How did Ubuntu become so popular ?

How did Ubuntu become so popular ?
Now, of corse its popular because of its large user base, and huge community support.
But how did it get here ?
What did it do that SUSE, Mandriva, RedHat,Debian etc failed to do ?

 

I got into it way back when because I needed something to replace the virus sponge that Win98 was. Ubuntu was extremely noob friendly, recognized hardware well, offered KDE and XCFE while encouraging other spinoff projects and had a graphical installer. The whole idea of a live cd was pretty exciting four years ago; when I started it up, it was hard not to install it.

I think the idea of shipping free cds has really helped it to take off too because many folks did not know how to burn an image.

 

I agree, I had tried Linux 8 or so years ago with Red Hat and SUSE(paid ~$50) and kind of gave up on them because of drivers issues and the general difficulty of use. When I tried Ubuntu about a year ago I was just stunned with the ease of use, installation was a breeze, with a little effort the available free software was outstanding, the GUI is user selectable(I like GNOME) and the very frequent updates are great. I am not a Ubuntu fanboy and I still use both XP and Vista(especially on my kids and wife's computers) but I much prefer and mostly use Ubuntu myself.

ps Did I mention the most excellent Ubuntu community that's there to help you if and when you run into problems FOR FREE!?

 

There's a reason it's called "Linux for Human Beings." :yes:

 

I think that (open)SUSE is as good as ubuntu - better in some areas, worse in others. Many people didn't like that Novell got a hand on it... Ubuntu doesn't have any software giant behind and is truly community based.

 

This is an opinion and not an answer to the question of "how did Ubuntu become so popular?) that started this thread.
But it does allure to one of Linux's great advantages: The freedom of choice.

 

I meant that one of the reasons why ubuntu became so popular is that it is truly community based.

Another one is surely that ubuntu is the first really user friendly debian based distribution. Well, I guess that would be my opinion again

 

Sorry I guess I missed your point plus as I thought about it further all these are opinions too.

 

Yeah I am still learning how to use Wine so I rely on XP for gaming and some work-related MS office stuff. I have my problems with XP and microsoft more generally, but I think XP is a fine operating system--especially in relation to Win 98 and Vista.

But I also agree with you, that I prefer to do everything else on Linux.

Regarding Ubuntu and some other distros, I have to say that the experience is far more democratic.

 

It was marketing, funded by the deep pockets of Mark Shuttleworth. I mean, PCLinuxOS was/is more newbie friendly, in my opinion. But, Ubuntu started mailing out CDs and marketing itself in many ways. Also, while there were several excellent KDE based desktop focused distros, Ubuntu was the first truly usable Gnome based desktop distro. So, it galvanized the Gnome fans and this created a huge hype momentum. That and the fact that it is a very decent performer sent it up in the popularity charts.

 

The free mailing was the way i got it. They gave me like 10 disks of 32 bit and 64 bit. I then passed these out to coworkers that were kinda interested. They tried the live cd and liked it enough to actually install it. Then they went and ordered disks and passed them out to friends too...spreads like a virus.

I, however, use Fedora now but ubuntu is great also.