Differences between *buntu and Debian

[elija]

I wasn't sure where to post this so I decided to lounge it.

I have been trying PCLinuxOS and while it is undoubtedly the easiest
install I have gone through and while I quite like how it looks, I don't
like not being able to find anything in the file system.

I thought I was learning Linux, but it seems I have been learning
*buntu. I am thinking of moving over to Debian as people seem to
either love or hate it (mostly love I think) and I was wondering
how similiar are Debian and *buntu under the hood?

I know Ubuntu is based on Debian so I think they should be fairly
similiar, can I keep what I have already learned or do I have to
start again?

[daark.child]

Ubuntu is essentially a fork of Debian Unstable. The Ubuntu developers take a snapshot of Debian Unstable and then work with that to create their next release. Most things in Ubuntu are the same as Debian, so your knowledge won't go to waste.

I personally think you can use any distro to learn Linux. Some things may be different, but the basics are essentially the same.

[elija]

Cheers. Debian it is then.

I personally think you can use any distro to learn Linux.

I think that is true to a point. For example, I needed to restart my
network. In *buntu that was as simple as sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
Could I find how to do that in PCLOS? No. I couldn't even search
on line so I ended up rebooting.

Useful knowledge in *buntu was completely useless in PCLOS

[daark.child]

I think that is true to a point. For example, I needed to restart my
network. In *buntu that was as simple as sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
Could I find how to do that in PCLOS? No. I couldn't even search
on line so I ended up rebooting.

On most distros I have used, the command to manage the network service is called /etc/init.d/network so Debian/Ubuntu seem to be the ones not following convention on this one (there are many things that Debian does differently to other distros).

[elija]

It was frustrating... regardless of which distro is right or wrong,
I don't want to start distro "willy waving" here.

Still live and learn as they say

[Manchunian]

Personally, whilst I agree with daark.child that there are a lot of similarities, I find Debian much more satisfying. You really feel that you have to get your hands grubby with this OS, in a way that you don't with Ubuntu. Also, if you choose Debian stable at least, I find Debian more robust and reassuring. However, there is slightly more work involved to get stuff going. For example, my Internet connection was instantly recongnised by Ubuntu, but not by Debian; I couldn't use my scanner as a normal user with Debian, whereas I could with Ubuntu. Besides, when you use Debian, you don't get that "I'm using a distrinution that is based on another feeling", and that is satisfying. It can be frustrating at times, though, as your system is generally much less up-to-date than other Linux users. But I love Debian and I couldn't use anything else now.