Sam Varghese
Friday, 09 February 2007 09:23
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 3
It's common to see newbies on general tech forums ask for advice about distributions when they are planning to test out GNU/Linux for the first time.
The distribution of choice when it comes to a first go these days is Ubuntu - even though the recommendations come from users of various distributions.
It's easy to see why Ubuntu is the chosen one (pun intended) - one only has to pop in a CD on any fairly modern PC and see the results. A graphical desktop is available for use fairly soon and anyone who wishes to take the next step and install the distribution has a very easy setup to follow. Of course, there are plenty of other distributions which are equally usable - Ubuntu just happens to be the one which is best-known.
For GNU/Linux users who want to see the operating system become more and more mainstream, Ubuntu is a nice manifesto to brandish. You can't complain about GNU/Linux being difficult to install anymore. You can't whinge about not being able to use proprietary codecs or play DVDs. You can't make a noise about the problem of updating software. And you have to keep your mouth shut about usability.
Then why would someone not want to use the distribution? I have strong reservations about Ubuntu, its motives and the way it is shaping up. The deal its parent company, Canonical, has just struck with commercial Linux company Linspire (formerly Lindows) to use commercial software from the Click and Run warehouse owned by Linspire is just the latest indication that, with Ubuntu, all is not as it seems.
Maybe it's the cynic in me, but when someone christens a product with a name that means "humanity to others" I do tend to be a bit sceptical. More so when the producer of that product has his company registered in a prominent tax haven, the Isle of Man. The two don't seem to quite match up.
