Which Linux Fuels You?

I'd like to know which Linux distro you use and why you chose that one. I'm thinking about switching to Linux full-time (with a dual boot of Windows for those "just incase" moments) and would like to get a broad idea of what people use for desktop running. The only Linux version I have is a server SuSE 9.0 and it doesn't run well with general desktop useage.Thanks![N]F

I've tried Mandrake 9.2 and 10, Suse 9.1, Red Hat 9.0 and FC2 I think...and they all had their ups and downs but in the end the one thats held me the longest thus far is actually Ubuntu 5.04. I'm still fairly new to the linux environment so I wanted something that had some flexibility and felt like linux, but still allowed me to be able to do everything I would normally do on a day to day basis without having to go through painful amounts of setup.Basically Ubuntu did the following (of which the others often did some, but didn't hit all in my case)1-Set up my network properly. Mandrake did this too, Suse almost did, RedHat 9 did not but FC2 did. Currently I would be able to handle this either way probably, but at the beginning I would have been lost trying to get my network up had it not auto detected.2-Ati drivers installed that weren't so horrible that putting my res above 1024x768 slowed down my DESKTOP haha. They arn't the newest drivers, but they are pretty good defaults.3- Apt-Get. This wonderful command where I can type "sudo apt-get install ____" and 9 times out of 10 whatever I fill the blank with will download and install, no questions asked (well...one...for the root password). If thats not your style theres also an easy to use package manager/downloader that makes installing more software a breeze.4- Lots of useful programs but leaves the more obscure for you to download on your own. It comes with firefox as the default browser, has OpenOffice 2 for all your office needs, and a bunch of other apps but still only has one install cd.5- Community. While lots of linux distros have a good set of followers, ubuntu thrives on its community. Their main forums have anything you'd need to know, from setting up software to FAQS to an "automate" script that a user made to set you up with the basic apps/plugins that are usually wanted by people.Sure it's not a hardcore distro, but its linux and its easy to use. A combination of the overall feel and the apt-get that it brought over from its debian roots allows for endless software to be at a quick console command away. The only real downside is that if you get Ubuntu, it only comes with Gnome and the KDE interface you can easily download is a bit clunky. So KDE flashy interface lovers might want to check out Kubuntu, which I've heard works better with the KDE interface (since its the KDE version of ubuntu...hence kubuntu) but I havn't checked itno that myself.But yes, I may someday move onto bigger and better things, but for now I'm going to stick with Ubuntu, it's serving me well and has yet to disappoint me.P.S. - To anyone who tries Ubuntu as an early intro to linux...do NOT get scared off by the ugly old school looking installer. I've herad of numerous people thinking it looked very complciated to install when in reality its probably the most straightforward linux distro to install I've ever used. Seriously its only like 2-3 choices...and most of those ar time zone/keyboard related. The only one involving any thought is about partitioning your drives. After this its just sit back and wait.

I use FreeBSD the most. I know some people argue about calling it linux... ok granted, it uses a different license... and a few technical differences... but all the linux software I've needed worked just fine on it... so yea, the ver of *nix that I use the most is FreeBSD :PI'm currently upgrading my system to 5.4 I started with it about 10 years ago, and while I have used many versions of linux & unix, I like the ease of installing FreeBSD to many systems...--The Original YB!!

Ive always been tempted to try out FreeBSD.My fave linux distro is Gentoo, mainly because of Portage (which was inspired by the BSD Ports system)could you describe ports to me?how similar is it to gentoo's portage ?for example, when instaling Gentoo, you setup some USE flags...e.g. i have a nvidia graphics card, to i wouldad enable the Nvidia use flag..but i dont have a scanner, so i would dissable the use flag.so when i install software like mplayer, gentoo would optimise mlayer to use openGL acceleragion..and when i compile multimedia, gentoo would optimise by removing dependency's for scanners.to install new software, i would type "emerge <software_name>"how similar is that to BSD ports?

Well, I like SuSE Linux becasue of its sheer size. When you have 56K, having everything except an uncrippled media player is a real lifesaver. It means there's WAY less to download over a slow connection.

Ah true, for 56k users the distro preferances would differ a fair bit, since some distros thrive on their package obtaining software, while others try to give you the kitchen sink and everything else from the get-go.

I am using Gentoo and from which distros I saw i liked it mostly, well similiar topics were already made, so i don't want to repeat myself.

I am using gentoo but i would recomend Ubuntu to newbies (now that it will be/is using Xorg instead of Xfree).I have had a full Gentoo system since last 6 months (had dual boot gentoo XP box) but since the only game I play these days is UT2004 and that has a native binary for Linux ..it runs perfect (in some sense better ..cause it has huge Map files and Linux is better at paging stuff)So I would suggest that unless u have alot of gaming requirements , or some other software which you cannot run on Linux via any mean (dont know alot) you can drop Windows for good.

IMO, Slackware rocks! I've been using Linux for a year now, and I would say, if you really want to get a good hold over linux, switch over to slackware. Now slack is by no means for the noob. It's for people who have are fairly comfortable with mandrake or redhat but still not really brave enough to take on gentoo . I've been using it for 6 months now, and I've learnt a lot about linux. One thing's for sure... Slackware WILL NOT DO ANYTHING FOR YOU. You have to do it yourself... and that is only with the help of forums like this one or a good book on Slack. There is a complete reference manual for download on the site itself.

My first Linux was early stages of Red Hat, I then went onto Fedora Core 4 and have never considered switching to another distribution.Main reason would be to learn more about computers, to see what this crazy buzz was and to increase my productivity in programming. It's amazing how much help you can get in programming and I thought this was essential to getting better at programming.The early stages wasn't so successful though, I found myself switching back to windows because it was hard to pick up, but until RH 7.3 was when I fully converted over. It just did everything that I needed and had the information readily avaible. There were ups and downs, but eventually I managed to sort the problems out.I feel that MS direction isn't heading in the right place, they value their customers, but not enough to give them what they need without charging them. MS direction, forces you to buy newer computers, or upgrade.If you take a look at an installation of Windows XP, what tools have you got that would increase your productivity in Windows. I recall MS looking for people to write stories about how Windows helped them become successful, but I thought long and hard about this, and could not think of anything that it did that helped me be successful. In fact, most of the stories involved Software that wasn't included with the operating system, so I believe it spoke for itself when none of those stories used anything from the operating system other than having the ability to run those programs from Windows.More companies will catch onto Linux and further improve it. This is the only reason MS succeeded was due to the amount of software these companies started developing for it. Windows 3.1x was their turning point, Linux will eventually gain a turning point too.Cheers,MC

For me? SuSE Linux. It is easy to configure, easy to explore and very stable, Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) has too many bugs plus you can't upgrade unless ur in the club. SuSE has many apps prebuilt in RPM. Ubuntu is great but it can't cconfigure everything and it doesn't work w/ my graphic card.xboxrulz

I have a lot linux distro's, but I don't realy use them since it's a pain in the **** to install the ATI drivers.I do have it on an older computer tough, Mandriva I guess, it's a while ago since I've used it because I've forgotten my password . Ow, I also have Suse 9.2, Red Hat 9, Fedora C3 and Mandriva 10.x installed on virtual machines .I don't linke Fedora Core3, sorry, I just don't like it. Mandriva is pretty ok, same for Suse. Red Hat is, errm, not for me . Dunno why, I just don't like it either.

I have tried a few distro over the past 2 or 3 years. I think I started with xandros? Maybe it was Fedora Core 1? Anyway, my favourite over that time was probably Fedora Core 3. Sure, it was a pain to set up on my laptop, but i managed to get everything working, even the internal 'win-modem'. I found fedora was good for programming, a lot better than Windows xp. After a that, I decided to try Mandrake 10.1 and I really didn't like it. It just didn't work for me. Maybe if I spent more time on it... who knows? At the moment, I have SuSE 9.3 on my laptop and FC3 and Ubuntu on my desktop. SuSE is nice, there are a lot of packages on the dvd, it was very easy to set up and now with KDE 3.4, it looks a treat! I'm considering replacing fedora with it. I haven't used Ubuntu enough to comment on how good it is but it was really easy to set up. I have used Debian Linux before so its kinda familiar. I would like to try Gentoo, I have heard many good things about it, so when I get some free time, i'll give it a go.I find that more and more often, when I boot up my computer, I will boot into linux over Windows. Sure if I'm doing graphics stuff, then I have no choice, its xp for that. But for everyday stuff, it seems like its linux all the way.