am planning to purchase linux OS.many friends told me redhat is the best and most popular. could u suggest me which is the best distro?

which distro is has max. features, user-friendly?

also each popular distro is well known for what?

Did you try searching for similar threads and getting the answer from posts which have already been made?
Have you checked out distrowatch?
Have you done any reading whatsoever?

There is TONS of info on the various distributions here and elsewhere already.

I suggest that you try Ubuntu Linux, or Mandriva. These are both user friendly, and have a nice amount of features.

Myself, I use Ubuntu.

LFS is feature packed and user friendly, personally ill take the less feature rich and less user friendly gentoo.

LFS isn't feature packed unless you make it that way.
And definetly not for newbies. (Not user friendly)

But it's my favorite.

The best distro is the one that best suits your needs.

What do you mean by features?
All distros are user friendly -- as long as by "user friendly" you mean "useable once you know what you're doing," GNU/Linux is not Windows, so don't expect it to be.

Slackware/Debian/Gentoo are sometimes thought of as less newbie friendly, but more stable.
Fedora (child of RedHat)/Mandriva/Ubuntu seem to be more 'mainstream' newbie friendly distros.

All six of those Distrobutions are great in their own way. Some are more 'hands on' when it comes time to configure your system, and others try to do everything automatically for you.


This is of course pure conjecture and hearsay combined with some small ammount of experience and my own humble opinion.

shotokan: lfs is as feature packed as any distro out their (as you said, you make it that way).

any easyness (as truthfatal said) is up to you, for me, lfs is easyer because i know everything about whats going on, so no hidden suprises to get in my way when something needs fixing (gentoo gets in my way, so its less easy, but its faster to use, so i use it as i have less time then i used to).

also, LFS was the first succesful installation of a distribution i did (eh, maybe not the full lfs, i used to reinstall my core linux distro from source before i reboot, as i had some problems with that distro rebooting when i first tried to install linux), so you cant say its not for newbs, its just not for some newbs. Which furthers my whole point, what does he/she want? all they said to now was entirly dependent on opinion, which changes from person to person.

popular distro classes.

do it yourself/source code distros:
1)slackware - do it yourself mostly, "old school" of the distros, never used it, but i think its a combination of do it yourself with some added functions to help you.
2)lfs - create your own distro by compiling all the packages using another distro, has the problem of needing manual updates
3)gentoo - compilies everything from source using a package manager, unlike slackware and lfs (slackware does have a binary package manager i think tho).

binary/destop/workplace distros (i never used any of em):
1) redhat/fedora - eh, popular yes, and is used as a base for lots of other distros. It contains a package manager, but from what i hear, its more geared to people who know linux (or are aquanted with the desktop), not newbs who can only use windows.
2) debian - package manager, yes (some say its great, i hate it tho, broke the second i touched it), most people say its for advanced users, i have to agree, the install was hidiously complex (and i just got done installing lfs, which most people say is the most complex install).
3) madrake - redhat based i think, most people say this ones for the new guys.

windows wannabe distros:
1) linspire - avoid at all costs, sure, its simular enough to windows, but the package manager is hard to use (at least not self explanitory). It also ruts sllooow, but that just might be KDE walking, but still, its not a free distro, and i dont think its good enough to pay for when you can just read a few paragraphs and use some other distro.

thats pretty much most of the popular ones, altho i hear ark linux (is that right?) is supposed to have a super easy install.

First mistake is "purchase" Don't!!
There are MANY good FREE distros---pick one at random. After using it, you will be back with more specific questions.

OOPS......Just looked at OP's posting history. Don't hold your breath for him to reply, thank us, whatever.
Sigh..........

SuSe is very user friedny super easy to install Yast makes everything very easy. almost everything works straight out the box. and it has both KDE and Gnome.

Set your expectations appropriately ... no distro is going to "feel friendly" the first time you encounter it. The Linux world is simply so much different, in certain key ways, from Windywoos that it is going to be a culture shock!

Prepare your system by installing a second disk-drive. Plan on leaving your Windywoos installation completely alone while you install Linux entirely on the new drive. When appropriate, select the new drive as your primary boot-device. (This gives you a simple, if brutish, way to switch back and forth between the two as you get your feet on the ground.)

Errr this could start alot of flamming everyone has there own oppinion depending what u need linux for , Personal Desktop or Buisness to different ideas.

yeh totaly.
But Suse Mandriva (k)Ubuntu and red hat i would say are the ones aimed at novice home users so i would stick with one of those.
But then for buisness i wouldnt no what one to go for.
But the 1st 2 both have exelent software support from the rpm ftp sites and both have a big user help base both here and other forums.
download a few of the free versions, try anyones realy, see how you get on, then if you really realyy want to buy it??? but the free versions can do everything the purchased versions can.
Let us know what ones you try and go with

RC

Im 15 , i never needed linux for buisness but i would say Ubuntu , and SuSe are personally currently my favorites. SUSE for KDE , and Ubuntu for Gnome but then AGAIN!!! i never used alot of distros... :'(

Why is purchasing a mistake? think it is best to purchase a copy of whatever distro you use to help support it.

That said, most users tend to start off with Suse, Mandriva and Fedora. Lately Ubuntu is starting to top that list. Some people like even more of a user friendly distro such as Linspire or Xandros. Afterwards, a lot of people tend to hop around to other "harder" distros like Gentoo, Slackware and LFS.