What is the best LINUX OS out there ?

[leo888]

Hey guys, I like some suggestion on LINUX OS, Which is the best linux OS cause I know that since linux is a open source there are many linux OS out there, I m trying to seek one that is the best out of all linux OS ?

[johnnyis42]

your choices really are the following:

do you want one that is as easy to install as windows?

or

are you up to the challenge of spending hours and hours researching online just to get your system to connect to the internet?

that may sound a bit extreme, but it illustrates the diversity of the distributions out there.

personally, i have found that mandrake and redhat/fedora have the simplest install programs and the most native support for any hardware you may have. the drawback is that there tend to be wild package dependencies, where you end up having to install many things you don't need in order to get simple functionality out of your install.

on the other hand, distributions like gentoo tend to ask you very specific questions you may not have an immediate answer to during the install, which could cause you to make multiple attempts to just get the operating system off the ground.

to put it simply, read around for as much info as you can about distros you have heard about. don't expect to just download and install and be on your merry way. i am by far not an expert on linux, and only answered this thread because i am recently passed your line of questionning and moved on to figuring out which distro i prefer bassed ont he problems i have encountered.

if you're impatient, fedora or mandrake will get you in root pretty fast, that is the simple answer.

[leo888]

personally I though about RedHat or Mandrake myself but I just don't know whats the different between them both. As i have learn that they both are ease in installation but I am trying to seek one that is reliable, secure and stable one out of the two, any suggestion anyone ?

[johnnyis42]

they can both be all that, and they can both be none of those things. your installation of packages and patches will detemrine how the operating system behaves. the more packages you install, the more inherently less reliable the operating system becaomse because htere are more htings that can go wrong. however, you are much more likely to have a stable system in this case when compared to a windows machine with every program you come across installed on it.

point being, if you are going to install linux, know what you plan on doing with it. if you plan on just installing it and applying the patches and then using it as-is, then a minimum installation is what you need to do. this will be very stable, and as long as it is patched it will be relatively secure.

if, however, you plan on doing alot of learning and experimenting, you will want to install your developement packages so you can do a bit of compiling, and maybe some of the server packages so you can experiment with hosting services through your linux machine. in this case you may again install all aplicable patches and be relatively secure. your stability may not be as rock solid as the other minimal configuration, but depending on what you have installed it might be just as stable.

i know people who swear by red hat and others who swear by mandrake. 2 of my co workers are always discussing php scripting and programming, and they speak to eachother in a colaberative way, ingaged in eachothers ideas and making suggestions and asking advice of eachother. neither of them discuss the meritts of one distribution or another, yet one of them will swear by redhat and the other will swear by mandrake if you ask them a preference.

therein lies my advice to you, to either jump in and try both or pick one and stick to it. again, i stress to you that if you have any specific desires for what you will use your linux machine for, you read up on those specific issues. one example that comes to mind is some gamers have issues with ATI video chips running on redhat. if that is your plan then i would reccomend you try mandrake first.

again, i must stress that there are many, many more distros out there. i use these 2 as an example because they are more popular than others amongst the users new to linux. eventually, you will just have to download a set of disks and give it a shot. remember, security comes from knowing your vulnerabilities and how to protect against them. stability comes from knowing how the system works, how changes you make effects the system, and what maintenance and usage practices work best. ask yourself if you know these htings about linux, and that should answer your questions about which one is better.

if you're like me, you will know after asking yourself these questions that you still have alot to learn and that there is no way you can guarentee stability or security of your linux machine until you do, and the only way to learn is to give it a shot!

peace

[crossedup]

I like Mandrake myself but if you ever want to install anything thats not put out by the parent company, be prepared for a headache. The new version does come with SO much stuff already that you probably wont need anything else.

redhat was good as well, ive just been messing with mahdrake a bit longer.

Linspire ( lindows ) seemed fairly good as well, ive got the bootable CD and like it, have never actually installed it.

College is pretty straight forward too, havent tried installing anything though.

SUSE is my next move.

[leo888]

As the Red hat fedora goes it seems that it isn't finish yet or something cause I saw the so there a fedora 2 and beta 3 so that means is it still in a beta stage or something ?

[zepper]

There are about as many opinions as there are distros (distributions = customized versions) of Linux (visit http://www.distrowatch.com ) and see just what a plethora of choices there are.
. I have recently played with Knoppix - which is a Live CD distro, meaning that you can boot AND run it from the CD, which is Debian based. Try before you buy so to speak. It booted and ran perfectly (a feat yet to be accomplished by several of the distros that cost nearly as much as Windwoes. Knoppix is FREE. Latest is v.3.6.
. Another I've tried is Mepis (another Debian based distro) and it works as well as Knoppix. There is a new release out that is just one disk and is also a Live CD, but is also designed to be installed once you've tried it. Knoppix isn't really designed to be installed, but you can if you want to.
. And another is Lorma Linux, a distro based on Fedora and assembled by the faculty and staff of Lorma University in the Phillipines. It is designed to be installed and to be just what a college student would need to succeed at university. They have versions for i386, i686, and a version specially tweaked for Athlon/Duron machines. Plus you can also get an enhancement CD with another ton of applications on it - All For FREE!
. Now I have SUSE Pro. v.9.2 on my test box. It didn't install quite as easily as some of the others I've mentioned, but it comes with 5 CDs of software - talk about overkill! Very professionally done and worth the money.
. I have also tried Mandrake and Lindows and can't really complain about them. Lindows is one of the few with a legitimate DVD player application included.
. Just visit distrowatch at the link above and check some of the reviews of distros of interest. You really can't go too far wrong as they are almost all good and there is at least one that is perfect for you.
.bh.