Technogory

There was an Open Letter that was forwarded to me, more out of amusement than seriousness, by a colleague.  I read it, and get what is being requested.  It doesn’t mean I agree, or think it warrants any time and effort by Canonical.  Further, right now Mr. Shuttleworth and his investment in Ubuntu should be considered a blessing.  Given the fact that at least in the world of technology I frequent, RedHat is not gaining much foothold, Novell SLES is considered the standard, and Ubuntu is that desktop that lot’s of folks are messing with!

If you hadn’t read the Open Letter, the basic request is that Mr. Shuttleworth give some thought to changing the names of the various editions because it is far too confusing, and the author doesn’t “feel” like he’s a real Ubuntu user.  I’m confused!  This blogger likes Kubuntu, an edition of Ubuntu, which means he is an Ubuntu user with a KDE desktop.  My question is how did he find Kubuntu?  If it’s so confusing, or there is some sort of branding issue, how come most of the Linux users (including Windows users) know what Ubuntu and the current list of editions are?  Probably more so than any other distribution!

Case in point…if I mention RedHat or SLES, most desktop users have heard of it, but see it as a “black box” and aren’t real sure if they’d want it on their desktop.  Especially if they are Windows XP/Vista users.  On the other hand, if I mention Ubuntu, I am usually greeted with a little more enthusiasm.  Typical responses are, “yeah, I’ve heard of that!  I’ve heard it’s pretty cool!  I’ve heard it’s like a Windows desktop!”  Crap - stop the presses!  Is that what we are after?  Sure is!  Want to know why?  If you really want to see Linux break into the desktop market, you have to have something that is common and comfortable to them.

Desktop Editions - Choice Within a Distribution Family

I have used Redhat, CentOS, OpenSuSE, SLES, SLED, and Ubuntu.  I have played with other variants of Linux distributions out there.  Quite frankly, the thing that has made Ubuntu (Gnome) version so popular is it’s minimalist approach to the desktop.  KDE 4 is another very promising desktop version.  To a Windows desktop user, they need minimalist - simple menu’s with simple choices.  The SMB’s I support are not computer O/S savvy by any means.  They need a very specific point-and-click approach to the software they use.

Personally,  if I see a use for another edition of the Ubuntu family, I will use it.  Whether Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Edubuntu, I’ll use them.  I’m not sure where Gobuntu will fit in my future, but again, it’s an edition that is packaged and available.

How Do I Find These Editions?

I guess it’s as simple as going to the Ubuntu site if you can’t remember the simplistic naming structure being used.  With the exception of Gobuntu, probably because Goubuntu might get pronounced “goob buntu” and sounds weird, they all contain the name “ubuntu” that to me says “subset of.”

So, name recognition is already there.  These editions are easy to find.  By the way, if you are a Kubuntu user, feel free to tell everyone that you are an Ubuntu KDE user.  It won’t bother me one bit.  Who knows, maybe that phrase will catch on!  Instead of asking Mr. Shuttleworth to take up time reading how you prefer KDE over Gnome and want to say you are an Ubuntu user, the catch will be in the phrase!