Post if you use Linux, which distro and why?

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Hi all im still a n00b when it comes to Linux.

I use Kubuntu 5.03 Hoary

Mainly as it uses KDE as its Desktop management (much eye candy)

and also as it is based on Debian its range of available packages is pretty huge..

Tried quite a few others like Fedora, SuSE, Mandriva and red hat but i find Kubuntu is the best distro ive tried yet



Moved to Linux Forum (J)

 

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I'll let you all in on a big secret. I use Debian....

It has the best package management system around, at least imo. It's very stable, operating system wise, and it's stable as far as not constantly changing, which I find to be a good thing. Many people don't like that about Debian, but I do.

I also like it because it is a system that allows you customize it in many different ways. I can use just about any window manager I choose to. I have 8 of them installed on my desktop machine just so I can familiarize myself with a lot of them. I'm not limited to KDE or Gnome.


I also like how easy it is to get security updates. I think it's both easier and faster than Windows update by quite a bit. That being said I like how almost everything in Debian can be configured through text files. Learning to configure all the different aspects of the OS allows a person to learn a lot about the OS. Just using Debian has made me a much more knowledgeable computer guy. Even my Windows skills have improved because I know more about how computers operate.

 

This debate is as old as the hills (well...maybe not quite that old) and without clear resolution. As always, I've got a couple of links that might help out:

http://www.linux-tutorial.info/article-211--0-0.html

http://www.linux-tutorial.info/article-176--0-0.html

 

Fedora.

It's the only one that I could get to install properly on MS Virtual PC 2004!!!



I don't get to use it very often though as I just can't find the time to learn it. I keep trying though!

 

I use Gentoo, funilly enough for the same reasons Freddy describes
it has by far the best package management system of any source based distro (as opposed to apt, which is pre compiled binaries) and thats one of the things i like, everythings compiled from source!

Its intuitive use of USE flags to help set compilation options opens up massive possibilities
Its build from scratch nature means its fully optimised for my system, secure from the ground up (nothing is installed till I install it and i mean nothing, i have to compile my own syslog demon ffs!)

Its a wonderfully support distro too, with the likes of gentoo-wiki and gentoos own documentation and handbook second to none against other distros (bar maybe FreeBSD and its ports system from which gentoos package management system is based on)

Over the years I have tried no less than 20 distros, from Red Hat 7 to DragonflyBSD many of these for a long period of time, and generall more than one at a time
but since finding gentoo, and actually taking the time to learn and understand it, I have used very little else, I use it at work, I use it at home in more than one place, and it hasn't let me down yet
I've also managed to find info on how to build a gentoo system to a working state in under 90 minutes (processor dependant) and then doing the further optimisations afterwards, so you still have a working system whilst it compiles, which puts installation (bar optimisation) more on par with other distros/windows, albiet this doesnt include EVERYTHING, and it doesnt quite match debians 5 minute install lol

 

Ubuntu. A complete Linux novice. Was recommended to it by Phoenix and I have to say it is worth the learning curve which I am very slowly taking.

 

I use a kinda Redhat build, got VMWare ESX Server 2.5 running on a couple of boxes at home and unfortunately it's not possible to do everything from the nice and easy web interface.....

 

does that mean that ubuntu would be a better bet to try first?

 

freebsd, although technically that isn't a linux distro.

 

Ubuntu is getting a glowing reputation as being very user friendly, and easy to use for the novice.

 

Just thought i'd give a big thumbs up to my current distro archlinux.

It's i686 optimised and isn't any slower than my previous gentoo installation that was built from scratch.

Obviously installing binaries instead of compiling from source is a great plus point in terms of speed as well, plus the user base is now big enough so you no longer feel like you're 'going it alone'

Excellent package management system (its called PacMan - get it?!) and the best distro i've used.

 

Linux: Well I use Mandrake 9 and 10 a fair bit for firewalls and print servers etc, and also Redhat 9. I would like to play with Gentoo and Debian but have to find the time [I understand Debian works well on certain laptops]

Unix: I have Solaris 10, having used Solaris back to version 7 on Intel, and even earlier back to SUN 4.2.6 etc on SUN hardware.
I would like to try BSD - but once again have to find the time.