Given the number of Linux distros out there, how did we pick just 14? Some were obvious; the likes of Slackware and Debian have been around since Linus was in short trousers. SUSE, Fedora, Mandriva and Ubuntu are similarly too significant to ignore. What about the others?
To survive, a distro must have something to offer – a large userbase, unique features, ease of use – something that makes it a little (or a lot) different from the rest. We hope that the selection here is sufficiently varied, but please forgive us if we have omitted your favourite distro – try some of the alternatives to see what you may be missing out on.
Added for clarity - while the list is numbered, it's not a countdown from best to not-so-good. All 14 are great.
1. Debian
The grand-daddy of some of the other distros here, and still going strong
Desktop User's choice
Architectures i386, amd64, ppc, s390, ia64 m68k, sparc, alpha, arm, mips, hppa
URL www.debian.org
Debian is one of the original distros, dating back to 1993. The Debian package management system is generally considered superior to the RPM systems, although they have closed the gap (mainly by incorporating features from Debian's system).
It has been criticised in the past for lagging behind on software versions and its slow development cycle, but these are due to conscious decisions by the Debian leadership. The main package repositories concentrate on stability. This is not only in the "doesn't crash" meaning, but also as in "doesn't change": equally important in a production environment. If you run a dozen servers and a couple of hundred desktops, you don't want to be continually upgrading everything and dealing with the associated hassle, multiplied a hundred-fold. Debian stable is ideal for those you follow the "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" philosophy.
Debian has testing and experimental branches that are more bleeding edge too. Whichever branch you choose to use, the amount of available software is staggering. Some of the other distros covered here come on a DVD, some on a CD, but Debian is available as three DVDs! That's 13GB of software packages. The Debian web site currently claims to have almost 19,000 packages of Free Software. This is another philosophical difference with Debian, they are more committed to the ideals of free software, placing non-free software – things like Nvidia's own video drivers – in separate repositories.
Not only is there a large spread of software in Debian, but it is also available for eleven different CPU architectures. No wonder their release cycle is so long, that's a lot of testing and quality control. One of Debian's great advantages is that it is always possible to upgrade from one version to the next, without reinstalling and having to reconfigure everything from scratch.
Debian has been chosen as the base system or starting point for many other distros, including several of those covered here, it's the distro makers' distro of choice.
Reasons to try:
- Almost 19,000 software packages
- Choice of stable or latest packages
- Available for many different architectures
2. Fedora
The community distro from Red Hat
Desktop Gnome by default KDE available
Architectures i386, x86_64, ppc
URL http://fedoraproject.org
Fedora (previously known as Fedora Core) is the community distro sponsored by Red Hat. Spun off from their commercial distros, Fedora is now more experimental, more up to date and far more fun than an enterpriseoriented distro could ever be.
Recent releases of Fedora have been less than dynamic and have been overshadowed by their competitors, but Fedora 8 looks like it could change that.
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
Your comments (8) Click to add a new comment
billwilliam
August 31st
8. Hmmm. I've Just I think changed from favoring Suse to favoring Fedora Core.
Because virtualization worked easily for me in FC11, but was messy on Suse 11.1
Alert a moderator
bilash
January 26th
7. I don't know the criteria of this arrangement but as a long time user of this distros I think Simply Mepis should be the leader. I have the highest encomium for it .Side by side I shall name two distros one is Mandriva 2009 and Linux Mint. After all operating systems should be meant for newbies as well as geeks.In this respect I simply hate slackware and arch linux for their conservative and adament nature.
Alert a moderator
iggy82
October 6th 2008
6. Linux has always troubled me, today is the first day I have not given up on it!
It's taken me about 10 attempts over the last 5 years to give it a go and see how things work out.... which normally results in me getting really annoyed and formatting the linux partition and going back to windows!
I'm using the latest Ubuntu, I think its got to be one of the most user friendly Linux distro's about, it still has its issues but I find it easier to overcome them. I tried debian all weekend but I just couldn't get a nice user friendly installer which wasn't a huge DVD sized download!
Alert a moderator
angrykeyboarder
October 5th 2008
5. I'm afraid you are mistaken about Debian. The default desktop is GNOME. One is free to choose another but it's not a "user friendly" process. It requires doing a base install first (no Desktop Environment or Window Manager).
Alert a moderator
nitrofan
October 3rd 2008
4. I was originally looking for an alternative to Vista for my business system so decided to try out Linux.
I have tried most Linux distros and have finally settled on OpenSUSE (I am currently running V11)as it gave me the best user experience and sensible corporate support.
Alert a moderator
area3000
September 29th 2008
3. My favourite post about:
http://www.area3000.it/en/la-piu-completa-guida-alle-distro-di-ubuntu-kubuntu-xubuntu%E2%80%A6/
(You can find a lot of distro!)
Alert a moderator
Tell us what you think
You need to Log in or register to post comments