Ubuntu is Detrimental

It is impossible to have a conversation about Linux without someone brining up Ubuntu Linux. Whenever I mention that I dislike Ubuntu people either giving me the introduction to Linux speech or simply look at me funny. The matter usually comes up unexpectedly and I do not have adequate time to get my thoughts together and properly explain my disapproval.

Ubuntu is being promoted as the first easy to use desktop oriented Linux distribution. Over the years we have had a number of desktop oriented Linux distributions such as SuSE, Mandrake (now Mandrivia), and Fedora amongst many others. Ubuntu Linux developers did not gather and get the Linux software stack to where it is today, in fact by the time Ubuntu shipped most Linux distributions were already capable of doing everything that Ubuntu can.

One of the biggest problems with Linux is the number of Linux distributions out there, and ironically their inability to standardize. Developers of all the major Linux distributions can not agree on the release cycles, package management, software versions they ship with, and even basic things like configuration file placement. Ubuntu Linux shipped as yet another distribution that has absolutely nothing to offer over the competition and has made the problem much worse with the community being encouraged to develop Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, and countless other variants. Accepting the very idea of shipping a distribution which sole purpose is to change a desktop environment is mind boggling.

Over the years many Linux distributions went through a journey of becoming very popular and then simply fading away months or years later. Red Hat Linux is one of the only Linux distributions that stayed relevant over time, is the only Linux distribution that has established proper relationships with commercial vendors, and is the driving force behind the adoption of Linux by the enterprise. Fedora is a desktop oriented Linux distribution sponsored by Red Hat. By supporting Fedora you help establish a standard that would dramatically help development and adoption of Linux.