That was my daughter's exclamation when the stylized heron faded onto
the screen as I installed Ubuntu Linux
8.04. This latest version, named
"Hardy Heron," was released on April 24th and quickly made
its way to my home PC. My family has been using Ubuntu for
a few years now, at least as far back as "Hoary Hedgehog" when we
switched from the distro
formerly known as Lindows.
I've only just begun to crack the surface of all the new goodies
hidden in Heron, so I'm not yet ready to say a lot about this
release, but my first impression is that it continues to live up to
my expectations for Ubuntu. I can tell you, however, why we
use this Linux distribution in my house:
1. The name.
Whether it's just clever marketing or the way of life at
Canonical, the Ubuntu
community has really espoused the
philosophy of ubuntu, a concept from southern Africa
that indicates that each of us as humans draws value from, and gives
value to, one another. It's a great idea that affects how we
relate to others, and it's a philosophy that I'd like my own children
to share. The Ubuntu user community is among the finest I've ever
worked with, and it really is a pleasure to ask for help, or to give
it. You just can't find a nicer bunch a folks.
2. The community.
In addition to being nice people, the users and developers who make
up the Ubuntu community are knowledgeable (or willing to learn) and
quick to respond. Answers are usually to be had in short order, and
community-contributed documentation is generally abundant, thorough,
and accurate. Most home users will find these helpful folks very
approachable, and will not be daunted by their ignorance while there
are plenty of people who are happy to lead them by the hand.
3. Form and function.
Ubuntu is Linux, plain and simple. I like that. The first time I sat
down at a classic Mac I just about drove myself insane looking for
a command prompt so that I could perform some simple task. Not all of
us are the "pointy-clicky" types. I must confess that a colleague
recently asked me how to do something in Ubuntu's package manager,
Synaptic, and I had to say that I honestly didn't know. I do
administration from the command line, and haven't used Synaptic in
years. But some people are pointy and clicky, and these folks
will still feel right at home in Ubuntu. The developers have added a
lot of nice touches that make this an easy, intuitive environment.
It's not just the Gnome desktop,
or the Compiz eye-candy, but the
extras, like how things are laid out, the default themes, and access
to commonly-used applications. Sometimes I catch myself using the
graphical interface, even when I don't have to—I just like it.
4. Up-to-date and stable.
I may not be bleeding-edge, but I do like to run new software,
and often that requires installing newer libraries. Ubuntu does a great
job keeping up with new code, and the developers continue to work to
ensure that everything plays well together. My Debian system is running
the testing release, "Lenny," and it can claim neither the freshness
nor the stability of a standard Ubuntu installation. I really
appreciate having my programs compiled against the latest GTK+, Gnome
and Python libraries without having to do it myself.
5. A commitment to Python.
And speaking of Python (my favorite object oriented programming
language) the Ubuntu developers have long encouraged its use in
building applications for the OS. This is a language that is both easy
to learn and easy to read and maintain. Providing the latest stable
Python environment means that even casual coders can contribute useful
programs and ideas to the community. Just like the name says, "we all
give value to one another," and Python makes it easy to give back to a
distribution that gives so much to me and my family.
I will continue to expect good things from this little Linux distro,
and as long as Ubuntu continues to deliver, it will be a favored guest
in my house. If you're not sure that you want to take Linux for a
test drive, let me encourage you with a bad metaphor: "you are a
hardy heron, diving into the still waters of Ubuntu in the Linux
estuary. Take the plunge, and you shall find fish."