The best distro

[the.dark.lord]

I'm new to Linux, and would very much like to hear which you think is the best linux distro... and why.

[skymt]

Well, this answer is extremely predictable, but...

Ubuntu! Here's why:

* Everything usually Just Works
* Huge amount of fairly recent software in the repositories
* Get Upstart before any other distro (with Edgy)
* Great support

[victorche]

Ubuntu is a fast growing community, great support, easy to use.
Really ser friendly distro.
That's why I like it and it is the OS for my girlfriend's PC.

For me the best one is... Slackware for sure (as you can see from my avatar ;) )

If you ask why... Simplicity, power, great stability. There is one good thought about it...
"If you begin to learn RedHat, you'll learn RedHat. If you begin to learn SuSE, you'll learn SuSE. If you begin to learn Slackware, you'll learn Linux"...

So, that's the whole answer.

[Kindred]

For me the best distro is Arch Linux. It is simple in operation, stripped down in nature, sticks to KISS principles, is very fast, has an excellent package manager, a very knowledgeable but not too large community, allows for simple creation of packages, has very up to date packages in the repositories (typically one or two days from release), and is rolling release - meaning you simply update the system as you go, there is no concept of having to wait six months for the next release or to update your package set.

Arch is perfect for me, but of course everyone has different requirements and as someone new to Linux you'll likely get on well with Ubuntu, as I did eight or nine months ago.

[Reshin]

No such thing as "best distro". Every one has their ups and downs. Ubuntu is propably the most simplistic but it's unusable to me because the bug that makes my laptop overheat. I like gentoo because of the tinkering-feeling. NOT a beginners distribution. It's thanks to gentoo I learned to use console and fix display issues

[K.Mandla]

Reshin's right. The "best" distro depends on you and your computer. If it's an older machine, you're looking at Slax or Feather Linux or Vector Linux, or maybe even DSL or Puppy Linux.

If you're into eye candy, Sabayon or Dreamlinux or maybe something KDE-based. If you want something comfortable that will keep a Windows junkie from going into withdrawal, there's Xandros or PCLinuxOS or some others. If you want Linux in its purest form ...

You get the picture. Ubuntu is a good place to start because of the community, and because so much works from the word "go." After that, as you become more comfortable with it, other distros might be more appealing. And it's not as if you have to stay with one distro forever. ... I mean, this isn't Windows, man. ... :D

Cheers, good luck and have fun!

[RAV TUX]

Of course there is a best distro. For each and everyone of us there is a best Distro according to us, and this is what the OP is looking for.

Your Opinion on what the best distro is according to your expereince, hardware, etc.

I have tested many so I have a list of best distros, my current Distro fling is with Aquamorph (based on Morphix/Knoopix/Debian).

I find the best distro for reliability to install on your hard drive is Knoppix. (keep in mind with the Knoppix installer you can install Debian)

I find the best distro for Gnome, originality and for community is Ubuntu.

For bling SabayonLinux and Dreamlinux.

If you want to dabble in BSD,....PC-BSD.

Again have fun, the best part, is testing all distros and finding your unique wants and needs and then finding as close as possible a perfect fit.

Jozef