What is the BEST Linux operation system or distribution???

Question

This might be just a matter of opinion but I like linux. I am fixing up a dell laptop here and want to put linux on it.

I have used both xubuntu and kubuntu. Like them both....but I might go with kubuntu and I would want compiz on it.

This laptop is a 1.8Ghz with 1GB RAM.

I have heard good things about Gentoo although it takes a day to install (I am VERY busy). But, I would like to install gentoo... is it worth all your time to install it?

I have a eLive CD....tried it on a 650Mhz machine and it was slow as can be. Might be better on my laptop.

Which one do you use???

Answer 1

I have worked for Sun Microsystems and they have an operating system, but the I would recommend Red Hat.

Answer 2

If you're seriously considering Gentoo, you owe it to yourself to see why that might be a bad idea.  It's a lot of work, and you may not get that much out of investing so much time in it.

http://funroll-loops.info/

If you just like *using* Linux, not necessarily caring to understand it, *buntu is the way to go.  It's easy, polished, and there's an incredibly large support base for it.  

http://www.ubuntu.com/

Answer 3

just my twopenny worth... I've got kubuntu installed but I keep on trying different desktop environments on top, I think you can do that with all distros, it's easier than installing xubuntu to swap to the xfce desktop environment etc.

you choose on the log on screen after loading them up with your package manager, I keep on dipping in between kde, xfce and flux at the mo'

gentoo you have to download and compile yourself layer by layer, I'd call it a good learning curve if you can be bothered to to do it

Answer 4

Fedora 8/9

It's a close to off the shelf shrink wrapped goodness as you can get for the starter. But if you want to get under the hood you can do.

Answer 5

Without a doubt, the best distro is the one you get installed and configured to work on your computer. Then you use it long enough so that you know what areas you are not satisfied with, then you do a bit of research on the options out there, and decide if you want to chance - and you make an educated choice and move to YOUR better distro.

If that is too difficult, without a doubt the best OS is windoze.  

Answer 6

Ubuntu and variants seem to be flavour of the month at the moment but I would tend to trust the judgement of an ex-colleague who worked extensively on the likes of Solaris and other Unix implementations and he swears by Slackware.