The latest version of Canonical's Linux distribution, Ubuntu 8.10, still outshines the Linux desktop offerings from Red Hat and Novell, and is the best open-source alternative to Microsoft and Apple operating systems. However, both Red Hat's Enterprise Linux and Novell's SUSE distributions are ahead of Ubuntu 8.10 in the server space.

Canonical's Ubuntu 8.10, the latest version of the popular Linux-based operating system for desktops and servers, hit the Internet in early November bearing a modest assortment of updates to the open-source software components that compose it.

Based on my tests of Ubuntu 8.10—which is more fancifully known as the Intrepid Ibex—I maintain that Ubuntu is, without question, the best Linux distribution available for desktops, and the ablest open-source rival to the more broadly used desktop operating systems from Microsoft and Apple.

That's because, while most Linux distributions come with the same software components, Ubuntu distinguishes itself with its attention to usability, its large selection of ready-to-install software packages, and its large community of users and contributors.

• Fedora 10 first impressions
  
• Debian Lenny installer arrives
  
• Ubuntu "Intrepid Ibex" available
  
• You, too, can learn Ubuntu-fu
  
• The Intrepid Ibex ventures forth