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Arch doesn't suit my purposes, so don't use it, but i think it's the best package manager out there, Much better than Apt. I regard Zypper as the second best; also much better than apt. Of cause that's only my opinion.
Desktop Distribution of the Year - Ubuntu (23.59%)
Server Distribution of the Year - Slackware (31.83%)
Mobile Distribution of the Year - Android (59.15%)
Database of the Year - MariaDB (36.41%)
NoSQL Database of the Year - MongoDB (46.15%)
It's so funny how everybody mentioned their favorite distro but did not say WHY? How does that help people decide what to, at least, try?
So here's mine. Not seven but just two (2):
1.) DEBIAN - Let's face it, it doesn't matter if it's GUI installation or by using command, once it's installed, for me and for what I use computer for, IT'S ALL THE SAME. Install your office program, browser, email, flashplayer, pdf reader, audio/video player, printer, etc...and you're all set. So why Debian? Well, they've been out there for a long time so you have the SUPPORT and STABILITY. Installing hardware was easy for me. Setting up my 3 monitor using FGLRX, as we all know it's a bit harder to configure unlike other video cards, was a snap. I mean, I did not have to go online and search for a solution to install any devices (video card, sound, wifi, printer, scanner). It all worked on the first try. The only thing that did not work for me was my iPhone but that is only minor. Which brings me to my second choice.
2.) Puppy - Installed this distro and plugged in my iPhone and it worked the first try. No configuration needed. Also did not have any problem with the devices. It automatically detected everything and installed drivers for them, except for the printer of course. With the printer, I had to use CUPS and manually configure as the printer is connected to a windows pc.But that went pretty easy as well. And of course, I have to mention the SPEED. Everything rans on RAM so even an ancient pc will satisfy, if not, exceed your expectation. I needed a little bit of time learning it but after a week, I've decided to install it on my laptop. I had issue when I tried it on my desktop pc with three monitors. But will try it again when I have more time.
So, there are my reasons. The only other reason is of course the look and feel but you can do that with all distro. Last but not least, just would like to mention that my triple screen setup is using 2 GPUs as well. Two on first card and one on the second.
Well, my previous post just made a guess as to which distro's we were likely to see the idiotic "List sites" and "News sites" latching on to throughout the year.
Arch is my favorite distro. I am able to build it from the ground up to include the things that I need and the things that I find important. I find it easier to deal with than Fedora, which is the other "Bleeding edge" distro. I guess I prefer the KISS method than the giant clusterF that surrounds a lot of the distro's these days. This is my reasoning for using Arch.
The problem is, the thread is titled "7 best distros for 2014" meaning distro's to watch out for, up and comers, ready to break paradigms and such.
People in general are not going to latch on to Arch as I have. Going back the original point of this thread, I still say that the big names throughout the media-internet will be:
Fedora, Mint, and Ubuntu.
Last edited by szboardstretcher; 03-28-2014 at 10:20 AM.
MX-14
AntiX_13.2
Puppy_5.7.0
Salix_14.1_xfce
LinuxLite (impressed with its ease for newb/gamers -- even if it's ubuntu-LTS-based); IMHO, the best N00b distro.
Zenwalk_7.4
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What's the point with the remainder? There have not been that many impressive distros out of late.
Aren't everyone tired of the "best distro" threads yet? Sure they can whip up a lot of discussion, but heck there are so many distros with great people doing lots of hard work and making it available for free. I reckon we should thank the great people working their bums off to get the distros ready for us guys a pat on the back.
So here is to the devs maintainers et al. Great work guys. Thanks for your countless hours.
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