I wonder what percentage of desktop users still use Ubuntu nowadays. Seems like there’s no way to have a clear picture, besides DistroWatch which is more like “interest” and not actual usage?
Most large software companies developing software for Linux will make Ubuntu builds of their software. Quite a few Arch AUR packages end up extracting .deb files for this reason. There are tons of guides for it as well, because it’s still the most popular Linux distro among developers as far as I know.
Ubuntu is the distro you pick if you want Linux with proprietary software but without all the bleeding edge stuff that turns maintaining your computer into a side job. Everything just works, notably including some firmware and drivers that require tweaking and editing obscure config files on more up-to-date distros.
Also, Ubuntu gives you 5-10 years of updates for free. If you set up a workstation, it’ll keep working for years to come. No reading changelogs every major update. Very good for businesses.
I don’t think the people excited about Linux are using or talking about Ubuntu, though, which probably skews people’s perceptions if they’re on Lemmy and Reddit a lot. Enthusiast spaces have all the “I run arch btw” people and even weirder and more obscure distros. Reading this place, you may think that one in three Linux users runs Hyprland, but in practice most Linux users are probably on Gnome.
I don’t think the people excited about Linux are using or talking about Ubuntu, though, which probably skews people’s perceptions if they’re on Lemmy and Reddit a lot. Enthusiast spaces have all the “I run arch btw” people and even weirder and more obscure distros.
This is exactly the thing. 10 years ago when I was in college, everybody just used Ubuntu for laptops, and nowadays I don’t hear about it at all. I had the impression it kinda died, but seems like things are more or less the same.
Everyone I know IRL who uses Linux uses Ubuntu. Sample size of 5.
The corpo I work for uses both Windows and Ubuntu for software development workstations. Lately a lot more Ubuntu than Windows. That’s a sample size of a thousand.
At my work, Ubuntu was the only Linux distro that was used on the desktop.
Some of my relatives use Linux, all Ubuntu.
The only other person I know who uses something else is also a hardcore nerd and professional sysadmin. He uses OpenSUSE.
Outside of the tech bubble, Ubuntu is still synonymous with Linux.
It’s just so easy to use. Supports many devices and has lots of documentation.
Whatever system I’ve found. Whatever the scenario. I install Ubuntu and it just works ootb. It supports practically all hardware with some rare exceptions. It has great documentation and a large community of users to help fix problems. And when problems happen it’s mostly because I fucked up doing something wrong.
And I like that is backed by a company that takes Linux seriously and works hard at making it an actual solution for both desktops and servers. Fedora would come as a very close second in my opinion.
Yeah ngl Ubuntu is so much easier to get up and running than other distros. It’s fast and reasonably up to date. I will say I’ve found the LTS version to be disappointingly buggy compared to other long term releases like Debian and Leap, but nothing that would motivate me to move to another distro. Just annoying audio related bugs that are easy to fix or get around.
Leap was so solid I wished I could’ve stayed with it, but I didn’t want to commit to a distro with an uncertain future.
Debian 12 is incredibly solid with a relatively current Gnome 43. I like that it is ran by a community instead of big corpa and I can install Flatpaks.
It’s the universal operating system, with long term support (10 years 🤯) and a few quality of life improvements. It runs well on all my hardware, VMs and containers (that I build). It’s got perfect desktop defaults for me. It’s the defacto standard Linux OS. It’s supported by every software developer or vendor who supports Linux. The corpo behind it is not public (yet) and not hell bent on profit extraction. There’s an obvious migration path from it to the universal operating system (Debian), should something terrible happen.
As a fellow Ubuntu user, I think there are distros that are technically superior. But at some point I just got tired of chasing the best option. I just want an operating system that works on all devices I install it to, and that listens to my commands. Ubuntu does that just fine. I love what they’ve done with GNOME, its ram usage is minimal (1.4GB), apps launch fast, snap is nicer to use than flatpak (which I can install with a single command), and if I wanted to I can stick to an LTS for up to 12 years.
I’m not a big fan of snaps myself. While it’s being used for desktop apps, it was originally intended for system or server apps. And I don’t like that it automatically updates applications. I’m sure there are scenarios where using snaps make sense, but I prefer to be in control of my servers and what’s running in them.
FlatpaksI think are more practical. It’s easier to install desktop apps with flatpaks. However there are some technical limitations apparently. You can lose some functionalities due to how it’s implemented.
But for everything else, yeah. Ubuntu works ootb with practically every hardware out there and there is a huge library and community of support.
I wonder what percentage of desktop users still use Ubuntu nowadays. Seems like there’s no way to have a clear picture, besides DistroWatch which is more like “interest” and not actual usage?
Most large software companies developing software for Linux will make Ubuntu builds of their software. Quite a few Arch AUR packages end up extracting .deb files for this reason. There are tons of guides for it as well, because it’s still the most popular Linux distro among developers as far as I know.
Ubuntu is the distro you pick if you want Linux with proprietary software but without all the bleeding edge stuff that turns maintaining your computer into a side job. Everything just works, notably including some firmware and drivers that require tweaking and editing obscure config files on more up-to-date distros.
Also, Ubuntu gives you 5-10 years of updates for free. If you set up a workstation, it’ll keep working for years to come. No reading changelogs every major update. Very good for businesses.
I don’t think the people excited about Linux are using or talking about Ubuntu, though, which probably skews people’s perceptions if they’re on Lemmy and Reddit a lot. Enthusiast spaces have all the “I run arch btw” people and even weirder and more obscure distros. Reading this place, you may think that one in three Linux users runs Hyprland, but in practice most Linux users are probably on Gnome.
This is exactly the thing. 10 years ago when I was in college, everybody just used Ubuntu for laptops, and nowadays I don’t hear about it at all. I had the impression it kinda died, but seems like things are more or less the same.
Everyone I know IRL who uses Linux uses Ubuntu. Sample size of 5.
The corpo I work for uses both Windows and Ubuntu for software development workstations. Lately a lot more Ubuntu than Windows. That’s a sample size of a thousand.
The official distro at my job is rhel.
Yeah, that’s pretty much the only other option for corpos.
Suse? No evil dipshits and on par with RHEL, at least how far i can see
At my work, Ubuntu was the only Linux distro that was used on the desktop.
Some of my relatives use Linux, all Ubuntu.
The only other person I know who uses something else is also a hardcore nerd and professional sysadmin. He uses OpenSUSE.
Outside of the tech bubble, Ubuntu is still synonymous with Linux.
I personally have Xubuntu on multiple machines (I think 3 currently?) And Ubuntu server with i3wm on a 4th.
I still use it. With all its faults, I still think it’s the best distro out there.
Out of genuine curiosity, what makes you think so?
It’s just so easy to use. Supports many devices and has lots of documentation.
Whatever system I’ve found. Whatever the scenario. I install Ubuntu and it just works ootb. It supports practically all hardware with some rare exceptions. It has great documentation and a large community of users to help fix problems. And when problems happen it’s mostly because I fucked up doing something wrong.
And I like that is backed by a company that takes Linux seriously and works hard at making it an actual solution for both desktops and servers. Fedora would come as a very close second in my opinion.
Yeah ngl Ubuntu is so much easier to get up and running than other distros. It’s fast and reasonably up to date. I will say I’ve found the LTS version to be disappointingly buggy compared to other long term releases like Debian and Leap, but nothing that would motivate me to move to another distro. Just annoying audio related bugs that are easy to fix or get around.
Leap was so solid I wished I could’ve stayed with it, but I didn’t want to commit to a distro with an uncertain future.
Debian 12 is incredibly solid with a relatively current Gnome 43. I like that it is ran by a community instead of big corpa and I can install Flatpaks.
@iancurtis @metaldream debian + systemd = Winbug
It’s the universal operating system, with long term support (10 years 🤯) and a few quality of life improvements. It runs well on all my hardware, VMs and containers (that I build). It’s got perfect desktop defaults for me. It’s the defacto standard Linux OS. It’s supported by every software developer or vendor who supports Linux. The corpo behind it is not public (yet) and not hell bent on profit extraction. There’s an obvious migration path from it to the universal operating system (Debian), should something terrible happen.
As a fellow Ubuntu user, I think there are distros that are technically superior. But at some point I just got tired of chasing the best option. I just want an operating system that works on all devices I install it to, and that listens to my commands. Ubuntu does that just fine. I love what they’ve done with GNOME, its ram usage is minimal (1.4GB), apps launch fast, snap is nicer to use than flatpak (which I can install with a single command), and if I wanted to I can stick to an LTS for up to 12 years.
I’m not a big fan of snaps myself. While it’s being used for desktop apps, it was originally intended for system or server apps. And I don’t like that it automatically updates applications. I’m sure there are scenarios where using snaps make sense, but I prefer to be in control of my servers and what’s running in them.
FlatpaksI think are more practical. It’s easier to install desktop apps with flatpaks. However there are some technical limitations apparently. You can lose some functionalities due to how it’s implemented.
But for everything else, yeah. Ubuntu works ootb with practically every hardware out there and there is a huge library and community of support.