Linux flavors you prefer?

[kvn95]

Self explanatory title. Which do you prefer, and why? And also, how long have you been using it?

[Guest]

CentOS, Ubuntu and Elementary

[fuzz0r]

Used to be all about Debian.

Ubuntu these days, it's just so easy with lots of knowledge out there scattered around the web.

Currently running Linux Mint Cinnamon on my secondary pc, been running it for about 6 months now.

My server's using Ubuntu Server, which it's been doing for a couple of years.

 

Oh, no that's true, my VPS runs Debian still.

[ARikozuM]

Mint w/ Cinnamon for about 4 years.

[flowalex]

I currently use Ubuntu Gnome, I like fedora, but I have the commands I use the most [eg apt-get] memorized and when I am in a terminal I type those out of habit.  If I had an extra drive and sata port for my desktop I would triple boot Ubuntu Windows and Fedora.  I have been using different ubuntu flavors for about two years and used fedora for a few weeks before switching back to Ubuntu on my desktop

[ForsakenLive]

Currently I'm rotating each month between a couple of distros on the desktop, yet the main OS is still windows, there is a lot of progress being made on Linux each week, however there are still some downsides that I can't ignore. Hopefully on the second half of the year I'll be doing the full switch.

On my notebook I've been using Mint for over a year. It works fine and allows me to do what I need on it, which is all pretty basic stuff.

 

[Shura]

Arch with Cinnamon for about 4 years now.

[Sprawlie]

I tend to use linux mostly for server / infrastructure purposes. So I tend to stick to CentOS

[Dat Guy]

If I had to use Linux ever again, I'd choose Slackware. No-bullshit distro with a good reputation.

[JoostinOnline]

PCLinuxOS.  So cool, ice cubes are jealous.

[Sprawlie]

10 hours ago, Dat Guy said:

If I had to use Linux ever again, I'd choose Slackware. No-bullshit distro with a good reputation.

I wasn't even aware slackware was still around!

 

Slackware was the first Linux I ever used back in the 90's. It was fantastic. you could easily make it run on 16mb of RAM on 486. my first routers I built for myself were always Slackware.

 

I moved off Slackware when I started doing enterprise stuff and needed official support. RedHat, and also CentOS typically are leaders in this regard.

 

[risk]

I use Arch on my personal machines, I used to use Ubuntu and Debian before and Gentoo as well but I don't really have time to maintain the software on my machines anymore and Arch doesn't require much time.

 

I've had to deal with centos for work years ago, it was painful, and I tried it recently in a VM to see if it's any better, and it was, still I wouldn't run it given a choice.

 

Antergos is something I've been wanting to try for a while

[ChuckMaurice]

I began with Fedora back in 2009 when Ubuntu wasn't a thing. Then I switched for a while between ArchLinux and Linux Mint depending on how I wanted to tinker with my computer. Arch is awesome to learn about in-depth Linux or how OS works in general. 

Nowadays I'm kinda back to my first distro : Fedora, and CentOS for server administration.

[Guest]

My favorite distros that I have experience with.

Debian (and derivatives) 

RHEL/CentOS

Slackware

 

 

I can't think of any terrible distros other than the ones that were made as jokes. (Or script kiddies using Kali and not using it for what is actually built for being security testing)

[jakkuh_t]

CentOS 7 for most of my servers. Sometime I use Debian too

[Guest]

Fedora

[Mira Yurizaki]

My go-to distro at the moment is Lubuntu.

[imreloadin]

On 1/24/2017 at 10:43 AM, jldjul said:

I began with Fedora back in 2009 when Ubuntu wasn't a thing. Then I switched for a while between ArchLinux and Linux Mint depending on how I wanted to tinker with my computer. Arch is awesome to learn about in-depth Linux or how OS works in general. 

Nowadays I'm kinda back to my first distro : Fedora, and CentOS for server administration.

You know that Ubuntu was released in 2004 and was already one of the most widely used distros in 2009 right?

[ChuckMaurice]

3 hours ago, imreloadin said:

You know that Ubuntu was released in 2004 and was already one of the most widely used distros in 2009 right?

Maybe it was before 2009, I don't remember clearly. Let's say between 2006 and 2009 (I began studying away after, and used ArchLinux for a while in IT school). I definitely remember ordering some Ubuntu/Kubuntu CDs through the mail, so it was known at the time, but Fedora seemed more advanced or more pleasing to use to me at the time I think. Or maybe it was the Fedora wiki that was more complete.

I also remember trying Mandriva and OpenSuse at the time.

 

Not relevant, but a great anecdote from this time: as I couldn't connect through Ethernet at my parents' home, I had to use Wifi but in order to download the drivers via RPM I had to move my desktop to the living room several times in order to have both Ethernet and the TV screen as a display (using a crappy S-Video link).

[MatazaNZ]

I actually recently went through and tried a whole bunch of distros in VMs, Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, Fedora, and a few others. One I find myself coming back to is Xubuntu. I love the Xfce interface, and with the support of Ubuntu and Ubuntu applications, I love it. A lot of people seem to love Ubuntu with Unity, but I personally don't like Unity, not entirely sure why. Gnome was a DE I enjoyed a bit too, but Xfce was where my heart lies. So Xubuntu it is

[Ethann_AKA_CPU1]

arch because it has the AUR and IMO the best support wiki

 

[fulminemizzega]

On 15/1/2017 at 6:41 PM, kvn95 said:

Self explanatory title. Which do you prefer, and why? And also, how long have you been using it?

IMHO one of the main differences between distributions is the package manager, another big one is documentation, bundled components, finally the distro's main target audience.

Server-like stuff: centos, I use it since version 7, I like it because of yum history, SELinux, documentation from RHEL, and it's a possible tool for the job. I've never upgraded a CentOS install, so maybe that is not as easy as in Debian

Shinier server or desktop: Fedora, because I can refer to the RHEL docs for some configuration stuff, I like the gnome desktop, dnf, and also having recent version of (desktop) software. I've been using it since version 22, switched to it sice my gentoo install was becoming a lot similar to fedora. It has kept improving with every release, so I'm just sticking with it.

 

I tried Arch, used it to build a nice root on ZFS system with UEFI boot. Nothing against it, it does work fine, but it's too much work to keep my system up to date, I don't want to check a mailing list to see what could go wrong.

If you are looking for advice, just try some distros. Find which one has the best support/community for what you want to do (eg: running games? Then ubuntu is more common). "Boring" stuff is good: pick first more tightly "integrated" ones, like opensuse, fedora, ubuntu. As you'll use it, find issues and solve them, you'll start to know what to look for. Don't let shiny things grab your attention too soon, don't try exotic stuff too early, you first have to become an exotic person. Use VMs.

[kvn95]

On 2/3/2017 at 7:45 AM, fulminemizzega said:

Don't let shiny things grab your attention too soon, don't try exotic stuff too early, you first have to become an exotic person. Use VMs.

+1

[Urishima]

Debian (testing) + Mate ATM. It runs on a fucking potato.

 

Still need to get around to do another Arch install. Haven't retried yet.

[EPENEX]

Linux Mint Cinnamon, since 2011.