There definitely does exist "distro-elitism" in the Linux community whether we care to acknowledge the fact or not. I have seen this especially with certain distributions like Slackware or Gentoo because they are perceived to be difficult to use by many.

On a general level, I've noticed that people who've used multiple distros tend to come across as more objective and more level-headed because they tend to compare distros better. On the other hand, those who have used only one distro clearly

1. Haven't a clue as to how other distros compare with respect to theirs.
2. Are biased to a large extent.

Slackware activists, in particular, tend to come across as elitist on many occasions. I'm not targetting anybody, let it be said. However, the very same people who come across as elitist are also some of the most helpful folks on the forums.

Yes. At least one out of five Slackware users do tend to attack distros like Debian, Gentoo and Suse more often than not. What really irritates me is the way they assume that all other Linux users are lazy and ignorant because we choose not to tweak our systems manually as much as Slackware. I use Slackware myself, but I don't see any special skills needed to operate Slackware any more than Gentoo or Debian. What irritates me is the air of superiority some of these people assume in the face of valid arguments in favour of other distros that allow users the option of using automated configuration tools.

I mentioned reverse elitism some time ago. Sorry to say that Slackware-elitism does exist and I've seen it more of this on this forum too... it's the truth and I'm not going to hide it for anybody's sake. Mind you, I'm not targetting the entire Slackware community, but the 10-20% of those who do indulge in bashing other distros.

Slackware is a very simple and elegant distro, but that doesn't make it better/worse than distro A or B just because ten fanboys repeat the same thing... It's just different. Slackware doesn't need advocacy. It just is its own advertisement. That's why I often feel sad when people feel threatened when Slackware is even slightly criticized... Slackware is one of the longest surviving distros of Linux for a reason, folks...

If you take offence to this post, then please think about whether this is a direct criticism of you or not and count up to 10 before responding...

Slackware activists? LOL. :p

Let's patent some more psychological terms and label every single thing and take the fun out of computing (and life, in general).

I mean, these kind of religious wars are harmless. 99% of all users are sane enough not to take the matter 100% seriously to take a gun a kill somebody for something we enjoy. We are not hooligans.

I agree with you.
I have OpenSuSE and Debian. I tried just for one month Ubuntu and no more.
I like Debian but i don't know why they are waiting so long for Xorg for example...
I started with SuSE 6.8 and i am still SuSE user (i was sas when became Novell-SuSE)

The elitism is possibly a part of why Linux has become popular in the first place.
Techies love to be in a position where they control the black magic - First it was just being able to use a PC, then it was MSDOS v Windows, then NT v 95 then Unix v Windows, Linux v windows, and now every Distro v other distros.

How are u going to prove to your colleagues that you have one up on them any other way?

I think the fact that Slack has a reputation of not holding your hand like Redhat or Mandrake does when it comes to installing is the key to it. If its true or not doesn't make any difference - its all down to reputation. Slackware does rock, but only because all the others have grown up a little to appeal to more people.


The problem for Linux however is that if you come from a non technical field, and have no interest in out doing or out posing your colleagues, all this dissing is just going to put you off.

As soon as Linux gets into the mainstream, and 'ownership' goes into management rather than the IT dept, Linux distro wars will quell and it will all be about BSD instead!!

I'm all about picking the right tool for a job. Nothing more, nothing less.

The only exception is/are: RedHat and Fedora. I refuse to use Redhat because they dropped the desktop solution (and I used to buy the retail boxed Redhat every release, well, up until 1998 or 1999), and don't use Fedora because it's officially perpetually unstable. Things may have changed slightly now that Fedora is independent of Redhat, but I'll wait until the next release before trying it.

With that said, I don't mind fixing client machines with Redhat.

My personal favorite for general use? SuSE. Reason: It comes with a lot out of the box, and when I sit down at my computer, I just want to get my work done or watch a movie, or go about whatever other task I want to complete. I don't want to spend weeks downloading a million different packages the next time I need to do a new task. Also: SuSE upgrades from release to release go very smoothly, in my experience.

My favorite for tinkering used to be Slackware, but getting to the point to where I can do actual work got old really fast. (Anyone else here spend weeks and weeks editing fvwm configuration files and building menus and window decorations by hand? I used to. Yeah I know, Slackware now comes with real desktops, but you still have to tinker more to get from A to B)

Slackware has just as much autoconfigurators and stuff as other distros, it does not make them front and center. It also does not force you to use them as much as other distros. Many distros make it nearly impossible to go into the configuration files manually if the GUI tool did something wrong.

I've often asked myself the same thing...

I encounter this kind of thing only amongst certain distros, however. I never see a Slackware user scoff at a non-Slackware user. I never see a Red Hat user obtain that firey brand of fierce loyalty. But suggest that other, viable Linux distros exist around either an Ubuntu or a Debian user, and you'll have the Flaming Sword of Zealotry clobbering you over the head all the way home. I downloaded and tried both distros just to see what all the fuss is about. I was unimpressed. I deleted them. I found other distros I like better. So what? So now I'm a heretic.

Yeah, I thought free software was partly about *choice*. If we were going to be the kind of people who blindly conform to what the herd chooses, we wouldn't be using Linux at all, now would we?

Would you mind rephrasing this statement to be a little less extreme? We're not all wielding the "Flaming Sword of Zealotry" around here...

Slackware is commercial? When did this happen?

LOL

I think most of the "distro war" thing is just in fun. I think most experienced Linux users know that the distro that works best for them may not be the best choice for someone else.

It really boils down to choosing the right tool for the job and some friendly "mine is better than yours" rivalry is to be expected and is ok as long as it isn't taken too seriously. Not much different than "my football team is better than yours" or "my race car driver is better than yours". Human nature.

I use Slack because it's the best distro out there...for me. I enjoy "tinkering" with other distros, but my primary distro will likely always be Slack because it suits me best. I will always say "Slack is best" but will also always follow it up with "for me".

Gosh, I guess I'm the only one here who likes Fedora...;) .

People have a tendency to become attached to things that they use and/or love. As a result, that person's perception of thier attachment becomes skewed. They begin to attack those who do not understand their passion. Perhaps they had a bad experience in the past with a particular distro and refuse to tinker with it again. Maybe they were having a problem getting a certain app to work and became infatuated when distro X ran it fine. I guess that disagreements over distributions is simply a consequence of the diversification of Linux.

...then again, maybe it's not that big of a deal.:D

Sorry, but yes, I would mind. I've literally had other threads where somebody asked "What distro should I use for purpose X,Y, and special purpose Z?" and I've recommended the best distro that I thought would suit the requested purpose and had a Debian user join the thread and CORRECT ME to Debian and then FLAME ME for not recommending it. That's Flaming Zealotry.

Every user of every other distro has humbly endured the pokes and jibes at his/her pet distro within this subject thread, but an Ubuntu user and an Ubuntu user alone so far has protested, having taken it too hard and too personally. That's Flaming Zealotry.

You're just going to have to hate me for the rest of my life.

Edit to add:
Ah, yes, there's the quote I was looking for...and my fave distro is Slackware, and I AGREE with this post!

Ok, if you insist.

I ride a recumbent bicycle as my primary means of transportation and am a member of a couple of cycling forums. Reading through some of the threads on those forums I couldn't help but think of this thread.

Linux folks debate that their distro is better. Cycling folks debate that their brand/model bent is superior to the others, even which style/configuration of handlebars is better and why (that's the thread that reminded me of this one). While I prefer hamster handlebars, others swear by tweeners which I can't stand.

I think it just boils down to everyone having their own opinions about things.