Since then Ive used Kubuntu, Mandriva, PCLinuxOS, Gentoo and Mepis and Arch with KDE (I came in during the ‘transition’ and stuck with KDE3.5 on PCLinuxPSuntil I felt KDE4 was ready which was 4.2 for me. Unlike some people, I saw no reason to change from 3.5 which was still being updated), my wife loves it now, my eldest son had no problems and my youngest doesnt even know Windows..
With my vast experience (!), Ive managed to install Linux on two computers that belong to my folks as well as my wife’s folks and an aunt of hers.
I still have XP on one computer because of some PC games I still like to play (maybe once every two months) and its actually interesting to go back (Ive disconnected internet access on XP, I want nothing with virus scans and the whole song and dance) but it feels like leaving a country as a child and coming back as an adult… “huh, I used to live here…” …
feels like a thousand years ago.
Still feels weird to call myself a Linux user after using every copy of Windows until XP but that’s who I am now.
Ive gotten to understand free software and the GPL (my wife is a scientist so collaboration is a given) and appreciate them beyond the Linux is free/gratis aspect of using the software.
Ive also distroed myself out and am sticking with a few and not experimenting as much… lack of time but also, most distros usnig the same DE are really all the same.
More than even before, Ive forgotten what Im using very often because it just works. Audio/jack being the one thing I think has to be worked on.

Me. Linux user.
Who would have thunk it?

Look I am not a Tech person. I just want an OS that is easy to use, etc. For a non-Tech Person Ubuntu is the ticket.

I agree with you GEEKS that, yes, Slackware etc are much more to your taste.

But if it were not for Ubuntu, most non-geeks would never have tried linux.

Or you can make the case if it were not for Android . . .

Well, the story with Ubuntu is that it’s based on Shuttleworh’s Put.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Greenspan_put

Mr. Shuttleworth will be there to pick up the bill, no metter how poor the financial results of Cannonical might occur. Some say he’s over 1 bn net worth, thus he is Ubuntu.

What if Mr.Shuttleworth discovers penchant towards, for instance, thai ladyboys and heavy drug abuse : and withdraws his finnancial backing for Cannonical. What will happen to Ubuntu, will community will be ready to pick up slack ?? Two releases a year??

The Canonical has no assets whatsoever, so nobody is going to buy it, shoud they failed.

Without Mr.Shuttleworth’s personality and his deep pockets there is no Ubuntu. He can finance his pet project forever and ever and ever and ever and ever….

I _LOVE_ *buntu for getting me hooked to linux. But at the same time, I almost hate (a bit too strong maybe) what it has become.
Every new release, which I admit I still check out almost every time, has just meant more and more bloat imho.

Without that weird warty warhog I would have probably regressed back to windwos xp long ago.
Despite all the “improvements” ubuntu, and linux as a whole, has seen during all those years, I still feel confident enough to claim 4.10 was the best release they ever had. But that might just be my tendancy to get too melancholic sometimes:P .

I guess the turning point for me was the introduction of all the different *buntu’s (6.10?). I’m sure I’m not the only one who kept wanting to scream “Ffs, xubuntu is NOT lightweight!” or “It’s all just *buntu dammit >.<"

Then again, thinking more rationally now, I guess it boils down to accepting *buntu has just chosen a different path than the one did. Considering it's current popularity, it's clearly still very attractive to a large userbase.
(Also take into account that Windows 7 has proven to be "better" than Vista. If you're into that kind of stuff. Which might have also influenced popularity of newbie-friendly distro's like Ubuntu.)

Like I said, I have Ubuntu to thank for getting me hooked to Linux. And in a way, I also have Ubuntu to thank for "pushing" me towards Debian and later on Arch. I'll just stop keeping tabs on the current and future Ubuntu's, just like I have with my first distribution, Mandrake.

I wish Ubuntu would squash their bugs. I wish they wouldn’t take a perfectly acceptable DE (Gnome, KDE, XFCE) and make her the fat girl by bloating her up with Twitter/Gwibber ‘functionality’. I wish Ubuntu users would stop crying over where the buttons should be. But like Conkeh said earlier, it’s Shuttleworth’s distro. He’s the man with the money. He’s the man that made the most popular Linux distro to date. He will continue deciding where Ubuntu should head.

Just my two cents. Feel free to disagree.

I’m using Hardy right now and will probably continue using it for some time into the future. I may have to become a treble booter at some point, but until then. I am a firm believer in the old adage.. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It does the job for me, so why put myself through the hassle of upgrading.

When I do upgrade, it will probably be to Debian or Mint-Debian.

http://is.gd/f6tBp-