On Friday 19 August 2005 06:39, Killer Smurf wrote: > I"m still fairly new to the linux work and am having some issues. I'm not > trying to be a distro whore but I would like to ask a few questions. Are > (in your opinions) rpm or debian distros better to learn on. I'm looking > for a distro to learn on and right now I'm using ubuntu. I know that asking > for distro suggestions is kind of like asking you to pick me my favorite > color but I am looking for some feedback. I want to use the system as > mainly a desktop but will also be using as a basic web server to learn. I'm > not quite at the gentoo stage ( after 14 attempts. That's 2 wks I'll never > get back lol ) and slack I can't seem to get installed correctly. Any > suggestions would be great. >
Like everyone else, I'll offer up my 2 cents. My personal favourite is still Debian, regardless of the distros I try, I always end up coming back. I attribute this to the fact that Debian was the first Linux distro that I understood. It is the distro that I had that lightbulb response too. I suspect that this is the case for most people, some distro leads them to an "ah ha" moment, and they usually don't look back. Its strongest suit is quality control. The stable branch really is stable, which is why most of the commercial variants (Xandros etc) are usually based on this branch. The down side is that the installer is non graphical (but still as easy, if not as pretty as some of the other distros), and while familiarity with the command line is not required, it does help a lot. For servers with no need of a GUI, debian is hard to beat. For a workstation that rigid package structure works against it as packages can often be delayed. In english this means that Debian is not usually running bleeding edge versions of software, so Ubuntu. This is the distro for the new user IMO (eg. my Dad). It is based on the Debian unstable branch but they have put a lot of work into ironing out the bugs and my experiences with it have been very good. It is also a lot more current but seems to nearly match the Debian stable branch for reliability. I do not use it anymore but that is more a result of my existing environment (for example, my mythtv server is debian and the version in ubuntu older and is thus incompatible.) Slackware. I liked compiling on this distro, things just seem to work. The downside is packages. While there are utilities like swaret and slapt-get that give a similar feel to other distro package front ends, there is no equivalent to the Debian QA process. The 3rd party packages vary wildly in quality, which over the long term can be a major pain. If you are not planning to compile programs on a regular basis (java is a dream on slackware), then I have a hard time recommending this distro. Gentoo. I personally dislike this distro so take my comments with a grain of salt. Having said that, I have never really understood the appeal of Gentoo, it seems to make things needlessly hard. Like the guy who wrote this: http://greenfly.org/mes.html I have often thought that Gentoo was a distro in search of a purpose. For a ports based OS, I will use a BSD, which is usually better tested. IMO, Gentoo seems to be a geek brand name, for those who linux simply isn't a geeky enough endeavour. On the other hand, there is a lot of good documentation and those who like it, like it a lot, which means getting help should not be all that difficult. I would still not rely on this as a primary system. Might be a good learning machine but it will break, even for the more experienced user. Fedora Core. Not a bad distro, seems to have a lot of software that ready to go. I am not a fan of having to reinstall with every new version though(Debian, Ubuntu, and slackware are distros that upgrade sensibly between versions. No clean reinstall is usually required). There are so many distros to choose from, if I had to recommend one for a new user it would be Ubuntu/Kubuntu. If you can afford it I would also recommend grabbing a used pc from vfxweb.com so that you can try any distro that grabs your attention without fear of breaking your main system. Hope this helps. > Thanks
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