Re: debian vs ubuntu and knoppix

From: Antony Gelberg (antony_at_wayforth.co.uk)
Date: 10/14/05 

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 01:28:37 +0100
To: debian-user@lists.debian.org

William Ballard wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 11, 2005 at 08:33:42PM -0600, Nate Duehr wrote:
>
>>Some people find the Ubuntu spin-off inappropriate (why didn't they just
>>donate to Debian and try to get a commitment on release cycles?), and
>>others have embraced it and are all fuzzy warm about it. Whatever.
>>
>>Me? I just kick back and enjoy the flamefests and trolling... if
>>there's one thing that never changes about the Net and Free Software,
>>it's that. It's almost comforting to read a good flamefest these
>>days... the joys of my youth, so to speak.
>
>
> I like to stick to pure Debian. You can't get "a little bit pregnant."
> The "it's like Debian, but with Extra-Added Foo!" distros, where Foo =
>
> "livecd" (Knoppix)
> "point-n-drool" (Lindows)
> "flavor-of-the-month-courtesy-of-your-rich-uncle-and-some-people-who-want-
> a-faster-release-cycle" (Ubunto)
>
> ...distributions, what's the point? You're giving up Debian's "Sane Package Control,
> we don't care if anybody uses it but us developers" goodness for a brass ring.
>
> They *always* come back to Debian, because only the curmudeony wierd old it's good for
> developers is what your really want. You can't mix the idea of Debian with a company
> and have it last, because you're abandoning the only thing that makes Debian worth a
> damn: by developers, for developers.

There's room for all. Nobody asks anyone to justify what they are
using. As I've already said, I'm quite impressed with Kubuntu on my
parents' box. However, good, and free, and yes, integrated it is, it
does remind me, just a little of a computing world that I'm pleased I've
left behind *shiver*. This is of course because I'm now running Window
Maker on Sarge, and I can't get much more earthy unless I move to ratpoison.

Aside from the inter-distro sniping, we have beenfocusing on Free
Software migration recently, and I've been watching a few "computing
morons" get to grips with Ubuntu very quickly. This gives me a lot of
ammunition to use when pitching to potential customers. My test sample
is small, but so far, they all like it more than Windows. This is
interesting. I know that _I_ like it more, I know that _you_ like it
more, but I didn't think _they_ would be able to live without, um,
whatever it is they like about Windows.

Microsoft et al should be quaking. If it wasn't the case before, it
seems to me that all they have to offer now are marketing gimmicks. The
world is starting to understand this. I had one contact with a 15-PC MS
network moaning at me that he had to pay £9000 in licence fees last year
and that they don't even use 1% of the extra functionality (such as it is).

My response: "I thought I was meant to be convincing _you_ about the
benefits of Free Software, not the other way around."

I then gave him a Knoppix disk for his home PC as the HD had died. He
loves it and hasn't made any mention of finding it difficult to use.

Something else to ponder. Show me an MSCE with their narrow viewpoint
and lack of first-principles, and I'll show you a man who prefers
Windows. Show me an engineer who understands and uses *nix and Windows,
and I'll show you a man who prefers *nix. 

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