2008 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice AwardsThis 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
I am a fan of mandriva and ubuntu .
madriva gives me the stability and easy environment to use bt ubuntu gives me a new way to learn linux as I have to use many commands to use it also ubuntu os faster thant mandriva since less grafics as compaired to mandriva ..
I love the package manager in mandriva since I have to only work with my DVD to add new software (app) in it so ................
The year 2008 has been crucial for me. In 2008 i installed linux for the first time and kept on using it. Started with Backtrack 3 install as it was fairly easy. Tested some other distros but landing on Slackware was a logical advance.
I'd vote for three of them if I could... sidux, antiX, and SimplyMEPIS
Quote:
Originally Posted by anticapitalista
No antiX?
Great for old and new boxes.
I definitely enjoy using Debian based distributions the most of all, so here's one from Debian Stable: SimplyMEPIS, one from Debian Testing: antiX, and one from Debian Sid: sidux.
All three are extremely useful. SimplyMEPIS is a great every day desktop system, antiX is a fast, lean, and flexible desktop system, easily customized and extended, and sidux provides the latest cutting edge software in a usable form that can be continually updated.
All three of these distributions are excellent in every way.
Just imagine you had to install linux in a company on 2000 desktops. Would you really choose slackware with regard to maintainability ?
Despite my strong personal preference for Debian based systems in the home, I would seriously consider a Red Hat Enterprise Linux contract and take advantage of the deployment features offered in Red Hat. Perhaps there are ways to massively deploy systems provided by other vendors as well, and undoubtedly there are plenty of home grown ways to do it as well, but if I were asked to deploy thousands of Linux desktops in a business right now, I know that I can immediately get what I need with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and if I wanted to hire out to do the job, I am sure that I could quickly find the resources to do it.
A great Slackware administrator could undoubtedly do the job, too, and so could a great Debian administrator... and others could argue the same thing. When it comes to a company being behind such an effort, I know that I can go to either Red Hat or any major hardware vendor and get the support to deploy as many systems as I need. In fact, I am sure that companies are chomping at the bit for that kind of work right now. I expect to see some significant redeployments this year as part of cost cutting measures. Red Hat is likely to fare well in this space.
A great Slackware administrator could undoubtedly do the job, too, and so could a great Debian administrator... and others could argue the same thing.
ok, but you cannot argue that a great debian admin will need significantly less time because debian (and especially ubuntu) have some nifty tools that make you more productive. Of course rhel or sles is even better for companies, but that wasn't in the list I think.
I voted ubuntu btw. because that's what I would put on my grandma's pc if I didn't want her to disinherit me (given I have only the options in the list).
For my own pc doesn't count, for me linux is linux ! The distros just differ in the amount of time I need for configuration and maintainance, until they do what I want. As I have fun "wasting" my time which such stuff, I needn't choose the most efficient or usable distro. But I think that's not the point of the poll...
Not only is it I686 optimized but the "pacman" package manager makes dealing with installing, updating, or removing your software a snap. - I also believe that the rolling release model of Arch is much less error prone than entire system upgrades and that means a lot when it comes to my desktop workstation.
Also having the most bleeding edge (yet amazingly stable) system is + + for the desktop.
And tied, for me, in close second are Vector Linux and Slackware. - The latter is a perfect desktop with the full install DVD.
I would have voted for Pardus 2008. . . but it wasn't on the list.
Very easy to install, great HW detection --and it gives me the best performance on the ATI 3450 vid card [that I wish I hadn't bought because of poor fglrx performance] of any distros I've tried. Easy to install software with the graphical front end for Pisi package manager, and all updates have been rock solid. If you're still a KDE 3.5x fan, Pardus is a great choice.
Arch is another possibility, but mine got so snarled up it won't boot when I changed my video card to the abovementioned ATI. I used JFS for the root filesystem, and despite having jfstools, I can't even get into the partition to edit config files from a liveCD or mount that partition from another installed OS. So it may be a JFS problem, not an Arch problem, but that distro can't get my vote because of circumstances.
MEPIS: not my first choice, as there was no release in 2008.
Mepis 7 was released Christmas Eve 2007, and Mepis 8 is still at RC1 here in mid-January 2009. But putting them together, and having used Mepis 7 most of 2008, switching to development releases of Mepis 8 in November, I have to say that Warren Woodford's magic is strong.
A stable KDE 3.5x with easy configuration Assistants, based on Debian Etch. . . followed by a stable KDE 3.5x with easy configuration Assistants, based on Debian Lenny.
What's not to like?!!
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