What is the most fun linux distro?

[tsudrummer24]

I've been using Ubuntu since 8.04 came out, and I wanted to know if there is a distro that fast, reliable, and more enjoyable to use. There's nothing wrong with Ubuntu, but I'm getting a little tired of no power management, slow boots, and especially orange. I don't want Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Mandriva as a suggestion since I've tried all of those.

While this question may sound childish, I'm looking for some insight.

[smartboyathome]

Well, if you want something fast which you can customize yourself, try Arch Linux. It may look scary at first, but it has excellent documentation which I even use on Ubuntu when I'm on it. Just follow the Beginners Guide when installing it and you will be just fine.

[cardinals_fan]

My favorite Linux distros are Slackware, Arch, and SliTaz. NetBSD, FreeBSD, and OpenSolaris are also good.

[Dr Small]

ArchLinux all the way.

[tsudrummer24]

I've heard alot about archlinux... in your opinion, what are it's advantages over Ubuntu?

[cardinals_fan]

I've heard alot about archlinux... in your opinion, what are it's advantages over Ubuntu?
* Faster
* Much more customized - you build the system up from a very minimal base
* Rolling release (may or may not be a pro for you)
* Better package management (in my opinion)

[smartboyathome]

* Faster
* Much more customized - you build the system up from a very minimal base
* Rolling release (may or may not be a pro for you)
* Better package management (in my opinion)

Let me add to that:
* Packages are much easier to make than most others imo. Must more intuitive than Debian's, and I can create custom packages quickly using AUR's format.
* Is just as stable as Debian (if you stick to main repos) and much more up to date.

[cardinals_fan]

* Packages are much easier to make than most others imo. Must more intuitive than Debian's, and I can create custom packages quickly using AUR's format.
I still think Slackware packages are easier to make, but Arch blows Debian away on this.

* Is just as stable as Debian (if you stick to main repos) and much more up to date.
I don't know about that ;)

Arch is fairly stable, but breakage can happen occaisonally. These new packages sometimes have a few bugs. That's not Arch's fault, but new packages from upstream have a certain inherent risk.

[tommcd]

I've been using Ubuntu since 8.04 came out, and I wanted to know if there is a distro that fast, reliable, and more enjoyable to use. There's nothing wrong with Ubuntu, but I'm getting a little tired of no power management, slow boots, and especially orange. I don't want Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Mandriva as a suggestion since I've tried all of those.


Try Zenwalk: http://zenwalk.org/
Zenwalk boots up faster, and runs a lot faster than Ubuntu. It uses fewer resources than Ubuntu also. There are a lot of packages available for Zenwalk now, but not nearly as many as in Ubuntu's repos. Zenwalk's packages tend to be more up to date than Ubuntu's though. The default desktop is XFCE, but KDE, and now Gnome, are available. Zenwalk is based on Slackware, and is very stable.
Read the Zenwalk manual to get started:
http://manual.zenwalk.org/en/
You can check read up on what packages are available for Zenwalk here:
http://wiki.zenwalk.org/index.php?title=Index:Zenwalk_Companion

[sujoy]

i would definitely recommend Arch to someone who is willing to build it up from base. besides that slackware and zenwalk (ultra light and very stable) is also good.

[kpkeerthi]

Linux from Scratch (http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/)

[tsudrummer24]

I've looked at Zenwalk, and I'm getting an FTP download as I type.

I'll post again when I try arch and zenwalk.

[Bungo Pony]

I personally think DSL is fun, but that's probably just me :)

[handy]

What is fun for one is pain for another.

I like the Arch installation process, & setting it up is very educational (for me anyway), setting up Openbox on Arch carries on in the same vein.

Another fun distro' is Sabayon, which, if it likes your hardware, installs very easily, has lots of games (DVD install).

Sabayon is Gentoo without all the suffering of the 3 day install (which some people call fun!) :-)

I use Sabayon for playing Oblivion on via Cedega, it does a great job, I don't think Oblivion crashes as much as it would under windows.

Off topic:

I use Leopard when I have to, it is reliable, the Finder is irritating, as is the quirky way that some of the software works. Leopard the OS, lost its fun for me a good 6 months ago. Though it is the best thing I have for playing Guild Wars (via Crossover Games) due to the ATi Linux drivers being vastly inferior to those of OSX.

I also recently got a copy of Half Life 2 which was converted to Intel OSX using Transgaming's Cider, it looks to be working quite well, at this stage anyway. ;-)

[will1911a1]

Give Arch a shot. :)

[basenvironment]

debian, its universal

[Sorivenul]

Arch is far and away the most fun I've had with a distribution, however I cannot say I was productive on it. I spent most of my time tweaking the system and playing games rather than doing work. If you want fun, Arch gets my vote as well.

[chucky chuckaluck]

arch is more than fun, to me. it's the way i want things - no extra stupid crap. as an end user who is way too lazy and impatient for all kinds of tl/dr documentation, i can say that arch is easier than its reputation would have you believe.

sabayon is fun to play with, but not to keep.

[wolfen69]

Another fun distro' is Sabayon

i agree, if you want everything plus the kitchen sink by default. all codecs, compiz, 3D games, every major app, all "out of the box".

[aeon]

if you want a fun learning experience then i'd recommend arch or any of the BSD's,
but if you want to just set something up and have some fun then
try out the linux gamers live cd at http://live.linux-gamers.net/

[smartboyathome]

I still think Slackware packages are easier to make, but Arch blows Debian away on this.

I don't know about that ;)

Arch is fairly stable, but breakage can happen occaisonally. These new packages sometimes have a few bugs. That's not Arch's fault, but new packages from upstream have a certain inherent risk.

I haven't had any breakages from Arch using its main repos, but of course your millage may vary. :KS

[handy]

arch is more than fun, to me. it's the way i want things - no extra stupid crap. as an end user who is way too lazy and impatient for all kinds of tl/dr documentation, i can say that arch is easier than its reputation would have you believe.

I agree.


sabayon is fun to play with, but not to keep.

I only use Sabayon 3.4f, as my easy to setup, (it is the only distro' that handles my nVidia graphic card from hell straight out of the box), Cedega Oblivion box, though it is about to get Postal installed on it.

I don't intend to go to the trouble of attempting to get Cedega working under Arch.

Has anyone here actually succeeded in getting Cedega to work on Arch/Openbox? Which does bring up the fact that some things are very difficult to do on Arch.

[SomeGuyDude]

Arch gets my vote, though I second others who say you might not be painfully productive under it. A lot of time will be spent making things work right. But that's part of the experience. I'm running it now, actually, getting it rolling with LXDE.

[tsudrummer24]

Thank you for the input!

I installed Arch in Virtualbox, and I spent some quality time with it!

Sabayon....maybe another day.

[ippokratis]

My vote goes to... Sabayon and Ubuntu Ultimate!

[chris200x9]

gentoo compiling for days is awesome! (no joke it is it gives me a sense of ownership)

[ippokratis]

gentoo compiling for days is awesome! (no joke it is it gives me a sense of ownership)

You're telling me!! :lolflag:

[danbuter]

I've recently installed antiX. It's based on Mepis with fluxbox, and I really like it. (There's also an IceWM version, but I don't care for that). There's a LOT more work inside the linux files though, as pretty much everything after the initial install (which gives a very nice start) has to be done by hand.

[DemonBob]

FreeBSD

[handy]

gentoo compiling for days is awesome! (no joke it is it gives me a sense of ownership)

You're telling me!! :lolflag:

I know about you guys who find fun in the Gentoo install.

The rest of us call you masochists, but hey, whatever turns you on! :lolflag:

I'm just kidding, I actually really enjoyed my days of the attempt that failed (due to a BIOS incompatibility apparently!?).

Truly, I did, shame I couldn't get it to work.

I have to say though, that Arch is just SO much easier to install & maintain than Gentoo. At least for a Linux novice like me.

[ippokratis]

I know about you guys who find fun in the Gentoo install.

The rest of us call you masochists, but hey, whatever turns you on! :lolflag:

I'm just kidding, I actually really enjoyed my days of the attempt that failed (due to a BIOS incompatibility apparently!?).

Truly, I did, shame I couldn't get it to work.

I have to say though, that Arch is just SO much easier to install & maintain than Gentoo. At least for a Linux novice like me.

See, I've tried to install Arch and when I finished the first stage and did the reboot, I received a login screen (myhost login), that refused to accept all combinations of names & passwords I've placed! That happened 3 times and I stopped trying. :(

[SomeGuyDude]

See, I've tried to install Arch and when I finished the first stage and did the reboot, I received a login screen (myhost login), that refused to accept all combinations of names & passwords I've placed! That happened 3 times and I stopped trying. :(

Did you use "root" and whatever password you put in? After the first stage all that's there is a root account, you haven't actually made your user account yet.

[Rumor]

arch is more than fun, to me. it's the way i want things - no extra stupid crap.

Hey! Who you callin' extra stupid???


I agree with the large number who has posted for Arch. I've used it for a couple years and thoroughly enjoy it. Like Chucky says, Arch is what you make it.

I have enjoyed the process of building it, tweaking it . . . and then going back and fixing what I broke by tweaking :D

Seriously, Arch wins for both the hobbyist who likes to poke around and see what happens if they cut the red wire instead of the blue one and for the serious user who wants a solid, productive system with no upkeep headaches.

As bleeding edge as YOU choose to be. The desktop environment or window manager YOU choose. The browser YOu choose, and so on. A great community that knows how to give good guiidance and still have fun. The best package manager in Linux. Less filling and tastes great!

See, I've tried to install Arch and when I finished the first stage and did the reboot, I received a login screen (myhost login), that refused to accept all combinations of names & passwords I've placed! That happened 3 times and I stopped trying. :(

During the "Configure your system" step in the install process, you shoose a root password. After you have installed your bootloader, you should reboot. You will come to a comand prompt fro where you log in as root, using the password you specified. If you didn't pick one, log in as root with no password.

Once you are logged in, then you can begin following the Beginner's Guide (http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide) to finish your installation.

[MisfitI38]

Personally, Arch is the most fun for me by a large margin.
Most other distros are not fun at all for me; they offer frustration and not much more. I am often left wondering 'why?'
So, Arch actually represents some enjoyment as well as stability and for the thing to work as expected.
Slackware provides something similar, but is not practical for me as it requires too much hands-on attention for what I consider 'trivial' tasks, (like package management).
Gentoo and Debian, 2 quality distros, represent nearly complete annoyance for me, because I am constantly baffled by how uncomfortable I am at using them.

[ippokratis]

Did you use "root" and whatever password you put in? After the first stage all that's there is a root account, you haven't actually made your user account yet.

Actually, I've created a root password and I followed every step of the installation procedure. No result...

[RedSquirrel]

While I found Debian and Arch somewhat entertaining, Gentoo seems to be the most fun for me.