I have never been disappointed with SuSE Linux, and have been running it since the late 90s. Every time a new flavor of Linux comes along, I try it for a while, some longer than others. However, I always end up running back home to SuSE (I always buy the full commercial versions, I never download the limited free versions). I know Ubuntu is incredibly popular, lots of community support, also follows the quality standards of Debian. Avoid Fedora unless you enjoy masturbating with a cheese grater.
As for "commercialism", don't use that as a criteria for selecting an operating system. Dogmatic or "religious" beliefs about software or the companies that produce/release it will not have any bearing on how well the software performs or not. Open source will not save the world, and 90% of the Linux zealots out there would by lying their asses off if they said they didn't have a Windows box sitting nearby. To be accurate, however, the best-running versions of anything have ALWAYS been commercial versions or from commercial entities (i.e., Red Hat, SuSE, etc). Just ask Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux who is probably the grandfather of this whole "free love" philosophy of Linux and open source. You can ask him all about it, however you might find it difficult, as Torvalds is elusive as he sits in his mansion getting paid billions for (yup, you guessed it) Linux. I read his book, in which he both preaches the splendors of open source and how evil commercialism is while at the same time pointing out how much he loves how Linux has made him filthy stinking rich. One of the biggest hypocrites I've ever come across. Open Source preacher on the outside, absolutely loving the profits of commercialism on the inside. I recommend OpenSuSE v11, it's fantastic (SuSE is also the version Torvalds himself prefers according to his book). Extremely powerful, has always had vastly superior device driver detection and everything working out of the box. Fantastic configuration and management via the YAST utility (Control panel if you will). OpenSuSE v11.1 is soon to come out if it isn't already. Bob From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bob Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 1:42 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [LINUX_Newbies] Which Distribution? And Why? Why did you choose the distribution of Linux that you did from all the other choices? There are, as you know, over 300 flavors of Linux available. A handful are well known (like Mandriva, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE, Debian, Gentoo), and there are many that are offshoots of those. Each has its strong points and weak points. I've been trying to decide which to put on my new system (a Q9300 [Core 2 Quad] based Intel processor on a LAN Party DK mobo). I like the support of Ubuntu, the past pleasures and ease of Mandriva, the power of Fedora and SUSE, etc.. I don't like the (administrative) limitations on Ubuntu, the commercialism of Mandriva, the experimental nature of Fedora, etc.. And I've always wanted to get Gentoo onto my system, but have never had a completely successful installation (on previous systems). Any suggestions, comments, but most of all the reason you chose the distribution that you did, will be appreciated. Thanks. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from this list, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] & you will be removed.Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
