What Distribution of LINUX is Best??

[CoBRaXT]

What distribution of Linux do you use?
I'm looking for the best one in terms of the home user (plan to dual boot with win xp).

thanks

 

[asb002]

Please, keep the flaming to a minimum. Anyway, I personally prefer Red Hat, though I'm planning to try Debian. For Linux newbies, I reccommend either Red Hat, or Mandrake. They have mainly GUI config, and is easier to learn, IMO. But the best one is the one YOU like best. Try a couple out, pick the one you prefer, and use it!

 

[Bulldog13]

slackware

 

[pac1085]

Originally posted by: CoBRaXT
What distribution of Linux do you use?

Gentoo

 

[Spyro]

Try a couple out, pick the one you prefer, and use it!

 

[Montano]

The one that's best, is the one that works best for your needs.

 

[Nothinman]

Debian

 

[Tiger]

I use Gentoo and Knoppix/Debian but my answer would be any distro you feel comfortable with and will stick with long enough to learn the OS.
Pick one and stick with it. Try to use the CLI as much as possible because those skills transfer to any distro. Once you feel comfortable try another.

 

[spamsk8r]

Originally posted by: Vortex

Originally posted by: CoBRaXT
What distribution of Linux do you use?

Gentoo

I second that motion.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Fooeynix 2.7

 

[TheOmegaCode]

Originally posted by: spamsk8r

Originally posted by: Vortex

Originally posted by: CoBRaXT
What distribution of Linux do you use?

Gentoo

I second that motion.

There was a motion?

 

[Haden]

Debian sid.

 

[nick1985]

i hear good things about red hat

 

[Superwormy]

FreeBSD is better than any Linux Dist.

Linux is just wannabe Unix

But if you don't like FreeBSD, I'd say RedHat or Slackware ( for the most advanced user )

 

[BurnItDwn]

Depends on the system ... if you are installing it on an old old PC like a 486 or Pentium ... you are gonna need to go with an old distro, or any version of like .. slack or probably Debian .....

If you have a nice system .. and you are lazy .. and want all the eyecandy of KDE3.1 ... then I recommend Mandrake 9.1

 

[Nothinman]

FreeBSD is better than any Linux Dist.

Linux is just wannabe Unix

Too bad ports can't come close to touching Debian's apt repositories.

Depends on the system ... if you are installing it on an old old PC like a 486 or Pentium ... you are gonna need to go with an old distro, or any version of like .. slack or probably Debian .....

If you have a nice system .. and you are lazy .. and want all the eyecandy of KDE3.1 ... then I recommend Mandrake 9.1

I recommend Debian no matter what the system is, there's no reason to sacrifice usability and install something like Mandrake just because you have a decent box =)

 

Red Hat, Mandrake, and Suse to get yout feet wet in a desktop Linux enviroment. Debian, Slack, and Gentoo after you put some Linux time under your belt. Play with them all and decide whats best for you. I use Suse because it does what I need it to do.

 

[chsh1ca]

Slackware is, by all accounts, the closest distro linux has to a BSD.

It really depends on your needs. Some distributions make much better servers than desktops, and vice versa. RedHat is bar none the best desktop I've seen, while IMHO Slack is the best server-oriented distribution I've seen. From everything I've heard, if you're supporting a single network of mixed desktop/servers, debian probably is the best overall choice, because the package manager is homogenous across all installations.

That being said, I would go with Slack on a server, and Redhat on a desktop. Then again, I take the time to liberally configure all the servers I install so as to be as secure as possible. I haven't tried SuSE or Debian yet, but I've got a spare box at home I'm going to be loading one or the other on.

 

[Nothinman]

Slackware is, by all accounts, the closest distro linux has to a BSD.

Which kills it because BSD init sucks and slack's half-package management sucks. Compiling things from source is dumb, especially on a server where having a compiler installed can be a security risk.

 

[SUOrangeman]

If you truly want to hit the ground running with Linux, KNOPPIX is the way to go. 700MB download that is up and running in two minutes or less. I'm not saying that you will actually learning anything about Linux using KNOPPIX, but it is hands-down the fastest way to get Linux running on your PC.

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

-SUO

 

[Spyro]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
Depends on the system ... if you are installing it on an old old PC like a 486 or Pentium ... you are gonna need to go with an old distro, or any version of like .. slack or probably Debian .....

If you have a nice system .. and you are lazy .. and want all the eyecandy of KDE3.1 ... then I recommend Mandrake 9.1

Huh, getting mandrake 9.1 just for eye candy??? Debian has KDE 3.1 too, and nothing beats apt-get and a good sources.list.

 

[civad]

originally posted by: Nothinman{/b]
I recommend Debian no matter what the system is, there's no reason to sacrifice usability and install something like Mandrake just because you have a decent box =)

Having used both Mandrake and Debian for long periods of time, I must say Debian is better of the two for those who are willing to actually RTFM

 

[TJ22]

I am also looking in to a new version of linux. I have run Mandrake and Redhat and they seem the same to me.

I want to run it on a desktop and to be provided the best packages for anything such as multimedia, video editting, gaming, Desktop and a control panel that is well organized so I can control my rpms and hardware. I like to avoid the command line when possible.

What is best for that?

Also what are the strengths or weakness of the following and WHAT IS BSD? WHY is it different?

Slackware
Debian
Redhat
Mandrake
Suse

 

[Nothinman]

I like to avoid the command line when possible.

Then maybe you shouldn't install Linux. As many leaps and bounds as Mandrake and RedHat have made you will eventually be forced to do things from the cli. IMHO that's a good thing, the cli is much faster and simpler than wading through 32x32 icons just to install software.

 

[DaveR]

As I just found out by d/l'ing Mandrake 9.1, Knoppix, Redhat9, and Alt Linux Junior, LINUX has sure changed. I am no expert, but I am also not a "gnubee".

I had a 486 and was amazed at how much faster Linux was than Win95. Linux, mostly RH and MDK have been fine whenever I used it.

That said, I have downloaded all of the above to "play with" on an old P200MMX. My gosh...what did they do to linix????

They are as slow as Win XP, but usable.

My thoughts....I believe I will go back to Mandrake 9.1...if any...although I may try Debian.

Redhat9...Mostly GNOME support...very few packages for KDE.
Mandrake9.1...rather complete but puts too much on system...in case. Does not have stuff like XNC, Linneighborhood, etc on 3CD distro. KDS Control panel is great and config tools seem to be better for me than RedHat.

Knoppix is great as it does not use hdd. You can boot it from cd (or floppy) and play all you want...go to sites with junque on them and know when you shut down, nothing is left on your machine.

I tried Alt Linux last night, but is mostly MDK anyway, so I may as well stay with that.

Anyway, I replied as I just am now going thru the same decision as you!



q]Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
Depends on the system ... if you are installing it on an old old PC like a 486 or Pentium ... you are gonna need to go with an old distro, or any version of like .. slack or probably Debian .....

If you have a nice system .. and you are lazy .. and want all the eyecandy of KDE3.1 ... then I recommend Mandrake 9.1[/quote]