my 3/4-baked theory is that many people new to linux use what their friends suggest, or what they first or most compellingly hear about. that is, they don't do comparative research between available/relevant distributions and choose logically.
certainly that was the case for me in the early days and even now i'm more a "try it and see" type than a heavy researcher when i experiment with distros i haven't used before. hmm, then again, i know more of what i want and need from a distro now, and can judge some things instantly that i would have not understood when i was getting started, so maybe the past 16 years has been of some use after all =) anyway, what is your take on how people choose distributions, and/or how did you choose your first? i think newbies are an especially interesting discussion because we are attracting so many to our ranks these days and i'm curious as to what trends will shape the future of the landscape; i believe that the distros that see the most users fare the best in terms of vitality and usually pace/success of development, commercial or non (though that is a belief open to debate in itself). personally, i started with slackware because i was unaware anything else existed and my mentor used slackware, though i understood that slackware was not linux. the second time (in as many weeks) that i installed it i downloaded it myself from somewhere that had other distros mirrored too and i noticed their presence but was not inquisitive for many months (and many reinstalls). it maybe that nothing else was as mature and generally awesome and in english at the time (mid-1994), but i certainly can't vouch for that with any certainty. thoughts? _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
