Here’s a topic guaranteed to start controversy. Which Linux distribution is best? It all depends on your criteria for judging. Even then the topic is highly subjective. Here are a few nominees for “best distro” in specific categories.

Most Popular



Why does it matter which distros are most popular? They generally offer

more resources: larger free software repositories, more tutorials,

better doc, more support, and active forums.

You’d think there would be an objective way to identify the most

popular distros. But reliable metrics don’t exist for free software.

Some measurements people use include SourceForge download statistics,

stats

on purchased OS discs, Distrowatch page hits, website tallies of

visitor OS’s, and Gartner Group and

IDC estimates.

Most agree that the Ubuntu family wins this race. (This includes official

derivatives like Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Gobuntu, and

others.) Canonical Ltd claims

20 million desktop users. They also claim 1.3 million web servers

running Ubuntu server, with 22,000 more joining each month.

The Red Hat family may be second. The RH family includes Red Hat

Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Fedora, Oracle Linux, and others. I’ve seen

estimates that Red Hat has

over

12 million users and Fedora over 1 million. Red Hat is the first

billion dollar Linux company, with fiscal 2012 revenues of 1.13 billion

$US. Its

market cap is about 10 billion $US.

Vendors seem to agree with

these assessments. They frequently preload Ubuntu and Red Hat family

distros on new machines.

Most User Friendly



Here we enter completely subjective terrority. For most user-friendly

among the better-known distros, I nominate Mint.

Mint is based on Ubuntu, so it starts with Ubuntu’s advantages: huge

software repositories, a familiar system, a big user community, etc.

Mint

enhances the user experience by addressing Ubuntu’s shortcomings.

It includes all the proprietary software and codecs required for

typical tasks so you get a ready-to-use system right

out of the box.

The Mint team foresaw the controversy Canonical would uncork with its

switch to the Unity interface. Mint protected

their users by offering Mate and Cinnamon. The former is

a continuation fork of the GNOME 2 interface. The latter takes

GNOME 3 and enhances it with traditional features like a

bottom panel. While Canonical veers off on their Unity tangent —

telling

the user community what they should want — Mint quietly satisfies them

by continuing with desktop-friendly UI’s.

Many other distros could be cited as most user-friendly. Mint’s

philosophy of capitalizing on Ubuntu while addressing its

shortcomings is a winner.

Best Live Distro



What do you need in a live distro? A small OS that boots on any

computer. A good set of tools for computer maintenance. A full

range of apps for general-purpose computing. Many distros meet these

criteria since Knoppix started the live distro bandwagon a decade ago.

One of the best is Puppy Linux.

As related in my review

of Puppy, this distro boots from any bootable device, and

runs on any computer — including those that lack devices, have

a broken device, or present severe resource constraints. Puppy “just

works” on any computer about as well as any distro one can name.

With a download size of only 130 M, Puppy runs entirely from memory on

any computer with at least 256 M. The distro bundles

a full range of desktop apps and comes complete

with tools for emergency situations.

Puppy may not be the best

solution for every situation in which you need a Live CD, but it covers

more of them than most alternatives.

Best for Linux Connoisseurs



Linux sophisticates want a system they can tailor, configure, and play

with to

their heart’s content. Many distros fit the bill, but one that has

achieved special popularity is Arch.

Arch is perfect for a custom install. It

doesn’t come with a pre-installed GUI: you select one. Arch gives you a

minimal, highly-configurable system. Yet you

don’t have to immediately jump into source or kernel compiling.

Arch operates on a rolling release basis, so it is continually updated.

It comes with pacman,

its own package manager, to provide software updates with solid

dependency

tracking. The Arch Build System allows you to easily build new

packages, modify existing packages, and share them through the Arch

user repository.

Arch provides a

high degree of control while avoiding the complexity of source-based

distros. It’s no wonder it has become so popular in the past few years.

Best for Learning Linux In Depth

You can learn Linux with nearly any distro. Just spend time tinkering

with your system, read online articles, and ask questions in forums.

For those who really want to delve into the details, Gentoo offers a

good learning opportunity. You build your system from scratch, the way

you want it, and learn in the process. You edit config files and

compile source. Gentoo’s excellent doc leads you

through the process. The Gentoo community is enthusiastic and can

answer nearly any Linux question you have.

If you have the time and the desire, Gentoo is a good choice to get

under the hood of Linux and learn it in detail.

Best for Older Computers



If you have an older PC, like a Pentium IV or III, (or even a II!) you

need a

distro that will run on minimal hardware. It should also be tested on

older machines. Puppy Linux fits the bill. It can make your old Windows

XP or 98 computer useful again.

Many distros theoretically run on older hardware but they don’t have a

large

user community running mature systems. Join the Puppy forum and you’ll see that

you’re in the right place.

Best Office Desktop



Office desktops require a full office

suite, an email client, calendaring,

and contacts manager. They also need strong

interoperability, a large user community, and good support. Many

distros fulfill this role, but one you’ll see on everyone’s list is

OpenSUSE.

Not only does OpenSUSE come with all the bundled apps you need in the

office, it also supplies consistent, user-friendly interfaces. No

jumping off the deep end with OpenSUSE: you’re not forced into the

Windows 8 UI or Unity. So you can just get your work done.

With applications like LibreOffice and Wine,

you can co-exist with organizations still using Windows and Office.

LibreOffice allows you to interchange office files while Wine runs over

20,000 Windows apps under Linux. (LibreOffice and Wine run on nearly

all

Linux distros.)

Most Stable Across Releases



As an IT support tech, I supported two small organizations that

standardized on Ubuntu years ago. They chose Ubuntu due to its wide

popularity and

user-friendly reputation. Now both groups are unhappy. Canonical

has not protected their user community from the disruptive

changes they introduce. The radically different Unity interface was the

last straw.

These organizations want a distro that introduces well-tested

improvements — smoothly and incrementally.

Several distros meet this need. Two that I’ve used are OpenSUSE

and VectorLinux. Perhaps the best choices are Red Hat and CentOS.

As a commercial server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is intended for

production IT. Stability and measured change are its watchwords. CentOS

is a free distro based on RHEL. It is 100% compatible rebuild for

people who want operating system stability without the cost of a

support contract.

Best Support



If you’re looking for paid professional support, Red Hat is a great

choice. Oracle Linux works well for those with database servers.

According to its web site, “Oracle starts with Red Hat

Linux, removes Red Hat trademarks, and then adds Linux bug fixes.”

Oracle Corp. contracts provide support.

And what about free support? Any popular distro with wide popularity

and active forums may well do. I like all the distros mentioned in this

article.

Your Vote?



What are your favorite distros and why? Here are some other

opinions:

The

10 Best Linux Distros

Which

is the Best Linux Distro for Your Desktop?

Comparison

of Linux Distributions

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Howard Fosdick (President, FCI) is an independent consultant who

supports databases and operating systems.

Read his distro reviews at OS

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