I'm thinking of trying suse 9.1. It's the 5 disc retail release, not the 700 mb personal build. (a friend is willing to loan it to me for awhile). Is this a good distro for the average user? I have some linux experience, but not a whole lot. (I'm downloading the live eval right now. )


Anyways, post your favourite linux distro.
My current favourite is mandrake, which I used for about 6 months. The only other one I used was redhat, which I didn't like too much.

My favourite was Gentoo, because it retaught me everything I thought I knew about linux.

I liked Debian Woody when I installed it because it worked fine on my laptop. I had nothing but problems getting Sarge to work on my desktop though. But I can't really blame Debian, seeing as it was mostly an issue with X.org. I'll try it on my laptop and see what happens.

Fedora Core 2 was a pretty easy install and is simple to maintain. It's too much of an "introductory" linux for my tastes though. I'll try Gentoo sometime after I get back to school.

I hate Suse with a passion. It's the most Windows-like distro out there. If you have a problem that cannot be solved through YAST you're on your own. And if you only have an old version of Suse try to find updates to your software. That's impossible.
With Gentoo (my favourite) or Debian (my second favourite) you can update the whole Distro with a single command. Suse might be easier from the start but YAST is too slow, if you just want to administer your system quickly.

Suse is good for the beginner, but its far too limited for the advanced user.

I don't trust an OS that has man mount as a legal command.

$ man woman
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Mandrake put a lot of crap in I don't want. I've used Redhat distros that school uses. They suck. The Linux lab runs REALLY slowly. I maaaaaybe consider SuSE 9.1 now that you bring it up. I've never used it. I like Slackware but they're a little...slow on the updating. What are we at now kernel 2.6? They're still on 2.4.XX

ok, time to upgrade from crappy old mandrake on my other computer to SuSE on this one.
What I need to know is how to make a dual OS.
Other then that, im all good to go.

one of the good things about linux is that there is one for everyone.
i use fc2 (not exclusivley yet (i keep saying i'm going to (it'll happen when i get it all set up little by little))).
i like fc2 because it's an easy install. i like the rpm's. i like yum and apt-get.
i also kinda like the fact you have to do some work yourself to get some apps working. sometimes it can be frustrating but when it starts working it's well worth it.

some people need the total hands on, this is my OS linux. some people need the windows of the linux world OS.
there's one for everyone.

Suse is the most windowsish distro I know. It's also the easiest to install and maintain. But if you really want to learn the internals of linux, I'd recommend a distro that follows the "standards" a bit more. Suse splits some of the config files up and has includes here and there, messing up the folder structure...
But it's a nice desktop system for an average user who is sick of viruses and spyware.

Gentoo > *

Fastest distro... (After compile, that is)
Awesome package system, rivals apt (I perfer it actually, apt-get has a retarded mirroring system, and not one mirror ever has everything I want in a default system. I've yet to see a thing Portage is missing.)
Teaches you a helluva lot about Linux when you install it
Huge support base
Cool name
Stays very up-to-date, often with the latest kernels available within days if not less. (I think we are on 2.6.9 now, if I remember correctly)
LiveCD is really nice for installing, although it can also be installed from Knoppix if you prefer a fully operating computer while installing.
Fully customizable, much more so than ANY other distro.

Gentoo

Gentoo and Debian. Either one. They both kick ***.