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View Poll Results: Desktop Distribution of the Year
Just kidding
I'm a novice myself. I began my GNU/Linux adventure through Ubuntu, switched pretty fast to Xubuntu, but found that it didn't meet my expectations for running a modern OS on old hardware. Which I have later found is not an unusual motive among newcomers. Why spend more cash on new hardware when your old box will do the job?
I had a look at several distros, and landed on Zenwalk, a distant slackware relative. Zenwalk has a one-app-per task philosophy. It runs great on new and old hardware, has a powerful package manager, a complete yet fast and responsive desktop and most notably a great community. Haven't looked back since.
Ubuntu is bloated from the get-go unless you are ready to take the necessary steps that a new linux user would most probably not feel confident enough to do. That said, Ubuntu gave me a starting point. Then I grew up. I can still recommend it to Windows-oriented users and Mac iDolizers without fearing they'll get the fear. Keep up the good work!
One thing that bugs me though, is when Ubuntu users who are surveying other distros or operative systems complain that some thing or setup isn't the same as in Ubuntu. Ubuntu's Not Linux. If you want Ubuntu, use Ubuntu. The good distros are usually built up with care to suit objective x,y,z and I've found that most of the changes are there for good reasons. Understanding this, you'll probably learn more about Linux, and delve further into it away from the abyss of M$.
I've been an Ubuntu user for a bit over 3 years, but just recently decided to experiment on my 2 "spare" PCs. My notebook still runs Ubuntu, but my desktop now has Mandriva One 2009...KDE so it takes some getting used to.
The PC I replaced, I'm now attempting to put a light Linux on, and Zenwalk is probably the one which will be running on it. I had trouble installing Zenwalk so I tried DSL. The default resolution is so awful I can't see to reboot LOL.
The point is, Ubuntu is "bringing the masses" to Linux, and I think some power users don't like that idea (can't say that I blame them).
For those who have discovered Linux and made the change, the only reason I can think of to attract Windows users is so that hardware (and software) vendors will take notice and support Linux. Other than that, they can HAVE their Windows.
PCLinuxOS was really the most useful and stable for most of the year - but when it came to needing the packages, Debian had to be it. Gentoo is awesome with packages also, but has its other features that make it 3rd. I would prefer a voting system where we could rank the distro we use to the point we don't care.
Last edited by GTrax; 02-03-2009 at 05:53 PM.
Reason: speling :|
it's very difficult to answer, because no one is aware of all the linux distributions, there are a lot of distributions are available in linux.
i can't judge which is best. I had used only 4 linux distributions, so i can judge among them only. Previously i had used Red hat enterprise edition, Ubuntu, Fedora 10.0. Now i am using openSUSE 11.0. when compared with other 3 i had used, SUSE is best. Eventhough i had faced some problems at the starting stage, those few and far less than the other distributions. SUSE is very use friendly. It's graphics features are very nice.
Thank you.
I am by no means a "linux expert". I work in IT and was an administrator (Windows/Novell) in the past. Over the years though I have played around with linux. I have probably installed 7 different distros. For some reason picking a different distro each time I do a build. Anyway, each time I went into it with low expectations and each time was refreshingly suprised on how easy the install went and how nice it looks and runs. I just wanted to say that I Love Linux in general. Each distro is just a different version of a great os. It has revived several unused boxes after becoming too slow for the latest OS from MS. It has made my current eee PC laptop run better than the original XP. I am just glad that we can have this thread/poll. Don't see many polls like this on a MS site.
I'd love to vote for Ubuntu, since it gets a lot of new Linux users hooked, but Gentoo is by far more reliable, and worth any happy hacker's time to check it out.
I'd love to vote for Ubuntu, since it gets a lot of new Linux users hooked, but Gentoo is by far more reliable, and worth any happy hacker's time to check it out.
I think that's why I installed Mandriva, and Sabayon and ZenWalk.
I'm a happy Ubuntu user but there is more to be seen in the world than our own backyards.
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