Originally Posted By: MysticGold04
Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
The OP had mentioned he was a sys admin, so I didn't think he'd be into anything too desktop related, but ubuntu puts out a .pdf mag called
Full Circle that is centred on desktop usage.
There are also a bazillion quality blogs/ RSS feeds out there. If you want something *not* smeared all over dead trees, I can export a portion of my RSS aggregations (mostly ubuntu/ desktop centred, but some worthwhile non-GUI stuff as well) and post here.
Good Stuff.. thanks, as I am particularly interested in anything Ubuntu at the moment. Also, thanks for the other links guys! Exactly what I was looking for!
Just be aware that the whole point of ubuntu is to *remove* the burden of having to know what you're doing from you. They've been working very hard on making sure that any configuration you do need to do is done via GUI, and that as much configuration as possible is done automagically. Great for laypeople, maybe not so much for those looking for what's under the hood.
If you already know your stuff, you *might* be better served by kicking ubuntu's tires a bit, then digging a little further into the Linux kernel itself, and perhaps a more challenging distribution like Slackware, Gentoo or Arch. I administer several ubuntu boxen for friends, family and clients, and can tell you that 99.9% of what I do is run updates via CLI through SSH, even though updates are as easy to perform themselves via GUI (I just need to continue to feel important). Frankly, I could have easily installed the base system and never heard from any of these people again.
In summary, if you want an easy to use desktop system for day to day "consumer" use, ubuntu is by a long shot your best bet; followed by distributions like openSUSE and Fedora (which are great alternatives in cases where ubuntu may not work with your hardware, for example). If you want to *learn* about Linux and get your hands dirty, I'd suggest Slackware, Gentoo or Arch. If you are a sys admin who has been in the Windows world, and you'd like to examine a true UNIX environment, GUI or CLI, then I'd suggest one of the BSD's or openSolaris. The latter two are OS's that are fully integrated, userland and kernel, whereas Linux based systems sorta kinda hack together the Linux kernel, GNU userland tools (the compiler, for example) and a whole host of disparate software tools piled on top of that (like web browsers and office stuff).
