Strange word but here is a link to the website where you can also discover the meaning. It is one of the newest and currently the hottest flavor of the free Linux personal computer operating system. It is based on Debian Linux, another Linux flavor or what the industry call a Dist or distribution. The Debian base is not a secret but is only important as a matter of linage. The average Ubuntu OS user has no need to even wonder what that means.
I had not tried Ubuntu until this weekend. Linux OS flavors are all over the place, so I had no need to try yet another one. Last weekend was different. I moved through almost every mainstream (free) distribution since the early 90’s. The last in recent years were based on commercial Linux with one called SuSE and the other Fedora.
Ubuntu began and remains more of a user’s group distribution, very reminiscent of the early days of Linux before it started to create a lot of commercial attraction. I noticed Ubuntu few years ago that it was kind of floundering around, looking for an identity (my opinion) so I paid it little notice.
Today it has a strong focus and a lot of users. I have read about it publically everywhere almost to the exclusion of other Linux. It was looking to me that Ubuntu was now the mainstream version of free Linux.
Last Sunday I dedicated a whole computer to the Ubuntu OS. Installation was no problem. Of course I have done many hundreds of installs but nothing unusual happened on this one. It was in fact a very smooth professional installation. It uses the Gnome desktop (KDE available) if that means anything to you. An internet connection is required to get the full setup, but I expected that as a requirement.
Right now I think it is an amazing OS. One thing I like is that it is not totally hung up on Freeware. It will install (with no hassle) several free but commercial software packages (mostly graphical) that will make the user social browsing experience as good as the two commercial Operating Systems. Having broken graphics in both Fedora and SuSE was always a pain in the side producing the feeling I had an incomplete OS. Yes, commercial graphical software can be loaded into the others, but it is always a hassle to even an experienced hacker like me.
So far Ubuntu doesn’t disappoint me. It looks like a keeper and even the perfect OS of choice for something like a netbook which is a great little computer for social networking. Linux still won’t replace MS Windows for my hardcore applications. However, I predict if cloud computing grows as envisioned; any Linux OS flavor will become a serious desktop application (for business computing).
Need a free operating System for an old computer? Try Ubuntu. Nothing to loose