David M Williams
Wednesday, 07 January 2009 19:54
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
Ubuntu doesn’t, in fact, claim to be a “better” Debian. It has a far narrower focus. Ubuntu is released on less hardware platforms (or architectures) than Debian, and it really only targets an audience of the ordinary home user.
(There is a server version of Ubuntu but I would think server administrators would prefer the more fine-grained control Debian offers.)
So, this immediately suggests that Ubuntu is more restrictive. And sure enough, if you’ve ever installed Ubuntu for yourself you know it loads the GNOME desktop manager. You know it uses specific software. Most of the decisions are made for you.
Debian will give you many more choices: you might prefer KDE for your graphical environment – or something totally different. You might wish to use your Linux system for software development, general home use, system control and data acquisition of industrial equipment, a branch office server or many other things. In this case, Debian offers a rich variety of purposes from the outset.
Now, sure, you can add packages to Ubuntu. If you really want to run KDE you can download and install it. (Actually, a variant of Ubuntu exists called KUbuntu which uses KDE, and not GNOME, for its display manager. Of course, in this case the scenario is still true; the decision about which windowed environment to use has been made for you.)
However, here’s the rub: Ubuntu isn’t fully compatible with the vast repository of Debian software. While Ubuntu is based on Debian, its software collection has only a subset of that which its mother Linux offers.
So, on the one hand, while Debian comes with many more packages, you can still beef up Ubuntu by installing new software. And, under Linux, installing software is a snap – just use the one package manager to load updates to the core operating system, all your apps, and to load more. Yet, this said, Debian still offers choices that Ubuntu does not.
Let’s get back to the simplicity side of things. Ubuntu is released in a new version every six months. It’s a reliable schedule and has been working for Canonical and its users. The most recent version, Intrepid Ibex, was made available in October 2008; the previous version, Hardy Heron, was distributed in April 2008. The next version to come will be out in April 2009, without any doubt or lack of certainty.
By contrast, Debian has a much less defined release schedule. In fact, in times past there has been years between stable editions. The rise of Ubuntu can perhaps be attributed in part to this fact, with users seeking more recent operating systems.
Yet, we need to be fair here: it’s because Ubuntu deals with only a subset of packages that they can commit to, and achieve, this more rigorous clockwork. There are disadvantages – like less choice – but also advantages – like more frequent releases – to this design decision.
Let’s look more closely at Debian’s releases.
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