Ubuntu

Whats better Ubuntu desktop or Ubuntu Server?

Asked by Halcyclone

i have Ubuntu desktop and i was wondering if the server is better,also how does the Ubuntu server work?

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Best Tom (tom6) said : 		#1

Server doesn't have a desktop. It's all completely from the command-line for security. Server is good if you've got a dedicated machine serving out file-shares, email and acts as an internet gateway to around 20 machines minimum. Mostly for that i would still use desktop and just add the functionality in from the repos.

You can improve desktop edition by changing you swap partition to a more suitable size and doing a lot of other tweaks but it takes awhile to find out what you want and how to get that. 32bit desktop edition is the best.

You may want to explore other distros tho. A much more glammed up version is Kubuntu, be quick if you're going to download this as the servers are going to be heavily jammed from about tomorrow and for about the next 2 weeks or so
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/products/WhatIsUbuntu/kubuntu
http://www.kubuntu.org/getkubuntu

It really depends what you mean by 'better', what are you looking for? Something with more flashy effects and a nicer look? In that case try Kubuntu. If you want something smaller faster and lighter then there are lots of other choices at DistroWatch
http://distrowatch.com
My own favourite fast and light distro is Wolvix Hunter
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=wolvix
but there are a huge amount out there. I have a spare partition to install other distros on so that i can explore them without changing my Ubutnu around too much ;) A cautionary tale from this young lady though
http://forums.wolvix.org/index.php/topic,1040.msg4956.html#msg4956

Good luck and hope this helps!
Regards from
Tom :)

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Halcyclone (halcyclone) said : 		#2

so kubuntu has more effects?

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Halcyclone (halcyclone) said : 		#3

Thanks Tom, that solved my question.

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Tom (tom6) said : 		#4

Yes, Kubuntu has more effects and the file browser "Konqueror" has some pretty amazing defaults, it takes thumbnails to a whole new level and just plays your movies in the file-browser window.

You can usually try a LiveCd session of a distro. With *buntu's just boot up from the Cd and "Try Ubuntu without changes" but most other distros also have a way of booting up straight from the Cd and usually it's the default way for the cd to boot.

If you like eye-candy i definitely recommend Kubuntu. But also with Ubuntu try going up to the top taskbar and click on

System - Preferences - Appearance

then click on the last tab "Visual Effects" and try moving the radio button down one. If you can get it to "Extra" then you get some fairly extreme stuff. Especially if you load in "ccsm" from Synaptic Package Manager. This is where the fire-writing and cube stuff is ;)

Also these links might still be useful
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=809695

http://www.ubuntu-art.org/

I think you can get the full cube and fire-writing in Xubuntu (that's the smaller, lighter, faster Ubuntu) too!
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

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Tom (tom6) said : 		#5

Err, if you find you then can't boot into Ubuntu then during bootup find the menu that has lots of different Ubuntu options and chhose the one that has "recovery mode" at the end and then "fix x-server" will reset your graphics to default. That should fix it all and make it easy to boot back in ;)

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#6

The Ubuntu Server Kernel also uses PAE which allows you to use >4Gb with a 32Bit OS. If you want a system you can use for everyday (Web browsing, email etc) then desktop is for you. You can install a GUI on the server version but you may as well install desktop.

The server version doesnt come with an X server to reduce resources used while the server is idle and most services are configurable at cli