Other Distro's you'd recommend?

[AndrewH]

Hello. I'm curious as to what other distributions of Linux the members of this community would recommend, other than Kubuntu? I use Kubuntu, and DreamLinux. Love them both to death! What others would you recommend that are really worth dinkin' with, and offer the same possibilities as kubuntu? By possibilities, I mean modification of appearance to my choice, like changing icons, taskbar etc...

Any input would be appreciated

[kbunt]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

I like to try something debian-based with a KDE face. I am going to try very soon, Sidux, Kanotix, Debian Testing and Mepis. Most of those have a Live-Cd, too, so you can get an impression of it. I think you need to install, though, to really know how it is for your system.

[marshallbanana]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

If you like eyecandy check out geubuntu (unfortunately its gnome based only) its default look is simply stunning. Time for someone to start working on a kde version?
http://geubuntu.intilinux.com/Home.html
not really a different os to try out, but still its cool.

And it comes in moonlight and sunshine flavors!

Edit: Figured I'd better clear this up. Its not actually gnome based. It uses enlightment window manager but with a few gnome apps thrown in.

[dibl]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

Mepis 7 is supposed to be released around Dec. 19. I'm running the RC2 and it looks very nice to me -- the hardware detection and configuration seems pretty good.

[lingenfr]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

I used mepis for quite awhile. The downside was it is near impossible to set up a compile environment, so if your hw isn't recognized you are screwed. Similar for software that is not in their repository. I have been checking out Linux Mint lately. I have a couple of computers on the bench. I plan to try ubuntu and mint.

[GS2]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

Not a linux distro (so a little off topic) - but have a go at one of the BSD flavours - they take a little work - but it is well worth the effort - apart from the 'main' OS the rest is your choice.....

but be prepared to be challenged (and get compatible hardware - especially wifi)

In my opinion - FreeBSD makes an excellent laptop OS

[kbunt]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

Not a linux distro (so a little off topic) - but have a go at one of the BSD flavours - they take a little work - but it is well worth the effort - apart from the 'main' OS the rest is your choice.....

but be prepared to be challenged (and get compatible hardware - especially wifi)

You aren't kidding. I think BSD is not ready yet. There aren't very many 'versions' yet but I think it is very promising from what I heard. But, for an actual desktop/laptop for daily typical use? Nope. It doesn't sound too newbie-friendly. I am actually going to experiment with one of the flavours of it, probably PC-BSD. The good thing is that there isn't that wide disparity or difference you get with some Linux distros (for e.g., Debian v.s. Fedora etc.). There are differences I hear but mostly in what the developers did on top of FreeBSD as they (virtually) all start from that.

One problem I see is that compiling takes ages (for e.g., try adding KDE this way) and the average user isn't going to want taking days to customize their setup.

I suggest BSD is at the stage Linux was years ago. But, I admit I don't experience with it yet but I do read about it and talked to someone who tried them all.

[Steve_S.]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

Right now, my main Linux distro is Kubuntu 6.06. I also use Simply MEPIS 6.5, which is ok, ans Open SuSE 10.1; it's not bad, either, but it takes a little more work to get it the way you want it. I really like the both of them, but since I started using Kubuntu, I just can't seem to go back to the other two....

Steve

[txHarleyMan]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

Debian.

[ulsterman]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

I would recommend as an alternative distro PCLOS, Mepis & Mint. Along with Kubuntu, my favorites. These four are the easist to use and simplist to maintain. I use Linux only, no Windows for years and at some point have tried almost all the distros. Most were great, just didn't work with my hardware too convoluted (to me) and not worth the effort to fool with them, (especially when you already have Kubuntu install and working fine without any intervention by me).

[MepisReign]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

I tried some other distributions and always end going back to Kubuntu :P

[Monster_user]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

Some might shoot me for this, but Xandros. A stable, well polish little distribution. Until KDE 3.5.x, and Dolphin, it was my preferred distro.

Xandros' biggest selling point, is how familiar it is, to former Window's users. The K Menu layout, and the Xandros File Manager, all work similarly to the Classic Windows interface. It makes the transition to Linux a whole lot easier.

The downside is a lack of available packages for the distribution. You'll find yourself install a lot of stock Debian packages...

The other problem, is that the Distro is slowly updated, which means that a lot of packages are outdated.

I've had Ubuntu installed alongside Xandros for some time now, so I could try out Gnome, and Compiz. With the release of Dolphin, and KDE 4, I decided to switch to Kubuntu.

Odd note, Xandros is a KDE only distribution, and I am often running Debian's Gnome on it,...

[Fintan]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

I am testing mint kde edition, and mepis 7.0. I like both The kubuntu guys could learn a few from the Mint guys.
Mepis (debian Edge) will always beon my machinebecause it is so stable and doesn't have some of the "quirks" the kubuntu people build in ( sorry guys but had to be said).

I had pclinux 2007 and mandrake 2008, both have great HW detection and out of the box goodies. The system config and partitioning is symply the best I have seen, but after using debian based apt-get and deb packages no one is getting me back to rpm based systems.

You also have to consider the forums and this one is by far the best for help in almost everything.

Mepis is very technical so it is great if you are not a complete newbe and want some serious debian based help that is in tech speak.

I have tried a few of the ones listed above and a few more, but Kubuntu still reigns.

[MoonRise]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

DreamLinux and Puppy. Both have been very reliable. I use Puppy more than DreamLinux and on a Mem-Stick. Mostly for M$ PC recovery. Even still Kubuntu has still been my primary choice.

[dannyl]

Re: Other Distro's you'd recommend?

I have used Slackware for years with no problems. It's stability is fantastic.