Is there such a thing as a bad Linux re-distribution?

[pylOn]

Hey, I was wondering if any of you guys had opinions on the many different Linux's. I'm running Red Hat 7.2 and want to upgrade. So if anyone has a best to worst list that would be great.

[TheCotMan]

Hey, I was wondering if any of you guys had opinions on the many different Linux's. I'm running Red Hat 7.2 and want to upgrade. So if anyone has a best to worst list that would be great.

For the most part, that is like asking what flavor ice cream is the worst-- everyone has an opinion.
Some people like gentoo for how it allows people to control and configure many detailed pieces.
Some people like Debian because of its dependencies and "politics" of separating "Free Software" from non-free, and/or the allowances to easily add new packages and have major upgrades possible without re-install.
Some people like the efficiency and streamlined nature of Slackware.
Some like the corporate support offered from a business contract with RedHat.

Best to worst? Subjective. Write what you want to see in a Linux OS and then maybe people can give you suggestions to meet your requirements.

[Abby_Normal]

Hey, I was wondering if any of you guys had opinions on the many different Linux's. I'm running Red Hat 7.2 and want to upgrade. So if anyone has a best to worst list that would be great.

I don't think anyone has such a list, and I wouldn't trust anyone who did. Lot's of people will have opinions though.

I dispise redhat myself. I like debian and slackware the most. Most people say slack is the most like real unix. It can be a bitch to start out on, but when you get it working you will have a much better understanding of nix, imho.

Debian has the advantage of really slick package managment. It's super easy to use and keep updated. I reccomend the potato release, the stable realease tends to be to conservative and less useful. But it is rock solid. Just not as useful.

Lots of people I know have gone to gentoo and love it. I haven't tried it myself.

I also wouldn't rule out the bsds and mac os. One of my machines is a powerbook g4 running osx, with xdarwin so I can use mac and linux apps, which is tres useful.

But don't take my word for it, I am use one person. I'm sure there are folks here who will totaly disagree, and have very good reasons too.

In the end, do the research yourself on top of asking us. There are lots of reviews online and in magazines that can help you decide.

[klepto]

how about a list of good ones and you try them all out?

archlinux
coredistro.sf.net
debian
gentoo
slackware
vlos
voltalinux

I've tried many many distros but these are the only ones that impress me.

[GodMinusOne]

Hey, I was wondering if any of you guys had opinions on the many different Linux's. I'm running Red Hat 7.2 and want to upgrade. So if anyone has a best to worst list that would be great.

Redhat 7.2 huh? Let me guess - you have another box still running Windows 3.1?

[xXKelbaXx]

Just so you know, don't plan on getting Gentoo unless:

A) You're not a complete newbie to Linux.

B) You have a fast computer.

For Gentoo, you will most likely compile and have to recompile your kernel to suit what you want, and it can take a LONG time without a good computer.

[Dethl]

Just so you know, don't plan on getting Gentoo unless:

A) You're not a complete newbie to Linux.

B) You have a fast computer.

For Gentoo, you will most likely compile and have to recompile your kernel to suit what you want, and it can take a LONG time without a good computer.

I actually found Gentoo to be a really good way to learn Linux more in-depth by having to do everything (well, mostly everything, I used a Stage 3 tarball) by hand. If you're in the mood to get down and dirty with Linux, go with Gentoo.

[hackajar]

Anything beyond 7.2 I would think. Did that even have kern 2.4? What are you linux cats on now 2.6 if I'm not mistaken. I wonder if 7.2 still had that 8 character max password limit on logins.

[xXKelbaXx]

I actually found Gentoo to be a really good way to learn Linux more in-depth by having to do everything (well, mostly everything, I used a Stage 3 tarball) by hand. If you're in the mood to get down and dirty with Linux, go with Gentoo.

I concur with getting in-depth, but as I said, for the complete newbie, Gentoo is not a smart choice.

[pr0zac0x2a]

I actually found Gentoo to be a really good way to learn Linux more in-depth by having to do everything (well, mostly everything, I used a Stage 3 tarball) by hand. If you're in the mood to get down and dirty with Linux, go with Gentoo.

I agree with this, I'm a Debian man (actually Ubuntu at this point, but close enough), but back when I was still learning I used Gentoo quite a lot, if only as a learning exercise. The directions for installing are extremely detailed, I see no reason why someone who some computer experience couldn't do it.

My recommendation as far as learning linux goes would be Slackware first for the basics, Gentoo to pickup a few more detailed things, then going for a Debian variant when you plan on actually using Linux 24/7. Just my opinion though.