There's Way More to Linux than Ubuntu: 8 Distros Compared
Posted 05/07/09 at 11:30:00 AM by Will Kraft
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Ubuntu
Overview and History
Today, when most people think of Linux, Ubuntu comes to mind first and foremost. This amazingly popular distribution has experienced an unprecedented surge in popularity since its introduction in 2004. Back then, the Linux world was a very different place; although Linux had been making slight progress towards mainstream desktop use, Ubuntu was the first distro that tried to be accessible for everyone. The very name of Ubuntu echoes this sentiment, since it means “humanity to others” in Zulu. This philosophy is put into practice, since one of the main cornerstones of Ubuntu is a large and dedicated user community. This resource is often invaluable for new users.
Ubuntu was born as a solution to a problem. From a technical standpoint, Ubuntu is a direct descendant of Debian. Debian is one of the “classic” Linux distros, and Ubuntu greatly resembles its “parent”. While a well-earned reputation for stability has always been a prime asset of Debian, it caused a new problem: years would often pass between Debian releases because of the time it took to make a new version “stable” by Debian standards. To alleviate this problem without compromising Debian in any way, the code for the Debian unstable branch (which was still sufficiently stable, despite its name) was forked, and the new branch became Ubuntu.
Appearance
By default, Ubuntu uses a distinctive brown color scheme. This has received fairly mixed reviews throughout the Linux community; some people like the color scheme while others despise it. Ubuntu also includes the other typical GNOME themes, like Crux, Motif, Glider, etc even though there is a shortage of wallpapers to choose from out of the box.
Kubuntu is much more generic in its appearance; there is very little to show it is associated with Ubuntu at all. The interface situation of Ubuntu is rather strange; on one hand, you have a heavily customized and enhanced GNOME, but on the other hand you have an almost generic KDE. This lack of balance is a significant fault in the distro. While Kubuntu gives KDE aficionados a reason to use Ubuntu, Kubuntu would benefit greatly from additional attempts to make it look more unique and bring it up to the same standard that GNOME in the regular Ubuntu distro has been elevated to.
Intended Audience and Ease of Use
As previously stated, Ubuntu Linux has been specifically designed for beginners and advanced Linux users alike. Ubuntu has always been easy to install, thanks to the “Ubiquity” installation tool. Ubuntu is available in several base configurations and derivatives. The main configuration of Ubuntu is a full-featured desktop-oriented operating system built around the GNOME desktop environment, (GNOME is easily the most effective interface on Ubuntu) but several official derivatives exist.
Some of these fill specific purposes (Edubuntu as an educational tool, eeeBuntu for netbooks, MythBuntu as an Ubuntu-based solution for MythTV, etc.) or offer alternatives to the GNOME interface (Kubuntu is built on KDE 4.2, FluxBuntu is built on Fluxbox, Xubuntu is built on XFCE, etc. ) In addition to the main desktop offering, Ubuntu also comes in a server edition. In this way, Ubuntu is a multi-niche operating system, unlike other distros which offer only one official configuration.
System Administration
Unlike many other distros, Ubuntu and its variants do not have any type of centralized system administration tool. Virtually all system administration is done through the standard tools found in GNOME or KDE. These tools are virtually the same on any distro; the only real difference with Ubuntu is that several new non-standard modules have been “bolted on” to the GNOME system administration menus. When using a more lightweight window manager, the system can be quite difficult to manage if the various pieces of the administration tools are not all referenced properly. Centralized administration would help to solve that problem if it were ever implemented.
Software and Package Management
Ubuntu offers a very comprehensive library of software for a wide variety of purposes. Although Canonical provides support for a reasonable assortment of software, there is much more software available that is not officially supported. All software packages are divided amongst several different repositories. Most of the software available for Ubuntu can be found in the “Universe” repository, which is structured much like the main Debian repository. Ubuntu's packaging system is also able to interface with unofficial repositories but it is generally a bad idea to use a repository that is not fully trusted and cryptographically verified.
Software management is built around the amazingly powerful Aptitude package manager. (in addition to apt-get) This tool can work with various frontends to make software management easier for people who may not be fully comfortable with the command line.
Support Availability
The level of support and assistance for Ubuntu is excellent. Canonical provides official support for a fee, but there is no need for the average user to resort to that. (paid support is primarily for enterprise-level deployments) Due to Ubuntu's popularity, the web is replete with various articles, how-to guides, and general support information for virtually any Ubuntu problem. There is even a troubleshooting forum dedicated exclusively to Ubuntu: http://ubuntuforums.org
Security
While Ubuntu has numerous strengths, we also noticed a flaw that could cause problems. In Ubuntu's default configuration, the root account is disabled by default and users are encouraged to use “sudo” (a temporary privilege escalation tool) to execute commands that would normally require root permissions. While there is nothing bad about sudo, Ubuntu's implementation is rather strange. Many other distros require that the root password be used for sudo (that way, you keep the benefit of a separate root account without having to switch to it) but Ubuntu has sudo configured to use the default user's own password for administration purposes. We noticed that this can be a major security risk, since an attacker would only have to compromise one password instead of two to gain full root access to the system. It is preferable to keep a wide degree of separation between regular and administrator accounts, especially in a corporate environment.
Bottom Line
Ubuntu is an excellent distro and definitely deserves its good reputation, but it does have room for improvement. If the sudo issue could be addressed and equal effort could be put into all variants, Ubuntu would be very hard to beat.
Appearance: 4 --- (Excellent GNOME, KDE lags behind)
Ease of Use: 5 --- (Ubuntu is ideal for just about anyone)
System Administration: 3 --- (It works, but could be much better)
Software & Package Management: 5 --- (Any program you need is available in the massive repositories)
Security: 2 --- (The system is moderately secure, but it really should be better)
Support Availability: 5 --- (someone is out there to help you if you need it)
Total: 24/30
Next, let's look at some specialty distros!
Thanx!
Submitted by ETNPNYS on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 12:27pm
I may be a little late to the commenting game here, but I must say that this article sparked my internest in Linux (again).
I have dabbled with Linux probably once or twice every year for the past decade... ...and I have always wound up just appreciating the polish of Windows more each time. But this time, I was REALLY turned on by the fact that Mandriva came bundled with huge usability/administration improvements, such as the device manager and the mac-like control panel stuff. I was really looking for something that would make my computer pretty and fun to use again, but unfortunately I ran into a few snags along the way... Mandriva 2009.1 failed to work properly with my video card (GeForce 4600Ti), so I ditched it for Xubuntu - lightweight and pretty. I ran into some other hardware issues here that weren't resolvable with my limited knowledge, so I ditched it and went to Kubuntu (I really like KDE 4.3). I had the same issues with my video card, so I ditched it and went to Ubuntu.
The main benefit to Ubuntu is that the user base is SO much larger than the rest that if you run into an issue, there's almost certainly somebody else out there with the same issue. That's how I found the fix for my videocard woes: a simple line of text added to a single file and a reboot. Now, my P4 2.53 and GeForce 4600Ti are as pretty and snappy as a Core 2 Duo and a 9800GT running OSX. Sweet. Combined with MS Office and Money running through Wine, the only reason I still have Windows on this machine is to sync my wife's GPS watch! Even she's using Ubuntu!
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Submitted by LesserAnimal on Mon, 06/08/2009 - 3:17am
I don't know why Debian gets ignored. My experience with Ubuntu has always felt sluggish in comparison.
PCLinuxOS Beats Them All
Submitted by ljwheeler on Sun, 05/31/2009 - 7:35am
PCLinuxOS ranks higher than any of these distros you've highlighted!
Submitted by firthh on Sat, 05/30/2009 - 8:03am
I think its great more people are discovering linux.
I am a little dissapointed about your coverage of arch linux. Yes, it no where near as easy to just install and use; but if you really want to know what you are doing with linux use should try arch linux. I was once told that arch linux should be the first distro you install if you want to use linux; and i agree with this completely IF you want to know what your doing with linux.
I had been using fedora for quite some time, and this semester at uni i took a course in unix and network programming, so after a couple of weeks of that i felt comfortable to install something other than fedora, so i installed arch linux. Arch linux takes a bit too set up but they have a lot of information on how to do all these sorts of things on there website. It is not nearly as hard as you make out. There are only a couple of files that need changing and thats mainly to get your networking to work. once it is installed PACMAN is really easy to get new packages installed. I found that in just a couple of weeks of using arch linux i had learnt much more than i had in months of using fedora.
Root password - You missed the point!
Submitted by yurimxpxman on Sat, 05/16/2009 - 3:34am
The reason Ubuntu doesn't have a separate root password is because it is very dangerous to login as a superuser, especially in a GUI. It's much safer to use your own account and give access to commands one at a time, but you can change this later if you're dumb enough.
Submitted by sablougle on Mon, 05/11/2009 - 10:11am
I love the fact that people are talking about Linux. I just wanted to remind everyone that Linux, Mac osX and Windows are all a personal choice. If you want to pay a high price for your OS buy Windows. If you want to pay a high price for your computer buy a Mac. If you love the computer you have but don't want to pay for your OS use linux. As for what distro of linux, well use their live cd's to see which one you like , or maybe to find out which one works better for you. You don't have to "follow the crowd" for a certain distro, just try a few to see which is right for you.
Submitted by pcfxer on Sun, 05/10/2009 - 12:00pm
....and again, no mention of PC-BSD. PC-BSD is THE most widely distributed packaged desktop version on a UNIX based foundation (not including Solaris, but Solaris is more POSIX than UNIX) than any other.
Editors of MaximumPC, shoot me an e-mail if you have questions I'd love to a) help you build a BSD desktop or b) install and use PC-BSD. I'd recommend going with a) so you can appreciate what PC-BSD is and understand the innards of FreeBSD.
Regards,
Brodey
Submitted by oceania68 on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 8:33pm
But, Have you ever tried the distro (in beta form) Klikit Linux.... www.klikit.org
I use it often as a main OS even though it is in beta, but I happen to not fault it. By beta standards its very stable and has a great and active community. You give it a go and see what you think... Built upon Kubuntu but with its own community feel and input.cheers all...
Fedora 11 around the corner
Submitted by lsatenstein on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 6:57pm
In about 10 days from today, May 9th, Fedora11 will move from Beta to released. I can't wait.
First of all, it is boots more quickly, and from my testing for the past month, not one problem did I detect.
The standard Fedora 11 version has locked out the root password from the GUI, but with a change to two files in /etc one is able to log to root in Gnome and KDE. Sudo works as expected, asking for Roots password, not the users logon password. This allows me to share my user logon with others (software package restricted to one user). This is way way to dangerous in UBUNTU, as the access to sudo requires the users logon password. (NOTE: In installing UBUNTU, make the very first logon you create to be titled admin. Once in admin, create your own user id. ADMIN can be hidden from the list of users in the login menu where all users are shown). From Admin, edit using visudo to give group access to admin, and if you want, without having to provide password for the sudo command. Then exit Admin and from then on use your user account and password).
I added the extra repros (adobe, livna and the combinedrpmfusion one ). With F10, livna had a few more (ugly) packages then did rpmfusion. These were important for some multi-media.
If I have to fault two distributions (UBUNTU and Fedora), it is for poor webcam support. When will linux get it working. There are certainly more desktop users then there are server users and webcam functionality is essential. (My webcam was the X1000 from Microsoft, one of the most widely sold units-- still no support).I use Ubuntu and Fedora concurrently, and its hard to tell which I like better. Perhaps I am biased slightly, but I started with Fedora 4, and so, I know the insides a little better then I do UBUNTU.
In closing. with UBUNTU, I assign a root password, and login from the virtual terminals. (ctl-alt-f1 to ctl-alt-f7)
To force root password
from admin in UBUNTU
sudo su
provide user's login passwd
then
passwd root
ENTER UNIX PASSWORD
xxxxxxx
etc.
(Mr) Leslie Satenstein
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Submitted by rob41 on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 6:28pm
I believe Linux will become the OS leader. Some day. For many people it's the best choice right now but until Linux becomes capable of playing any game Windows can, (and just as well!), I won't even consider it.
The inability to play any game is a huge short coming. It doesn't matter to me weather it can play anything or weather the game developers just aren't supporting Linux. The outcome is the same.
Also, I have way better things to do than gather tar balls and screw around with all that sudo apt get crap. I don't want to be a programer and I don't want to learn another language.
I also don't want to keep getting MS products but here's the thing. MS is suited the the vast majority of users because of ease of use, program compatibility, and it's actually getting better and more polished.
I will be very glad when Linux is as user friendly as Windows and has ALL the functionality that Windows has. I won't hesitate a second to make the switch to Linux.
And to the Linux folks who would say Linux is ready now for the average user. No it's not. A couple times a year I try another distro of Linux, go through the forums for that distro and attemt to make it as friendly as Windows. I just can't get everything I want out of Linux. And I am a very technically inclined person.
I will be so glad to say hell no to Redmond, but that day has not come yet.At least not for me and the overwhelming majority of computer users in the world.
Submitted by opensuse 11.1 on Fri, 05/08/2009 - 10:59am
First it's good to read about something other than the next release of windows.
For your fault with OpeSuse security. The root password can be set at during the installation of the OS. When the installation halts and ask you for the USER ID and password there is a check box under the password that reads I believe make this password the root password. If you uncheck that password then it will ask you for a root password as well. Since most poeple that enjoy OpenSuse are the only users they are typically in the root account so the password choice is there. It's your fault for the security.
Next, the lack of software did you try the one-click install on the OpenSuse website? If you need software goto:
http://software.opensuse.org/search This is the opensuse one click search page from which you can install most packages.
Also OpenSuse is geared towards using either GNOME or KDE desktops. Somethings I find in GNOME much easier to use that with KDE. While it seems KDE 4 + is currently moving to become the eye-candy desktop of the future. GNOME is also there with its newest desktop version. Also one can use the older KDE 3.5 and other variants of GUI's to find the one that works for the user.
Submitted by finalzone on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 11:10pm
<cite>Fortunately, FreshRPMs.net is able to partially compensate for this problem.</cite>
Starting from Fedora 10, RPM Fusion replaced Freshrpms and Livna. I think the article should be updated to reflect the change.
Submitted by anonuser on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 12:56pm
"Fedora is designed as a desktop-oriented distribution. All server functionality has been separated into the official Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution, available from Red Hat."
Ever since I started using Linux I have been using Fedora. It was what I was first acquainted with and I actually find it more pleasant than Ubuntu. I certainly wouldn't call it a desktop-oriented distribution. The Wikipedia article describes it as a general-purpose operating system, and like some other distributions, the installer includes all of the typical [free] server software as well as an interface for choosing the role of the installation (Workstation, Web Server, etc.). Whatever isn't on the installation media is likely to be in the online repos, with the exception of non-free software which can be added from third party sources as the unofficial Fedora guides detail.
I also would have liked to see Gentoo rated. As I get more familiar with Linux, I am interesting in moving towards Gentoo. I really like the idea of optimizing the installation and installing everything from source and at the same time through a package manager. I've played with it a little bit and it was pleasant, though there is somewhat of a learning curve (which is why I'm still using Fedora now).
Submitted by jher on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 12:10pm
I disagree with your evaluation of ubuntu. Sure, tag me as a ubuntu-nut up front but frankly I have over 15 years of experience as a unix admin and I think your view of the "security" and "administration" of ubuntu to be flawed.
Firstly, ubuntu is targeted towards the individual user whereas the other distros (save knoppix) are targeted towards multi-users. With that in mind, the sudo access style is brilliant. There isn't any point to separation of root/user on a single user machine.
You cite the "stealing a single password" as a problem when you should know as well as anyone that password theft is rarely the way people break into machines. Typical violation are through buffer overflows or incorrect configurations on webservers/php/sql/etc. These things are covered with ubuntu with the default packages and dpkg.
Secondly, you touch upon the administration as poor vs. fedora. Give me a break, fedora's system is confusing, incomplete and typically a royal pain in the *SS. I administrate hundreds of cores of redhat (fedora's base) on a daily basis and frankly i'd rather shoot myself than run/administrate a fedora box. With ubuntu its all clean cut and straight-forward. Screw the "central control". Even windows is just a bunch of buttons in a central location.
Submitted by Queenof1 on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 12:04pm
I'm thinking of going with Ubuntu or Fedora since I'm brand new to Linux.
Submitted by MeTo on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 9:03pm
Try Linux Mint it is a Ubuntu based Distro. Try the live CD first it is slow loading but you can try it out before you install. I poped in the CD and rebooted the machine (your bios has to be set to boot to CD) and two min. later i was on the internet it configuared everything for me. if you like it you can install it by it self or duel boot with your current OS.
Linux Mint,Duel boot/Vista,AMD Athlon+ x2 5600,3 Gig ram,500 Gig HDD,ATI 1300 Video.
Submitted by nkingcade on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 11:41am
since all things in most Linux distros are configurable, this comparison makes no sense. The Linux world is where you look for a distro you like and shape it into what you need. This is a Fedora commercial.
Submitted by 1369ic on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 10:17am
Slackware 8.1 was my first distro after using Apple products at home for almost 20 years and using Windows at work. It was simple to install. So is 12.2. Arch takes more work, but once you're done you've got a beautiful system.
Slackware and Arch verusus Fedora and OpenSuse is kind of like my Mini versus a fire truck. Sure the fire truck is big and shiny and does a ton of stuff. It's just stupid to take it down to the corner for bread or drive it around on Sunday listening to the radio. And the beauty of Slack and Arch is that they are very easy to add things to, so if you do eventually want to run the space program from your desktop, you pretty much can.
The field is big enough for all tastes. If you want to mandate things
you should go to work for Apple or Microsoft where that's the nature of
the beast and everyone bows to that tin god already. In my experience it's not the Linux way.
Submitted by N25PHILLY on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 10:42am
I don't see how adding something that actually gives you an idea why things won't install like they should takes anything away from linux. If you want to feel super cool because you're dorkiest than the average person, but someone of us don't want to go through hours of BS to get to that payout
So far....
Submitted by GreenTurtle on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 9:24am
Ubuntu Hardy has been the greatest for me so far.
Submitted by zfs on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 9:04am
I would love to see your comments in regards to Opensolaris. ZFS, logical domains, dtrace, etc. Opensolaris has a TON of great stuff to offer and is free as well..
Thanks
I wish speed and performance
Submitted by MAXPCreader07 on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 8:22am
I wish speed and performance was compared among the various distros.
Very timely article
Submitted by Lodis4 on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 6:32am
I just finished a rant about the fact that so much attention is paid to Ubuntu and many other very good releases are neglected.
Thank You for this article. No one is going to agree with everything but with the varying levels of skill and knowledge out there this was a good high level overview. Here are a couple of my favorites:
Fedora (currently 9)
Elive
Debian
Sabayon
Submitted by Mikey1091 on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 5:29am
No PCLinuxOS? I'm suprised! PCLinuOS is my favorite distro.
Cheap Web Hosting from Nova Internet Services! http://www.novaservices.biz/
Submitted by N25PHILLY on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 4:58am
Fedora - not the most exciting distros, but very nice and well polished. I can't get it to run right in a VM at all though
Mandriva - My favorite KDE Linux. It's simple and works very well
Opensuse - I've found that when it works it's awesome, but I've installing it in a number of computers and VM's and it seems to be prone to bad installs and breeaking quickly after install
Ubuntu/Kubuntu - Ubuntuis nice and my favorite gnome desktop. Dont bother with Kubuntu unless you are masocistic (spelling?)
Knoppix - Great for dealing with problems, but one you hope you never have to use. I carry a copy with me whereever I go.
Puppy - Not just a live CD, although since it only actually installs one in a blue moon it might as well be.
Arch Linux - It's 2009, graphical installers shouldn't be optional. This is a pain in the ass for the sake of being a pain in the ass
I haven't used backtrack, time to do some downloading...
Some other options not listed here:
Slackware - See Arch Linux
Solaris - Not really Linux, but feels like it. Do not install unless you make sure you're hardwareis compatible. A bit of a pain in VM
PC-BSD - Again not linux, but runs KDE by default and almost looks exactly like Kubuntu on first boot. Runs like a dream in VM, on my old laptop, not so much
Debian - Never had so many troubles with media, especially since I installed straight from iso. The gnome version didn't work right in my VM, but the KDE version is really nice, likely because it's a bit behind. (no KDE 4 yet)
That's all, for now...
Submitted by MAXPCreader07 on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 8:27am
Have you considered that maybe Arch and Slackware don't want a graphical installer? Such distros are not targeted to Joe Average.
Submitted by N25PHILLY on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 8:42am
that when I say "my take" I am giving my opnion?
Submitted by arcanus on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 3:27am
What are your scores scaled to? I've used live CDs but never a distro on a production machine, what would say OS X Ease of Use be or Windows Support Availability or Software & Package Management be? Without some reference to other OSs the obvious work you put into your guide seems of limited value to those who both have run a Linux distro and want to try or have the inclination to try another one.
Submitted by Deanjo on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 3:16am
"Although security is generally good, openSUSE suffers from the same
flaw as Ubuntu: out of the box, the regular user's password can be used
to perform root-level activities."
Umm uncheck use same password for root during the account setup. Also dropping to cli is not necessary if you forget too. YaST--> Accounts will allow you to change the password if desired.
Submitted by smashingpumpin on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 1:25am
Great article! Hopefully MaxPC would do an "open source gaming" benchmarks of these distros in the near future. I'd also like to find out which one is best and runs the smoothest on a hacked PS3/360.
_______________________________________________
he's pwning with a trackpad? oh really? oh reheheheeally?
Linux Mint
Submitted by Sokkratez on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 10:10pm
Hey guys, great feature. Give Linux Mint a try some time for a future one. It's based on Ubuntu but it has really taken on a life of its own. Version 7 just went to RC which includes the 9.04 Ubuntu base and new Mint-flavored features, updates and revisions.
Submitted by konata on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 10:00pm
I think I will buy a subscription now if this stuff like this is provided in the magazines.
That's the problem!
Submitted by winmaster on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 5:39pm
They put the exact same stuff in the magazine and on the website. This article, which is free on this website, will probably show up in the magazine, which I pay good money for, in a couple of months. I can't see myself renewing my subscription because I can get the same content for free online. Come on, Maximum PC, as a subscriber, I deserve certain advantages that I am not seeing.
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The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Submitted by GBH on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 10:51pm
Its def worth it
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