What‘s your favorite Linux distro?

What‘s your favorite Linux distro?

Dec. 07, 2002 A DesktopLinux.com reader, ‘TitanRebel‘, takes a look at the various Linux distros and gives us an assessment . . . This is my opinion on the various distros that I have tried. I‘m not a Linux expert at all. I have been using some flavor of Linux for about 2 years now, and have become proficient with Linux. Here are things that I noticed about some of the distro‘s that I have tried . . . Suse 7.1 Pro, 8.0 Personal, 8.1 Pro -- Pros: Good stable desktop and server distro. Great games included in both Personal and Pro (racer). Cutting edge features. Good looking KDE interface. Easy to dual boot with Windows and/or Linux since it creates auto-mount icons on the desktop for other partitions on your drive(s). Easy to configure with YaST. Cons: Spotty hardware support. 8.0 and 8.1 couldn‘t detect my very popular monitor (Viewsonic A70). However, these were the only distro‘s that installed flawlessly on my laptop (Dell Inspiron 8100; Redhat and Mandrake could not start X until I downloaded the NVidia drivers and installed them.). Updating from the Suse site would "hang" sometimes. When I updated to the Suse NVidia drivers, the 3D games would not detect that I had 3D accelerated hardware (8.1 Pro only). YaST would overwrite manual changes that I made to some configuration files. I couldn‘t figure out how to make some changes except by hand, but once I made a change by hand I couldn‘t use YaST anymore or it would overwrite my changes. Redhat 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.0 downloaded versions -- Pros: Lots of help and How-Tos on the web for Redhat. Lots of RPMs made for Redhat. Most commercial software and drivers support some version of Redhat. Leading Linux development platform. Great GNOME support. The new Bluecurve look and feel in 8.0 is really good looking and much easier to use. Cons: Sometimes they are so far on the cutting edge of some packages that it creates problems. Very conservative as far as multimedia support. For example, in 8.0 there is no support for MP3, Real Player, Flash, and the downloaded versions of Real and Flash won‘t work because Redhat uses a newer version of some libraries (or something like that). Not as many tools to help with configuration. Mandrake 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 9.0 downloaded versions: Pros: Easy to use interface with good configuration tools. Finally, an RPM distro that is trying to learn from Debian with package management. Lots of software (RPMs) on the web. Lots of users, user groups, and help on the web. Best of both worlds...Easy to use interface that doesn‘t compromise on features, flexability, or power. Cons: The company doesn‘t seem to have a good grasp of its direction. It‘s no longer the easiest to use distro for newbies (that would be Lycoris, Lindows, or Xandros), and it hasn‘t found it‘s way into very many coporate server rooms either. I know these aren‘t really cons of the distro, but they are concerns of mine since this is my distro of choice...at least for now. Lycoris build 44 and 46: Pros: The easiest to use Linux distro that I have tried. Very simple install, and then it just works. Doesn‘t confuse the user with choice because it only includes one application for each type of application (one email client - Mozilla Mail, one browser - Mozilla, etc...). Very professional looking artwork. Windows users will feel right at home because they have added many Windows-like features. Great community (www.lycoris.org). Users are informative and nice (no RTFM responses!). Cons: Limited hardware support. It wouldn‘t even begin to install on my laptop. Very limited software selection (RPMs). This is the reason that I don‘t use it any more. There are just no packages available for it, although I hear that it‘s getting a little better. Debian Woody: Pros: Package management and upgrades. Once you get it installed and configured you will never have to buy or download another set of disks again. Just use apt-get to upgrade to the next version or to install individual packages. Lots of .deb packages available on the web. Cons: Old non-GUI installer is not very easy to use. The apt-get is not as easy to use as advertised. I could never get KDE or GNOME downloaded and installed. Admittedly, I didn‘t give this distro very much time. I could have put forth more effort to learn apt, but I just didn‘t have the time. Maybe I will revisit this distro some day. Gentoo 1.2: Pros: Package management and upgrades. Like Debian, once you get it installed you can upgrade and install from the web, never needing to get CD‘s again. All/Most of the packages are compiled and optimized for your particular hardware. Cons: I couldn‘t ever get this to install. It takes forever to install and compile everything. This is definately a distro for those with time and desire to custumize their Linux distro to fit their needs exactly. In summary, I think the ultimate distro for most casual users will be one that you don‘t notice. In other words, one that just works, and lets you get work done. Of the ones I‘ve used, Lycoris comes the closest to this, but is very limited if you want to install other applications. This is probably where Linux needs the most work. Why can‘t all RPM packages work on all RPM distros??? Mandrake is the one I use now because I know enough to want to tinker and add new interesting packages, but I like easy to use interfaces. Have an opinion about your favorite distro? Check out the DesktopLinux.com forums, and weigh in with your opinion, or vote in our poll . . .