SBL Systems

Why Ubuntu Linux?

The history of Linux or more accurately GNU/Linux, is available in many places on the internet so I won't re-iterate it here.  For a long time, Linux was accessible only to the techies, those with time, and/or willingness to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty with a command line to get things going.  Over recent years there has been push to make Linux accessible to all, better more stable graphical user interface (GUI), more admin functions available via menu GUI applications, an overall reduction in the need to use the command line at all.

There are many versions of Linux, known as distributions, each has a version of the Linux core (Kernel) and selected add on applications.  Each may have different ways of achieving the same results as they have developed along different paths.  Each will probably 'look and feel' completely different.  That's the beauty of Linux, choice.

For a complete definition of Free software see the GNU website.  And for Open Source.
Ubuntu Linux has become known as one of the most stable and functional of Linux distributions.  It's synaptic package manager makes installing new software extremely easy with no need to access a command line to install many applications.

Like most Linux distributions, the command line is there waiting to help the adventurous  to accomplish more difficult tasks, or just to use because it's there.  But for day to day use, it is happy to remain mostly hidden.

The Linux Community on the internet is second to none, and that goes for the Ubuntu community too.  It is effectively self supporting through forums, whether for specialist forums for a particular application to Ubuntu forums itself.  There are many people that will take the time to answer questions posed by users of every level.

All that is asked of you is civility when posting and common sense to search the forums first, in many cases, others have had the same issues or problems and answers are there waiting for you. If not, be specific with your question, provide as much relevant information as possible. Free and Open Source software available on Linux can be every bit as professional and usable as commercial applications.  Open office has been around for a long time and stands up well in comparisons to MS Office (See Changeover).

With some judicious selection, it is possible to choose hardware that will work 'out of the box' on Linux.  With each release more and more devices are supported without having to find drivers or fixes from the internet (see compatibility).

The Ubuntu default Gnome desktop environment that installs with Ubuntu Linux delivers stability and flexibility on top of the renowned, inbuilt Linux security.  You can generally get as much or little involved in the mechanics as you want.  Other desktop environments provide a different perspective, KDE has a different look and feel.  Once you are comfortable with one version of Linux, the learning curve to use another is relatively small.  You can also install them side by side for comparison or to achieve different tasks, but that's a technical discussion for another time.
Linux in general is an organic operating system, always changing and more often than not, for the better.

That is not to say that Linux or Ubuntu is a Utopian operating system.  It can be as frustrating as any other when things don't work as expected, but help is usually just a search or forum post away.  Hopefully reading the guides here on this web site and linked to from here, will help you to avoid most of these situations.

The latest games are unlikely to be released for Linux, although there are already lots of high quality games available, maybe when the user base is big enough, who knows.  But for general home use, photo management, media, web hosting, general business applications etc, it provides a stable, secure and accessible system with an excellent choice in largely Free and OpenSource software.