Why is Ubuntu always recommended to new Linux users?

[Sharpghost6]

I understand if it's Ubuntu 10, but if I had tried using Unity my first time I'd be so confused lol! I like to recommend Linux Mint or Zorin OS, but that's just me.

[vancecorkery]

Ubuntu has become as ubiquitous as Google or some other cliche name brand. I agree with you. If a noob is looking for a load-and-go install, why not go with 'windoze'

[hazel]

Why is Ubuntu always recommended to new users? Clever advertising by Canonical!

[arespi]

I think Ubuntu was the first desktop distro (= pretty eye candy) that got the packages repositories working properly. So if you needed software it was a simple task to install it. Now most distros have their own repositories and are equally user friendly now

[mizzle]

We like to watch people suffer with driver and stability problems, that's why!

I personally don't recommend it.

[atreyu]

We like to watch people suffer with driver and stability problems, that's why!

I personally don't recommend it.

me neither.

in any case, i usually lean towards the idea that it depends on what the user wants to do w/their system. but after hearing that, it usually ends up being Puppy/Arch (for speed), Fedora (for devs/general), CentOS (for servers), or some specifically geared OS, like an HTPC-based distro.

[NorFed]

I'm using Ubuntu myself and it did take me some time to get use to Unity. Now I'm setting up a computer for an old lady that has never used a computer ever and I'm unsure of which distro to use. I'm thinking maybe Unity is ok if you never have seen an interface before and I feel awkard with it just because I'm not used? Best for here would probably be a screen with a nice background and 2-3 buttons (internet, mail and an editor)...

[peteh]

When I first started I tried lots of distros, including Ubuntu, which I never liked. The only one I could get to work easily 'out of the box' with my hardware was openSUSE and I'm still using it.
My wife, who hates computers, uses it without a problem (except she still insists that we should have MS Windows!)

[MASONTX]

Used to be, Ubuntu 8.x through 10.x, that Ubuntu worked well out of the box, and was easy for a newbie to learn. Recent ubuntu releases have gone off the rails. I happily used ubuntu 8.04, then 10.04, but when 12.04 came out I abandoned ship. I have the Xubuntu 12.04 installed only because I don't have the time to switch to Mint13 Mate.

[del2]

I use Mepis and really like it, but I also have Mint on a netbook, and I would recommend it for someone who's new to a computer, or who is shifting from Windows.