Now alot of people will ask, what’s so different about Linux that makes it better then Windows?  Well, alot of things really, but I think the best thing is the community.  Ubuntu listens to the community and it’s even listening more now that Ubuntu has setup the Ubuntu Brainstorm website.

Brainstorm is where Ubuntu users can go and request the thigns they would like the Ubuntu team to work on the most.   Right now the top three are:

1. Fix Suspend and Hibernate
2. Provide a simple graphical interface to manage _any_ type of network connection
3. Power Management

These are 3 great issues.  Now how did they get to be the top three?  The Ubuntu Community voted on it Digg style.  Over 3700 votes for Fix Suspend and Hibernate and I can concur…this is one of my pet peeves.  When you have a laptop, suspend and hibernate are the features that let you speedily move from one place to another and NEVER have to reboot your laptop.

Why is this better than the way Microsoft does business?  Well, you will never see Microsoft post a site like the brainstorm site.  They like to keep their dirty laundry hidden.  Ubuntu and many other distros will acknowledge and than fix alot of these issues and get it done as soon as they can if it’s possible.  While Microsoft will also do that, you many times simply do not know what the bugs are and if they will get fixed.  With Ubuntu, Linux and the rest of the open source community all care not just about the community, but about what other people think about the software the write.  They want not just the geeks to be happy, but for your Mom and your Grandma to be able to use Linux.  Do you think Microsoft cares about their users?  Possibily they do, but they won’t care enough to post a site, and ask what they want the team to work on.

Ubuntu Brainstorm is a excellent idea whose time has come.  I applaud Canonical for setting this site up.