Kubuntu
I'm curious to hear about other Mac folks' forays into Linux. And I just had to gush about how polished Kubuntu is getting.
In addition to my beloved MBP, for the last two years I've been futzing with Linux on an eMachines PC. I settled on Gentoo for my first Linux experience - I wanted to learn how Linux worked, after all, and if Gentoo is good for nothing else, it's good for that. It was a bit of a drag to get going, but anything I got working was thereafter rock-stable. Fix it and forget about it. The community is awesomely helpful, and, of course, you can't beat it for geek-cred. I really liked Gentoo.
Until I tried to update anything. The slightest update invariable fuxored some other component, so that I would wind up having to upgrade the kernel (not for the faint of heart) and babysit the computer for two days while it slowly ground its way through masked-package hell. I suffered through such an upgrade only three times in two years. After the first, I tried installing SuSE and Kubuntu on other partitions, thinking I'd try to find a distro that was a little easier to maintain (I picked these because I really liked KDE). But they felt relatively unpolished, and were not *that* much easier than Gentoo to install and maintain. And while I had gradually configured Gentoo until it fit my work habits like an old shoe, I just couldn't bend the other distros into a similar comfort zone. So I stuck with Gentoo for another year, and made it through one more update.
But after suffering halfway through another update-from-hell last month, I decided enough was enough - I wanted something easier. I had learned enough, and wanted to get on with just getting stuff done. So I tried Kubuntu again, to see if anything had changed since last time. Fast forward a month, and I just erased the Gentoo partition. I like the new Kubuntu that much.
It feels almost as polished as an OS X. Lots of eye candy, very stable, a plethora of excellent apps, and most importantly a package management system that so far has worked flawlessly with an elegant GUI to boot. I just set it to its first major update, and it went click-one-button smoothly. It even updated my kernel, without blinking an eye. USB drives mount automagically, CD burning is a breeze, printer and network configuration easier than OS X. It acts like a real consumer OS now. I'm officially sold, and I'm starting to think that this is almost easy enough for the unwashed masses to take note.
Has anyone else tried the latest (K)Ubuntu?
In addition to my beloved MBP, for the last two years I've been futzing with Linux on an eMachines PC. I settled on Gentoo for my first Linux experience - I wanted to learn how Linux worked, after all, and if Gentoo is good for nothing else, it's good for that. It was a bit of a drag to get going, but anything I got working was thereafter rock-stable. Fix it and forget about it. The community is awesomely helpful, and, of course, you can't beat it for geek-cred. I really liked Gentoo.
Until I tried to update anything. The slightest update invariable fuxored some other component, so that I would wind up having to upgrade the kernel (not for the faint of heart) and babysit the computer for two days while it slowly ground its way through masked-package hell. I suffered through such an upgrade only three times in two years. After the first, I tried installing SuSE and Kubuntu on other partitions, thinking I'd try to find a distro that was a little easier to maintain (I picked these because I really liked KDE). But they felt relatively unpolished, and were not *that* much easier than Gentoo to install and maintain. And while I had gradually configured Gentoo until it fit my work habits like an old shoe, I just couldn't bend the other distros into a similar comfort zone. So I stuck with Gentoo for another year, and made it through one more update.
But after suffering halfway through another update-from-hell last month, I decided enough was enough - I wanted something easier. I had learned enough, and wanted to get on with just getting stuff done. So I tried Kubuntu again, to see if anything had changed since last time. Fast forward a month, and I just erased the Gentoo partition. I like the new Kubuntu that much.
It feels almost as polished as an OS X. Lots of eye candy, very stable, a plethora of excellent apps, and most importantly a package management system that so far has worked flawlessly with an elegant GUI to boot. I just set it to its first major update, and it went click-one-button smoothly. It even updated my kernel, without blinking an eye. USB drives mount automagically, CD burning is a breeze, printer and network configuration easier than OS X. It acts like a real consumer OS now. I'm officially sold, and I'm starting to think that this is almost easy enough for the unwashed masses to take note.
Has anyone else tried the latest (K)Ubuntu?
Comments
Unless I am going to be hardcore into Unix, I just don't see the need to futz around with Linux. If I had time, maybe in Parallels, I am hearing good things about Ubuntu (or whatever the latest variation of that is). I had a geeky but fruitless time with SUSE 9 about one or two years ago.
I think it looks better running Gnome and XGL, but that's me. And to set up dual monitor support was a pain, but if you are willing to learn and know a little bit about *nix, it's not hard. The only thing only holding back Linux is better vendor support - it's hit or miss on printer and scanner support, GIMP is a so-so substitute for PS, but can never warm up to the UI for it.
Has probably the easiest and most comprehensive update system of any OS I've tried. It will pretty much update itself, and all your programs at once.