Choosing the best Linux
 

Hey Guys,

Continuing from the Solaris 10 thread, I started a new thread since it wasn't about the Solaris OS anymore. I was convinced by some of my peers to go with Linux OS rather than Solaris and I'm doing some research into which core version of Linux to use. So far, I've been looking at Mandrake and Fedora and I'm leaning toward to Fedora but I wanted to hear from linux users on TFP on which distribution to install.

http://www.linuxiso.org
http://shots.osdir.com/

Are some of the places I've been getting some of my information. Basically what I wanted to use Linux for is mainly programming, I find that using Unix based operating systems tends to be better when it comes to running java based programs that I'm doing for school and career. Windows is too flaky when it comes to running java programs but that's just my opinion.

Well, I'm using Mandrake right now, and I really like it, but I think it's really up to your level and what you plan to use it for.

I'm a die hard Debian fan.

Second to Debian, I actually started with Red Hat, moved to Mandrake, and eventually switched to Debian. Biggest pro's are an awesome repository system and updates are gradual, if you use testing.

Do you have any experience in a *nix environment? I get the impression that you have, but I want to be sure. I always recommend Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) as the number one hands down best noob distro. All of the Drake tools make setup and installation a breeze and it's a fairly robust environment to learn your way around.

Having said that, choosing a distro is a pretty personal thing. I'm partial to Fedora myself, but it's worth remembering that there are so many distros out there for a reason. Slackware gets good press for the minimalists, Fedora and it's parent are pretty popular, Debian has a pretty good following. Hell, I know a few hardcore BSD guys, although they're less common. My advice? Pick a direction and go; the worst is you won't like it, so you'll choose another distro to try.

Having said that, my personal preferences are definitely either Mandriva or Fedora.

Yeah, I'm pretty familar with Unix based operating systems, especially Solaris and since most of my school work and programming are done on unix environment, I wanted to change my laptop's OS to Linux. I would prefer to use Unix systems since in my experience, java programs tend to run more smoothly than they do on Windows OS.

You'll find larger communities with Debian, Fedora, Mandriva, but I like <a href="ubuntu.com">Ubuntu</a> overall for a workstation box.

I still prefer FreeBSD for server use.

If you are comfortable using Unix, then you are not afraid of the command line, or editing configuration files by hand, and so on. In that case, I recommend Arch Linux. At least, that's what I use. Although you may want to wait until version 0.7.2 is officially released, as it will contain the new modular Xorg, and save you the hassles of upgrading it manually.

real programmers dont do windows :D

I use Debian, apt-get is (in my opinion anyways) the best package manager.
If you like the down and dirty compile everything yourself and forgo gui installers and configuration tools then Slackware is a great choice too.

I started using linux with redhat 7.2, 7.3, 8, 9, fc1 then switched to slackware (for work) then decided to give debian a try at home and love it.

I find that that's frequently the opinion of those who haven't tried Gentoo's Portage system. It's the slickest thing ever. It resolves conflicts like it's got ESP.

I've been using Linux ever since the copy of Corel OpenLinux I bought at Best Buy eight years ago. Gentoo's far and away the best distro I've ever seen in terms of flexibility, customization, and power. Used to be if you really wanted to KNOW your system, you installed Slackware. These days, you install Gentoo, and you do it in 1/10th the time.

Just to self-promote.. see the sticky New To Linux? Want To Try It? Read here!.

I used Gentoo for about 2-3 years, and I still love apt-get more :D Gentoo's system is great, but it takes a lot of patience to install everything. That is... unless you go with just binary copies, but there aren't a lot of those out there in the (main) portage tree.

I use Ubuntu now, just for ease of use. It does what I want how I want without a lot of screwing around, and when I want to have fun/dig deeper into the system, I can.

Ubuntu. I've been trying Linux on the desktop for several years now, but never have I found a distro that "just works" as much as Ubuntu does. And it still retains the power of a Debian system.

Projects such as Automatix for Ubuntu will also setup and install all the programs, codecs, etc, that you need to make a good desktop. It's a lifesaver.

Well, I'm gonna download and try out Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian and SUSE.

I'll get back to you guys on what I've decided on :D

If you're using apt-get, then you obviously haven't tried "aptitude" for debian. Use aptitude in place of apt-get and see if you like it any better. Also, from the command line, you can just type aptitude and go from there.

i've been using ubuntu for the past couple months... like it a lot...

need to reinstall tho i think i messed something up with all that experimenting and learning i was doing the first few weeks

I'd say try Ubuntu if you want something that just works, or Gentoo if you like to fiddle with things. Both have excellent package systems.
I'd stay away from any RPM-based distro. Maybe it's just me but I've always had problems with those (Except Mandrake 7 which kicked ass).

Well, I may as well jump into the frey... For me it depends on what the end application is. For business-class servers, I like to run Debian. It's solid, fairly slim and has a decent port system. For highly secure servers, or whenever I can get away with it, I prefer BSD to linux (usually FreeBSD or OpenBSD... never been a fan of NetBSD). For my home system, I LOVE SuSE linux. I'm not sure why, but SuSE always just seems to work the way I want it to every time.

Gentoo is great for hobby system, Ubuntu is good for people with light linux experience. *shrug* There is no "best system" in my opinion. Everyone likes the look and feel of different things. Remember that, unlike BSD, linux all uses the SAME kernel, and therefore the only difference in distribution is the defauly applications. You can install SuSE and the install apt-get to download packages. It's really just preference. BSD, however, uses different kernels and systems per distro, so things are not always cross-distro usable (actually, they rarely are 100%).

so i checked out aptitude last night, not bad, but honestly if i want to get away from pure command line, ill use kpackage instead.