For GNU/linux users, what distribution(s) do you use?

[fluidistic]

According to some websites GNU/linux Mint has become the standard while Ubuntu's fame decreased drastically after the introduction of Unity. So much that now it's currently the 3rd or 4th most popular distribution.
I still use Ubuntu and I'm curious if those "results" have impacted PF users.
So if you're a GNU/linux user, please participate in the poll. Thank you.

 

[Borek]

Define "use"

I have raspbian at home (let's say it is just Debian) and CF runs on CentOS, so while I did not set the server up, I am definitely using it. I also tried to set up Arch on my Raspberry Pi, but I wasn't able to make it work with my USB based WiFi adapter (which works with raspbian out of the box).

 

[fluidistic]

Define "use"

I have raspbian at home (let's say it is just Debian) and CF runs on CentOS, so while I did not set the server up, I am definitely using it. I also tried to set up Arch on my Raspberry Pi, but I wasn't able to make it work with my USB based WiFi adapter (which works with raspbian out of the box).

lol. In that case I'd choose Debian and CentOS. But that's just my criteria.

 

[Borek]

lol. In that case I'd choose Debian and CentOS. But that's just my criteria.

That's what I did

Note: it is not that I selected these distros consciously, in a way I was forced to use them.

 

[Routaran]

My Fileserver is running CentOS. For my desktop/notebook, I use Ubuntu and Mint

 

[wukunlin]

when I used to use linux I used ubuntu just because all the people who mark my codes uses it and I don't want any problems caused by me using a different distro

 

[jim mcnamara]

We have 30+ Linux boxes at work - mostly OpenSuse and CentOS, with a few 'Oracle unbreakable Linux' instances.
We use Suse for surveillance cameras at remote offices, storage depots, scada sensors, pumps, etc. Suse also works for our Snort servers. We have six VLAN's each one snortified.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I first started using Linux on my personal computer with Ubuntu 8.04, which was ok, but took some fiddling to get working with the video card I had then. I really liked Ubuntu 11.04. But I was annoyed with Gnome 3 and Unity when they came out.

I tried Linux Mint for a short while, but Mate and Cinnamon both feel like hacks tacked onto Gnome 3 to me. So I tried Mint XFCE. It was ok, but then I started having problems with getting up-to-date versions of things. In particular, the kernel at that time had a bug that caused my laptop to get really hot. A newer version of the kernel was out that supposedly fixed it, but it was not in the Mint repositories yet. So I decided I'd rather not be beholden to Canonical's decisions on when to update packages in their repositories.

I installed Arch Linux, and I'm very happy with it. I'm running XFCE, which I think is ideal for the kind of person who really liked Gnome 2 and doesn't feel like re-learning everything in Gnome 3. There is a bit of a challenge in Arch Linux in that you have to pick and choose exactly what you want, and while it's easy to install everything and get it running, you might forget that you needed to install a network manager, a Samba daemon, a printer settings GUI control, etc. I now keep a list for future reference.

On the other hand, the strength of Arch is that you don't have to install what you don't want. My system under Arch is able to boot so fast that I didn't notice any difference in boot speed after upgrading to a solid state drive.

 

[I like Serena]

I really liked Ubuntu 11.04.

I liked 11.04 as well, but found that I was forced to continually update it just to get new software that I installed to work.
That is when I found that Ubuntu releases Long-Term-Service (LTS) versions that are always even numbered.
Nowadays, I only use 10.04 LTS, 12.04 LTS, and so on.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I also have a NAS that runs FreeNAS, and a Raspberry Pi that runs Raspbian. Generally I'll use whatever's appropriate. If I had some reason to buld a more elaborate home server that did more than just serve files, I might use Debian. When I eventually get around to building a media center PC, I'll probably (gasp!) buy a copy of Windows for it.

For my machines that I use on a daily basis, I prefer Arch. But if a friend asked me for a recommendation (and they were fairly new to Linux), I'd tell them Ubuntu or Mint. I've heard Mageia is good, too, but I have no personal experience with it.

But it depends on people's needs, too. There isn't a "best" Linux.

 

[Borek]

When I eventually get around to building a media center PC, I'll probably (gasp!) buy a copy of Windows for it.

Have you considered Raspberry Pi with XBMC?

 

[Ben Niehoff]

Have you considered Raspberry Pi with XBMC?

I want to build a machine that plays DVDs, Netflix, and modern computer games. Raspberry Pi won't cut it. The main reason for Windows is the games. (I have Netflix working perfectly in Linux, actually).

 

[Borek]

I want to build a machine that plays DVDs, Netflix, and modern computer games. Raspberry Pi won't cut it. The main reason for Windows is the games. (I have Netflix working perfectly in Linux, actually).

OK, games change the situation, definitely.

I am using the above mentioned combination to watch movies (from USB pendrive and/or USB HDD) and it works perfectly.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

PF runs on CentOS :)

 

[Newtons Apple]

I have fedora and as someone studying for his linux exam, I hate it. The fedora structure of the filesystem, and where things are laid out is very different than other "standard" linux OS'. As I study forthe exam, a lot of things in the books don't apply, because Fedora uses something called System D instead of the normal set of standards of System V or BSD. It's a fine OS but they changed so much that it's hard for me to use it to study with. I'm thinking about switching to CentOS.

 

[fluidistic]

Interesting and surprising results to me so far! CentOS is way more popular than I expected and Ubuntu is still quite used.

 

[mishrashubham]

I use Ubuntu Studio 12.04, a variant of Ubuntu aimed at multimedia creation. Comes with loads of preloaded apps which work out of the box (mostly). But I might switch to openSUSE depending on which way the Mir/Canonical situation goes.

 

[strangerep]

According to some websites GNU/linux Mint has become the standard while Ubuntu's fame decreased drastically after the introduction of Unity. [...]

Yeah -- I was happy enough with Ubuntu, but hated Unity.

After a fair bit of research, and some trial+error, I'm now running Sabayon+KDE.

Sabayon linux is not one of your poll choices. It's derived from Gentoo (also not listed).

 

[fluidistic]

I've just finished the install of Mageia. So I triple boot Windows XP, Ubuntu 12.04 and now Mageia 3 (with KDE interface).

 

[Pythagorean]

no slackware option

slackware.

 

[fluidistic]

I've had problems after upgrading to Mageia 64 bits, I could not boot Ubuntu anymore. I formated my Ubuntu partition to install the 64 bits version of it. Then I had problems with Mageia, I could not boot it. So I installed Archbang 64 bits over Mageia 64 bits.
No option for archbang either :)

 

[jhae2.718]

I use CrunchBang on my netbook, Gentoo on my other computers, and CentOS for my lab's computers.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I switched from Arch back to Ubuntu because I was sick of having to wrestle with my sound configuration. Also, I've learned to like Unity. It makes better use of the keyboard, which is generally a faster way to do things than the mouse.

I am annoyed that Ubuntu has started adding bloatware to their OS (such as Amazon results in your desktop search), but it is easy to turn those things off and remove them.

 

[fluidistic]

I switched from Arch back to Ubuntu because I was sick of having to wrestle with my sound configuration. Also, I've learned to like Unity. It makes better use of the keyboard, which is generally a faster way to do things than the mouse.

I am annoyed that Ubuntu has started adding bloatware to their OS (such as Amazon results in your desktop search), but it is easy to turn those things off and remove them.

I'm a total noob at linux and Archbang looks really tough to master. I don't really know why somebody on a chess server told me and helped me to install it knowing I am a total newbie. For example I haven't figured out yet how to adjust the clock. But I'm making progresses. I've for example succeeded in installing programs that matters to me (like running some chess engines automatically on a chess server, FICS), the chess engines are even slightly faster than on Ubuntu 12.04.
I also like Unity very much. It's extremely fast to use the dash to open any program. I haven't reached the version that shows Amazon adds and I know it's easily removable (a single command line if I remember well), as you said.
I always appreciated Unity, but when I installed Archbang I realized even more how I like it. I've learned how to lock custom programs into it (even simple programs that I wrote in fortran!) and how to modify the icons, etc. It looks really nice.

 

[jhae2.718]

Hey, everyone, quick, over here! There are real life people in the wild that like Unity!

 

[mishrashubham]

Hey, everyone, quick, over here! There are real life people in the wild that like Unity!

Haha, that made my day...

 

[Pythagorean]

[...]bloatware[...]

that's why I went with Slackware. It was a bit of an overcorrection, but I like that I've had to learn the linux OS and to use bash and even written some bash scripts as a result. I also like having put pretty much every major high level app on myself because I actually needed it.

I'm still having problems getting my HDMI to work on web videos though. Currently, I have to take the URL and vlc it to get audio working. So I tend to float back to my windows partition (where all the good video games are anyway).

 

[Ben Niehoff]

that's why I went with Slackware. It was a bit of an overcorrection, but I like that I've had to learn the linux OS and to use bash and even written some bash scripts as a result. I also like having put pretty much every major high level app on myself because I actually needed it.

Yes, when I converted to Arch, this is how I felt. But...

I'm still having problems getting my HDMI to work on web videos though. Currently, I have to take the URL and vlc it to get audio working. So I tend to float back to my windows partition (where all the good video games are anyway).

...very soon things like this started to drive me nuts. Also, the fact that whenever I installed some major piece of software, I had to go and configure it myself because Arch doesn't patch the vast majority of packages.

My biggest frustration was trying to get PulseAudio and JACK working (I have installed MuseScore which requires JACK). I couldn't get things to work, and information I was able to find on the 'net didn't help.

So I went back to Ubuntu which, although it includes a bunch of crap I don't technically need, at least they make an effort to make sure things "just work" such as audio, video, and media buttons on my keyboard.

 

[Pythagorean]

Yeah, I want to be able to fix it myself eventually, but I've come to see my slackware OS as a work in progress that I'll have perfected in five years... then my hard drive will need to be replaced :(

 

[Ben Niehoff]

Yeah, unfortunately I need to use my computer for things besides fiddling with my computer. Maybe someday I'll have more free time to mess with that stuff.

 

[kg4pae]

According to some websites GNU/linux Mint has become the standard while Ubuntu's fame decreased drastically after the introduction of Unity. So much that now it's currently the 3rd or 4th most popular distribution.
I still use Ubuntu and I'm curious if those "results" have impacted PF users.
So if you're a GNU/linux user, please participate in the poll. Thank you.

Obviously those websites are out of touch with reality. In my experience, most people who are geared toward education are unabashed Ubuntu devotees. Those who value stability and freedom from licenses tend to gravitate toward Fedora/Scientific Linux. Theose who favor a thin installation will do Mint and those who want to run Linux on their game machine will do Puppy-Linux. Other than those, the other versions, even though interesting do not come up much. - Just my experience.

 

[kg4pae]

no slackware option

slackware.

Now that you mention it, I notice that Gentoo is missing too. - Moooo. :)

 

[enorbet]

Although I have test partitions where I run many test distros so that I may speak somewhat intelligently about them, my main system on 5 boxes (including a Minecraft server) has been Slackware since 1999.

 

[fluidistic]

Update: Now under Lubuntu (desktop pc) and Manjaro (laptop).
I really like Manjaro, it's Arch made for newbies, as easy as Ubuntu or Mint. Everything works out of the box and it has the advantage of having a stable branch for those who don't want things to break in a rolling release model and programs are only around 1 or 2 months older than pure Arch. It's my favorite distribution as of now.