Our solution for mid-range desktops , high-performance video editing, on-premise servers, and the cloud.
June 19, 2019

Our solution for mid-range desktops , high-performance video editing, on-premise servers, and the cloud.

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu Linux fills many needs for us. In the Amazon cloud, it is our web server OS. On our corporate network, we run many virtualized Ubuntu Server instances to provide shared file storage, DHCP, DNS, and the internal intranet web server. Our multimedia room runs on Ubuntu Desktop to manage our library of AV materials, handle streaming video, and record over-the-air television. We have several workstations that run Ubuntu Desktop. In some cases, we dual-boot Ubuntu on older MacBook Pros because it runs faster. We have some video-editing workstations that use open-source software, and we find those applications perform much better under Ubuntu than Windows or MacOS.

Pros

  • Widespread support among vendors. It's one of the most widely used Linux distributions.
  • Hardware drivers are available for the majority of our devices.
  • Multiple supported desktop flavors are available: Gnome, XFCE, KDE, etc.
  • We find it extremely reliable as a desktop and server OS. We seldom need to reboot.

Cons

  • Older NVidia cards have poor hardware support.
  • Older Broadcom Wi-Fi drivers are unreliable.
  • High DPI monitor support is improving but needs more work.
  • Font rendering can be improved, particularly sub-pixel hinting on LCD displays
  • We have only seen a positive ROI. It's free to license.
  • It's easier to use and support than most other distributions, so there are reduced labor costs.
  • Adding Ubuntu to our mixed network of Mac and Windows computers has made more applications and solutions possible.
We chose Ubuntu because it has lower licensing fees and better free support. We like Debian-based distributions in general, and Ubuntu in particular. Other Debian-based distros we use include Kali and Mint. We've also done trials on Fedora on the desktop, but found that Ubuntu made more sense and was easier to support.
If you are using low-horsepower hardware and open-source software will satisfy your business needs, Ubuntu is a great platform. If you are working with web-based applications, there's probably no reason Ubuntu won't work fine for you. For many server applications, the Ubuntu Server LTS (Long Term Support) distribution is excellent. However, if you are in an Apple-centric ecosystem, or are heavily invested in a Microsoft Office workflow, you may not find Ubuntu a good fit. It's notable that even on my Windows development machines I always have an Ubuntu virtual machine (or one running under Windows Subsystem for Linux) that I keep handy for web development tasks or other online work that may be awkward under Windows Powershell.

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