That is a loaded question. It all depends on your interest, needs, and what you are using it for, in addition to your experience level.
I have used all of the distros and all offer something to the user, but each is for a different user base. Ubuntu: newbie friendly, popular, large repositories, lots of support, 32 & 64-bit, can be bleeding edge or stable as you choose. Debian: not newbie friendly, large repositories, fragmented and ideologically driven community, practically free or proprietary source material (may cause hardware not to work), stable and not bleeding edge, not as easy to set up as Ubuntu but once it is set up it is rolling release and you are set up for a long time FreeBSD: not Linux, smaller repositories, less support, well developed Knoppix: been around a long time, great live CD, but not much else Slax: small distro with a niche community, Slackware with a twist, easier to use, but very limiting in terms of support and packages Not mentioned but worth considering: Linux Mint: Ubuntu based, so most of what is said about Ubuntu applies except the bleeding edge bit, it comes out a month or more later and takes a more conservative path Fedora: not newbie friendly, but rock solid and bleeding edge distro, everyone should try Fedora at least once PCLinuxOS: only 32 bit at present, been around a long time; small distro with an active community, works well; mostly KDE desktop SimplyMEPIS: Debian based small distro that is more user friendly; KDE desktop aptosid: Debian distro based on Debian Sid or unstable (same as Ubuntu; don't let unstable fool you Debian is very cautious in labelling), KDE desktop Linux has so many distros that it is hard to choose. Your list is very strange because you call yourself a newbie and only one in your list is newbie friendly and one is not even a Linux distro and two are special use distros (Slax and Knoppix). Where did these names come from? A good source of info is distrowatch.com. Something to consider: GNOME is switching to GNOME 3 from GNOME 2.32. A few distros are using the old desktop and the more bleeding edge ones will feature GNOME 3. Ubuntu is going its own way with its own desktop environment, Unity. I mention this because GNOME 2.32 is a traditional desktop, but Unity and GNOME 3 are very different. They may excite you or shatter your expectations. This is a time of flux for GNOME and Unity. Know that up front. There are several alternatives including KDE, XFCE or LXDE. Many distros come with a default desktop, but you can switch desktops rather than switch to another distro which is much easier. Unity and GNOME 3 are incompatible. You have to choose one and remove the other. Classic GNOME is going to disappear starting this fall and hang around in older distros for some time. Ubuntu offers at least three versions at a time. Right now you can install 10.04 LTS (expires April 2013) , 10.10 (expires April 2012)and 11.04 (expires October 2012) with the first two featuring classic GNOME and the last featuring Unity, but you can install classic GNOME. All this choice is confusing but it offers many different scenarios and choosing the right distro is complicated. Getting it right the first time can save you lots of time and trouble. My general advice to someone these days is to install Ubuntu 10.04 LTS unless you want to be bleeding edge. Then go with 11.04. A good alternative is Linux Mint which takes a more cautious approach for 6 month release cycles, but it means more upgrading than following Ubuntu LTS to LTS path (upgrade every 2 - 3 years because LTS overlaps by a year). If you want to use "Ubuntu" but avoid GNOME and Unity troubles then consider KDE (Kubuntu), XFCE (Xubuntu) or LXDE (Lubuntu). Good luck in choosing, Roy Using Kubuntu 11.04, 64-bit Location: Canada On 14 May 2011 19:49, johnmark1966 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > What Linux distro would you choose from: Ubuntu, Debian, FreeBSD, Knoppix > or SLAX ? I am a newbie and I am trying to find which distro is the best. I > am studying electronics and computers in college. Thanks to each and all :) > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from this list, please email [email protected] & you will be removed.Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
