| 2012-09-24 23:49:12 |
Kip Warner |
description |
Ubuntu currently has a number of official derivatives. These include the following.
Xubuntu - Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop environment
Ubuntu Studio - Designed for multimedia editing and creation
Mythbuntu - Designed for creating a home theatre PC with MythTV
Kubuntu - Ubuntu with the K Desktop environment
Edubuntu - Ubuntu for education
Lubuntu - Ubuntu that uses LXDE
It is a good idea to offer users the freedom of choice to select an appropriate derivative, but this can probably be done better by simplifying the number of official derivatives that differ only in the default desktop environment by collapsing them into a single official distribution. Ubuntu Studio, Mythbuntu, and Edubuntu are sufficiently conceptually different enough from one another to warrant separate distributions, whereas Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu are all different in the same way. They differ only really based on the default desktop environment. That choice alone perhaps does not warrant the availability and support of distinct distributions. Instead, a single official distribution for all those that differ only in terms of the default desktop environment could give the user a choice during installation time of the default desktop environment to use, leaving Unity as the default as it currently is for the current official Ubuntu, and providing brief summaries of the other options if the user makes the appropriate selection.
This has many added benefits, not least of which is the reduction in the number of different types of DVD discs that need to be replicated and only one type that needs to be on hand at Ubuntu community events. |
Ubuntu currently has a number of official derivatives. These include the following.
Xubuntu - Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop environment
Ubuntu Studio - Designed for multimedia editing and creation
Mythbuntu - Designed for creating a home theatre PC with MythTV
Kubuntu - Ubuntu with the K Desktop environment
Edubuntu - Ubuntu for education
Lubuntu - Ubuntu that uses LXDE
It is a good idea to offer users the freedom of choice to select an appropriate derivative, but this can probably be done better by simplifying the number of official derivatives that differ only in the default desktop environment by collapsing them into a single official distribution. Ubuntu Studio, Mythbuntu, and Edubuntu are sufficiently conceptually different enough from one another to warrant separate distributions, whereas Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu are all different in the same way. They differ only really based on the default desktop environment. That choice alone perhaps does not warrant the availability and support of distinct distributions.
Instead, a single official distribution for all those that differ only in terms of the default desktop environment could give the user a choice during installation time of the default desktop environment to use, leaving Unity as the default as it currently is for vanilla Ubuntu, respecting Canonical's commitment to that desktop environment for new users or for those who are comfortable with the default choice, while providing brief summaries of the other options if the user makes the appropriate selection (e.g. Xfce, Lxde, Gnome, KDE).
This has many added benefits, not least of which is the reduction in the number of different types of DVD discs that need to be replicated and only one type that needs to be on hand at Ubuntu community events. |
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