Choosing the Best Distribution
Doghouse – Distributions
Which distribution is the best choice for you? It's not an easy question, but maddog offers suggestions for finding the answer.
Almost exactly eight years ago, I wrote an article [1] about why I never answer the question "What distribution do you use?" The reasons are many, but the reason I gave at the time (which is still valid) is that I am a consultant and a writer, and I typically use the distribution that my customers use, not necessarily one of the options that is best tailored for me. Secondly, I recognized that in most cases, the question really being asked was "What distribution should I be using?" Usually I could not answer that either, because I did not know enough about the questioner to give a good answer.
Yesterday in a virtual FLISoL conference, I was asked (again) exactly that same question and gave exactly the same answer. If nothing else, I am consistent.
However I gave very little information in that article about how the questioner should choose their distribution. Also, many things have changed over the past eight years. So in this article I will give some tips for how to choose that first (or 10th or 20th) distribution that you might want to use.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.