I use Debian based distros. My favourites are Ubuntu, Sidux and MEPIS. In fact, I am solidly in the Debian camp. Despite this I have a problem with Debian and Debian users. It goes like this.

Last year, Linspire announced that it was opening its software distribution service, CNR (short for Click 'n' Run), to users of the Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, and Ubuntu distributions. A month ago, it announced a beta version of CNR that includes support for Ubuntu 7.04 and 7.10 (the two most recent versions), with versions for the other systems on the way. Alas, after trying it on my Ubuntu system, I think it needs work.

I had an inspiring thought this morning! (Trust me… this is a rare event! Ha ha ha…) :) It occurred to me how vibrant a number of Ubuntu Linux flavours there must be.

You can't argue Debian's irrelevance using Ubuntu as an example. If you're using Ubuntu (or Linux Mint, or Mepis...), you're really using Debian with some enhancements. According to a presentation given recently by Debian Project Leader (DPL) Stefano Zacchiroli, only 7% of Ubuntu is directly derived from upstream projects, Canonical's projects, or other non-Debian sources.

Ubuntu Studio is a multimedia editing/creation flavour of Ubuntu. It’s built for the GNU/Linux audio, video, and graphic enthusiast or professional.Ubuntu Studio is an unofficial derivative of the Ubuntu open source operating system, based on Ubuntu, which is explicitly geared to general multimedia production.

For those rare people who don’t know, Canonical’s Ubuntu distribution is basically Debian Sid (the unstable version) plus a few GUI apps and modifications. Debian is one of the most successful community-based distributions. Don’t get me wrong, I use both Debian and Ubuntu, and they both perform well, but here are some reasons to choose Debian over Ubuntu...

Mark Shuttleworth has offered to put more Canonical employees on to Debian at the expense of Ubuntu, in a potential compromise with angry Debian developers. The offer is designed to help Debian hit a proposed code freeze date for the next version of the Linux distro in December. Shuttleworth said the diversion would mean "we'll get less done" on Ubuntu, which is based on Debian.

While the Linux community has benefited greatly from Ubuntu’s investments and focus on the deficiencies of Debian, it is not clear why Shuttleworth needed to fork Debian to improve Debian in the first place. Hiring volunteers to work full-time is a good way to speed up progress, but they could have done their work inside of Debian if Mark had told them to.

The Ubuntu team has announced the beta release of Ubuntu 7.10 and its variants, including Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu. The final release of Ubuntu 7.10, dubbed "Gutsy Gibbon," will happen sometime next month.