DEFINITIVE: Which Linux Distro? (poll for 2007-08)


The Definitive Linux Poll for 2007!  

881 members have voted

  1. 1. Which Linux Distro?

    • Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu
      533
    • Debian/Shift/Mepis/Knoppix/Kanotix/Xandros/Elive
      53
    • Fedora Core/Redhat/RHEL/CentOS/WBEL
      73
    • OpenSUSE/SUSE/Novell
      76
    • Gentoo/Sabayon
      46
    • Mandriva/PCLinuxOS
      23
    • Slackware/Slax/Zenwalk
      20
    • Arch
      47
    • Linspire/Freespire
      2
    • Damn Small/Puppy
      8
  2. 2. Which destop environment / window manager?

    • GNOME
      532
    • KDE
      203
    • fluxbox/openbox/blackbox
      33
    • Xfce
      37
    • Enlightenment/E17
      8
    • IceVM
      2
    • TWM or something equally basic
      1
    • GUI? pft. CLI or die!
      18
    • other
      18
    • whatever my distro came with. Is there a choice?
      29
  3. 3. I use Linux primarily as a...

    • Desktop (for school, work, home, games)
      385
    • Media Centre (primarily for videos & music)
      8
    • Server (web,ftp,file/print)
      58
    • Desktop/Media Centre Mixed Use
      85
    • Desktop/Server Mixed Use
      55
    • Media Centre/Server Mixed Use
      3
    • Desktop/Media Centre/Server (I use it for everything)
      89
    • I don't really use it for anything but learning Linux
      171
    • Other
      27


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Here we go for 2007. Poll options are directly based on the 2006 poll:

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=416313

I squeezed all the non-Ubuntu Debian derivatives into one line so as to make room for Damn Small Linux / Puppy (okay, unlike the others they are only related by the fact they are both small).

If you don't see your distro listed specifically then pick one that is close. Many distros are derivatives of others anyway. I think I have the main ones covered.

The Desktop Environment / Window Manager poll is exactly the same. Perhaps the votes will be different than last year.

I added a new question asking what you use Linux for (a desktop, a media centre, a server?)

Edit: I added WBEL (White Box Enterprise Linux) to the RedHat list

Edited by Fred Derf
  • 1 month later...

I've become such a Debian convert......... Debian 3.1 Etch is fast, easy, and the repos rock! Like Fred said in the last thread.... Ubuntu repos are ok, but Debian has the smorgasbord of repos! :woot:

Barney

I actually lied on this poll. I voted Debian but I do have Ubuntu Server currently installed. I don't prefer it however, and I will probably switch back to Debian soon. So I should end up running Debian for most of the year just like I ran it (well, Knoppix) last year.

We use SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 & 10 on our servers at work, along with Novell OES, and I love it. Very easy to use and configure. Very stable too :yes:

The only problem we've had was when we went to install SLES9 on one of our servers, we got the message we were installing a 32-Bit OS on 64-Bit hardware, which isn't true. The Xeon processors we have in this particular server are strictly 32-Bit. When we went to upgrade the server to SLES10 we didn't get the message again, so I assume it was just a bug.

Ubuntu repos are ok, but Debian has the smorgasbord of repos! :woot:

I've added Universe and Multiverse and it's still really frustrating.

Minefield isn't offered. Wesnoth is still at 1.1.8 even though 2.0 was released on December 23rd. I just checked Debian unstable and they have it.

Sure, Wesnoth isn't important but it seems to be typical of everything else. I have to ditch Ubuntu and go back to Debian.

In Debian I could find something to upgrade just about every other day. In Ubuntu, a week can go by with nothing.

BTW, Wesnoth for Linux is faster on a AMD Duron 1200 with 512MB RAM than Wesnoth for Windows (Vista) on my Athlon 64 3000+ with 1GB RAM. It's probably not a fair test of anything but I thought I'd mention that.

Debian, KDE and Server for me. I tend to use Linux while developing and Debian provides all the software I need, KDE the necessary functionality and applications (GNOME just doesn't do what I want), and I mainly use Linux at work as a server/workstation, never as an everyday desktop.

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