What are the differences between Desktop, Server, and Alternate Installs?
(just for the sake of doing it I have also included Ubuntu Netbook Edition here)
Similarities between all versions
- All versions support encryption of the home folder.
- All versions use the same application repositories, so that you can for instance install web and mail servers on Ubuntu Desktop or Ubuntu Desktop on a Ubuntu Server or Ubuntu Netbook system (by installing the
ubuntu-desktop
package), and any other combination.
Ubuntu Desktop
- The installer is called Ubiquity, which is written specifically to be a GUI installer for the Desktop/Live CD.
- Includes the Wubi installer for installation for Windows systems
- Installs the basic Ubuntu system, in addition to the
ubuntu-desktop
package and all its dependencies, including GNOME and various applications, such as Firefox and Empathy. - You can try the system directly from the CD, and it has a graphical installation.
Ubuntu Server
- The installer is debian-installer, which is text based and is shared with Debian.
- It basically is just the base Ubuntu system, but during the installation you can optionally install services such as a web or mail server by using tasksel.
- Ubuntu Server does not include a graphical user interface so it does not install the applications included in the
ubuntu-desktop
package, such as GNOME.
Ubuntu Netbook
- Installs the basic Ubuntu system, in addition to the
ubuntu-netbook
package and all its dependencies. It also uses the Unity interface instead of the default GNOME interface. - The installation method is very similar to Ubuntu Desktop
Ubuntu alternate installer
- The installer is debian-installer, which is text based and is shared with Debian.
- The alternate installer installs the
ubuntu-desktop
package, just as Ubuntu Desktop does. - It is mostly intended for installing or upgrading Ubuntu on machines where this cannot be done in other ways. For instance, I had to use this CD when installing Ubuntu on my machine, because none of the LiveCDs would work.
- Allows setup of LVM and LUKS encrypted file systems
- Has an option for an "OEM Install", which allows you to install the OS but leave the personalization like username and password as part of the first boot.
- Option to install an LTSP Server.