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Other BSD and UNIX/UNIX-like Any other flavour of BSD or UNIX that does not have a section of its own.

View Poll Results: what linux distro do you use and/or like?
Redhat / Centos 24 15.09%
Suse 4 2.52%
Debian 36 22.64%
Slackware 30 18.87%
Gentoo 13 8.18%
Ubuntu 23 14.47%
Others 29 18.24%
Voters: 159. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 5th June 2008
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Default what linux distro do you use and/or like?

what linux distro do you use and/or like? (i know its a dumb question.)

i want to use linux but am unable to decide which distro to use ... I need something developer centric but at the same time reasonably stable (which rules out fedora).
i am hoping this poll will help me decide.

Last edited by ephemera; 5th June 2008 at 05:14 PM.
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Old 5th June 2008
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I use Debian , it is stable and good distro and it is very big distro
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Old 5th June 2008
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All desktop computers at work run Ubuntu. This is why I also use it as a Desktop. It just works. However, I haven't tried that much Linux distributions. For other needs, I run *BSDs.
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Old 21st April 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stukov View Post
All desktop computers at work run Ubuntu. This is why I also use it as a Desktop. It just works. However, I haven't tried that much Linux distributions. For other needs, I run *BSDs.
where do you work?
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Old 5th June 2008
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I use Ubuntu currently, but I'll definitely switch to Gentoo or Linux From Scratch. I just need more experience.
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Old 5th June 2008
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Geez! Yes... err ... wel ...
Voted for others.

I like Debian, largest ports collection available, but on -current. These are kanopix and sidux.
Also like puppylinux, rather the deviant grafpup. (Read what he says about first user=sudo).
Just depends on the usage: appendable CDROM liveCD or ports availability.
Now, for any other usage, it is Slackware. At least with slackware you don't have to search for *-devel or headers and can GNU-make sources.

Now, for Xen VMs I would choose CentOS (although getting the source collection for a given CentOS kernel in a real pain in the "a"{dollars}.
Better go OpenSolaris.
I used to install Ubuntu, but can't get my TV cards to have sound before breaking an app (have to break kdetv with no sound, to get motv working with sound and kdetv exiting with errors). Farewell Ubuntu, but without me.

Haven't a goot working VMware anymore.

Lastly, some apps only run on the distro they have been written for (typical Linuxism, bash-ism, UTF-8-ism, ...) . Hence, like it or not, I sometimes need one distro for one app.
Thanks gawd, there is GRUB.

All in all, slackware for debugging purposes, grafpup to cd/usb boot from anywhere with my desktop apps. OpenSolaris to keep informed.
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Old 6th June 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greencross View Post
I use Ubuntu currently, but I'll definitely switch to Gentoo or Linux From Scratch. I just need more experience.
Gentoo doesn't have the quality that it used to. Save yourself the trouble and run Debian Sid. That's what I'm running, and I switched over from Gentoo.
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Old 6th June 2008
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Centos is my choice when it comes to Linux. I use whenever I can't install FreeBSD.
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Old 6th June 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ninjatux View Post
Gentoo doesn't have the quality that it used to. Save yourself the trouble and run Debian Sid. That's what I'm running, and I switched over from Gentoo.
Well, actually I tried to launch Gentoo 2007 live DVD on my machine (very common, non-exotic one), but it stopped halfway after loading the kernel. Frankly I was disappointed and didn't even bother to google about this. I've been looking forward to the next release.
By the way what are your particular reasons to ditch Gentoo? Not for holy war, just to understand your position.
PS. Anyway my primary OS is still FreeBSD.

Last edited by greencross; 6th June 2008 at 12:24 PM.
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Old 7th June 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greencross View Post
Well, actually I tried to launch Gentoo 2007 live DVD on my machine (very common, non-exotic one), but it stopped halfway after loading the kernel. Frankly I was disappointed and didn't even bother to google about this. I've been looking forward to the next release.
By the way what are your particular reasons to ditch Gentoo? Not for holy war, just to understand your position.
PS. Anyway my primary OS is still FreeBSD.
Just to give some background, I was using Gentoo for over two years. Since 2005, I've seen quality go down the drain. It takes ages for packages to get into stable, and it wasn't like that before. I ran unstable for most of my time with Gentoo. On top of that, the default set of USE flags for each package more than likely give you a butchered package. For example, MPD (MusicPD) has support for almost every common media format out there, but by default Gentoo only enables a handful. You need to adjust the per-package USE flags. To do this, you have to look them up because they are not self-explanatory. It's the same for every other package. Plus, now you have package managers like Paludis being developed and support by some developers, while others continue to use Portage or pkgcore. I understand choice, but at least developers should use the same platform. This is one thing that got to me. I run KDE SVN, now KDE 4.1 Beta 1, and the Gentoo KDE 4 team switched midway to Paludis. I did not want to install Paludis, but I had to. I didn't like it, and I ended up breaking my system. I've broken my Gentoo system about eight or nine times, about three in the past six months, and I've used stable flags for years. So, I just about had it.

These days, I'm of the mindset that optimizations don't always yield real-world results. I say that because I run Debian. Unless Debian compiles all its packages with suitable optimizations and then tests each package, packages on Debian are just as fast as those on Gentoo, if not faster. Firefox always crawled for me on Gentoo and was one of the buggiest I've ever seen. It's never been like that on OS X or Debian or FreeBSD for that matter. And, I wouldn't be able to have all my programs installed on Gentoo and the system configured the way I need in one hour, at most two hours, as I've been able to on Debian. I guess I just look more for the "it just works" rather than the theoretical "it works best". I don't know if you can really test the latter, as much as Gentoo claims.

So, I guess distance from the Gentoo philosophy kind of got to me. One thing I liked about Gentoo was the USE flags system, but after using FreeBSD for a while, it's very very poorly implemented. I like how FreeBSD lets you do per-package optimizations without ever having to make additional configuration files. The way FreeBSD does it is the best, and I'd like to see more of that in Gentoo, but until I do, I stick with Debian.

Last edited by ninjatux; 7th June 2008 at 12:33 AM.
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Old 7th June 2008
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thanks everyone for the suggestions.

just finished installing debian. its by no means perfect but i think this time i will stick with it.
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Old 11th June 2008
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If I can't use BSD, it's CentOS. Why? Because it's YUMmy and very stable for server jobs. As for workstations, staying within the Red Hat bloodlines, I prefer Fedora.
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Old 11th June 2008
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Yum isn't all that strong of a package manager, but anyone is entitled to their opinion and have choices.
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Old 5th June 2008
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In theory I'd run Debian -- I like their attitude and their preference in leaning toward absolute stability in their aptly named 'stable' release.

But in practice I run and am very happy with the RHEL family (RHEL servers at work; CentOS laptop at home).

If I could make a recommendation, it'd be to test drive a few different Linux distros, select your favorite, and then stick with it. There are substantial differences between distro foo and distro bar in everything from package management to startup and initialization eccentricities to community cultures. In my experience, "specializing" in one distro is a lot more productive than hopping around every few months. YMMV.
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Old 5th June 2008
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I use CentOS for work apps I've had problems running in OpenBSD. It works fine, and since it's pretty much mirrored off Red Hat Enterprise, it's got a lot of popularity (which is important if you don't know what you're doing.)

But I would agree with the advice above- for your first couple of years pick a distro and stick with it (unless it seriously disagrees with you.) Too many have bopped around from distro to distro while learning the ropes, only to find themselves utterly confused.
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Old 5th June 2008
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I already mentioned it several times, Draco GNU/Linux [ http://dracolinux.org ]

why:
-- NetBSD's pkgsrc.org package management by default
-- OSS instead of ALSA shit
-- configuration with /etc/rc.conf
-- BSD init scripts
-- Slackware based
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Old 6th June 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vermaden View Post
...
-- OSS instead of ALSA shit
...
Isn't ALSA the only reason to run Linux? (I mean... flashplayer9)
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Old 6th June 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cubo View Post
Isn't ALSA the only reason to run Linux? (I mean... flashplayer9)
I do not care about this shit also

The only things I would run Linux for are GFX support (Intel X3000), working Wine and Virtualization (kvm, virtualbox, xen).

As for virtualization and gfx also Solaris is ok, but it almost does not have a package management :/ and wine is years behind Linux.
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Old 5th June 2008
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I use Debian (Lenny) due to the fact it's very much a 'rolling-release' meaning I can keep it up to date without having to reinstall the whole system - a useful concept that both Fedora and Ubuntu (and others) seem incapable of doing.
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Old 5th June 2008
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There are only about two distros that I have any respect for, Debian and Slackware.


If I was going to setup a Linux desktop for serious (long term) use, I'd go with Slackware if possible (y) or create a personalized Linux From Scratch of my own.


I would suggest Ubuntu or going Distro-Hunting if you're inquisitive about different distros to use. Ubuntu (and PCLinuxOS I hear) are good if your starting out, and unlike Debian and Slackware -- Ubuntu actually works on my systems without 'kicking' and boots faster then Debian.


If your interest is in learning GNU/Linux systems more so, I'd look for some thing that has less hand holding and more focused for people who know the system (Slack, Crux, Arch, etc might be a good idea). If the goals just a usable working environment any desktop based system should work.

*ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, Sayabaon or w/e it is, Mandriva, etc.


Visit the websites of different distros and look around, try to find one that feels more to your tastes and needs.


The only major reason to use a canned distro is because you can't, won't, or don't want to make one for yourself lol.


Note: I don't believe in distro hopping.
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