> What's the advantage to Ubuntu or any of this stuff?
The issue is that since it's all "free" (let's not quibble about the exact meaning of the word "free" here; let's just say that it's not "for sale"), thre's no *one* place to get it all. MacOS and Windows each come from a single place. They both provide essentially a blob of software that lets you configure, install, and maintain your system. MacOS comes with the additional charm of some of the software being licensed; Windows doubles-down and makes sure all of it is.
For everyone else, you're at square one.
If an OS package were dinner:
- Windows is a Swanson's TV Dinner
- "Complete" but you paid for all of it, and you might not like some of
the choices they made
- Tastes a little like chicken, even though the box cover says Salisbury Steak
- MacOS is dinner at your friend's house where you bring along a pricey
bottle of wine
- It's based on something ostensibly free, but you're still paying
- Tastes pretty good, and if you're lucky you can get out of
doing the dishes ...
- Linux is a farmer's market
- You *can* make a meal out of it ... eventually
- Some of it has dirt on it
- Many of the people you meet along the way smell bad and have
poor social skills :-) :-) :-)
Ubuntu is a packaging of:
. Linux kernel
. Some subset of all the freely available software in the world
. Installation, configuration, and maintenance glue
It's just one of a number of packagings available; others include: Debian, CentOS, Knoppix, SuSE ... it's more like the "box of organic produce" that you can get delivered if you live in hip urban areas. Some assembly required, but at least you only get one delivery per week, and basically the carrots should go with the tomatoes.
And you don't have to churn your own butter.
/jordan