Favorite Linux Distributions

Discussion in 'Geek Cave: Computers, Tablets, HT, Phones, Games' started by IndySpeed, Jan 8, 2016.

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What is your favorite Linux distribution?

  1. Ubuntu

    21 vote(s)
    29.2%
  2. Mint

    11 vote(s)
    15.3%
  3. Elementary

    2 vote(s)
    2.8%
  4. Debian

    9 vote(s)
    12.5%
  5. openSUSE

    3 vote(s)
    4.2%
  6. Fedora

    1 vote(s)
    1.4%
  7. Centos

    3 vote(s)
    4.2%
  8. Arch

    12 vote(s)
    16.7%
  9. SteamOS

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  10. PCLinuxOS

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  11. Puppy

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  12. Other (too many to list really)

    10 vote(s)
    13.9%
  1. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Yeah, except for my uses I prefer compiling it myself :p
     
  2. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    I remember when compiling the Linux kernel used to take half a day.
     
  3. IndySpeed

    IndySpeed Friend

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    Are you referring to the location or the content of the configuration files? Most distributions have a few places they store configuration files such as /etc. If you are referring to the defaults, then yes sometimes they aren't always ideal in Ubuntu/Debian. I think Redhat/CentOS is catering more to the commercial crowd, and Ubuntu in particular is geared more towards plug and play along with some commercial. Google actually uses a version of Ubuntu as their primary desktop system internally. Debian is kind of a different animal. It is used in a lot of commercial server installations and not necessarily with a GUI installed. Most distributions have various audiences that they cater too. Whether a particular distribution typically has a setup that makes sense to you is probably dictated by your usage patterns along with familiarity and/or willingness to dig in and configure, tweak, or compile software. In the Linux realm, there is usually something for everyone including self contained systems such as FreeNAS, plug and play (Ubuntu, Mint, and etc.), servers, GUIs, both, or highly configurable.
     
  4. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    Arch not only stuck all of the files in the /etc directory, it simplified the dumb complicated files and made config super easy. If I remember right, init.d and other things were rethought and much better. And everything is configurable by a file, unlike many other distros.

    It's been a while (I've been on a Mac for 8 years), but I loved that distro.
     
  5. T.Rainman

    T.Rainman Acquaintance

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    Started with 8.04, upgraded to 10.04, tried 12.04 (too much problems for me) back to 10.04 and now on Ubuntu Studio 14.04 LTS with low latency kernel.

    Dual boot with XP (offline only) for when I need to use specific Windoze things.
     
  6. JewBear

    JewBear Almost "Made"

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    Using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS at home, and Ubuntu Mate 15.10 at work. I'll probably switch to Arch or Xubuntu for my home computer at some point soon. I really don't see any reason not to use a Ubuntu based distro for my work. It has by far the most well maintained packages, plus it's easy enough to customize the parts that really effect me day to day.
     
  7. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Hmmm... my Ubuntu problems, which don't bother me too much...

    My kernel level is frozen, because of the video driver for the on-board card. One day I'll buy an addin card.

    The network card seems always to be mis-recognised by every new install I do. This sort of stuff is the annoying feature of Ubuntu. Sometimes you can look for answers on the net and find that the problems date back years and years and years, and never got fixed, even though they are core problems with common hardware. I guess there are two answers: maybe the chip is obsolete (but how often do hear "Linux! Just great on old machines!"?) and the other is, hey, its open-source: contribute the fix yourself. Well, fine, in principle, but whilst shell scripts and stuff used to earn my living, it is a long way from there to device drivers.

    I hated Unity on site. Fisher-Price-toy interface. Now we have it on my wife's laptop, I have to admit that it is perfectly usable --- but, aesthetically, it would never be my choice. Also, changes in user interface really ought to be the user's choice.
     
  8. Altrunox

    Altrunox Friend

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    In the last years I've used Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, CentOS, Debian, Elementary and Arch, besides Elementary that crashed like a shit every freaking time, I didn't noticed big differences in the performance (SSD magic I guess) between them, but I had some bad crashes and issues with updates on every Debian based distro, RHEL based and Arch were pretty nice.

    I'm using Fedora ATM, but someday I'll go back to Arch.

    LOL, this is why you're the boss.
     
  9. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    The other great thing about Arch is there aren't releases, just constant rolling updates. Not nearly as hellish as upgrading between different versions of a distro.
     
  10. chakku

    chakku Friend

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    If only pacman was half as good as portage. But then again if I were forced off of Windows or OS X for my desktop I'd go to BSD.
     
  11. IndySpeed

    IndySpeed Friend

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    Well, that might explain it... A lot has changed in the last 8 years... Most every configuration file is in the /etc directory now at least for Debian and Ubuntu. In addition, a lot of distributions have moved off of the traditional init system, and they are now using systemd. Debian 8 released last year now uses this new init system, and I like how the configuration, logging, and etc are handled much better now.
     
  12. IndySpeed

    IndySpeed Friend

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    For me, 12.04 had some problems especially with Compiz which handles the windows. Sometimes it would get stuck, and I would have to restart it. I agree that 14.04 seemed much more stable and polished.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2016
  13. IndySpeed

    IndySpeed Friend

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    Probably very machine dependent. Remember there are quite a few chipsets used for network cards. I actually have had good success with Ubuntu recognizing network cards except older laptops with internal WiFi. Those would never work for me, but my newer laptops say from the last 4 years and newer have had no problems.

    I actually started using Unity in its second official release which was 11.10, and I really thought it was a slick and modern UI. With Linux, there are quite a few UIs available to suit nearly everyone's taste.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2016
  14. IndySpeed

    IndySpeed Friend

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    That's really odd because Debian is really know for being rock solid. That's why most of their software is much older than most distributions. In addition, many standalone tools use Debian like GParted, CloneZilla, and etc. In short, I have had the exact opposite experience, all of my Debian based installs have been rock solid.
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2016
  15. IndySpeed

    IndySpeed Friend

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    I actually prefer the opposite, so I guess that is a matter of perspective. I prefer the software to not change too much, and I would prefer to just leave everything on a /home partition and do the upgrade manually. I can easily roll back with CloneZilla if something does not go well. Although, I could see why some would like rolling upgrades...
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2016
  16. Altrunox

    Altrunox Friend

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    Yeah, I guess this is the Linux magic, that can make most of us happy in one way or another |{
     
  17. Xen

    Xen Friend

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    When Debian started breaking up monolithic /etc config files into /etc/config.d type architecture, I found it a pain in the ass trying to figure out which were user editable, which were autogenerated, and where the thing I wanted to change was found. Still not use to that and now we are using systemd. If it wasn't for the automatic transition, I am not sure I would be able to switch. Init was obtuse, but accessing it was not that bad. Systemd seems to add whole new layers to things that do not seem to need them.

    It's like the migration to grub from LILO. LILO was simple to understand, while GRUB is ... complicated. Everytime I have to update low-level GRUB stuff, my computer becomes unbootable. Somehow it installs itself wrong, even though my config files seem to work perfectly well when I just run update-grub...
     
  18. IndySpeed

    IndySpeed Friend

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    I could see that... I sometimes takes this stuff for granted because I'm a professional programmer, so some of this stuff just comes to me more naturally perhaps. I have always had to tread lightly when modifying my GRUB configuration too. Luckily, knock on wood, I have yet to ever have a problem changing its configuration which would make it not bootable.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2016
  19. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I think you must have checked "Enable a shitload of graphic effects" in your display options, else something much simpler and more straightforward than Compiz would have been your window manager.

    Compiz comes as part of my Mint 17.1 distro, which is nice, as it is made for the system (no tinkering requierd ;) ). As mentioned above, I use it --- but it is still an option.
     
  20. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Yes, it is a very specific chip that is mistaken for another very specific chip. It is maddening, because it appears to do the impossible and cause an error which survives reboot! I can't seem to find the brain cells or the files that relate <Blush> Realtec, I think.

    Too right! And yes, Unity is not nearly as bad as thought it was. You could say that the personalised layout of my desktop, which includes a side panel with regularly-used commands on it, is not a million miles away from that idea in Unity.
     

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