cracked up to be once you've been doing it for a while. I have to constantly hear this "but Gentoo lets you get into the nuts and bolts of the OS" B.S. I'm getting old, I have better things to do then tweak or screw around with my OS. Training to be an admin? Fine monkey around guilt free while your still learning. Want to use your OS for actually doing anything? Join the rest of the world.

Think in 20 years anyone will still be obsessed with the commandline and knowing every detail about their OS? God I hope not.

Kirk : Scottie! Get that warp drive online!
Scottie : But captain I'm still busy customizing my USE flags!