Distributions 2007 review

I'm surprised not to see more mention of Ubuntu's increased adoption during 2007 - it's hard
to dig up statistics but it certainly seems to have more 'mindshare' than any other distro
among new Linux users.  The fact that two colleagues of mine, who are in IT but have never
used Linux, installed Ubuntu and liked it a lot is just one indicator.

Of course, other distros are technically not that different to Ubuntu, but if one distro
breaks through to the mass market (while still promoting open source drivers and walking the
fine line between open source drivers and good WiFi / graphics support), every Linux user and
distro will benefit.  And Ubuntu positively encourages derivative distros, helping increase
consistency within the population of Linux distros so it's easier to switch.