favourite distros

[Kojak Peg]

Hi Everyone
I'm a novice, to the linux distro universe. And I know this is a buntu centric forum, but I was wondering, apart from the different buntu distros, which other distros are your favourite and why?

I know there are as many distros out there, as there are linux users. And each one caters to different needs and I have looked on distro watch. However, I was hoping you guys could give some personal recommendations based on what you like. So that I could narrow down the choices a little

For myself, I'm a long time mircosoft xp user. And being a new linux user, I am looking for user friendly distros, but want to dive in to the deep end now. So not really bothered if they "look" like microsoft. I'm not, however, ready for the open ocean, so no Arch linux for my just yet, I've tried:
lubuntu
xubuntu
zorin

I'll be installing ubuntu next. I am also looking at other distros like
cylon
manjaro
mageia
openSUSE
elementary os

Thanks for all the help and suggestions

Kojak

[operatingsystem121]

Mint mate/cinnamon
Lubuntu
Tiny core
Puppy

[snowpine]

My current personal favorite is Mint.

However, to be honest, I've never tried a Linux distro I've disliked (and I've tried dozens of them). All of the major distros provide the same basic functionality and software applications.

Therefore I recommend you choose one distro and learn it in depth, rather than bounce around between a lot of different distros. You will learn more the longer you spend with one distro, in my opinion.

[goldshirt9]

depends what i'm using them on
Siemens laptop i5 / 8gb ram / hybrid hdd - Ubuntu 12.04 unity +gnome
Toshiba netbook mint nadia xfce

[Peripheral Visionary]

I like them all! But Snowpine is right: Once installed, they all have pretty much the same functionality. They mostly look the same (except that default themes and wallpapers and such are different) but they don't all act the same. RPM and APT (Red Hat and Debian) are similar but have different ways of managing software installation, upgrades and such. Yet they might be indistinguishable using a GUI. PCLinuxOS (and RPM distro) uses Synaptic Package Manager just like Debian and Ubuntu (APT) do, handling "dependencies" better (in my opinion) than something like Slackware, which has a completely different package management and poor dependency support.

I've been a contented Xubuntu user for most of my time as a Linux user, but I hung around with a boy that loved to experiment with different distros. I looked over his shoulder and asked questions while he "test-drove" U/X/K/Lubuntu, Mepis, PCLinuxOS, Debian, Fedora, Slax, Crunchbang, Mint, SalixOS, and OpenSUSE. He kept notes on some of them. Some didn't last a whole day on his hard drive before he was wiping them to try the next one, but if he found one he really liked he's stick with it for a month or more, join their forums, and contribute in his own way. I didn't like the fancy KDE ones (SUSE, Mepis, PCLOS) but both of us really liked the ones with the Xfce desktop. Again, once installed, they all "look" pretty much the same and have the same applications. But on both of our computers, it was the Ubuntu-based ones that always instantly detected our hardware and everything usually "just worked."

I'm not nearly as willing to explore and experiment as he was, so I just stick with Xubuntu and have no complaints at all. It's quick even on modest hardware and it's endlessly configurable (that's Xfce for you!) and easy to use. It's my only OS now, on my PC at home and my lap-top at school. My parents like it too!

[excollier]

Mine are as follows:

Acer Aspire 5535 / Windows Vista Home Basic 32 bit / LM 13 KDE 64 bit dual boot
HP Pavillion DV5 1111EA / LMDE Cinnamon 64 bit / Ubuntu 12.04.2 32 bit dual boot
Puppy Linux on a usb stick

I like 'em all, but I also like Crunch Bang, which is very minimalistic.

[Kojak Peg]

Thanks everyone, for all your great replies. lot's to take on board there, so I'll be happily googling away for awhile, brushing up on it all. There lots terms and names there I haven't heard of. So plenty to keep me busy.

I think, for now, I'm going to stick to distros based around buntu, because I like the software center. And it'll help me get used to gnome (I think that's right isn't it?). Having said that, I can't wait to try out the other ones, because as you've said they all look great. Although fedora and alike are beyond my capability for the moment, at least. Nevertheless, if the others are, even, half as userfriendly as the one's I've tried. I can't see microsoft surviving, on my hard drive, much longer

Just a couple of quick questions
Gnome, KDE, XFCE, LXDE; are all desktop environments used my different distros, right? Gnome is used by all the buntu distros, as well as others. While KDE is used by Mint, and others. And XFCE by Debian, and others? So what are Unity, MATE, Cinnoman and Enlightenment, are they desktop environments, too?

I'm I right in thinking XFCE and Gnome are lighter and more userfriendly, while KDE is heavyer and userfriendly?

Cheers

Kojak

[Peripheral Visionary]

Just a couple of quick questions
Gnome, KDE, XFCE, LXDE; are all desktop environments used my different distros, right? Gnome is used by all the buntu distros, as well as others. While KDE is used by Mint, and others. And XFCE by Debian, and others? So what are Unity, MATE, Cinnoman and Enlightenment, are they desktop environments, too?

You're partially right. Gnome, KDE, Xfce, LXDE, Mate, etc are all desktop environments used by most distros. Ubuntu uses Unity, a Gnomeish desktop. Kubuntu uses KDE, Xubuntu uses Xfce, Lubuntu uses LXDE. So you can try four different desktop environments all built on the base of the Ubuntu (Debian-Linux derived) operating system. You can also find Mate and Enlightenment in the Ubuntu repositories.

You can also explore all of them without even trying the different 'buntus separately! If you have room on your hard drive, you can download all the desktop environments to a single installation of any 'buntu! Then at log-in, simply choose which "session" you want to explore. Log into a Xfce session, explore and be delighted! Log into a KDE session and be impressed with all the eye candy and cool widgets. Log off, then log into an LXDE session and see how very fast and responsive it is! Choosing a favorite might take a long time. And may not be permanent, since they're all growing and evolving and changing. My current favorite is Xfce, but the way they're all growing and changing, I could end up favoring a different DE in time. Especially now that I've read about a couple of projects aimed at making a "lightweight KDE.



I'm I right in thinking XFCE and Gnome are lighter and more userfriendly, while KDE is heavier and userfriendly?

Xfce is definitely "lighter weight" (meaning easier on system resources and therefore better on older, modest hardware) than Gnome and KDE. LXDE is another "light weight" and bare-bones desktop which is well-suited for older computers. In my opinion it has fewer features and is not nearly as configurable as it's older sibling, Xfce, which is near-equally light weight.

Another aspect of desktop environments is something called integration. The desktop environments have their own applications that are designed for use in that environment (because they share the same libraries and are built on the same foundation, Gtk in the case of Gnome, Xfce, and LXDE; and Qt in the case of KDE). For example, KDE has it's own applications (all starting with K too, how cute!). The Konquer browser (which doubles as a file manager), the Kmail e-mail client, Kwallet, Kthis and Kthat. Xfce uses the Thunar file manager, Midori web browser, Xfburn CD burner, Xthis and Xthat.

Most of them you can mix and match, using any application in any desktop environment! If you have room on your hard drive for all the extra libraries and stuff that gets "pulled in" along with applications from other desktop environments. I hope this lengthy explanation helps a little bit, I know it's confusing for newcomers to Linux who aren't used to having all these choices to make!

Many distros have a "default" desktop environment that they tune their mixture for, but you can install any other desktop environment on any Linux distro (well, except for the ones you run only from RAM or from a thumb drive). My friend's favorite distro uses KDE. She loves it! My computer is pretty old and has just 512 of RAM on an old Celeron chip, so I use the lightweight Xfce desktop on mine. Everyone has their own reasons for choosing a D.E. Try them all on for size if your hardware can handle it!

[Kojak Peg]

Hi Peripheral visionary
Thanks for the explanation. I was wondering about the applications and whether each distro had it's own set. So that clears things up a lot. And I had know idea about the different session. So definitely worth giving it a go. And the other beauty of linux is it's so easy and quick to install. I'm a fairly competent windows user and have installed it many time. Even still it's a long daunting and laborious task. Especially these days to get all the drivers working. So now since I'm serious about making the switch to linux I may was well try a few out before I become comfortable with one. Although I do take snowpine's point and would like to be as familiar with a linux distro as I am with xp

I did dip my toe into linux a while ago. When I installed it on a very old laptop that took so long to load in windows. You were never entirely sure if it had crashed or not. I also suspect it was riddled with undetected viruses, etc. However I went back to what I was comfortable with when I got me present desktop. So now I'm making the switch I do what to try a few out, but as you know there are so many out there. Distrowatch and youtube reviews are all well and good but it's better to be able to talk about it to someone and get some personal recommendation. So this has been really useful for me.

So thanks for all your help and I'll be googling the different distros and trying them out over the next months

[pacpod]

My favs:
Mint Cinnamon
Fuduntu

[andrew.46]

I come from the other way: I now consider myself a Slacker but I have a big soft spot still for stock standard Ubuntu despite all of its considerable shortcomings...

[Peripheral Visionary]

@Kojak Peg: That's the beauty of LiveCDs and LiveDVDs! You can try them out before installing them! The only drawback is that performance from a LiveCD will be much slower than an installed experience.

[Kojak Peg]

Thanks guys

which is better live cd or virtual box

[Peripheral Visionary]

Virtual probably offers a better (meaning faster) experience.

[Kojak Peg]

Thanks

[iamkuriouspurpleoranj]

Ubuntu because it looks great.
Fedora because it's somewhat challenging and has a trouserless teddy-bear as its mascot. Best Gnome 3 distro but I tend to use MATE.
CrunchBang because it looks great and has a fun-sized, friendly and capable community.
CentOS (or Scientific Linux) because it's Red Hat, takes forever to load and has that strange out-of-date musty feeling that clothes in charity shops do. Thanks to extra repos like RPMforge and EPEL, it's possible to get extra packages that normal distributions have, although it isn't always possible to get them to work.
Linux Mint MATE - because it's the best match for my PC (which is green) but I'd rather run Ubuntu with Unity.
Xubuntu because it's the best *buntu match for my PC and it's inherently likeable perhaps because it promises little but delivers a lot.


That's it, really. openSUSE and Solus OS deserve an honorable mention. Manjaro 0.8.2 Xfce was good but I haven't liked any other release.

[pfeiffep]

For my HP Tower - Mint 14 Cinnamon
I really like the 'similarity' in looks to Win 7. Mint is very responsive, it seems to more easily customized than Ubuntu 13.04 with Unity (at least from my perspective). Install worked OOTB

For my OLD Dell Laptop - Ubuntu 13.04 Gnome Session Fall Back
Breathed new life into the 'Columbus Invented':KS laptop which was originally configured for Win XP which I've completely blown away. Install worked OOTB


I maintain Win 7 for Photoshop, iCloud, Roxio Creator. I'm planning on migrating Creator functionality to Audacity - still searching for realistic replacements for the other 2. Not willing to go through the extensive learning curve of Gimp, and certainly IMHO there's no truly functional iCloud replacement.

[malspa]

Right now, my favorite non-Ubuntu distros are probably Debian, openSUSE, and Sabayon.


which is better live cd or virtual box

Trying out distros by running live sessions from a flash drive is a nice way to go.

[Version Dependency]

Some of the older and more popular distros that you may want to familiarize yourself with are OpenSuse, Fedora, Debian, Slackware, Arch, and Gentoo. The installation process for Arch and (especially) Gentoo are not for the Linux novice though, so I'd recommend installing them in virtualbox a couple of times before installing them on a real machine, because you are going to need to refer to their wikis during installation. But both have deriviative distros that make them a bit more user-friendly. For an Arch-based distro, try Archbang. For a Gentoo-based distro, try Sabayon.

[deadflowr]

If it's a choice between a livedvd/cd/usb and virtualbox, I'd go with a virtualbox.
You can install it directly from the download folder, and no need to burn/copy/move onto a separate thingy.

If you have somewhat new hardware, then a virtualbox should run pretty smooth(most of the time)
And even if you don't, you can at least get a sample taste of the features a particular distro has to offer.
Plus you can see if the ISO image has problems, without having just burned 20 disks first.
Or having burned 20 disks for a distro you find sucks.

[codingman]

Arch
Crunchbang
FreeBSD
Fuduntu (RIP)
CentOS
ArchBang
LinuxBBQ (any version)

[deadflowr]

I am child-like in that I really like whatever distro I happen to be running at that particular time.
To me, I think, 'this is the greatest distro since sliced bread.' Until I boot into a different one, then I go ' this is the greatest distro since the invention of the wheel.' And so on.
Currently, as of this writing, it's Precise Pangolin.

[Mopar1973Man]

I tend to agree I like the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS version right now. I prefer the LXDE (or Lubuntu) more so but I tend to flip flop the desktop environments. As for other distros I've played with CentOS and about pulled all my hair out as a noobie trying to learn to use it till a friend of mine told me to try Ubuntu. I've got enough knowledge now that I think I can float around trying different distros and be able to actually use them. So time to jump into the mix and try a few.

[mamamia88]

Arch is my current favorite. It's a rolling release and always has the latest and greatest without reinstalling the entire system every 6 months. You also get the fun of building your entire system from the ground up so you know exactly what is on there. You can also find pretty much anything you can dream of doing on the arch wiki too and in comprehensible language. You'd be surprised how hard that is to find sometimes with linux distros.

[codingman]

^Exactly.

[joco1500]

BACKTRACK

but that is because in anonymous

lol

[Kojak Peg]

Thanks everyone
for all those great replies. I'm like a kid at christmas now wanting to try them all out. As for Arch linux I think I'm still a bit to green, but I would like to try it at some stage.

Well all these distro ideas will be keeping me busy for the next few years, lol

Thanks again

[lovebluesky2009]

I used lots of ditro before, I came back to ubuntu finally, may be a little different, Xubuntu to be exactly. Ubuntu is a very friendly ditro in my experince.

[Naygral]

Lubuntu 12.10, it just works perfect for what I need to do and without the screen tearing that I get on most other *buntu distros.

[DisappearingOak]

I just stick with Ubuntu or a compatible derivative. Just because of the sheer amount of software available even through stuff like PPAs. So it makes it easy. I'm waiting for Maui OS, it's the only distro that seems to have truly innovative ideas. No API and ABI breakages, EVERYONE has the exact same base system, software comes in bundles, so no dependency breakages, and a Wayland desktop with a very nice design, seeing the mockups, and lots of other innovative stuff.

[neruson]

The only distros I typically use are Fedora & Ubuntu with Xfce or Mate and Arch Linux usually with Openbox. I prefer the Arch way of installing only what you want and I almost always do minimal installs these days. On servers, I've only ever used CentOS. It's never given me a reason to want to use anything else. Other than those, the only other distros I've ever been greatly impressed by were SolusOS, Salix Xfce edition and Fuduntu (RIP).

[codingman]

I just stick with Ubuntu or a compatible derivative. Just because of the sheer amount of software available even through stuff like PPAs.

O'rly? Last time I checked Ubuntu was not the only distro with PPA's.

In fact, the Ubuntu repos have less than some other distro's PPA's.

[woxuxow]

I just use ubuntu with unity desktop but i have decided to use fedora with kde desktop beside ubuntu

[kcflyer]

I've been using Ubuntu Unity 12.04 for about 9 months. I've tried different distros of Linux over the years, but this one has been superb. I swear that if you sold a typical PC user (not a techie or geek) a computer preloaded with Unity, they'd never know they were running Linux.

[Sam Mills]

Ubuntu
Puppy
Mint
Fedora (sometimes)

But after trying almost every distro out there, my fav is Ubuntu. Has always worked the best for me. For older hardware, puppy is hard to beat. But it's nice that there's something out there for everyone.

My search is now officially over, I'm sticking with Ubuntu for the foreseeable future.

[GameX2]

Ubuntu, followed by Mint !

[pootan]

Thanks everyone
for all those great replies. I'm like a kid at christmas now wanting to try them all out. As for Arch linux I think I'm still a bit to green, but I would like to try it at some stage.

Well all these distro ideas will be keeping me busy for the next few years, lol

Thanks again

You can try something like Manjaro or Bridge with Arch where your desktop flavour is all set up for you and you can just try out things. Virtual Machine, Arch Wiki and Arch forum stickies are your friends. Mirrorlists broken and AUR conflicts are your enemies.


Also, to answer your question, I like Fedora and Manjaro this week. If I really just want to use Linux day to day though, I always come back to Xubuntu LTS or XFCE on a minimal iso. At the end of the day the major choice is Desktop Environment rather than which distro to use. I think that brings a bigger change these days and most distros now you can get with multiple Desktop Environments.

[exploder]

I have been running PCLinuxOS 32 bit MiniME on my desktop and loving it! I installed "Task Enlightenment" and am really enjoying how resource friendly e17 is. I like having KDE and e17 installed because I enjoy the variety and the latest version of e17 seems pretty stable now. I also like that PCLinuxOS is a rolling release. These days I have better things to do than reinstall my operating system all the time and PCLinuxOS completely takes care of that headache. The tools included are well organized and very helpful. In my opinion, PCLinuxOS is built for performance out of the box, nearly every tweak I would normally do to a KDE based system is already done out of the box.

I run Linux Mint 14 Cinnamon 64 bit on my laptop. The laptop is newer and it has a couple of hardware issues that Mint seems to handle better than anything else. Cinnamon is pretty resource friendly and I like the user interface. My laptop has ATI hybrid graphics and the open source drivers seem to work reliably now. Cinnamon is reasonably light on resources and I like the modern look it has. Mint 14 still has quite a bit of support time left and I will probably stay with it till it reaches EOL.

[Rukiri]

My favorite distros are Gentoo, but I use Funtoo due to the better core, and arch linux. I'd love to try source mage, but the installer is OLD, 2 years to be exact.

[kevdog]

It will be curious what happens to Linux Mint now that Gnome3.8 and Cinnamon are incompatible.

[DisappearingOak]

I think Cinnamon's new version which will come with Mint 15 is on Gnome 3.6 which is what Raring uses, so what incompatibility do you mean? The only problems is that distros like Arch have a broken cinnamon because they use bleeding-edge Gnome which is incompatible. But Linux Mint distro itself is likely to be fine. Right?

[screaminj3sus]

I think Cinnamon's new version which will come with Mint 15 is on Gnome 3.6 which is what Raring uses, so what incompatibility do you mean? The only problems is that distros like Arch have a broken cinnamon because they use bleeding-edge Gnome which is incompatible. But Linux Mint distro itself is likely to be fine. Right?

Considering cinnamon is a mint product, I'd hope it works in their own distro :P

[kevdog]

Cinammon works with 3.6, but from what I've been reading it needs to be tweaked. As far as 3.8, major changes were made under the hood that unless Cinammon updates its code base, it won't be compatible. I'm not a coder, but from what I've read, large parts of Cinnamon are going to have to be rewritten for this to take place. Hopefully they will get things worked out. As far as Gnome 3.8 -- its horrible, but that's another topic completely.

[DisappearingOak]

Cinammon works with 3.6, but from what I've been reading it needs to be tweaked. As far as 3.8, major changes were made under the hood that unless Cinammon updates its code base, it won't be compatible. I'm not a coder, but from what I've read, large parts of Cinnamon are going to have to be rewritten for this to take place. Hopefully they will get things worked out. As far as Gnome 3.8 -- its horrible, but that's another topic completely.

From a usability and functionality perspective, I agree I don't like it much either. But it's the only Linux desktop out there right now that doesn't look like total ___. I realize that aesthetics can be purely subjective, but it's the prime reason I just hate to use KDE, XFCE, E17, etc. Cinnamon is okay functionality wise, but I didn't find it as stable, there were minor quirks.

[iamkuriouspurpleoranj]

From a usability and functionality perspective, I agree I don't like it much either. But it's the only Linux desktop out there right now that doesn't look like total ___. I realize that aesthetics can be purely subjective, but it's the prime reason I just hate to use KDE, XFCE, E17, etc. Cinnamon is okay functionality wise, but I didn't find it as stable, there were minor quirks.

KDE annoys me. It is the David Hasselhoff and/or the mullet of the desktop environment world. However Cinnamon simply bores me. Chapeau to Clem and all that but that big panel wiv appz in the bottom lefthand corner, now where have I seen that before? Funnily enough, I adore Xfce and MATE/Gnome 2 and their quintessential dullness - I am quintessentially dull - but Cinnamon? Non merci. They've even introduced Vista-like "desklets" in the latest release.

[deadflowr]

Cinammon works with 3.6, but from what I've been reading it needs to be tweaked. As far as 3.8, major changes were made under the hood that unless Cinammon updates its code base, it won't be compatible. I'm not a coder, but from what I've read, large parts of Cinnamon are going to have to be rewritten for this to take place. Hopefully they will get things worked out. As far as Gnome 3.8 -- its horrible, but that's another topic completely.

From what I've read on cinnamon and gnome 3.8, the new clutter package is the main culprit for the breakage.

Also read somewhere(probably here in the forums:)) that the arch devs are working out a fix , but haven't seen anything on mint's progress.

Edit: Here http://forum.manjaro.org/index.php?topic=3686.0

[leclerc65]

*Main desktop
Mint Maya Mate
*Various old/weak computers - double/triple boot mix of
Mint Maya XFCE
XP
Lubuntu 10.04
Puppy Lucid

[synaptix]

I prefer Xubuntu, even with decent hardware.