Your favorite Linux distro and why?

**~~Modzilla~~** · 02-11-2008, 10:19 AM

I'm looking to try a linux distribution for basic desktop functions (word processing, email, internet) and crunching. What would you recommend and why? Any other advice for linux newbies? Thanks

**babalouj** · 02-11-2008, 11:06 AM

Ubuntu, its very easy and the newer distro comes with everything you need.

**yankee** · 02-11-2008, 07:31 PM

Do you shy away from the CLI and hashing out solutions on your own? Linux might not be for you. I've used linux on and off for about 4 years, and have found this consistently to be the case.

I've used SUSE, Fedora, and Debian. Of the 3 I've found that once you get the right repos into YUM, Fedora is quite usable.

**MentholMoose** · 02-12-2008, 12:09 AM

I use Gentoo on my desktop PC, mainly for the completeness of the package repository (portage). Virtually everything I need is in it. I've used other distributions, but I hated having to search around for 3rd party packages, and hoping they would work and be trustworthy. Also, most packages are updated very soon after a new release, whereas other distributions sometimes take longer.

Ubuntu or Fedora might be better choices for a newbie, because they seem to hold your hand through more tasks.

**AriciU** · 02-12-2008, 01:26 AM

Arch Linux.

It's optimized for i686 so it's as fast as Slackware 12 (my 2nd favourite distro) and Gentoo and faster and snappier then Ubuntu.

It's very easy to use once you get it installed and configured. The arch linux wiki will tell you everything you need to know to get it going. Basically you just need to manually edit some files with a text editor and change a few lines... very easy and all is explained in the wiki.

The PACMAN package manager is the best there is IMO, no need to compile every single thing like with Gentoo (very time consuming IMO, i gave up on it 3 times after an "emerge -auDN world") and also faster and better (IMO) then Debian/Ubuntu's APT.

It's bleeding edge, you will always have the newest versions of packages available and quickly installable, including the latest stable kernel's.

It's a rolling release. This means that even if you installed some old version of Arch 2 years ago a simple Pacman -Syu (total system update) will get everything up to date. What this also means is that you never have to install Arch again, ever. No matter how many versions come out in the next years... Pacman takes care of that and always keeps you up to date with everything.

It just works and it follows the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) philosophy.

**apt403** · 02-12-2008, 05:19 AM

I've been using Ubuntu as my primary OS for a while now, only boot into Windows for gaming and benching. Easy to use, eye candy that beats Vista with Compiz Fusion + Emerald and all that good stuff enabled, and Debian based (gotta love apt-get.).

Arch Linux is definitely worth mentioning though, very snappy OS.

I'd try a few different distros, never can tell what you'll like best until you've played around for a while.

**masterpain** · 02-12-2008, 05:40 AM

i like debian etch, runs fine on my r52. no problems

**nfm** · 02-12-2008, 08:15 PM

See this http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
I'm a fan of Debian based distributions DEBs are so much more convenient than RPMs. All distributions are equally of the same speed, it depends on what arch packages were compiled for and how much crap is installed. Gentoo is no faster than Ubuntu, but i686 is faster than i386. x86_64 based GNU/Linux are the fastest dist. becomes they do not support older cpus that might not support features such ass floating point or sse instructions. x86_64 based packages are compiled will all optimizations that particular program can offer. If you have a 64-bit cpu I recommended amd64 arch dist. If you are Linux veteran you will probably choose to run Slackware based dist., the are clean and simple. If you want a dist. that just works I would go with Suse 10.3, other than that I strongly recommend Ubuntu.

**Fujimitsu** · 02-12-2008, 08:56 PM

For a linux newbie?

Ubuntu

It's the hardest to break

**AriciU** · 02-13-2008, 12:40 AM

Ubuntu hardest to break? You probably never been in APT-HELL before (try apt-get -f install or specify a solution manually). That's the main reason i gave up on Debian based distros

**uOpt** · 02-13-2008, 03:20 PM

Ubuntu or Debian. They are the same thing under the hood, but Ubuntu has a nicer installer and updater.

Don't touch Fedora. If you think apt is bad you haven't seen their crap, and instead of fixing it they always rewrite it.

However, with Debian and Ubuntu you don't want to mix 32 and 64 bits, they really suck at that. Either decide to live without any 32 bit (that means no flash plugin, no video playing with Win32 codes etc.) or install the 32 bit version.

Myself I use FreeBSD when I can but it's not the right thing for a casual user.

**Newblar** · 02-24-2008, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by Fujimitsu

For a linux newbie?

Ubuntu

It's the hardest to break

tee hee hee

**fordf250** · 02-24-2008, 11:20 AM

ubuntu in my laptop and fedora 8 in my desktop both are awsome and easy to use.

**nfm** · 02-28-2008, 01:30 AM

@AriciU was acutally right, the Arch Linux is much snappier than Ubuntu, I'm loving this distro so far. GNOME in Arch is basic and much faster, the use memory of is minimal. It literally feels like Xfce on Ubuntu. Anybody seeking fast GUI, be it KDE or GNOME, Arch Linux is a perfect choice.

**MotF Bane** · 02-28-2008, 07:12 PM

I'm new to Linux myself, and have only tried Fedora 8 and Ubuntu 7.10 so far. I prefer Fedora so far, as it seems faster than Ubuntu, particularly during start-up.

**TRF-Inferno** · 02-28-2008, 09:30 PM

Pardus Linux. This one is financially backed by the Turkish government, but the English language support is excellent. It is also the most 'Complete' Linux distribution I've seen so far, and it is extremely beginner friendly.

**rintamarotta** · 03-09-2008, 09:25 AM

Kubuntu 7.10, its simply best i have used so far.

**Giacomo** · 03-14-2008, 04:56 PM

Strange to notice very few Gentoo recommendations here on XtremeSystems. Well, that's my choice: if you're a newbie it's surely harder to learn, but while you proceed, you get more and more astonished by Portage.

If you're in trouble, and you have an another "stable" platform to access mIRC, you can join #gentoo on irc.freenode.org and be quite helped.

Giacomo

**kiikkuja** · 04-01-2008, 04:18 AM

Originally Posted by uOpt

Ubuntu or Debian. They are the same thing under the hood, but Ubuntu has a nicer installer and updater.

Don't touch Fedora. If you think apt is bad you haven't seen their crap, and instead of fixing it they always rewrite it.

However, with Debian and Ubuntu you don't want to mix 32 and 64 bits, they really suck at that. Either decide to live without any 32 bit (that means no flash plugin, no video playing with Win32 codes etc.) or install the 32 bit version.

Myself I use FreeBSD when I can but it's not the right thing for a casual user.

That's not entirely true because I and many others have used mplayer with 32-bit codecs for a long time...theres lot of work to be done but things are getting better all the time but depending on usage i'd say the compatibility issues with 64-bit Ubuntu are gone.

To make long point short I would recommend firstly Ubuntu 7.10 or the 8.04 version. But as mentioned earlier Gentoo is a great choice too...it just takes
a bigger geek than I am to configure and install it.

**~~Modzilla~~** · 04-01-2008, 05:40 AM

I got Kubuntu up and running, seems to have everything I need, easy install on older hardware. Thanks to all for the input.

**Chipp** · 04-01-2008, 04:27 PM

I'm personally fond of Debian. I am willing to trade some bleeding-edge tech for overall stability and massive package selections. (I just migrated my systems to Lenny last weekend)

**[XC] NetburstXE** · 04-01-2008, 05:50 PM

Kubuntu. Very fast even on older hardware, regular updates, KDE is great, and easy installer.

**SmaKKed** · 04-02-2008, 08:58 PM

Im a big Archlinux fan
Pacman is awesome and it is completly modular install, only install what you want nothing more.

www.archlinux.org

**karbonkid** · 04-03-2008, 05:29 AM

Bluewhite64 - It's a port of slackware to 64-bit hardware (although it can still run IA32 apps with the IA32-emulation modules). It's unbelievably fast.

Simple and easy-to-use, and a great way to learn Linux without being hindered by the silly hand-holding that Ubuntu gives you. And fast. Fast fast fast.

www.bluewhite64.com

Did I mention that it's fast?

**enteon** · 04-05-2008, 09:20 AM

i prefer sidux.
sidux is 99% debian sid and likely to be the only fully debian compatible derivate distribution.
updating ought to be done by a sript called smxi in init3. but apart from that, it's like having debian but with bleeding-edge software. never had any system related crash for nearly one year now. the only thing that can happen is that something goes wrong while updating, happened two times, but repaired itself after a couple of days.

i like debian.
i like new software.
i like updating 3 times a day

(32Mbit rulez

)
i like sidux

EDIT: http://www.sidux.com/