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Hi guys!

What do you think is the best Linux distribution? Out of all out there, what offers the best ease of use and functionality etc

Cheers,

Calum

P.S At the moment I'm downloading Red Hat 9, I read that it was pretty good....

The only distro I've used so far as more than something to fiddle with is Gentoo, it works reasonably well, unfortunately the guides are very unspecific about finding and configuring binary download servers which virtually forces you to compile everything from scratch, if you have 1-2 days to go without the computer and 2-3 without a GUI environment then it's ok.

The second main benefit everyone goes on about with Gentoo is the customization, portage makes it relatively easy to choose what you do and don't want programs to support and compiles them for you automatically with that stuff you want added/removed. (The main "reason" is performance through the customization of build flags to build with whatever optimizations you want, Gentoo did run a lot smoother than Mandrake when I tried that but I doubt the flag customizations make that much difference)

The other distro that is meant to be good in customization and management is Debian except that it never builds from source AFAIK, not that that is necessarily a bad thing...

Also, Ubuntu is meant to be easy to use.

The best linux distro depends on what you want to do with your linux machine. Also, that's a question that's going to get very subjective answers. Personally, I would recommend the following ones:

1. Ubuntu Linux - Easy, out-of-the-box, up and running, pretty, well put-together, debian based, commercial backing, being developed by some of the leaders in open source today. Also, they send you free CD's. Yay!
http://www.ubuntulinux.org

2. Slackware Linux - Everyone seems to like slackware. I only use it at work and I've had no problems. It's pretty good. The package management is great too.
http://www.slackware.org

3. Gentoo Linux - If you want to have a crash course in Linux and come out a hardcore linux guy, this is the one. Plus it has one of the best package management systems ever. If you want complete control over your system, you'd like this. I don't recommed this if you don't have a decent internet connection. You have to download a heck of a lot of stuff. It's designed to be used on a network.
http://www.gentoo.org

Me, I'm also using Gentoo on both my machines. The package management (handling dependencies, retro-fitting functionality, update handling of kernel / gcc / glibc, ... ) absolutely rocks, and configuration is done exactly where the package docs say it's done (with a text editor in /etc/...).

Gentoo support (in form of the excellent installation handbook, docs, forum, Wikis and IRC channels) is second to none.

But I second the cons, too:

• you need good internet (ISDN doesn't really suffice);
• you need some patience and / or quick hardware (compiling KDE can take quite some time);
• you have to be willing to learn Linux since Gentoo doesn't supply you with some eye-candy all-inclusive installer / config GUI (which fails miserably as soon as you leave the mainstream).

If Gentoo isn't for you, Ubuntu / Kubuntu would be number two on my list as they follow similar principles of simplicity without going for the source-based distribution Gentoo does.

I myself use Ubuntu.

Awesome....

I ordered some Ubuntu CD's, even though I have T1 broadband, I just thought that pressed discs would look better

Cheers,

Calum

True, although I will mention their shipping process isn't that fast. I didn't have a burner so I had no choice but to have them send me cd's. And it took about 2 months for them to arrive.

Gentoo is best.
It's heaps of work, but what is written in the manual does actually apply here - it actually works as described (something i never saw anywhere else before ).
And you have full controll.

Slackware, because I can have control over my system, without needing a pretty fast computer to compile programs.. I already used other distributions like Redhat and SuSE, and Slackware is still one of the fastest distributions out there, while being useful.

I'm using it at my other workstation.

Freanan wrote: Gentoo is best.
It's heaps of work, but what is written in the manual does actually apply here - it actually works as described (something i never saw anywhere else before ).
And you have full controll.

Voting for Gentoo too.

It's an excellent compromise (IMHO) between the full control, optimization and minimalism a Linux from scratch installation would provide and comfort (I just say one word: emerge)

I started off with Linux from scratch, so I didn't really have problems with the low-level stuff you have to deal with, I guess it can be quite hard for the beginning :\. But I still have to say that _no other_ linux distro, and in fact no other OS has _ever_ worked better for me - even when some people laugh at me typing things into the terminal....but it is true: as soon as you create idiot proof software, nature creates a better idiot . So go on and learn to use a computer.

cheers Joe

JoeKayzA wrote:even when some people laugh at me typing things into the terminal....but it is true: as soon as you create idiot proof software, nature creates a better idiot . So go on and learn to use a computer.

I know the feeling. People wonder why I use dos commands when I have windows. Same for my linux, I use the terminal for everything.

What about Debian? Where would that stand?

Neo wrote: What about Debian? Where would that stand?

Debian ought to be good, I think I'm going to like the packaging system in Debian. (btw, we're talking about Debian GNU/Linux?;), never used Debian GNU/Hurd though)

Either way, never tested it before, although there are good reviews about Debian Linux

even when some people laugh at me typing things into the terminal...

Sometimes I really like the console far more than X. X tends to be slow, especially if you want to do some compiling, or just want to play a MP3., or want to download a huge file.. without having to wait. VC's rock!

Neo wrote: What about Debian? Where would that stand?

Ubuntu is based off debian, so he will be getting a debian system when his discs come.

The best Linux distro is LFS.