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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Poll (by Juan on 2017-12-11 00:56:11 GMT from Panama)
I answered "other" because I use heads in a multitool usb stick for privacy in public places and whonix in my main laptop.
2 • DistroWatch.org, nice! (by LiuYan on 2017-12-11 02:55:35 GMT from United States)
Thanks for provides an alternative site. It's helpful for me who like naked (plain HTTP) on the internet.
3 • Poll (by denflen on 2017-12-11 04:04:17 GMT from United States)
I answered "other", which isn't actually true. I use TOR, and have for years. But I use it as needed, not daily. I think having TOR on your favorite distro, to use when you feel the need, is certainly good enough for me.
4 • 3 + 1 (by kernelKurtz on 2017-12-11 04:12:42 GMT from France)
Yes to Tor on distro-of-choice, and yes to Whonix as well.
5 • Other (by azuvix on 2017-12-11 04:24:48 GMT from United States)
Qubes OS here. I don't use it primarily as I ought to, but its security model is unique and desirable enough to use for certain situations when you need increased security.
6 • https (by david esktorp on 2017-12-11 05:27:32 GMT from United States)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the only reason we 'need' https for distrowatch, is to facilitate 'safer' datamining / ad server communication / etc?? I don't get what the point could be other than this, since we're not logging in and still using form-filled guestbook style comments rather than a proper forum.
7 • continued.. (by david esktorp on 2017-12-11 05:28:27 GMT from United States)
and the PayPal link maybe?? I just can't think of what else could be demanding it.
(sorry for the double post)
8 • URUK, the distro, or a new gift to the world by the Mesopotamians (by Szulejmán on 2017-12-11 07:43:41 GMT from Canada)
Mesopotamia, the indisputable cradle of civilization, the great land of Babylon, Hammurabi, Xerxes, and Cyrus, and the birthplace of the father of one magnificent man, who created Apple/ macOS ...
They invented zer0 ...
They invented the alphbet ...
They invented the wheel ...
They invented the irrigation system and agriculture ...
They inscribed the first concept of human rights ...
They have discovered, developed and laid down fundamental foundations for every social and scientific field ....
And, continuing the same proud tradition, its current decedents have -- despite the ongoing war and savagery -- now, humbly, gave the world at large, a new gift of science, in the form of Uruk -- one of the most sophisticated and polished Linux distro to date.
Peace to Mesopotamia ... !
Peace to the World ... !
9 • VPN (by Will Son on 2017-12-11 08:29:21 GMT from United States)
I answered "other" because I use a VPN. Linux itself offers a level of privacy and security to it already no matter what the distro. I use a VPN for added privacy since ISPs will be able to sell our web history now. A good VPN makes this impossible for them.
For those of you who wonder, I am use Linux Mint. My VPN choice is Perfect Privacy. There are other and better choices, depending on your needs.
10 • heads is 32 bit (by Uncle Slacky on 2017-12-11 08:44:10 GMT from France)
I think the review missed the important point that heads runs on 32-bit architectures that have been abandoned by Tails.
11 • Tor/heads/etc. (by Sondar on 2017-12-11 09:28:03 GMT from United Kingdom)
"I do not use a privacy protecting distro" - yet! Neither of those exactly matches my ideal spec. for simplicity, small size, portability, 32bit, upgradable, other...
12 • Opinion Poll (by ptyerman on 2017-12-11 10:26:27 GMT from United Kingdom)
There should have been a option there for "other" or VPN.
I voted for "don't use a privacy protecting distro" as I use a VPN instead. With today's internet and our corrupt governments it's very unwise to use the internet without one.
13 • The best way to remain anonymous on the internet ... (by curious on 2017-12-11 11:28:38 GMT from Germany)
... is to remain offline and not connect at all. "heads" (and other operating systems that refuse to include needed drivers or firmware) can help ensure that you remain offline and thus anonymous.
Of course, that is a big fail if you actually (God forbid!) want to get any work done ...
A distro like "heads", i.e. lightweight, with a simple init system, DE and apps instead of systemd and Gnome, and still willing to support 32bit, BUT including all the necessary drivers to get online, would be a very good and useful thing.
14 • anonymous on the internet... (by OstroL on 2017-12-11 12:19:06 GMT from Poland)
To a certain level, you can be anonymous on the internet by using Opera browser. You can be in 5 different countries and most certainly not in your country and using your internet provider. If you are using Windows, you can be in few other countries than your own, using Epic browser. You can be not-in-your-country by using Tor browser in any distro, or in any platform, and you don't have to use a "dedicated" distro such as Heads or Tails. Only, some of the sponsors of the Tor project are government agencies...
15 • Convert PDF for Tesseract OCR (by CONVERT on 2017-12-11 13:18:29 GMT from United States)
I use the following Convert command to prepare a typical low resolution pdf for OCRing with Tesseract:
convert -density 600 Source.pdf -depth 8 -monochrome Destination.tif
OR
convert -density 600 1.pdf -background white -depth 8 -monochrome 1.tif
Now tesseract can properly OCR the PDF
16 • Privacy and graphics from the command line (by Anonymous on 2017-12-11 13:54:19 GMT from Canada)
Privacy - voted other. Do not use a privacy focused distro, but first of all extra care when sending/receiving confidential information online (ex. nothing running but the browser and files needed for the task, verify the website is actually the one I want to be on), then use any or all of VPN, browser with addons and settings for best privacy possible (Firefox now, looking at others), and a portable distro.
Jesse and @15, I haven't done any graphics manipulation in the CL, but thanks for the tips, especially OCR. Something new to learn to do in FOSS.
17 • HTTPS only (by Jesse on 2017-12-11 14:12:03 GMT from Canada)
>> "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the only reason we 'need' https for distrowatch, is to facilitate 'safer' datamining / ad server communication / etc??"
Those things are not at all a factor in DistroWatch providing https connections. We don't do datamining and ads are served up over their own connections, and are not affected by our switch. I laid out the reasons for the switch last week (linked above). In short, not being https exclusively gets us blocked by some security extensions and some browsers flag non-https-exclusive sites as insecure. We either had to switch to https only or some of readers would get blocked by their own security-enabled software. Plus many of our readers have been asking for https to avoid man-in-the-middle attacks, going https-only avoids injected, fake download links, for example.
You are right, we do not have logins or handle sensitive information. Browsing DistroWatch over http was low-risk. But it was still more risk than using https and having an http option was causing an increasing number of readers problems, especially those with security add-ons. We want to make sure everyone can reach us and we want to make sure no one injects a bad ISO or checksum link into your browser.
18 • imagemagick (by dogma on 2017-12-11 15:46:03 GMT from United States)
I’ve avoided imagemagick because I see security vulnerability notices for it constantly. Maybe if it stops being a rich source of unsafety, though…
19 • Heads: Is it guest network friendly? (by Clicktician on 2017-12-11 15:56:53 GMT from United States)
Is Heads able to work with unsecured networks and sites as well? Or is it all or nothing?
I use VPN or tunneling only when I am a guest on any network other than my own. A popular security scheme at hotels world wide is based on a password using your last name and room number.
The WiFi is password-less, so you connect to the LAN, but the first time you try to reach to a web site, the hotel's router hijacks the requested page to present you with an unsecured login screen. It then permits your subsequent MAC traffic on the WAN.
For years, I used Google as an initial site. But that changed with https. If a browser like Chrome can't reach the Cert Authority, it will rightly refuse to display the router's login page. Haha! It must be an http site. It's essential to me that a privacy distro be able to negotiate around this simple security scenario.
BTW: This hotel WiFi access scheme can't use SSL because there is no Cert Authority since the WAN isn't yet available to you. That's a security nightmare because it allows anyone sitting in the car park to freely connect to the LAN first... where one can shark the logins and passwords of other guests -- which are sent in the clear. Using their credentials, one can then connect to the WAN as another guest. Not that I have done this, of course. :-)
20 • https (by Vukota on 2017-12-11 17:19:24 GMT from Serbia)
@6: It is incorrect that HTTPS helps Ad networks. It is exactly opposite, as some network proxies (and some free AVs) can insert ads when plain HTTP is used. Also, many enterprise firewalls/content filters block all or some non-https sites automatically so that employees dont do surfing during work, but leave HTTPS through as they can't inspect its content and it is essential for regular business needs.
21 • Uruk? (by edcoolio on 2017-12-11 17:37:57 GMT from United States)
@8, less spam, shorter off-topic comment, and more compelling data might get more people to try that distro.
Just sayin...
22 • Puppy Linux, ImageMagick (by Jake on 2017-12-11 19:13:58 GMT from United States)
Ah, the venerable Puppy... I remember when it was a cute pup under 100MB. My how you've grown!
Also, there's a typo in the screen resolution: it should be 1920x1080, not 1820x1080 (I checked the image resolution as well).
Regarding ImageMagick, I found that tool when I wanted to shrink hundreds of images but didn't want to do them manually through a GUI. Instead of using a for-loop, I use xargs, which I learned about here on DW:
ls -1 *.JPG | xargs -n1 -P8 -I{} convert {} -resize 25% {}
This line gets the filenames for ls, sends them to 8 processes (how many I have), and overwrites the original file. Great for pulling a bunch of high-res smartphone pictures and distributing them ("exiv2 rm *" also removes all that identifying metadata). It runs as fast as my PC will go, and my favorite thing to do is queue up this command, open the System Monitor, and then watch all my processors hit 100% CPU.
23 • Of Tails and others... (by Tom Joad on 2017-12-11 20:00:27 GMT from Germany)
I voted Tails. But I was torn too. I thought there should have been a few other choices.
But I use Tails and always have working copy close by. I like the sandboxed Tor version too and use it sometimes when I am in a hurry or too lazy to go through the rigamarole of Tails.
Both serve a very useful purpose...privacy or as much as we can get these days. And both will tell you being safe online includes better personal internet habits.
What I find disheartening though is the fact that Tails and Tor are still pretty much alone in the privacy area. One would have thought and expected more distros to jump to fill the niche. The news reports constantly about stories detailing hacks, breaches,"phishing," etc. Then there is the plain old fashion skullduggery from the NSA, GCHQ and who knows who else.
Cheers.
24 • Thank you DW for introducing us URUK, and outstanding distro, ever created ...! (by Szulejmán on 2017-12-12 02:56:34 GMT from Canada)
@21 - edcoolio
Listen, obviously you are new here on this forum, otherwise you would have noticed me praising, over the years, a number of other uniquely outstanding distros, as i just did with my above-posted legitimate comment #8 praising Uruk ....
So, here's the list of those uniquely outstanding distros i had "spammed" about it over the years:
-- Slax,
-- PapyrOS
-- VeltOS
-- Nutyx
-- AryaLinux
-- Pardus
-- Pisi Linux
-- SliTaz
-- Porteus
-- Voyager
-- Trisquel
-- Redcore Linux
and GoboLinux, TinyCore, Korora, NixOS, BunsenLabs Linux, ferenOS, Nitrux,
and a few more alike.
And, once again, (repeating my aforementioned comment @8) i want to state, unreservedly, that, URUK, is not only totally outstanding among my above-named progressive distro list, but URUK, is also, an incredibly unique distro among all the mainstream distros (as listed here on Distrowatch) i had tried for myriad years.
Peace !
https://urukproject.org/dist/en.html
25 • @24 - Uruk (by Hoos on 2017-12-12 04:11:50 GMT from Singapore)
Regardless of whether or not you had previously praised that list of other distros (I can't recall and I have been on DW for quite a few years), @21 also stated that "more compelling data might get more people to try that distro."
You have called it "totally outstanding" without actually explaining why you think so.
In your view, what are the things about Uruk that make it stand out?
26 • URUK, the rocet ...., (by Szulejmán on 2017-12-12 16:12:45 GMT from Canada)
@25 -- Hoos
Hi, and, first of all, thank you for responding to my comment at issue .....
I volunteer teaching computers to adults..., and, similarly, here in my community center, we recyle old computers using Linux .... and over the years, i had a chance to experiment with so may different distros, and. i, especially loved (and still do) Slax, Pardus/PisiLinux, and SolusOS ....
So, few days ago, once we had spotted Uruk here on this forum, i gave a it try (both 32 bits, and 64 bits) ...
and i, personally, fell in love with it immedietly, as Uruk, is, exteremly fast, well polished and very user-friendly, even for those users with basic computer literacy. Yet, at the same, underneat, if you're willing explorei it in=depthly, you will find out how it's sphisicated, and inceribly designed and polished. Additionally, i should mention that Uruk is, undoubtedly, the fastes distro i haver tried, and fell in love it at first sight. My only wish is the hope that Uruk had tbuilt-in support for propitiatory media s file, and it would be truly great itf its devs respond to this issue before they release the next edition.
27 • @ 26 Uruk and Szulejman... (by lenn on 2017-12-12 16:53:09 GMT from United States)
So, Uruk is that good, because it is made by an Ali and a Majid? Alimiracle, eh?
28 • @26: (by dragonmouth on 2017-12-12 16:56:53 GMT from United States)
How unique can Uruk be? It is a Trsiquel spin which is an Ubuntu spin which is based on Debian. It's not like it is written from scratch, like Arch.
29 • URUK (by edcoolio on 2017-12-12 18:51:03 GMT from United States)
@24 @25 @26 @27 @28
I was considering placing this distro in my Top 10 to try out/review because I had assumed the first comment was just to get attention. Regardless of how odd the approach (cultural differences and all), I figured it would be followed-up by some more compelling data.
Unfortunately, it does not look particularly compelling what little information is available from a technical standpoint. A spin of a spin of a spin... plenty of those around.
Either way, good luck Szulejmán.
30 • forums lol (by david esktorp on 2017-12-12 19:55:28 GMT from United States)
Thanks for the clarifications.
I'm guessing the decision was made to not have a forum for specific reasons. The expected traffic increase alone is probably a huge turn off + moderating flamewars, typical forum crap, etc..
Even though forums aren't my favorite thing, I've always felt that if there was a phpbb or whatever attached to this site, that it would quickly emerge as one of the best places to get community tech help. That's kinda what happened with Ubuntu Forums for a while (not sure if it's still any good). Arch has the wiki version of that story.
Distrotalk.com anyone??
31 • Tails (by MikeCebula on 2017-12-12 22:51:16 GMT from United States)
I do use TOR when I feel it necessary. My attempt to run Tails resulted in a USB stick that would not boot on my primary laptop, but would boot on my wife's. Attempting to chase down the problem with Tails help resulted in 'just won't work on some machines'. This is after verifying latest firmware on the laptop. Tails is the only one I've tried on this machine that will not boot. They obviously do something different, but couldn't explain it.
32 • @26 - uruk (by Hoos on 2017-12-13 04:50:31 GMT from Singapore)
"...My only wish is the hope that Uruk had tbuilt-in support for propitiatory media s file, and it would be truly great itf its devs respond to this issue before they release the next edition."
That's a really strange wish, since Uruk states on its website that they support the principles of free (libre) software. You have to take them as they are.
Anyway, thank you for your further explanation, even if I may not share your sentiments.
33 • wrong to dissmis URUK, a promising distro, simply because it's not from scratch (by Szulejmán on 2017-12-13 04:50:33 GMT from Canada)
@28 -- dragonmouth
Thanks for responding and i appreciate your comment, but your argument is weak at best, and unjustly false at worse. I mean you can't dismiss, so casually, a great distro (and that's ANY distros for that matter) simply because it's based on another distro ...
You had, correctly, pointed out that Ubuntu is based on Debian, but skipped the fact that despite Ubuntu is so much so unique now that it has, almost, nothing to do with Debian anymore ...
Similarly, Android is, also, a spin of Linux, and yet, you perfectly understand that it's so much so different that it's not even considered to be a distro ...
Likewise, macOS is a derivative of BSD ..., and are you, therefore, going to dismiss this one too, as not being "unique" enough because "it's not like it is written from scratch, like Arch" ??
@27 -- lenn
Sorry, but no "thank you" to you because you are totally wrong ... I dearly admire the Mesopotamian civilization .., but i do not have any affiliation with Uruk distro, nor i'm related to its developers in any ways as you alleged. I do not appreciate your narrow-minded one liner. Peace. Period. /
@29 -- edcoolio
Thanks for responding again. It appears that you're influenced by dragonmouth's comment (@28) and that's a pity, because if you were to try Uruk, you would discover for yourself that it is, indeed, very easy on resources, extremely fast, and a beautifully well-designed distro ...
Anyway, going back to my original comment at issue (see my comment @8) i listed (see my comment @24) the names of distros which are, indeed, cutting edge and eminently inspiring.
I believe it would make a highly interesting read if Jesse or Ladislav were to (perhaps by interviewing few developers) enlighten us more about, at least, some of those distros (especially Uruk, VertOs, OpenIndiana and LSD-based NuTyX and AryaLinux) which are, indeed, outstanding and uniquely promising "hipster" Linux operating systems ...
Peace !
34 • Uruk and the proprietary software problem (by Szulejmán on 2017-12-13 05:30:16 GMT from Canada)
@32 - Hoos
Thanks for responding again, and yes i admit what you pointed out is, indeed, a strange wishful thinking I'm carrying. I guess it has to do with the fact i really never understand the pervasive fuss and criticism against proprietary software by the Linux community at large ...
35 • Why use Tor? (by Andy Prough on 2017-12-13 12:07:34 GMT from United States)
I'm interested in why other posters use Tor, when it's been revealed time and again that government spies are operating some unknown number of the nodes? Just curious. Not being a Tor user, I assume that you folks must know some way to use it safely.
Myself, I just don't put data that I'm worried about online, or I use a VPN. As one poster said, I find Opera to be a browser with decent privacy features, including a simple built-in VPN, and built-in ad-blocking.
36 • @33: (by dragonmouth on 2017-12-13 16:16:38 GMT from United States)
All I want to know is what makes URUK different enough from the dozens of other Ubuntu-derived distros to make me want to try it. Before I even try them, I know that Arch, Gentoo or Slackware, will teach me Linux. I know that Zorin comes the closest to Windows in look and feel. I know that TAILS will provide me with a very secure online environment. WHAT will URUK do for me, other than be "wonderful"? Just the facts, man, just the facts. Skip the fanboi propaganda.
37 • @33 Debian off-spring (by pengxuin on 2017-12-13 19:13:38 GMT from New Zealand)
"Ubuntu is so much so unique now that it has, almost, nothing to do with Debian anymore ..."
except that its packages are all .deb, not ....ubuntu.deb.
When that happens, it will truly be unique, no longer a derivative.
38 • uruk (by tim on 2017-12-13 23:02:06 GMT from United Kingdom)
Is this interesting? not seen it elsewhere
"Uruk GNU/Linux comes with Package Managers Simulator. This program can simulate popular package managers' commands. This means that you can install, uninstall, update, and remove packages with any package manager you wish."
39 • Which one is the best distro? (by l@@K 4 Best on 2017-12-14 07:45:15 GMT from Canada)
DW listed more than 1000+ distro.
Which one is the best distro?
any suggestion, any help?
40 • package manager simulator (by skeptical on 2017-12-14 08:00:13 GMT from Portugal)
@38 What could possibly go wrong with that?
@39 why not try the "top 10" ? .....
41 • Post # 39 (by Winchester on 2017-12-14 12:40:12 GMT from United States)
The best distribution largely depends on your specific hardware and your specific purposes for using an operating system.
I would experiment with some live CD's and / or live USB's.
Some quick recommendations if you are a beginner ..... PClinuxOS (LXDE or Trinity community editions), Solus , Debian, MX-Linux, Refracta, Peppermint, WattOS, Shiba-Inu (which is a customized Puppy Linux Slackware), Mageia, OpenSUSE Tumbleweed (KDE Plasma,LXQT,or LXDE),maybe even Calculate Linux or RedCore if you're willing to read the "Emerge" manual pages.
Gentoo itself is right up there but,it takes a little more to configure it or to personalize it. Calculate has tools built-in to make things easier for beginners. As for the Less beginner friendly ... Clear Linux is good if you have an UEFI system ... it doesn't seem to work with BIOS systems. Void Linux pretty much falls into that same category but without SystemD init software.
42 • @39: "Best" distro (by dragonmouth on 2017-12-14 12:54:00 GMT from United States)
That's like asking what is the "best" car or "best" movie or "best" ice cream. It is an opinion call and everybody has a different opinion. The "best" distro is the one that works for YOU.
Users with lot of Linux experience may consider Gentoo, Arch or Linux From Scratch as the "best" but newbies and beginners should stay away from those distros. They should try Ubuntu or one of its derivatives. If you want the "best" distro for all kinds of multimedia then PCLinuxOS Full Monty might be your choice. For strong security, TAILS and OpenBSD are the "best".
Every distro has its strong and weak points. You should choose a distro based on what features you need and what weaknesses you can live with. All that the "top x" lists tell you what distros are the most used. In spite of what advertisers and pundits try to convince us of, number of users does not indicate the level of quality. After all, Windows is the most used O/S in the world. Is it the "best"?
43 • Post 22 - xargs (by kilgoretrout on 2017-12-14 16:38:13 GMT from United States)
I used to use xargs all the time with the find command but ran into problems with certain files. Namely, xargs will refuse to process files with a single quote like "Dec. '97" or "Jerry's Kids". If xargs encounters such a file, it will spit out an "unmatched single quote" error message and stop in its tracks. Unfortunately, many of my picture files tend to have filenames with single quotes, eg Mom's_Birthday. The easiest workaround I've found is using the find command exec option instead of xargs.
44 • @39 Best Distro (by Rev_Don on 2017-12-14 17:05:13 GMT from United States)
I am guessing that you haven't used a lot of Linux based on your question. Based on that assumption I would recommend one of the 'Buntus. They tend to be reliable, easy to install, support most of the hardware out there, and are what some call "newbie friendly" (or good for beginners).
Now which 'Buntu can be tricky. If you have a computer from the last 5 or 6 years any of them should be fine. If it's an older system, or one that isn't very powerful Xubuntu, Lubuntu, or Ubuntu-Mate would probably be the best options. I would also stick with one of the Long Term Support (LTS) releases as they are supported longer and tend to be more stable. That would mean one of the 16.04 releases.
I know that there are other options, but 'Buntus tend to be a fairly safe choice.
45 • Privacy Distro (by Rick Smereka on 2017-12-14 18:37:21 GMT from Switzerland)
I have taken a similar route to some here that use a VPN. I have a dedicated server in Switzerland that (among other things) is an OpenVPN server as well as a Squid3 server. which gives me automatic, whole-house privacy with no application or OS configuration changes including a whole-house automatic block list. My house router (PfSense or IPFire) uses an 'upstream proxy' which is in Switzerland. This puts the kibosh to geolocation and tracking (like Distrowatch geolocating based on browser IP address, you will notice that it says I am from Switzerland even though that is not correct).
46 • @45: Request (by Chris on 2017-12-14 19:47:58 GMT from United States)
@45 - Interesting strategy. Can you recommend any online guides to acheive similar? Any other recommendations? Thanks.
47 • Response (by Rick Smereka on 2017-12-14 21:18:40 GMT from Switzerland)
@46 - Solution too complex to post here (off topic anyway). Email me.
48 • Best Distros (by M.Z. on 2017-12-14 22:04:29 GMT from United States)
@39
"Which one is the best distro?"
As others have said best is largely a matter of personal preference. That being said, Mint has obviously become the most looked at distro here on DW & has been for some time. It's a near perfect distro for those seeking an easy transition form Windows to Linux & has both a traditional PC desktop & excellent tools to help you admin your new Linux system & easy to install media support.
Also PCLinuxOS is great if you want media support, the latest software (which is what you get with a rolling release distro), & don't mint that it is a little less pretty than Mint (i.e. synaptic package manger is a bit more technical than Mint software center). I also like Mageia for a fairly easy desktop, though those that consider themselves super nerds will go straight to something like Arch regardless of the learning curve.
There are a lot of potential factors to consider such as:
Do you have a desktop preference? ( among full featured DEs Cinnamon is very easy & classical DE, KDE is similar but with more customization & flash, & Gnome is just trying to be very different)
Does community Vs corporate backed matter to you? (big community projects include: Mageia, Mint, PCLinuxOS, & Debian; while Fedora & Ubuntu are corporate backed)
Do you care about easy media & hardware support (PCLinuxOS & Mint) or are you big on totally free & open software (Trisquel)?
I think most potential users are looking for an easy desktop solution. Given that I'd say there is a very small learning curve for Mint which is best for most people & things get progressively harder from there depending on how much you want to dig in & customize your system or what special features you want to focus on. One of the big things DW is here for is to let you dig in & do a little research before choosing. Also feel free to hit the search link at the to of the DW page to help you look at the most researched distros in each category:
https://distrowatch.com/search.php
49 • Best Distro (by Niles Crane on 2017-12-14 22:09:42 GMT from Germany)
Obviously there is no best!
But there are trends that can be derived from popularity:
The past two years have seen the rise of Manjaro and Antergos and lately even Solus began a steep climb in popularity.
What I take from it is:
For the normal user the rolling release model of for instance Arch mixed with the ease of use approach of the Buntus (yes Mint also) is very attractive. Don´t get me wrong those releases with 5 Year warranty have their followers. I don´t see the point for private users though. Even Microsoft seems to go the rolling release way nowadays, correct me if I´m wrong!
I´ll go ahead and say for the moment try Solus Budgie edition works like a charm has some software restrictions, the desktop is neat. If you run an older computer try the mate edition.
If you get firmer in the Linux way and want to learn more there is Manjaro or Antergos.
But the learning curve never ends. Try Arch after that, then you might be ready to compile everything yourself. Gentoo will be there waiting for you. Linux from scratch is one task that seems to stay on my bucket list for the rest of my life. But You´ll never know one desperate day may come...
50 • Best Distro (by Bonky Ozmond on 2017-12-15 12:49:41 GMT from Nicaragua)
When Quoting "Best Distro" You need to quantify that with "in my Opinion and Ability" .. Slackware for Instance has been there from the start and proven the test of time ......Gentoo Must be there..as its you who "builds it"
Debian must be there as like Slackware been around from the start..and has been the main base for many many many offshoots,
Arch should now also be there as again You pretty much build it how you like and has a growing family of offshoots and a huge offering of programs in Repo and AUR.
Puppy should get an Honourable mention
I don't use a Privacy Type distro...I do have a few of the same Privacy type programs installed anyway...and
I don't use any online payment, I dont store any personal info or use social media.
like @45 above I have a server in a Non US Country as well as more Local Home /Business servers VPNs and so on
51 • THANKS 2 EVERYONE (by l@@K 4 Best on 2017-12-16 04:40:30 GMT from Canada)
Just AWESOMe!!!
THANKs & GENUINE Penguin HUG to everyone those who took their time and provided their
valuable inputs, feedback and suggestions.
@ #40
why not try the "top 10" ? .....
- I did. And, that is only the comment I can make.
@ #41
The best distribution largely depends on your specific hardware and your specific purposes for using an operating system.
Hardware : Not latest, Not up-to the date.
Purpose : Just web browsing. I do not have much expectations.
@ #42
The "best" distro is the one that works for YOU.
- I liked that. A warm HuG.
@ #44
I am guessing that you haven't used a lot of Linux based on your question.
If it's an older system, or one that isn't very powerful Xubuntu, Lubuntu, or Ubuntu-Mate would probably be the best options.
- I just jumped out of Windows and was looking for one, that works for me.
My not to recent and latest hardware does not keep-up with buntus latest releases.
However some old release of Lubuntu and Xubuntu kept up with the show.
@ #48
That being said, Mint has obviously become the most looked at distro here
- Ofcource, Linuxmint made easy to jump out of Windows and land in Linux grass-roots.
PCLinuxOS is great if you want media support, I also like Mageia for a fairly easy desktop.
- Gonna try sooner or later.
Do you have a desktop preference?
- Nothing really particular like picky choices. plain vanila works for me sometimes better than black current.
Does community Vs corporate backed matter to you?
-Ofcourse it does. I would always prefer community.
Here is my statement, Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds. They always live and belongs to the community.
Where as bunch of rich oligarchies trapped the tux as a pet for pesonal profiting without feeding the community.
Anyway, I would love and prefer community. Community is the one that makes the trends to be changed.
Do you care about easy media & hardware support?
are you big on totally free & open software (Trisquel)?
- Trisquel - I really loved this one. As a poor, what only I can offer
to Trisquel Author and Trisquel Community is my heart-felt warm genuine penguin
hug, A BiG THANkS, and bunch of roses.
how much you want to dig in & customize your system
- In search of the real gold, I can dig endlessly to the center of the earth.
@ #49
Obviously there is no best!
- I liked that one.
But there are trends that can be derived from popularity.
- The trends are always changing over by the time as you already said.
Only thing that matters to change the trend is either to give-in or not to give-in.
Try Arch after that, then you might be ready to compile everything yourself. Gentoo will be there waiting for you. Linux from scratch is one task that seems to stay on my bucket list for the rest of my life.
- A warm hug. Arch has some beautiful derivatives, and Slackware too.
I have came across or pass-by a few, and liked those tuxes.
@ #50
Debian must be there as like Slackware been around from the start.
- I just said Slackware has some beautiful derivative, as Debian already does.
Puppy should get an Honourable mention
- I luv puppies in real world. I still scratch my head an pull my hairs that how that a guy called
Barry with barrels packed everything in less than 300mb, where as when I jumped out of Windows, someone inside shouted 30GB is just not enough.
Thanks in advance to those who wish to provide their inputs, feedback and suggestions later while
I might be digging to hard to the center of the earth.
And, obviously THANKS to Jessie and DW Families Memebers.
52 • 39 • Which one is the best distro? (by dick on 2017-12-16 15:04:22 GMT from Canada)
@39 Perhaps give the new MX-17 a spin,
looks good, works well, install-media thin.
Most apps you might need~want are in repos.
It's one-of-the-better-respins of Linux distros.
imo, dick
53 • Power of the GPL (by M.Z. on 2017-12-16 23:09:49 GMT from United States)
@51
"Where as bunch of rich oligarchies trapped the tux as a pet for pesonal profiting without feeding the community."
One important thing to think about when making such statements is that there are a few different open source licenses that open OS projects like Linux & BSD can use. In the case of BSDs there is certainly a transfer of software from open & community based into the proprietary world of things like Mac OS X. This is more or less by design & very much allowed under the BSD license.
By contrast large parts of Linux are the property of the community & can not be turned into something truly proprietary/closed source. I think some companies in the Linux community do a great deal of back end work on things like the Linux kernel & yet get constant flack because they made money via a subscription model while doing improving Linux.
At any rate, there should be room for ethical profit in the Linux community & the GPL license has a proven track record of protecting the community of Linux users from having their software taken away from them. If at any point someone tried to take a GPL part of Linux, they would be legally obligated to offer the source code to their users. These users can not only do whatever they want with the code themselves, but they can & do give copies out to the wider community so they can do what they want with it. That obligation to give back to users & by extension the wider community is what the GPL is all about.
54 • GPL Freedom (by Kragle von Schnitzelbank on 2017-12-17 01:35:28 GMT from United States)
Ah yes, the freedom for developers to require support exactly ONCE … at best.
…
GPL code "cannot be turned into something truly proprietary/closed", but larger organizations can crank out enough obfuscated spaghetti to make it extremely difficult for others to clean out or maintain.
…
Nothing's perfect …
55 • I've heard that theory, but what's the reality? (by M.Z. on 2017-12-17 07:55:21 GMT from United States)
@54
"... but larger organizations can crank out enough obfuscated spaghetti to make it extremely difficult for others to clean out or maintain."
Oddly enough, the only organizations I can think of that do that have done that are the very tiny OpenSSL team & Red Hat who are huge & contribute vast amounts of code upstream & give away both Fedora & CentOS, but who also don't want Oracle making a direct copy of their work & usurping their business model without giving back nearly as much. Given ho badly Oracle botched OpenOffice after their accusation, I tend to think pushing back against Oracle is a favor to the community. They seem from my perspective to be far less interested in the good of the open source community than Red Hat is.
Of course if you can think of anyone who fits the model you describe I'd be interested to know.
56 • @54 & 55 (by pierre on 2017-12-17 15:16:26 GMT from France)
@54
"... but larger organizations can crank out enough obfuscated spaghetti to make it extremely difficult for others to clean out or maintain."
I was just thinking, what might have Cannonical had done all these years, other than making money for itself, and once it can't earn more money any more, it is slowly (and surely) dropping the desktop and leaving the present Ubuntu to fate. Its not that hard to fathom that Ubuntu might not be there as a desktop after 19.04.
Number of Comments: 56
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