Which is your preferred distro?

I have used ubuntu (which I loved until the Unity Design came out which was terrible IMO). I now use backtrack to learn pentesting but was wondering what you guys are all using?

Ubuntu mint and openSUSE (Novell) are also really nice distros.

What do you guys use? Is it a job specific distro that you use?

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paul78

I recently switched from LFS to Gentoo for my primary desktop. And I have to say that it definately adds more productivity but still gives me the fine-grained control that I enjoyed with LFS. Gentoo seems like a nice middle ground so I'm hoping that it works out.

N2IT

I've been on Ubuntu for a while now. I am thinking about trying Mint out.

Baconator

Fedora !!!!!

lister

Anonymous the hacking group have just launched a distro!

I tried it in virtual machine and it didn't load so i think it was assembled badly??

lsud00d

SUSE (enterprise versions at work), then BackTrack, then CentOS...not a Ubuntu fan

varelg

Despite my RH cert ambitions, I like and use Ubuntu for all my Linux needs. As of late, Solaris as well, although not Linux, just love to play with Zones...

Zorodzai

I'm currently running a VM with a minimal install of Debian Squeeze. Was using Ubuntu before but have decided to try out Debian without GUI so I recover my command line skills. I did some training on RedHat (way back when RedHat 9 was still current) and used CentOS back when it was still relatively new.

kaldrouby

In my opinion i think for server CentOs 6.3 is great i call it the free RedHat.. for desktop i used to use ubuntu until the stupid unity came along... now i use centos desktop lol

Ch@rl!3m0ng

gonna have to say centos for server and fedora for workstation

al3kt.R***

1. CentOS
2. Gentoo
3. Ubuntu

in that exact order of preference!!!

Cheers

Zoloo

I use Fedora 17, it is so cute

petedude

My favorite distro is Mint, but it's too much of a hog to put on anything but fairly recent hardware.

I've been enamored of late with Bodhi Linux, we'll see how that holds up.

WafflesAndRootbeer

I'm using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64-bit with Gnome 2.x interface. Works better than the default Unity desktop and many programs I tried to run wouldn't work at all under Unity.

paul78

@Zoloo- lol- i don't think I have ever heard of any Linux distro described as "cute".

I personally just gave up on Gentoo and went back to rolling my own and using VMplayer to host other distros so I can use whatever I happen to fancy at the moment.

Patel128

For my Linux+ lab I have a Ubuntu 12.04 with VirtualBox. I have CentOS, Fedora, Debian, and Mint in the VirtualBox.

petedude

Patel128 wrote: »

I have CentOS, Fedora, Debian, and Mint in the VirtualBox.

At home, I have a CentOS VM I'm using to build an office "workgroup" server from the ground up. This VM is running within VMWare Player 4 under OpenSUSE 11.4 on my aging HP Core 2 Duo laptop.

I took OpenSUSE on last summer during a rush reinstall to accomodate a replacement SSD in that HP laptop. If it hadn't been for OpenSUSE supporting my wireless card from the get-go, I would have installed something else. All of my other distros would have required various gyrations to get the laptop wireless running again, and I just didn't have time to mess with it.

And Bodhi. . . it's something I've been messing with in a VM. Seems faster than lubuntu or xubuntu. We'll see.

Patel128

Which distro did you normally use when you studied for Linux+?

Reseven

Mint.

That's what I used when I took a Linux class in college. The instructor allowed us to choose from a small list of distros we could use for the class. Mint wasn't on the list but he let me use it anyway. Just one other guy in the class chose it so we were on our own. About mid way through the class, he dropped out so I was the only one in the class using it. Wasn't really a problem for me to figure out, I'm not a linux guy so I think that says something about mint -- easy to use.

Dave B

I had problems with kernel panics and the OS running slowly on my older Sony VAIO. I have erased the HD and replaced Fedora 17 with one of my favorite operating systems, Fedora 8.

ratchoke

Patel128 wrote: »

Which distro did you normally use when you studied for Linux+?

I'd like to know the answer to this too. Was going to familiarize myself with linux again because I plan on taking the Linux+ test w/in a couple months.

Also does anyone know of a good book to purchase to study for it?

Nbiser

After trying both Fedora 16 & 17 I have decided to go back to Fedora 8; Fedora 16 was OK, but was not a favorite while 17 was slow and gave me kernel panics. I am also using Knoppix.

petedude

It was '06 when I took Linux+; I'm pretty sure I used RedHat or some variant like Fedora. I consider Redhat/variants to be the best choice if you're studying for "generic" Linux exams (e.g. LPI, Linux+).

ratchoke

petedude wrote: »

It was '06 when I took Linux+; I'm pretty sure I used RedHat or some variant like Fedora. I consider Redhat/variants to be the best choice if you're studying for "generic" Linux exams (e.g. LPI, Linux+).

So probably Fedora is one of the best ones to become familiar with?

joe0121

I started in Red Hat, Then Went to ubuntu. After the Unity Desktop came out I went to Mint. I upgraded to a video card that Mint didnt like so I installed Ubuntu 12.10 with the new KDE desktop and LOVE it.

joe0121

ratchoke wrote: »

So probably Fedora is one of the best ones to become familiar with?

CentOS would be what I would use. It is the free version of Red Hat and red hat is far in away the most common enterprise distro.

paul78

paul78 wrote: »

I recently switched from LFS to Gentoo...

For those that like to experiment with Linux - I just found the perfect bootstrap distro (can't believe I didn't stumble on it before...) It certain solves my desire for a custom OS without the hassle of building X from scratch using my previous boot method. Check out Tiny Core Linux - Tiny Core Linux, Micro Core Linux, 12MB Linux GUI Desktop, Live, Frugal, Extendable - it's still a bit heavier than using tomsrtbt but a tad more convenient to bootstrap a desktop or server image. Great for control freaks.

teancum144

Workstation/PC/laptop: Fedora
Server: RHEL or CentOS

paul78

paul78 wrote: »

Check out Tiny Core Linux - it's still a bit heavier than using tomsrtbt but a tad more convenient to bootstrap a desktop or server image.

Ok - thought I would dredge up this thread. Tiny Core turned out to be too pesky and when I finally decided to it convert to x86_64, it was not worth the trouble and hassle. So I've decided to re-bootstrap again

I probably should just do from scratch but building XOrg is a hassle. I just found a new perfect bootstrap - CRUX Linux - CRUX | Main / HomePage and ttylinux - ttylinux homepage.

brownwrap

paul78 wrote: »

Ok - thought I would dredge up this thread. Tiny Core turned out to be too pesky and when I finally decided to it convert to x86_64, it was not worth the trouble and hassle. So I've decided to re-bootstrap again I probably should just do from scratch but building XOrg is a hassle. I just found a new perfect bootstrap - CRUX Linux - CRUX | Main / HomePage and ttylinux - ttylinux homepage.

The point of tasks like building X is learning. Your are downloading packages, meeting requirements, compiling, setting PATHs, etc. All items one needs to learn how to do to become an effective system administrator. It is a lot of work, but I'm looking at the end result.

paul78

True if your goal is to learn to build Xorg -

I use Linux for other purposes. I tinker with embedded Linux appliances - no Xorg required. I just need a working version on my build host. And I don't like package managers because I have my own distro. I just need a bootstrap system.