[nzlug] debian vs ubuntu (reprise)

[David McNab]

Hi all,

In an earlier thread, I asked about users' experiences with Ubuntu
versus Debian. Thanks to those who replied, that inspired me to try
Ubuntu for myself.

This has been a good time to look at OS alternatives, since my
5-year-old Debian Sid installation was getting badly broken with weird
symptoms (eg, scanning software just dropping out with nary an error
message). Also, my (now tiny) 120GB disk had only 2GB free, and I'd just
bought a new 320GB drive.

Anyway, I booted off the Ubuntu live CD, and the first impression I got
was just how well everything hangs together. All my devices were
detected and configured, and the Gnome environment had everything
perfectly integrated.

Then, compared to the ease of running the Ubuntu installer, setting up
partitions, and getting the system off the ground makes Windows system
installers look more like OpenBSD.

I feel that Ubuntu is about 95% ready for Joe Sixpack Windows User and
his grandmother, while Debian is at best 60% ready. Ubuntu, for the most
part, Simply Just Works. It's almost a shock not to have to fight the
system and delve into the entrails just to get something working.

However, Ubuntu still has some way to go.

For example, my bog-standard Mustek Bearpaw scanner didn't work out of
the box. To find out the problem, I had to run xsane in a terminal
window, and see the error message about the missing firmware file. No
way I would have known the problem by running it from the polished Gnome
app launcher.

Also, Ubuntu completely failed to set up my NVidia FX5200 for TV out. I
was fortunate to have my old Debian Xorg config file, from which I could
paste a few lines to do this myself.

But on the whole, I am massively grateful to Ubuntu for saving me many
hours of head-scratching in setting up my new workstation. I'm a
convert. Ubuntu has the best of Debian, plus a whole lot of refinement
and polish on top.

My memories of trying to get my mobo devices (eg onboard sound and NIC)
working in Debian are still fresh and sore. Lots of googling, reading
mailing lists, checking out code from CVS and SVN repositories, trying
to get it built, trying to figure out how to configure it, begging for
help on IRC... None of that crap with Ubuntu.

I would say that if one has to set up a new box, go Ubuntu unless you
have exceptional reasons for needing Debian. I can't see at this time
what advantages Debian offers (apart from the ability to have a little
more control over what gets installed on the base system, and that's
only a valid argument if disk space is really tight).

Cheers
David