There’s a lot of talk going around about Ubuntu linux versus Debian linux versus XYZ linuz and why Ubuntu has become popular (even trendy!) But It seems to me that most of this talk boils down to “But I think MY distro is better” whether “my distro” means “I made it” or just “I use it.”

For years now everybody in the linux community has been saying “Linux can make the consumer desktop.” And I always believed it could (though I never (and sill dont) believed it was there yet.) But now that someone has made something people want to use, and like using, there seems to be a lot of “but this was my idea” and “they didnt do that first, this other did” and even “I cant figure out why this is so popular.”

Welcome to Rome! Where you’re free to worship whatever you like, but you have to admit that Ubuntu has managed to make it big. At least in this rome there arent any taxes to pay. But the simple fact of the matter is tht Ubuntu lilnux pulled together the right combination of things at the right time and in the right place. They were different enough to get noticed amongst a sea of toy (and corp) distributions.

As with all great breakthroughs Ubuntu *HAS* stood on the backs of the giants that came before them. But just as in scientific discovery that fact doesnt discount the new things that have happened! Because to *truly* bake an apple pie from scratch one must first create the universe.