Why I can Always Count on Ubuntu

So, I've just spent a week of concurrent technical failure. I tried to use Zorin OS for review purposes. It's package manager was broken beyond my knowledge. I try to replace it with Arch. After struggling for days to install it, it turns out being slow and buggy under my configuration. I try to replace that with FreeBSD. It doesn't even have any installation tools included. I finally try using PCBSD. It doesn't support my wireless network card.

At this point, I need my computer and I'm extremely ticked off. I'm ready to forget all of my technical knowledge. Time to stop trying to prove my skills and resort to newbie tactics. I just want to use my computer. I don't care about anything. I just want to use. My. Computer.

So, I've finally lost it, and what do I do? Without even thinking, I grab my Ubuntu Linux DVD and pop it in. As the system boots up I realize: Ubuntu seems to be different. I just got fed up with five different Linux distributions in a row. I have every version of Windows sold to the public in my lifetime (yep, my entire lifetime) readily available... but I end up installing Ubuntu instead.

The more I thought about it, I appreciated just how smooth my relationship with Ubuntu has been. Yes, I complain about it, and bash on it a lot; I stand up for more open-source distributions, and I prefer the RPM package manager to Apt. However, as I look back to the GNOME 2 days, I come to a great realization: Ubuntu is the most user-friendly distribution of Linux that I've used.

Ubuntu has a great graphical installer (and believe me, you WILL appreciate this after you successfully install Arch). It also takes care of one of the biggest problems that Linux has encountered on the desktop: driver support. I remember back to when I had to compile generic drivers in Fedora, and I realize that I have never-- not once-- had a piece of hardware that Ubuntu couldn't use right out of the box.

These are just a few of the many, many great things that Ubuntu has to offer. Now don't get me wrong: I love other distributions, too. Fedora was the first one that I used. Linux Mint introduced me to smaller distros. OpenSUSE got me into KDE. But whenever I need something to resort to, when I just need to get something done, I know that I have Ubuntu to fall back on.