Guide to Picking a Linux Distribution

There's been a lot of interest in Linux, and awareness of Linux seems to be rising. Consequently, we have been getting more and more questions about which Linux distribution to choose.

The answer is not easy- there's a lot to consider. Some distributions (also known as 'distros') are made to be simple to use an install to help new users. There's still much to learn, but the drawback of these distros is that you don't learn too much about Linux itself. Some distros are the opposite, they expect you to know a lot and you are thrown right into the thick of things. There's a lot you can learn from these, but it's also easy to get bogged down in all the technical issues involved.

Another fundamental choice is the interface. The two more common and most graphical interfaces are KDE and Gnome, and the choice between the two is down to user preference. Other interfaces are not as graphical nor as friendly to new users. These include IceWM and Fluxbox.

• Here is a guide to help choosing a GUI.

Here's a few popular distros in these forums, and a few that are often recommended:

• SuSE

Our own Quantum Skyline did a review of SuSE 9.1. Be careful when reading reviews though, as the version reviewed may not be the most recent version.

• Mandrake

Another review by Quantum Skyline.

• Slackware
• Gentoo

That's a very short list. The first two are better for new Linux users, the last two are better for people who have some experience or want to really jump in and understand what's going on.

Yet that really doesn't provide a lot of detail. Want more information? Well, that's not easy to supply here- there are far too many Linux distributions. If you find one you want to research more, however, or are looking for downloads, try LinuxISO.org. Some of the information there can be a little technical too, but there's always Google, and any reviews that LinuxISO links to.

Fortunately, Daniel André and the good folks at zegenie studios have put together a small questionnaire to help new users choose a Linux distro. It's by no means a scientific test, but it will help point you in the right direction by narrowing down the seemingly endless possibilities to a few that fit your needs and current abilities, allowing you to research those few better and make a choice. Of course, you can try as many Linux distros as you like The questionnaire can be found here.



So, to recap:

• Get a little information of the available GUI's in Linux. Read this for some more good information and to learn about availability- many distros come with more than one GUI, some may need you to install the GUI you want to try.
• Take the questionnaire at zegenie studios to help figure out where you are with your current abilities and what distros are recommended for you.
• Research the suggested distros a little bit to get a better idea of what you're looking at. It's always good to check the distro's homepage for information and instructions to aid in the installation.
• Check LinuxISO for another description of the distro and for places you can download it.
• Ask questions. If you're unsure of what something means, if you need some advice, some help setting up, don't be afraid to use the resources here in the form of the forum search and the ability to post your own question if you can't find an answer by searching.

Comments on this guide, if constructive, are appreciated. If there's something we need to add, or a way to improve it, feel free to say something




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Okay, that's a rough draft. Comments, suggestions, additions, more info on the distros listed here to add back up in there, anything, post it. This is obviously aimed at newer users, so keep that in mind.

I don't know if I'm happy with the layout or not, but there's much to improve. Looking forward to your input.

Wikipedia has a comprehensive comparison of Linux distributions here.

Also check out the other Wikipedia article links at the bottom of the page... I've found the operating system and filesystem comparisons to be particularly useful.

See DistroWatch for a list of Linux distributions (And a few other operating systems - mostly Unix-based). Each operating system/Linux distribution has its own page containing general information as well as links to some reviews.

Finally, LinuxQuestions has a section for user reviews of Linux distributions. Especially here, beware of bias.

Here's a quick overview of the major Linux distributions by TipMonkies (Stripped from another thread in this forum, I know - Data consolidation is good, people).

These are all fundamental resources, but, hey, everybody must start somewhere.

Chandler

* Edited a few times for integrity and completion

i say Ubuntu it is prob the most the best way to go with much community support great .deb based system easy way of accessing applications and did i mention community support

it is rising high above the others, and Mepis is currently thinkin of dising Debian as there base system and takin up Ubuntu, also it is biggest growing distro at the moment most people look into Ubuntu along with others before choosing and many decide that Ubuntu is the way to go , also in April i think the latest version is coming out go LINUX!! (Ubuntu 6.04 Drapper Drake)

http://www.ubuntulinux.org
URL

Excuse the necro, but I was reading about TLB while coming across this link, which might be helpful:

Linux vs Linux

Thanx for digging this one out... i woulda missed on some good info elsewise.

To dig another post out of the grave this is an interesting one i found and puts across a very valid point.

What linux needs if it wants to win the hearts of the masses is to regroup and centralize its efforts... trim the branches so to speak and get everyone behind a few distros for desktop, server, portable and dumb terminal setups. the hardest part about linux is the research... theres so damn much to look at just to decide what you want to start with it hurts and that scares alot of people away. The learning curve has to start with a basic and easily used OS which graduates into more advanced configuration as the user decides how they want it to run. You dont get this far when you have to frequently ask, 'whats the best Linux distro today?' It cant be a good thing for commercial developers either with so many variations...

What i recall as being the best features of any linux distro form my limited exposure, is you can change component features or completely shut others off. If you dont want a desktop, dont use one... with wndows you get what you get wether its what you need/want or not. You can trim off services and features until it will run on the most anciant behemoths in computer technology, heck, you dont even need a harddrive !!

I want a free and configurable OS, i dont mind paying for games and decent apps.

Ubuntu is probably the best linux when the new version is released. Hopefully a Mediacentre(my suggestion), EXT4, a Gnome Makeover(OSX Style) and a slideshow during installation to help new users. The slideshow is of no use to me because I have had years in linux experience, but I still don't know how to pronounce it!xD Is it L-in-ux or L-ine-ux?

All linux needs is some solid windows compatability (or linux ports of popular games) and i believe id be sold.
Ive been using openoffice, which has a linux distro, and im satisfied with its functionality, so that nabs the work end.
right now im using vista home premium x64 and im dissapointed. but everything is programmed for windows these days

I use wine to run my win programs in linux. type it in google.

WINE is far from perfect, unfortunately.

There is an open-source project to emulate Windows completely, ReactOS, but it is slow-going-- they may get into a beta later this year, but I'm not going to hold my breath at this moment. Definitely a project to watch, though.

you're right there, but its the only thing ive used

The prob is the damn propriatory roadblocks microsoft puts up. they dont even release all the hooks for dirext x to DX game developers. thats y thier games always look better :P

Why on Earth would anyone use this (except from) ?

If you want Windows than use windows.

Windows is/are closed project/s and projects like this will always be behind and will never be compatible fully.

Based on my years of using different linux distros, the easiest for new people is Ubuntu/Kubuntu. This is especially so if they also want to dual boot with any Windows. I have found that Suse (including OpenSuse and other similar distros), Mandrake, Fedora, Slackware, Gentoo, OpenBSD, FreeBSD and many others do not play nice with the Windows boot records and may make their Windows partition unusable. Some of us with experience with GRUB and LILO can manually change some settings to get it to work.

Granted this original post was from 2005 and things have changed since those days as well...
For for most people new to Linux, the easiest is Ubuntu, no question about that.

Last time when I had problems with dual boot was at least 5 years ago...with any distribution, and you may or may not believe me, I tryed more that one.
This is not an issue any more...

Considering ubuntu and other distros. I was pleasantly surprised with newest Ubuntu (8.10, 9.04). They really are user friendly. before that Ubuntu was just looking friendly but it was constantly puting users in front of problems which can not be solved by someone inexperienced with Linux.

I agree, now Ubuntu 8.10 and 9.04 are ones most user friendly.
But I would count in OpenSuse and Mandriva too. And would count out Fedora which (as I predicted long ago) became too instable and buggy so regular user end up more time spent trying to figure out why something is not working and how to find drivers for newest unstable X server than actualy using OS. I think this is sad Red Hat choose that way because Red Hat was one of the best distros for long time (except for 7.1 and definitely 8.0).

EDIT:
Ah, and really, original post is outdated.

I don't like fedora, it's slow and crashes a lot. Opensuse is stable, unless it has the alpha/beta version of KDE Plasma. I tend to use slax v 5.1.8.1 Killbill Edition because it has wine preinstalled and it's a live cd. I have it installed on my 8GB USB Drive. Ubuntu is very simple, like Zenwalk. Slackware is very fast and stable, it's one of my favourites. Mandriva is an ubuntu wannabe, I gave up on that a long time ago. Feather is light, fast and stable, but fluxbox takes a while to get to grips with. Puppy is small, light and can be installed on just about any pc. Xandros is good for Windows users because it has the xp gui.