an.echte.trilingue wrote:[Ubuntu] isn't easier to install, that's my point.
While I agree that Debian isn't hard to install, I think that in a certain sense, Ubuntu is easier to configure, at least for someone who's not so comfortable with Linux yet. I
do know that Ubuntu's hardware autodetect has a good reputation, and with good reason. For instance: Ubuntu autodetects and configures my wireless card, including my esoeric radio kill switch (impressive) and all the proprietary firmware. For me, this makes Ubuntu a perfect live CD, if nothing else. Debian of course doesn't install any proprietary drivers, and neither do I want it to! That's the single biggest reason I started using Debian in the first place:
Debian: freedom first and foremost!
Ubuntu: (a certain kind of) usability first.
Just to elaborate: Debian's installer doesn't see my kill switch coming, and it kind of b0rks my LCD, so I'll get flickering images during boot time. I think Ubuntu's whole point is catering to people who couldn't care less about xorg.conf; people who aren't interested in computers, but feel compelled to use GNU/Linux for other reasons.
Also, I think Ubuntu is suitable for newbies because it comes with a big selection of software. When you install Debian, you spend maybe 30 minutes installing all the stuff you know you want, and then you have a very sleek installation. On Ubuntu, I'd imagine the oppiste to be the case for someone who knows what s/he wants: spening a lot of time uninstalling bits of software that are useless to you, and still ending up with a really fat Gnome with its really big footprint. For getting used to Linux, trying different software etc. I think Ubuntu's approach is sound. But at the end of the day, you don't need Evolution
and Thunderbird.
So to my mind, Ubuntu and Debian are different, not so much to people who know Debian (what you know about Debian also applies to Ubuntu), but to those who don't want to use the terminal (because it looks like DOS). Think about the threads here that start with a "How do I get X?" I don't think there's a lot of that over at Ubuntu's forums.
If I were to install GNU/Linux on my great grandfather's beige box, I'd probably choose Debian stable, because I would be configuring everything anyway. But for advocating to people who are going to do their own installs, I'll recommend Ubuntu.
All that being said, Debian does have an undeserved reputation of being a distro only suitable to "advanced users". When I decided to install a modern distro and learn Linux, I really just wanted to get Debian (for political reasons), but everywhere I looked, people were warning me against it. So I installed SuSE 9.3. I found it exciting, but really difficult. After I installed Debian, it's only exciting. Thanks to the sheer consistency of the system and the software repositories... once you learn a few basics and get a few habits (like the fact that it may be easier to go into /etc than fiddling with some GUI thing with a bunch of switches and check boxes), you're able to really amazing stuff with little effort.
Blah blah. Sorry for this uninspiring rant.
Regards,
--Simen