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Review Linux Distros here
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Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
I thought it would be neat to post user reviews of Linux distros here. It would make a nice reference. Here's what I have tried recently. I like to rate from 1-10.
1. Gentoo - By far my favorite distro. Installation is very time consuming, yet the entire system is optimized for your system, nothing gets installed that you don't want, and you have nearly unlimited choice. Compile times will run most people off with older hardware, but newer systems are a breeze. And you can still use the machine. The package management is the best I have seen. A lot of things need set up manually, but the documentation is the best of any Linux distro. The user forums are also very good at getting and finding answers.
Installation: 4
Documentation: 10
Ease of use: 4
Package Management: 9
Available packages: 8
Flexibility: 10
Speed 10
Support: 9
2. Arch Linux - A good alternative to Gentoo if you do not like compiling. You get the power of flexibility and i686 optimized binaries so you can get a solid desktop setup a lot quicker. Still a lot longer than a fully automated distro, yet more choice since you build from the ground up. The package manager pacman is very easy to use. This distro is very cutting edge with a lot of the newest available software so some things may be unstable. User forums are very good, but this distro lacks good documentation.
Installation: 6
Documentation: 5
Ease of Use: 4
Package Management: 8
Available Packages: 6
Flexibility: 9
Speed: 9
Support: 7
3. Fedora Core 5 - A very good easy to use distro. A solid desktop can be installed in a matter of minutes. Good security and the gnome interface makes it friendly for window migaters. Package management is very good. Very up to date distro with easy hardware installation. Also lots of books on Fedora making it a good place to learn linux. Some licensing issues make it a bit harder to get DVD decryption and other legal greay area items, but they can be had from alternate download mirrors.
Installation : 9
Documentation: 9
Ease of Use: 8
Package Management: 8
Available Packages: 9
Flexibility: 6
Speed: 7
Support: 9
4. Mandriva 2006 - A good easy to use distro. Uses kde as default. Very easy to use distro with some useful qui tools for people who wish to avoid the command-line. Can be a bit of a headache to install closed source material and drivers, but it's a well working disto out of the box. A bit heavy on resource usage, but contains lots of useful things for newbies.
Installation: 9
Documentation: 7
Ease of Use: 9
Package Management: 7
Availabe Packages: 8
Flexibility: 6
Speed: 6
Support: 8
Posted by: Logical_1
Not exactly a review, but you may wanna look at Debian 3.1r1 (text-based setup, completely free with no pay versions and completely community supported), Xandros Business Desktop (runs MS Office if you need that sorta thing), CentOS (for RHEL compatibility without the price), and RedHat Enterprise Linux 4.0 (for solid, well-supported server software).
Posted by: PsychoMonkey
The distros I have become fond of are Fedora Core and Ubuntu Linux
Ubuntu is a very beginner/user friendly distro based on Debian. I find it has pretty good hardware support as well as good community support. Plus I love the fact that you can order cd's for free to distribute.
Fedora Core is based on Redhat and seems to also have good hardware support. I use it mostly cause I like the rpm support.
I've been wanting to try Gentoo. It it very hard to get installed for a linux newbie?
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
I would say yes if you follow the manual closely. However, it can be very time consuming waiting for long compiles. And making an error in grub can be a pain for a newbie.
On the plus side, you learn a lot about what goes on behind the scenes. You learn how to configure grub or lilo, setup xorg, install kde from scratch, etc. Very enlightening. While it's very nice to use fedora and ubuntu as they configure everything for you, you get a more customized linux desktop with Gentoo. You only install what YOU want. Nothing is installed you don't want. And the whole thing is compiled to your arciteture. Fedora and Ubuntu are configured as i386 binaries wheras gentoo is compiled to run i686 + your specific processor optimizations.
Granted I would have gave up on Gentoo if not for the great documentation and user forums. They have an answer for almost every problem. After you have finished installing it, you end up with a very speedy linux desktop with minimal excess baggage. I haven't found any distro near as fast or stable. And installing packages with portage is a breeze. In the end, you'll also have a lot more linux knowledge.
If you have the time and patience, and you like tweaking, I think you will like it. If not, a quick easy install distro is probably the better choice. It's all about what you prefer.
Posted by: PsychoMonkey
Thanks for info, Ion. I've only really be using linux for about 6 months and you're right, I'm getting pretty used to the straight installs of the easy distros. I've heard Gentoo has great support so maybe sometime in the near future, when I have the time to emerse (sp?) myself in it, I'll give it a try.
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Yeah it is VERY time consuming to get installed when your new. Now I can get a working installation in a day. In which most of that time is waiting for kde to compile.
If you ever try a 64-bit linux distro out, gentoo is probably the best in that regards.
Posted by: Logical_1
Is Gentoo smart enough to do parallel compiling on a system with SMP or HT?
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Yes and Yes. It's the most flexible distro out there. A lot of AMD64 Dual core users running it now. And having SMP enabled in the kernel will work with HT just fine.
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