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2008 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards This forum is for the 2008 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards.
You can now vote for your favorite products of 2008. This is your chance to be heard! Voting ends February 12th.

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View Poll Results: Desktop Distribution of the Year
Ubuntu 547 35.38%
Fedora 153 9.90%
Debian 158 10.22%
openSuse 120 7.76%
Slackware 192 12.42%
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 0.65%
Mandriva 74 4.79%
Gentoo 58 3.75%
MEPIS 29 1.88%
Linux Mint 48 3.10%
Arch 75 4.85%
PClinuxOS 40 2.59%
Zenwalk 24 1.55%
VectorLinux 12 0.78%
Freespire 0 0%
gOS 6 0.39%
Voters: 1546. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 02-13-2009, 08:30 AM   #226
dora
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Just opened Linux Format 116 March 2009 and it features OpenSUSE 11.1.
Quote:
From zero to Linux in minutes: the best OpenSUSE yet!
Are they now trying to imitate Ubuntu?
 
Old 02-13-2009, 09:51 AM   #227
SilentSam
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raskin View Post
I hope that poll will not be closed next year, unlike what happened with shells - bash won every year, but there was a lot to learn from the battle for the second place. And some interesting comments about upcoming niche shells were to be found in discussion.
I like this quote. The discussion in many polls that have a clear winner has opened my eyes to quite a few options that I wouldn't have taken the time to discover otherwise.
 
Old 02-13-2009, 12:45 PM   #228
wagscat123
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Wink Comparing Distros

I have tried a couple of Distros. I have tried with Live CDs openSUSE GNOME, Ubuntu, Gentoo XFCE, Fedora KDE, and Fedora GNOME. When I first started with Linux in the January of last year, I started with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. My computer does not have a lot of RAM, so I had to use the Live CDs on another computer. openSUSE and Ubuntu were the onlytwo I managed to get to mount a swap partition. SUSE had Yast so I would start it up in Runlevel 3, use Yast to create a swap partition, then go to runlevel 5. Eventually, I got the DVD Installer of openSUSE and Fedora. Out of the torture I inflict on my computer with all the things I try on Linux, SUSE and Ubuntu have worked the best. When I voted, I had a hard time determining openSUSE or Ubuntu. I picked openSUSE, because it is a little more malleable. I especially like the inclusion of Yast in SUSE because it simplifies managing Linux. My second vote would have gone to Ubuntu. I like the GUI of GNOME in Ubuntu, also that you can import settings from other distributions and Windows, and its simplicity. I try to keep an open mind with Linux distros, I like to try out new software. I have also tried out Solaris. I have also tried GNOME, KDE, XFCE, and TWM. I like KDE, GNOME, and XFCE and switch around a lot. I didn't vote for anything with the polls out there I unless I have tried out a couple of options. Always keep an open mind!

Last edited by wagscat123; 02-13-2009 at 12:58 PM. Reason: Left out a couple details and made a few mistakes
 
Old 02-13-2009, 01:42 PM   #229
{BBI}Nexus{BBI}
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dora View Post
Just opened Linux Format 116 March 2009 and it features OpenSUSE 11.1.
I got mine with the Feb 2009 edition of Linux Magazine
 
Old 02-13-2009, 02:40 PM   #230
wagscat123
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KDE: Flashy but OK

Quote:
Originally Posted by Piccolo_Pete View Post
I followed the KDE4 development and it looked interesting and it looked promising but then I had the opportunity of using it in Mandriva 2008 and I was left quite unimpressed so I don't think it's just openSUSE. But I've also heard from one of the Mandriva mailing lists that KDE4.0 was meant more for developers and not end users. I've also tried KDE4.1 in Mandriva 2009 and that has left me with the same impression.
I have tried KDE 4.1 in openSUSE11.1 and in Fedora 10. As with the original thread, it isn't just one distribution. It's just as slow and buggy in Fedora too. I first liked it a bit at first then I went back in GNOME to try something I can only do in GNOME and realized that KDE4 is too slow. i do not have a lot of RAM either. I can barely get by with 500 megs of swap. Though, I like the KDE interface a lot lot better with the effects. It is not nearly as dull as KDE3. I have notices that unlike GNOME I haven't noticed much variation from distro to distro.I don't hate KDE4, but I don't particularly care for it either. I like GNOME and XFCE better.
 
Old 02-14-2009, 01:11 AM   #231
gotfw
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It's important to keep in mind here that these polls represent a very small portion of Linux users - something like approx. 1500 in this poll. Additionally, by their very nature, these forums tend to attract new users. Intermediate and expert users are likely under represented, relatively speaking. Hence it is not surprising that distros with lowest path to entry will be favored. So recommend you take them with a grain of salt.
 
Old 02-14-2009, 01:25 AM   #232
Ron G
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Quote:
Originally Posted by opensuse4life View Post
Yes, I think many of us dislike the idea of distros that are too clickity-clickity easy. For those of us that poured over manpages for countless hours, spent months learning shell scripting so we could write scripts to automate stuff HAL does in one mouse click, and spent far more time in /log then we ever imagined, it's insulting.

I cringe at the thought of some clueless guy with his ubuntu box getting his linksys wrt54g (I swear. they sell these things at gas stations or something, they're EVERYWHERE) pwn'd because he was too lazy and ignorant to read the directions and set up a wep key. From there it's a few more steps before he's unknowingly running as a kad supernode, bittorrent seed or DCC fileserver.

Why does it bother me? Because the commercial OS world groups him as "one of us".
I just pray that all who think like this, have massive automobile failure, and when they have to take the car to a mechanic, he berates them for not learning how to fix the thing themselves, as he had to train for years, and years to learn how to do it, and wonders why the hell they didn't learn to do it themselves.
Or the next time they need to fly, the pilot laughs at them for not taking the time to learn to fly their own machine, like he did.
Gee what a bunch of whining elitist, who want a world unto themselves.
Thank God for those who want to share what they do, with the rest of us dummies who haven't had the same paths as the elite, and simply want to break free of the hold that Windows has had on most of us for years.
Dear God, please, please do not ever turn me in to one of these people.
I would rather be the dumb, clueless, but humble person I am now.
If every blessed person on earth, had the same knowledge, then there would be no need to ever communicate with anyone else.
No that is a place, I hope never to be.

Last edited by Ron G; 02-14-2009 at 01:26 AM.
 
Old 02-14-2009, 03:01 AM   #233
dora
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron G View Post
I just pray that all who think( like this, have massive automobile failure, and when they have to take the car to a mechanic, he berates them for not learning how to fix the thing themselves, as he had to train for years, and years to learn how to do it, and wonders why the hell they didn't learn to do it themselves.
Or the next time they need to fly, the pilot laughs at them for not taking the time to learn to fly their own machine, like he did.
Gee what a bunch of whining elitist, who want a world unto themselves.
Thank God for those who want to share what they do, with the rest of us dummies who haven't had the same paths as the elite, and simply want to break free of the hold that Windows has had on most of us for years.
Dear God, please, please do not ever turn me in to one of these people.
I would rather be the dumb, clueless, but humble person I am now.
If every blessed person on earth, had the same knowledge, then there would be no need to ever communicate with anyone else.
No that is a place, I hope never to be.
I would leave God out of this.
Some of us whining elitists:
can decently get under the hood of their car (in case of massive automotive failure get a new car...)
have put a lot of effort into learning how to fly an airplane (can't land a jet, so please don't fly with me!)
Since we like to do things, it only stands to reason that we would expect others to put just a little bit of effort into trying to understand what Linux is and isn't before expecting an all automatic effortless Linux computing experience.
Having said that, I am only speaking for myself, of course.
It is a free world. Live and let live!
 
Old 02-14-2009, 05:09 AM   #234
mdsmedia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dora View Post
I would leave God out of this.
Some of us whining elitists:
can decently get under the hood of their car (in case of massive automotive failure get a new car...)
have put a lot of effort into learning how to fly an airplane (can't land a jet, so please don't fly with me!)
Since we like to do things, it only stands to reason that we would expect others to put just a little bit of effort into trying to understand what Linux is and isn't before expecting an all automatic effortless Linux computing experience.
Having said that, I am only speaking for myself, of course.
It is a free world. Live and let live!
I'm an Ubuntu user and I love Ubuntu because it gives me a chance to use GUI or CLI to my heart's content.

I now have 3 computers, my laptop being the work machine, dual-booting with XP because I have to, and only because I have to. Ubuntu is on my laptop, I have Mandriva on my desktop....no Windows on that, and attempting to get a lightweight distro on my replaced 8 year old desktop. That will probably be Zenwalk, and I'll learn some more. Mandriva will almost certainly be replaced by something else, and I'll learn some more.

Some of the posts here are really sad, even pathetic. I don't think even Ubuntu has got to a stage where you can just use it without some sort of understanding of Linux or at least a change of mindset. Especially if you're a Windows convert. I WANTED to use Linux, and Ubuntu gave me that opportunity. Even then if I wanted to fix something I was given a CLI command to diagnose or fix it. I don't mind that. I hardly know a CLI command but I don't mind using CLI.

Don't confuse the ease of use of Ubuntu with a straight Windows replacement. It still requires a desire to use Linux and accept its differences. I love the fact I'm able to use Linux while I'm learning to use Linux. I can tell the Windows fanbois that "I can do that" and more.

What I love is that, after Ubuntu, Slackware and Debian were the next most popular. Base distros!! I'll use Debian on its own soon and might come to love it. I like Sabayon, but it was a bit too much for me as a learning user.

I want LINUX to succeed. It doesn't matter which distro it is that drives it. If you don't like one distro, try another. I don't care about market share, just enough that hardware and software developers take it seriously.
 
Old 02-14-2009, 05:19 AM   #235
brianL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dora View Post
I would leave God out of this.
Some of us whining elitists:
can decently get under the hood of their car (in case of massive automotive failure get a new car...)
have put a lot of effort into learning how to fly an airplane (can't land a jet, so please don't fly with me!)
Since we like to do things, it only stands to reason that we would expect others to put just a little bit of effort into trying to understand what Linux is and isn't before expecting an all automatic effortless Linux computing experience.
Having said that, I am only speaking for myself, of course.
It is a free world. Live and let live!
I bet you could perform an appendectomy on yourself too, and make your own cuckoo clocks.
 
Old 02-14-2009, 06:03 AM   #236
dora
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brianL View Post
I bet you could perform an appendectomy on yourself too, and make your own cuckoo clocks.
Bloody right I could!
The only thing I cannot do is to cook a decent meal. Reading you guys made me burn the lunch vegetables...
 
Old 02-14-2009, 07:13 AM   #237
dora
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I Would love to add a few more comments about my love for Ubuntu and Mark Shuttleworth, but the anesthetic is beginning to take effect, all the instruments have been sterilized and I am about to get on the operating table. Will upload a video of the appendectomy on YouTube.
 
Old 02-14-2009, 07:38 AM   #238
brianL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dora View Post
Bloody right I could!
The only thing I cannot do is to cook a decent meal. Reading you guys made me burn the lunch vegetables...
I thought women were good at multitasking, that's what they're always telling me anyway.

P.S.
Looking forward to the appendectomy video.

Last edited by brianL; 02-14-2009 at 07:41 AM.
 
Old 02-14-2009, 08:58 AM   #239
DragonSlayer48DX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by opensuse4life View Post
Yes, I think many of us dislike the idea of distros that are too clickity-clickity easy. For those of us that poured over manpages for countless hours, spent months learning shell scripting so we could write scripts to automate stuff HAL does in one mouse click, and spent far more time in /log then we ever imagined, it's insulting.
You remind me of a friend of mine who felt the same exact way about MS-DOS when Windows was first introduced.

Why do you think that Linux adoption has gone off the scale for the past couple years or so? Because it has become user-friendly. I do hope it never reaches the point where it starts dumbing down the user like Windows, but let's face it- not everyone has the time or desire to learn how to edit files and type scripts just to get something to work. And now they don't have to.

Just my
 
Old 02-14-2009, 12:36 PM   #240
opensuse4life
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Over the years, whenever I had a problem with something Linux-related, I typically got the same answers:

Read the manual.
Figure it out.
Study. Learn. Do.
Read the manual.
Look at examples.
Be patient and think things through.
How's that manual coming along?
RTFM, MF!

So I did. I did it mostly myself. The reward from that, the pride, the sense of self accomplishment, is something I would never trade for anything. Please, don't think I'm an "expert". I still have a long way to go. That's OK, because I'll have no problem enjoying all the warm fuzzy feelings each time I succeed.

The very spirit of this operating system is the same as what the GNU developers envisioned from the beginning, and what was so inspiring to Linus Torvalds when he created the first kernel:

Every user has the ability to contribute something. At some point, every user should feel obligated to contribute something, no matter how small...

To do that, you have to get under the hood and get greasy.To design a distribution of this operating system so simple and straight forward that the user gets into it without even knowing what a shell is or what "from the terminal" means, is a very breech of the core ideas behind GNU/Linux. It does nothing but create a pool of blood sucking leeches expecting to suck a quick fix out of someone anytime something goes wrong. It draws those wanting the support of a paid operating system from a free one that's held together by contributions from the community.

I realize many will critique me (or already have) by saying Ubuntu was a stepping stone that helped them get into a power-user distro later on. While that's all well and good, my fear is that while some use stepping stones to move forward, others trip over them, fall flat on their faces, and decide "aw, I'm just gonna sit right here."


Quote:
Originally Posted by Dora
Just opened Linux Format 116 March 2009 and it features OpenSUSE 11.1.
Quote:
From zero to Linux in minutes: the best OpenSUSE yet!
Are they now trying to imitate Ubuntu?
Gotta love Novel's advertising budget. They depend heavily on user reports, comments, sugestions and contributions from openSUSE as a cornerstone of the development for Suse Linux Enterprise. So they like to get fancy in the media to swell up the user base. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose.
 
  


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