Ubuntu Linux: What's All the Fuss?

Marcel Gagné

Ubuntu Linux is hot. Really hot. How hot? Well, if you surf over to Distrowatch (http://www.distrowatch.com), you'll notice that Ubuntu is listed as the number one distribution, at least in terms of hit ranking on the site. SUSE and Fedora are usually duking it out for second and third place. In fact, Ubuntu has been in first place for quite a while now.

If Distrowatch was your only source of Linux information, you might be forgiven for thinking that this was the most popular Linux distribution in the world. It isn't, at least not yet, but the level of excitement surrounding this distribution is amazing. In this article, I'll provide a quick introduction to its features and philosophy.

Big To-Do About Ubuntu

Let's first see what the Ubuntu Web site has to say:

"Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

Ubuntu Linux is funded and supported by Canonical through the Shuttleworth Foundation, headed by billionaire Mark Shuttleworth. I mention this to say that Ubuntu Linux is a solid organization backed by solid financial support. Good financial support is always exciting to businesses looking to use a product. Shuttleworth, by the way, was the world's second "space tourist", which gives him a lot of coolness cachet. Business reasons and space tourists aside, there has to be a lot more to a project to generate that kind of buzz. So, what else does Ubuntu have going for it?

People will tell you about the great hardware support and brag that all their devices were detected on installation. That was true for me when I installed Ubuntu and Kubuntu Dapper on my notebook, but it was also true when I installed Mandriva and SUSE. So, what's all the fuss? Ubuntu Linux, after all, is yet another Debian-based Linux distribution (like MEPIS, Libranet, Knoppix, and others), bundling products that you find in plenty of other Linux distributions. These include the GNOME desktop environment, the OpenOffice.org office suite, the Evolution email, calendar, and contact management system, the Firefox Web browser, and so on.

Speaking Of Applications

These days, free and open source software serves up applications that are as good as many in the commercial world. The sheer number of these applications at your disposal is impressive, sometimes staggering. It's ironic that this sheer wealth of applications is also part of what scares some users. Choice is great, and in the long run, we all want choice. When starting out, however, some people prefer a streamlined collection of applications that represent a best of breed for the desktop of choice.

This is one of Ubuntu's greatest strengths and is something that attracts many people. Ubuntu has selected a simplified core set of applications that makes sense. One Web browser. One word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation package. One terminal program. One... well, you get the idea. To understand why this is such a great idea, consider the new user's confusion when faced with three terminals, five Web browsers, two word processors, and so on. Ubuntu Linux makes it easy by providing intelligent choices for applications that do the job.

Furthermore, the whole thing fits on one CD. The CD itself contains a live version of Ubuntu so that Windows users can try Ubuntu without having to install it. The hardware detection and support is excellent, and most users will find the whole process surprisingly painless. After some introduction, those users can install from the same CD. Click the icon on the desktop, answer a few questions, and in a few minutes, their PC is running an installed, full-featured Ubuntu Linux.

Community Redefined

Beyond the applications, Ubuntu is something more. The official Web site serves up the Ubuntu manifesto:

Ubuntu Linux is a complete desktop Linux operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.

Ubuntu Linux is a product based on a community and its values. It's a belief that software can empower people, but for people to reap the benefits of that software, it must be freely available, crossing cultural and language barriers along the way. Companies doing business in the Linux marketplace understand the importance of the community. This is why we have Fedora, OpenSUSE, and recently, FreeSpire. Ubuntu, however, has succeeded in leveraging and energizing the community in a way that few other companies have been able to manage. I believe this is in part because Ubuntu isn't afraid to state its values and to stand behind them.

Let's say you've decided to make the jump to Ubuntu (or Kubuntu, maybe) and you need some help. One of the very best places to turn for additional information on your Ubuntu system is the Ubuntu community. You will find many people with considerable knowledge and information about doing things the Ubuntu way. This community includes developers, documentation writers, and perhaps most importantly, Ubuntu users. This is a vibrant, growing community, providing many different options for locating the help you need.

The first place to start is the Ubuntu Linux Web site at:

http://www.ubuntu.com 
            

Log on to the #ubuntu IRC channel on irc.freenode.net, and you'll find between 500 to 600 people logged on at any time of the day or night. Ask your questions, and it's likely that somebody has answers.

You can also join the Ubuntu Users mailing list by visiting this site:

https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users 
    

Eventually, you're going to hear about other Ubuntus. These include Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu. The important thing to understand here is that none of these otherbuntus, if you'll pardon the expression, are different products deep down. They are not forks, nor are they different distributions. Each one is still Ubuntu, but with a different desktop environment and (in some cases) a different set of core applications.

Kubuntu features KDE as its desktop environment of choice. Xubuntu is meant for less powerful machines and uses the lightweight XFCE as its desktop environment. Edubuntu, meanwhile, is modified to suit the needs of an educational environment with teaching games and programs for kids. Each of the alternative Ubuntus is a tuned implementation of Ubuntu Linux for a specific environment. Nevertheless, choosing one over the other doesn't mean you are locked in. Adding the Kubuntu environment to Ubuntu (or Edubuntu to Kubuntu) is a simple process that takes only a few keystrokes.

Wrapping It Up and an Offer You Can't Refuse

Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and the otherbuntus offer plenty of reasons to get excited. They also make it extremely easy for users to get started with Ubuntu and very hard to say no. That's because Canonical will ship free Linux CDs to anyone anywhere in the world. To get your own free Ubuntu CDs, visit:

https://shipit.ubuntu.com
    

https://shipit.kubuntu.org 

https://shipit.edubuntu.org 

Marcel Gagné is an award-winning writer living in Mississauga, Ontario. He is the author of the all new Moving to Ubuntu Linux, his fifth book from Addison Wesley. He also makes regular television appearances as Call for Help's Linux guy. Marcel is also a pilot, a past Top-40 disc jockey, writes science fiction and fantasy, and folds a mean Origami T-Rex. He can be reached via email at: mggagne@salmar.com. You can discover lots of other things from his Web site at: http://www.marcelgagne.com/.