Arch Linux
Arch Linux is something of a rising star in the Linux community. When we showed you how to pick the right distro for you,
many of you really resonated with the fact that with Arch you install
pretty much everything from scratch. This requires a certain level of
comfort with the command line, but it also gives you complete control
over how customised the overall installation is for you. Installing Arch
really is like building a distro that has your name on it, and it can
be as simple or complex as you need it to be. For the minimal crowd who
prefers lightweight installs, you can keep your system lean and mean.
For the feature-lovers, you can load it up as much as you want. It’s a
great distro for people who really want to learn the ins and outs of
Linux, even if it’s not the easiest, most mainstream or newbie-friendly.
You’ll learn a lot, though, and if you’re all about Arch, you shouldn’t
miss our own Whitson Gordon’s guide to building a killer Arch Linux installation.
Ubuntu (and Variants)
Ubuntu
has some star power behind it, and it’s probably the most popular Linux
flavour available right now. If you’ve tried Linux at some point,
you’ve probably tried Ubuntu, and for good reason. It’s easy to install,
customisable, offers some great features that weren’t standard in
distros popular prior to Ubuntu’s popularity, and it updates every six
months with new features and plenty of improvements. Ubuntu’s mission
was to bring Linux to the masses, and it’s done an incredible job.
Ubuntu’s community is massive, so there’s plenty of places to go for
help troubleshooting or making the most of your installation, and
virtually every Linux-compatible program or applications works in Ubuntu
without issue. The only divisive issue with it is the growing size of
the distro (many complain it’s getting bloated) and Ubuntu’s Unity UI,
which you either love or hate. Either way, if you’re just getting
started with Linux and want the experience without getting too dirty in
the process, Ubuntu is a great place to start and a great way to ease
into the wonders of Linux.
Linux Mint
Linux Mint is
probably one of the better beginner distros available. Where Ubuntu
wanted to make Linux available to the masses, Mint picked up the torch
and carried it even further, with an install that in most cases doesn’t
even require you to look at a command line, an interface that emphasises
the graphical and minimises the command line entirely, and an overall
UI that will make people who are used to OS X and Windows feel
comfortable. It makes some tradeoffs in complexity in the process, and
the die-hard open source fan likely won’t be happy with Mint’s decision
to embrace closed-source applications and drivers over open-source
options for the sake of ease and familiarity, but to the beginner who
isn’t interested in any of that or is choosing Linux because they want
to experiment or are concerned about security, it’s a great option.
Fedora
How many
people remember Fedora when it was Fedora Core and had just split off
from Red Hat? I was a die-hard Fedora fan at the time, and while my
loyalties may have strayed, I still have a special place in my heart for
it. Fedora updates every six months, much like some of the other
popular distros, but you’ll find the community behind Fedora tends to
stay on the cutting edge when it comes to platform updates, driver
updates and application updates. It’s fast and it’s stable, but be ready
to start troubleshooting when something you’ve just installed breaks
down. Old-school fans who still love the Yum package manager will find
it’s still there in Fedora (even though most other distros have moved on
to APT), and enterprise Linux users will appreciate its roots in and still-somewhat intertwined relationship with Red Hat.
Debian
Debian has a
long, long history, and I remember when people in my old LUG used to
call it a “cutting edge” distro with great support. These days, Debian
prides itself on its rock-solid stability and shies away from the
bleeding edge a bit. It’s an old distro with a lot of developers in it
that have been around for a long time, watching Linux rise to the
mainstream and drop out of sight several times over the years. Many of
these developers have stuck with their preferred distro, so while the
community is there for help if you need it, make sure you’ve tried
fixing the problem and researching it on your own before you call for
help. To that end though, Debian updates every few years, which also
makes it a great choice if you’re trying to run Linux on some seriously
outdated hardware.
Honourable mentions this week go out to OpenSUSE and CrunchBang Linux, both of which were highly recommended by their fans for their feature set and their passionate user and developer communities.
Did
your favourite not make the list? Have something to say about one of
the contenders? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
