Distro Hopping

[namegame]

Ever since I have tried Linux I have been distro hopping. I can't make myself stick with one distro as they all have aspects I like and dislike. I have tried pretty much every distro in the top 15 on distrowatch.com. I also have given each distribution 1-2 weeks of being my primary OS.

I also agree with the fact that regardless of which distro you use, Linux is Linux, but each distro has its quirks.

Now, since majority of the distros are releasing new editions, I would like to find a distro to call "home."

I have had no hardware issues with any distro, that I know of, so that is not a factor in my choice.

Currently, I'm leaning towards the following:

Fedora
Mint
openSuSE

My question is for experienced Linux users. However, all input/comments are appreciated.

Basically, looking towards the releases and the future of Linux, which distro out there seems most promising, and if you were in my shoes, which would you choose?

Your answers don't have to be restricted to my top three. Any opinion is valid.

[overdrank]

Ever since I have tried Linux I have been distro hopping. I can't make myself stick with one distro as they all have aspects I like and dislike. I have tried pretty much every distro in the top 15 on distrowatch.com. I also have given each distribution 1-2 weeks of being my primary OS.

I also agree with the fact that regardless of which distro you use, Linux is Linux, but each distro has its quirks.

Now, since majority of the distros are releasing new editions, I would like to find a distro to call "home."

I have had no hardware issues with any distro, that I know of, so that is not a factor in my choice.

Currently, I'm leaning towards the following:

Fedora
Mint
openSuSE

My question is for experienced Linux users. However, all input/comments are appreciated.

Basically, looking towards the releases and the future of Linux, which distro out there seems most promising?

Mandriva
Ubuntu :)

[FuturePilot]

I've also been distro hopping. It's quite fun. :) I've probably tried the top 15 and then some.
The ones I think are most promising are (in no particular order)
Ubuntu
SuSe
Mandriva

[cardinals_fan]

Zenwalk is Slackware improved (and Slack was good to begin with). I also strongly recommend FreeBSD.

[FredB]

Zenwalk is Slackware improved (and Slack was good to begin with). I also strongly recommend FreeBSD.

My first taste of a distro was with a slack 3.x back in 1997 or 1998.

You can also test archlinux. It will help you understand how linux works.

[jarvis13]

Give Arch a shot. But do your research before hand.

Also, wait until OpenSuSE 11 is released before you give that a try...I have a feeling it's going to pull alot of people away from other distros.

[wolfen69]

Mandriva
Ubuntu :)

agreed.

it's hard to recommend any of your top 3 , but if i had to, i would pick Mint. but Mandriva and Ubuntu top my list.

[atomkarinca]

If you're gonna go with one of those 3, I would suggest Fedora. But you should give Mandriva a chance, too (and also Ubuntu :)).

[NightwishFan]

I like Fedora, it is very cutting edge.

[r76]

agreed.

it's hard to recommend any of your top 3 , but if i had to, i would pick Mint. but Mandriva and Ubuntu top my list.

yet another vote here for Mandriva and Ubuntu :)

[SunnyRabbiera]

My vote goes to Mint as it sometimes fixes bugs the Ubuntu team misses

[MONODA]

I am waiting to try OpenSuSE 11 when it comes out, I think its going to be great. Also, I would recommend dream linux or pclinuxos

[namegame]

Thanks to everyone that has replied so far.

I have definitely considered Mandriva, I just forgot to mention it.

I also plan to try Arch within a few months. I can't right now because my computer it is critical to my work right now, and with my luck, I'll screw up something when I install Arch.

I would like to add that I am a fan of KDE, although it is not critical for me. However, I never really liked Kubuntu or Ubuntu with the KDE desktop installed. It's just my opinion, but I think Ubuntu works/looks best with Gnome. Don't get me wrong, Ubuntu is great, it just seems too "generic" to me. Ubuntu probably has one of the best communities out there, with few Elitists that think Ubuntu is the end-all distro that works for everyone. That is what keeps me here.

[Siph0n]

I just started looking at new distros last night! I downloaded Gentoo, Damn Small Linux, Puppy Linux, and OzOs.......

[cprofitt]

I have tried Sidux, Debian, Mint, Sabyon, openSUSE, Fedora, Ubuntu, Gentoo and Arch.

Depending on your goals the 'right' choice would change.

General overall Desktop:
Ubuntu, openSUSE and Fedora are good choices

Developer Machine:
Ubuntu and Debian would be my choices with Fedora a distant thrid

Server:
Debian or Fedora

I still haven't made up my mind, but for me it comes down to Ubuntu, Fedora and openSUSE on the desktop. Debian for servers.

[Comhra]

Apart from Ubuntu, I've triedMint, Suse, Pclos (:KS), Zenwalk (:)), Kubuntu and Symphony OS .

[dynamethod]

So far ive used Ubuntu (Edgy to Gutsy), Kubuntu and Slackware


Currently using Slackware atm, personally i find slackware a bit tough to manage, package wise

Apparently Slackware is meant to be secure, though when i had installed it, i ran a port scan on myself and found X server, auth, and time ports to be wide open, with Ubuntu there was nothing open

[Kinst]

openSUSE looks kick-*** and I plan to stick with it. However there's been quite a few things I've really struggled with that I know work easier in ubuntu, like this old wacom driver I had. And yast is so overkill, it's like installing software with a sledgehammer. Every time you turn it on it updates all repositories and completely ignores you when you hit abort. And it's so slow. I mostly use smart now.

All my friends run ubuntu and we've been helping each other out so I'm pretty fluent in ubuntu usage. I really like ubuntu ;-). I agree that kubuntu's a bad idea, but I dunno, I'm just giving you feedback / ranting.

[ezsit]

I've been playing with Linux for 10 years and have tried just about every major (and not so major) distro. My current fav is still Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Why? It just works the way I want it to work and has never let me down, from Breezy through Gutsy. I have tried Mandriva 2008 and it is darn good as well.

Fedora and OpenSuSE just seem to leave me feeling something is amiss, something subtle and hard to put into words, but amiss all the same. It has been a while since I've tried either, I think Fedora 7 and OpenSuSE 10.1 were the last versions I tried.

I am awaiting Debian Lenny and may make the switch over to Debian then. Etch almost had me, but Ubuntu/Kubuntu were too easy to stick with.

PC/OS Linux is a new Xubuntu derivative that looks promising, as does gOS. I am playing with both live CDs but I can't find enough of a reason to install over my Kubuntu 7.10 atm.

[cardinals_fan]

Fedora and OpenSuSE just seem to leave me feeling something is amiss, something subtle and hard to put into words, but amiss all the same. It has been a while since I've tried either, I think Fedora 7 and OpenSuSE 10.1 were the last versions I tried.

Definitely try Fedora 8 (or 9 once it's released). Moonshine was absolutely terrible but Werewolf is MUCH better.

[Ptero-4]

Ones I tried:

Linux

Mandriva (The one I'm on now)
PCLinuxOS
Kubuntu
gentoo
Debian

BSD

FreeBSD (running it too)


Ones I haven't tried (or won't try)

Linux

Slackware
crux
rock
Fedora
linux from scratch
M$Linux (won't try neither of the 4 ones in this category)

BSD

NetBSD
OpenBSD

[kazuya]

Must have on your list{ may seriously grab your interest}

(1) Vectorlinux / Zenwalk {both slack-based - comes with alot installed. you have to install kde and other apps you require from gslapt/netpkg respectively which is similar to synaptic - vectorlinux runs super fast and is easy to maintain, and pretty to work in.

(2) Mepis - {based on debian, but super super good. -kde based, but is well thought out. Everything just works.

(3) Arch linux - a little challenging, but fun and once completed is an absolute joy to work in. This distro is feature rich and super super fast.

(4) DesktopBSD - based on BSD with KDE Desktop env. - flash maybe older than in linux, but very very nice BSD OS to work in.

(5) OzOS - although based on Ubuntu, blew me away when I first used it for speed and beauty. - almost like elive 1.0 gem distro.lol

(6) Dream is popular as livecd, but did not work for me upon install attempt. lol. must be my CD media. lol

(7) Pclinuxos and Mint are popular ones.

(8) Sabayon - one of the easiest and feature-rich w/eyecandy implementation of the well-renowned Gentoo.

Ubuntu is simply awesome. So i would not repeat it. lol.

[darksong]

Mandriva, good looking, works well.

[tashmooclam]

I think gOS is cool and so is Mint but I am just making talk, I only play with them as a live CD. I am curious about Marayan (mint with a dock) and also Dreamlinux.
Since I'm not too clever with computers, I have stuck with Ubuntu. But, if I went out and bought a new computer, I would buy an Everex laptop with gOS on it.

[DarkStarAeon]

I use Ubuntu on my primary desktop computer and always will. Ubuntu does everything I need it to, and I have a lot of needs. lol

But...

I have a second desktop computer I use heavily that I dual boot Dreamlinux 3.1 (the new one is freakin sweet) and PC-BSD 1.5 (very stable and secure).

I also use openSUSE 10.3 on my laptop and it runs beautifully, I think openSUSE is the best choice for laptops in my opinion/experience.

Fedora is great, and I recommend it too.