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The Best Linux Distros of 2016

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41–50 of 91 posts

Re: The Best Linux Distros of 2016

#42

I have finally found my sweet-spot between being a total neckbeard (Arch) and following trends (Ubuntu) by simply starting with a minimal Ubuntu/Fedora/Debian installer and then installing whatever desktop environment I choose (I like MATE because it's non-intrusive and fast enough for me). I usually use less than ~10% of the software that comes pre-loaded with most distros.

To each his own, I suppose. Personally, I roll Arch on eight computers at home and work, no neckbeard required. I install exactly what I want at first install (Awesome is my preferred tiling window manager), and updates are performed when I want, which is much better than automatically. Apart from systemd, which I haven't gotten around to excising yet, there is no cruft anywhere. Plus the added bonus of never having to upgrade to the latest distro version.

Re: The Best Linux Distros of 2016

#43
post #29

Most interesting Linux Distro in 2016: Ubuntu on Windows 10 (UbuNTu) This has already massively improved my productivity in writing cross-platform C++ code.

Yeah, just like Linux except when it's not. It's useful for folks forced to use Windows because of regulations, but definitely not preferred over a real Linux distribution.

> but definitely not preferred over a real Linux distribution

TBH, If I had to choose between "any real Linux distribution" with WINE and Windows with "a real UNIX terminal", I would prefer the latter.

Re: The Best Linux Distros of 2016

#44
I guess nobody has to speak of openSUSE yet. I would say, if you've never tried it you really should. I had the best experience with openSUSE I've had in many years. Now with openSUSE LEAP it will be even better. If I ever needed a package I could easily find it online via package search[0] which I used to get Steam and other software. I only ever really had issues with the DMD compiler. I must of used it for 6+ months on my old laptop. It is definitely a great successor to Slackware which was my first use of Linux (at least it used to be based off Slackware waaaay back when).

[0]: https://software.opensuse.org/find

Re: The Best Linux Distros of 2016

#46
post #5

Surprised not to see Fedora at the top of the list. Fedora 23 is remarkably stable, great UI, easy to maintain, and can be upgraded in-place to the next version using the new upgrade tool, no more reinstalls.

Fedora hasn't been completely painless, but it's what I've been running on my developer machine(s) for years now and it mostly just works. I run KDE though, not Gnome, so my experience may be a bit different than the typical Fedora user. Still, if anyone hasn't tried Fedora in a while (or ever) I definitely suggest giving it a go.

Re: The Best Linux Distros of 2016

#49
post #3

>Linux Mint Only if you don't value any sense of security

Could you elaborate on this? I know many people have security concerns about Mint, but I've never found their arguments entirely convincing. the opinion of the Mint devs seems to be that there's a stability vs. security tradeoff, and that Ubuntu chose one point on the spectrum, while Mint chose another. And that for a typical desktop machine sitting behind a router without a lot of ports open (or behind a corporate firewall), the tradeoff Mint chose is a reasonable one. I've seen several attempts to explain why Mint should not be trusted, but they seem (to me) to eventually reduce to arguments that more security is always better, no matter the cost in stability or convenience.

Re: The Best Linux Distros of 2016

#50
post #2

>Linux Mint Cinnamon is the best operating system for desktops and powerful laptops. I will go as far as calling it the Mac OS X of the Linux world. Honestly, I had not been a huge fan of Linux Mint for a long time because of unstable Cinnamon. But, as soon as the developers chose to use LTS as the base, the distro has become incredibly stable. Because the developers don’t have to spend much time worrying about keepi…

> ...over more modern ones. No, for many of us it is not about modern. I love modern. Ubuntus problem is they copied a bunch of Mac-isms for what seems to be no good reason. Now hear me out: I almost love Apple, I just cannot get myself to use their products (OK, did, three years, was happy to get a PC again) and there are a lot of things that should be learned from Mac. Out-of-the-box experience etc. Other Mac-isms…

> "I love modern. Ubuntus problem is they copied a bunch of Mac-isms for what seems to be no good reason."

There is a very good reason for the direction Ubuntu went with Unity. The clue is in the name.

The Unity interface is the way it is because it's designed to work on both large screen devices and small screen devices, and with mouse and keyboard and touchscreens. Take a look at the Ubuntu Touch interface, notice how similar it is to the UI on desktop Ubuntu (side menu, scopes, etc...)?

http://www.ubuntu.com/phone/features

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