Ubuntu has been the best linux distro out there. It can be proved in distrowatch.com. The growing popularity and community behind it is just a true test of why it became the best from the rest. Ubuntu and it’s variant is free of charge and will always be free. No License, No keys.

I know that you came here looking for some answers on what will be the best *buntu for you. Let me tell you, I’m not a Linux expert yet. All the views written here are purely from a perspective of a Linux newbie. However, I will try my very best to explain things about Ubuntu and it’s variant to give you some insights on where to start.

Let’s begin.

Ubuntu

The mother of them all. As described on their website, it means “humanity to others”. Ubuntu is the banner OS of Canonical ltd. It is based on GNOME-a desktop environment, that provides a robust, reliable and stable operating system as compare to Windows or Macintosh. All the basic functionality of an operating system is all built in. Meaning, you have a Word Processor, Spreadsheet and presentation that is brought to you by OpenOffice. Internet is readily available through Mozilla Firefox, the best browser ever. Image Manipulation is powered by GIMP-a photoshop clone. Those softwares are automatically loaded once you installed ubuntu. By default, the taskbar grouped the menus per Application, System and Softwares. So it’s like you’re having three start menus at the same time but can be easily customized to your preferred look. The GNOME Desktop environment tends to favor the color brown.

Kubuntu

Kubuntu is part of the Ubuntu Project. It means “towards humanity in Bemba” It is an official derivative of Ubuntu but instead of using GNOME, it uses the K Desktop Environment. To understand much better how these desktop environment differs, here’s one good article for you. You can have the same desktop in Ubuntu by installing KDE packages and removing GNOME from ubuntu archives. The Menu is powered by the well designed and candy-looking K icon. So basically, if you love the color blue and you pay attention to the aesthetics of your desktop then this is for you. I am using Kubuntu right now.

Xubuntu

Xubuntu utilizes the Xfce desktop environment tagged as the lightest desktop environment for UNIX. From my understanding, if you have an old nifty computer that was sitting in your closet then xubuntu can bring it back to life without sacrificing the computer’s performance. It can also be used in new computers. Same packages are available upon install.

Edubuntu

Edubuntu is a customized version of ubuntu intended for education for use in primary and secondary schools around the world. I haen’t tried this yet but I believe this is the best packaged OS available for kids. This is a great tool for your children to know the basics of computing.

System Requirements:
Ubuntu is available for PC, 64-Bit and Mac architectures. At least 256 MB of RAM is required to run the desktop install CD. Install requires at least 4 GB of disk space.

• /bin – binary applications (most of your executable files)
• /boot – files required to boot (such as the kernel, etc)
• /dev – your devices (everything from drives to displays)
• /etc – just about every configuration file for your system
• /etc/profile.d – contains scripts that are run by /etc/profile upon login.
• /etc/rc.d – contains a number of shell scripts that are run on bootup at different run levels. There is also typically an rc.inet1 script to set up networking (in Slackwar), an rc.modules script to load modular device drivers, and an rc.local script that can be edited to run commands desired by the administrator, along the lines of autoexec.bat in DOS.
• /etc/rc.d/init.d – contains most of the initialization scripts themselves on an rpm-based system.
• /etc/rc.d/rc*.d – where “*’’ is a number corresponding to the default run level. Contains files for services to be started and stopped at that run level. On rpm-based systems, these files are symbolic links to the initialization scripts themselves, which are in /etc/rc.d/init.d.
• /etc/skel – directory containing several example or skeleton initialization shells. Often contains subdirectories and files used to populate a new user’s home directory.
• /etc/X11 – configuration files for the X Window system
• /home – locally stored user files and folders
• /lib – system libraries (similar to Program Files)
• /lost+found – lost and found for lost files
• /media – mounted (or loaded) devices such as cdroms, digital cameras, etc.
• /mnt – mounted file systems
• /opt – location for “optionally” installed programs
• /proc – dynamic directory including information about and listing of processes
• /root – “home” folder for the root user
• /sbin – system-only binaries (see /bin)
• /sys – contains information about the system
• /tmp – temporary files
• /usr – applications mainly for regular users
• /var – mainly logs, databases, etc.
• /usr/local/bin – the place to put your own programs. They will not be overwritten with upgrades.
• /usr/share/doc – documentation.

This issues of my Linux terms made me understand how flexible this OS is. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your week end guys and it’s time one again for Linux terms.

GRUB – GNU GRand Unified Bootloader (GRUB) is an open source boot loader with a simple menu interface. The menu displays a list of operating systems that are installed on a system. GRUB enables you to easily boot these various operating systems, such as the Solaris OS, Linux, or Microsoft Windows.

Root – The top-level file system from which all other file systems stem. The root (/) file system is the base on which all other file systems are mounted, and is never dismounted. The root (/) file system contains the directories and files critical for system operation, such as the kernel, device drivers, and the programs that are used to start (boot) a system.

Gconf – GConf is a system used by the GNOME desktop environment for storing configuration settings for the desktop and applications.

Live CD – A LiveCD, Live CD or LiveDistro is a computer operating system that is executed upon boot, without installation to a hard drive. Typically, the LiveDistro is named after the bootable medium it is stored on, such as a CD-ROM (Live CD), DVD (Live DVD) or a USB flash drive (Live USB).

Mount – The process of accessing a directory from a disk that is attached to a machine that is making the mount request or a remote disk on a network. To mount a file system, you need a mount point on the local system and the name of the file system to be mounted (for example, /usr).

Repository – A repository is a central place where data is stored and maintained. A repository can be a place where multiple databases or files are located for distribution over a network, or a repository can be a location that is directly accessible to the user without having to travel across a network. In Linux terms, A central area for users to collect RPMs/DEBs/etc from.

Kopete – Kopete is a multi-protocol, free software instant messaging client. Although it can run in numerous environments, it was designed for and integrates with the KDE desktop environment. According to the Kopete FAQ, the name Kopete comes from the Chilean word Copete, a word to refer to alcoholic drinks.

GNU – GNU is Not Unix – A set of programs written by the Free Software Foundation to provide a Free (as in libre) UNIX framework. GNU is a large component of a Linux distribution.

Synaptic is a computer program which is a GTK+ graphical user interface and front-end to the Advanced Packaging Tool for the Debiandeb packages but can also be used on systems based on RPM packages. It can be used to install, remove and upgrade software packages and to add repositories. package management system. Synaptic is usually used on systems based on

Dependencies – When referring to packages, dependencies are requirements that exist between packages. For example, package foo may require files that are installed by package bar. In this example, bar must be installed, or else foo will have unresolved dependencies. RPM will not normally allow packages with unresolved dependencies to be installed. 

Kernel – The central part of an operating system upon which the rest of the operating system is based.  

Distro – Linux distribution, a specific vendor’s package of the Linux operating system.

Compiz – is one of the first compositing window managers for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast compositing desktop effects for window management. The effects, such as a minimization effect and a cube workspace are implemented as loadable plugins. Because it conforms to the Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual standard, Compiz can substitute for the default Metacity in GNOME or KWin in KDE.

Beryl – was a compositing window manager for the X Window System which forked from Compiz in September 2006 and was re-merged in 2007, under the name of Compiz Fusion.

GNOME – is an international effort to build a complete desktop environment—the graphical user interface which sits on top of a computer operating system—entirely from free software. This goal includes creating software development frameworks, selecting application software for the desktop, and working on the programs which manage application launching, file handling, and window and task management.

KDE – (K Desktop Environment) is a free software project which aims to be a powerful system for an easy-to-use desktop environment. The goal of the project is to provide basic desktop functions and applications for daily needs as well as tools and documentation for developers to write stand-alone applications for the system. In this regard the KDE project serves as an umbrella project for many standalone applications and smaller projects that are based on KDE technology.

You might have some confusions about the differences of both Beryl/Compiz and GNOME/KDE. Beryl and Compiz before was two separate desktop enhancing applications for open source system like Linux. Both aimed to provide better user experience by adding desktop effects. Last September 2006, they have merged to form one powerful application in the name of Compiz-Fusion.

For GNOME and KDE, here’s two good articles that differentiate the two.