ResearchThe Mania of Ubuntu
One of the main news site for information on the development and release of Linux and other open source operating systems is distrowatch.com. On that site, there is a list to the right which lists the current top 100 most popular Linux systems. Currently, Ubuntu is at the top of that list, and it's score beats the next-most popular (openSuse) by a clean 800 points. The other dstros shuffle around below, rising and falling with trends and releases, but Ubuntu has been stuck on number one for two years solid; it hasn't budged.
The popularity of Ubuntu of the 500-or-so active distributions has been legendary. Ubuntu is touted in computer forums, handed to strangers on the street, advertised on billboards, and maniacally defended against any criticism by a horde of outspoken fans. Many have asked, "What is so special about Ubuntu?" Granted, some of it is just that it was in the right place at the right time, but there's more to it than that. First, Mark Shuttleworth, the "father" of the Ubuntu project, has put his considerable financial backing behind the project through his company Canonical Ltd. The Linux community is thrilled to have a commercial backer for a non-commercial distro; Ubuntu is free as in both price and freedom.
There are many things that Ubuntu gets just right. It has been focused from the beginning as a desktop distro; "easy to use" has been it's mantra. It runs both as a live CD and as an installed system. It is based on Debian, itself a popular system. But if you've tried Debian, you know that it has nearly as many downsides as upsides: the stable branch of Debian is usually outdated before it's released, and it is a wake-up-sweating nightmare to install. Ubuntu takes the best of Debian - it's colossal package archive and the ease of maintaining it once it's installed - and fixes the downsides, producing what many call "Debian done right."
The ease of maintenance comes from Debian's famous apt-get package installation system. Let's say you decided you need a different word processor: just open the package-manager program, browse the menu in the appropriate category, click the one you want, and your computer automatically downloads the package off the Internet, grabs any other support components it needs, and configures and installs it. It takes no longer than the average coffee break, and is something you couldn't have without free software.
Ubuntu is focused on simplicity and stability. It releases every six months, choosing to track it's Gnome desktop environment's development schedule instead of the leisurely Debian one. This ensures that the desktop is always up to date with the latest feature set. Newcomers to Linux often express bewilderment at the huge number of choices; Ubuntu solves this by offering one program per function. The philosophy is that you don't need 25 editors, you only need the best one. Finally, Ubuntu has improved on the Debian system so much that it is rapidly becoming a favorite choice for servers as well; it runs light and is so secure that it seems impossible to break.
Ubuntu is helped along by the evangelizing fan base. It is one of the few distros where you may acquire it simply by visiting the site and asking them to mail you a CD - shipping paid! Beyond that, stories abound about Ubuntu fans making multiple copies of the live CD and simply handing them out to friends, family, co-workers, or random strangers. The word Ubuntu is African for "humanity to others", and the community takes that as it's motto. While those of us who have been into Linux since the beginning may stick with our previous choices, we still admire the plucky Ubuntu community, if for nothing else than spreading the philosophy of freedom of technology for everyone throughout the planet.