i used to love these threads... now they just bother me

at their cores, most linux distros are the SAME... but they all have their different auras

for example, i have installed redhat, mandrake (both deleted), and now use slackware, (and recently through in LFS)... they all ran on 2.4.x kernels when installed and they all installed the same basic packages

however, it became clear that redhat was aimed at people who wanted a simple home-business-workstation solution... use linux at home with openoffice and perhaps run a small server with ease

mandrake is aimed at doing everything for itself and manifesting as something that Everybody can use... thus you get a highly bloated system (no matter how much you trim the packages) with a windows aftertaste

slackware is aimed at using that darn computer... most of what you could possibly need to run a workstation, a server, or a regular computer comes installed with high optimizations; it doesn't interfere with anything you would want to do to it (such as installing a new mainline kernel... couldn't do that easily in redhat or mandrake)

as for the 2.6.x kernel thing... this is a problem with the internel modifications the distro manufacturers are making to the mainline kernel that ships with the distros; don't blame the mainline 2.6 kernels

So just move quietly along instead of posting. It's quite clear that LQ is a series of forums for opinions....and we all value yours just as much as you value ours ;-)

*Every* distro has people who love it and people who don't.

I've used many distros and like Debian the best by far. Good package management system with over 13000 packages available with sarge. I didn't have *any* problems installing and found it to be rock solid.

Used Red Hat for 5 years through version 5/6/7/8/9 and with what I'd seen about Fedora, I decided to switch. First to Slackware which is good but not great. Then to Debian, where I plan on staying though I do plan on installing Gentoo on a machine.

My advice is to look at distrowatch.com, examine distribution web sites, try out as many as you can and decide for yourself.

Am I the only one who finds this hysterically funny (for a change) for what is essentially a completely redundant statement??

Of course they're all the same at their core.

Their core is the Linux kernel.

D'oh!

The "aura" is what makes a particular distro different in any respect whatsoever from any other distro, and is mostly the point of having different distros in the first place.

They all run the same programs. They all run on (variants of) the same kernel. They even all have mostly the same config files.

What else makes Mandrake different from Knoppix from Fedora from SuSE from Gentoo except that "aura", which is made up of package management, custom tools (or lack therof), value-added, and general "look-n-feel" issues (consistency across window managers, branding, etc)?

The best distibution to use is the one that works best for you. I know that may not be much help if you have little experience with multiple distibutions, but I feel that others have already given accurate descriptions of the advantages of different distros.

Distributions that use the 2.6 kernel do seem to have a few bugs in them, and since most distibutions don't share the same bugs it would seem that the bugs are more related to the distibuion and not so much the 2.6.* kernel.

My previous statements leave two questions: 1. how to try different distributions without hurting you wallet? 2. will my hardware have issues with the 2.6 kernel in X distribution?

To answer both questions I would recomend trying out a couple Live CDs these will allow you to see which distribution suits your tasts and will give you an idea as to which distro will work best with your hardware. What you will need is a couple blank CDs and a little broadband internet. than go <a href="http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php">HERE</a> and give some distros a try. If you dont have access to a broadband internet connection and your not in a hurry to install Linux that try finding a local <a href="http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Software/Operating_Systems/Unix/Linux/User_Groups/">LUG</a> someone there will ususaly have a live CD or two they can give you, plus you can get a look at others systems running linux and maybe get an idea of which distro you will like and will work for you. Most LUG's meet anywhere between once a week to once a month.