Over the past year or so I’ve noticed an increasing number of newbies (a term which I use affectionately) interested in taking Linux for a spin - for example, the number or emails I’m getting on the subject from zero a year ago to several dozen a week. The reasons for their interest in Linux are many and varied, as is the level of commitment to making the switch from Windows or Mac.

I have been a big supporter of Ubuntu over the last few years and I have been using Ubuntu for many, many releases. I turned several friends onto Linux using Ubuntu and one of them has been quite excited about the operating system. Over the past year or so the Linux fan boys have been pushing eye candy on Ubuntu touting it as ahead of both Microsoft and Apple's desktop operating systems.

Today, for example, the people you hired because they knew Debian Linux might be wrestling with Ubantu - and the SuSe 10 experts you brought in last year will probably be transitioning to some other distribution by this time next year.

I guess most of the readers are already familiar with Ubuntu, but I'm also writing this for new users, which use Linux for the first time. I use Debian for over a year now, but I used both Ubuntu and Kubuntu in the past (especially Dapper Drake and Edgy Eft) and also 8.04 and 8.10 Beta.

Every year since 2004 has been touted as the year of the Linux desktop. That year where Linux of some flavor makes huge inroads into the home and work desktop scene. Every year these predictions have fallen short. Now 2008 being the year of the Linux desktop stories are already making the rounds.

For those rare people who don’t know, Canonical’s Ubuntu distribution is basically Debian Sid (the unstable version) plus a few GUI apps and modifications. Debian is one of the most successful community-based distributions. Don’t get me wrong, I use both Debian and Ubuntu, and they both perform well, but here are some reasons to choose Debian over Ubuntu...

Ok so I was checking my daily digg news and i came across one of the more popular things dug that day which was Is Ubuntu becoming the generic Linux distro?

"Setting up a new workstation is the easiest time to choose a new GNU/Linux distribution. Having just installed Fedora 7 on my laptop so I’d have an RPM-based system available for my work, I seriously considered ending my five-year endorsement of Debian on my workstation. Perhaps I should follow the crowd and go to Ubuntu? Some other DEB-based distribution?

I have been using ubuntu for over a year now, I used to have vista on my machine but ever since I tried ubuntu out of sheer curiosity I've never looked back. In my opinion it's one of the most user friendly Linux distro available.