Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

What is the Best Linux OS?

Debian is the best, no question. I started out as a RedHat guy in college, but Debian blows Redhat away. Debian packages tend to fall behind the bleeding edge distros but all in all you can't match the reliability/stability in the rest of the Linux community. Also I think there is a more friendly desktop package called SimplyMepis that is based off Debian. Also, you can run it on x86/ppc no problem.

Jaromski
 
jaromski said:
Debian is the best, no question. -- Jaromski
Click to expand...

No question? That's a bold statement, I've been using Linux since 1994 and I don't understand peoples thing with saying one distro is better than another, basically they are all the same, they all use the GNU tools. Debian has nice package management, but it's no better than Fedora Cores, Mandrakelinux, or Gentoos (etc). Of course you could know bring up that Debian Unstable has 16,000+ packages and I could bring up that Debian Unstable can be just that Unstable, I could also bring up that Gentoo has a similar amount of packages. I could also bring up that most of the stuff in Debian Unstable is pretty much useless, how many people actually prefer using svgalib instead of X? IMHO possibly the best package management I've seen for a Linux distro would be Gentoos, the USE variable is amazing for people who need that kind of control over the OS, urpmi on Mandrakelinux is pretty good too I like the way it can deal with rpms, and tarballs both source and binary, yeah apt is good but it's no better than anything else out there now.

Linux is all about choice so to the original poster just try as many as you can download, see which configuration tools you like, see which package management you prefer, but don't ever fall for this my disto is better than yours crap, they are all exactly the same. Just don't expect it to work as well on PPC as is does on x86 since a lot of the hardware from the more modern Macs isn't supported properly. Linux is a great OS for x86 hardware, and I think it would be excellent for an older Mac too, but any Mac that can run OS X I can't see the point of running Linux other than you want to try it out, since with projects like Fink and OpenDarwins DarwinPorts nearly everything has been ported or there is already a native port.

Oh well it's your computer try them all and see which fits best!
 
I just installed Mandrake 10.0 on a 400mhz PC and it runs great. I really like it. The installation was easier than most other operating systems like debian which is horrendous. Setting up networking is also very easy. I stuck a few drives in it and I'm using it as a file server for my home. I've tried Knoppix, Debian, Suse, Red Hat, and Berry. Mandrake steels the show, I highly recommend it.
 
daveway00 said:
I just installed Mandrake 10.0 on a 400mhz PC and it runs great. ... Mandrake steels the show, I highly recommend it.
Click to expand...

I'd second that it's a great distro my GF has been using Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official (The PowerPack Box Set) since it was released, I really liked the way you could do everything from the install including setting up all the services you wanted to run it's a nice touch, I installed it for her, she uses it, and every so often I ssh on to it and upgrade it. The 3rd party packages from PLF are great too. I was a huge Debian geek for years and years but when it comes to recommending distros to my friends Mandrakelinux 10.x Official (I've heard Community sucks) is the first one I'd recommend now.
 
risc said:
I'd second that it's a great distro my GF has been using Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official (The PowerPack Box Set) since it was released, I really liked the way you could do everything from the install including setting up all the services you wanted to run it's a nice touch, I installed it for her, she uses it, and every so often I ssh on to it and upgrade it. The 3rd party packages from PLF are great too. I was a huge Debian geek for years and years but when it comes to recommending distros to my friends Mandrakelinux 10.x Official (I've heard Community sucks) is the first one I'd recommend now.
Click to expand...

Wow. A girl using linux. Thats not something you hear everyday.
 
I've used slackware, redhat, freebsd, openbsd, gentoo, suse, debian, xandros, mepis, knoppix, and mandrake. I've used linux pretty much exclusively since 1995.

This question of which linux is "best" comes up constantly in the linux forums. As is already apparent in this thread, there is no "best" distribution; everyone has a favorite and many people will insist that their favorite is the "best".

My answer to this question is always the same: decide for yourself. Each linux distribution is basically the same underneath, each one is flawed in it's own special way, and each one has advantages over the others. Just start here:

http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Read each blurb, pick the one that most sounds like what you are looking for.

Personally, I use mostly Debian with SuSE on my desktop at work. My wife uses Xandros (hey, that's TWO females using linux). At work I do a lot of work on redhat servers, and I think many companies use redhat (though this is changing). But what I use is not necessarily what someone else would want to use.

Most people would want a Mac, right? I'm still scrimping...

-kev
 
risc said:
No question? That's a bold statement, I've been using Linux since 1994 and I don't understand peoples thing with saying one distro is better than another, ...
Oh well it's your computer try them all and see which fits best!
Click to expand...

I still stand beside my original statement, of fact. Debian is best, no question. Now maybe it isn't for you, but that is because you are wrong. And I am right. Plus I've been using Linux since '93. And my dad can beat up your dad. I win.

Ok so maybe the whole distro thing is a religious argument. But, the original author did enlist our opinions in the original post. So, I gave mine. Evidently it didn't sit well with you, but that is ok. Someday you will see the one true way(tm).

JaromSki

P.S. Gentoo sucks donkey balls.
 
jaromski said:
Someday you will see the one true way(tm).
Click to expand...

LOL - Well Debian is probably the Linux I've had the most experience with but it's also the one with the most .. um what's a nice way of putting this ... fanatical users, although Gentoo users can't be that far behind now.

As for me finding the one true way, yeah I did that when I finally gave up Linux as my desktop OS and bought a Mac. ;)
 
A note about Gentoo...

It's users can be rather fanatical for sure - I've seen them recommend Gentoo as a "beginner's Linux" without telling folks about the time involved for installing it (due to the default of compiling everything from source). Fedora, Debian, Mandrake, and Yellow Dog will get you up and running much faster, and with a lower initial learning curve.

It may be a great distro, but certainly not for the beginner who's looking for an easy intro to Linux. You can always investigate it once you've gotten your feet wet. :D
 
I personally like Mandrake but I take Knoppix STD with me to do my job! It's great for a learning tool also. Boots straight from the disc. PHLAK is decent too and it does the same.
 
A heap of people I have spoken to have said Ubuntu is really cool so. I dunno? =) But there's so many different distro's that it's really a personal preference thing no?
 
*Bracing for tomatos impacting my head*

Suse is decent for a first time Linux install. The installation is flawless. Especially on systems with slightly older components, drivers aren't a problem at all. And if you manage to get your hands on the professional version, you'll have plenty of open source software in your hands without the hassle of searching google.
 
risc said:
As for me finding the one true way, yeah I did that when I finally gave up Linux as my desktop OS and bought a Mac. ;)
Click to expand...

Too true. I used to be a hardcore Linux guy in school. (I'm not anymore :) ) Many religious arguments back when I believed in something...but now that I am older and crabbier (as you can attest to from my earlier post) I just hate mucking about with Linux. I really like Debian for server stuff, you know a little apache, ssh daemon, php, mysql, samba, etc., it really works well. But god damn it! It takes so much friggin' energy to get it working out of the box. It has a tendency to throw fits for _no reason_ when you say upgrade from a 2.4.x kernel to a 2.6.x kernel. Hardware that was working perfectly well in 2.4 now has no workable driver in 2.6. But you want 2.6 because it has a much improved, re-factored kernel. But now your disk drive doesn't work. Oh and I have I mentioned how spotty the firewire & wireless support is in linux? God damn that really irks me, better not get me started on that one...

You only have so much energy on a given day and with Linux I spent a great deal of that time trouble-shooting, debugging, and configuring ****. Way too much time. I mean it is great if you have nothing else to do once the machine is up and running, but if you have **** to do, it really sucks. You run out of steam way before you've accomplished anything.

I have since moved into the OS/X camp. I really like how I can just plug stuff in and it works. No fuss. Is there a price on that? Of course, ~$100. Just because Linux is "free" doesn't mean it is cheaper than OS/X though. I have come to this realization time and time again.

Once my x86 hardware craps out (or 2.8 kernel decides it hates that too) then I will be done with Linux. I would rather just migrate everything over to Mac. But AutoDESK won't let me, a rant for a different thread I guess.

Ok, rant over.

-jaromski
 
Westside guy said:
A note about Gentoo...
Click to expand...

(gentoo user) hey I have an idea! Let's make the install process even longer and more tedious! In addition to troubleshooting, debugging, and just getting your system to play nice with the hardware, you also have to compile everything from scratch! And get this, here is the clincher... it will be totally optimized for your system! And everytime you need it on a different machine (which incidentally may have a different flavor hardware) you get to recompile again! Sweet! You will save _sooo many_ cycles man, I promise!

Ok, sorry I am being an *******. In case you haven't gathered by now, it doesn't really strike me as a bright idea. (not to say it isn't a bright idea, just not from my vantage point) Get *BSD if you really want something impressive to do that ****...

That whole trade-off between modularity and performance I guess. But with modern hardware getting increasingly faster (and cheaper), I think the fulcrum has definately changed position. You get way more leverage with modularity than shaving a few cycles off. For most users, a few cycles here and there don't really amount to much. Now if you are running some type of enterprise system it might be worth it. But again I think there the issue of support would be much more critical for an enterprise. If this breaks, who can I call up and start bitching at? The cycles bit is irrelevant here too.

Cycles are cheap now. That's my bit.

-jaromski
 
Mechcozmo said:
www.DamnSmallLinux.org is a great, small, x86 Linux Distro... and it is USB flash drive installable! How cool!
Click to expand...

Yeah I have heard really great things about this distro...this is where Linux needs to go! Sorry I have ranted so much on this thread, I am all out of gusto.

-jaromski
 
Can I please ask a question, sort of back in the OP's question direction? Is there a way to run PPC Linux inside a VM on top of MacOS, in the way Mac-On-Linux lets you run MacOS in a VM on top of PPC Linux? In this way, one could run one of the PPC linux distros without actually leaving MacOS... :) Would be better yet than Bochs....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back