Who has the best FREE Linux?
 

Now that Red Hat is charging a LOT for their OS, who is the best Linux to go with and why?

Choices include but are not limited to:

Suse
Fedora
Mandrake
Debian
Yggdrasil
Slackware
Caldera
Alt Linux

Debian

FreeBSD <g>

You are going to get about 1,000 different answers to that question. It is based on personal preference.

Slackware!! :Graucho

It's more than year since I stopped using linux, but my friends professional admins are using debian on the servers.
I have installed mandrake, but I didn't boot it after my four day unsuccessful trying to make WINE+IE6 running :feels-hot

Debian or slackware

Don't use linux, use FreeBSD.

If you're learning and this is your first Linux install, Fedora is awesome...

Otherwise, Debian or screw Linux entirely and go with FreeBSD (although FreeBSD can be a pain in the ass for an average user).

So far nobody has posted a WHY.

I'm getting the feeling that everyone loves Debian, but nobody has addressed the fact that Debian hasn't been updated in 362 days. It's missing things, like drivers for newer hardware.

Seeing as how Redhat has a tradition of repeatedly coming out with updates quickly, wouldn't Fedora be a better choice? Or what's better about Debian than Fedora?

Why do you FreeBSD people think that FreeBSD is linux?

Fedora

Gentoo linux is all I run for servers and workstations.

Uses a system called portage based off of the freeBSD model (but it's not BSD).

You want to install qmail? you type:

emerge qmail

and it downloads, compiles, and installs it customized to your computer, including all dependencies.

It's installation is not for a total linux newbie though, you have to do some stuff yourself (not dummy-proof).

http://www.gentoo.org

Debian for desktop

FreeBSD for server...


that was easy

gentoo is the bomb

Strangely enough I had never heard of Gentoo. It does look kick ass. How does it hold up as a server?

Well, if you don't go with FreeBSD which is Unix, I'd go with ...


Debian
Gentoo


Howerver, I wouldn't go with Linux. I'd pay for Solaris before using Linux.

You can't blame them, it's not like you posted what your needs are.

Desktop? Server? Doing what?

Server, raid, sybase.

server, raid, php, mysql, apache

if you want linux, go with Debian - thousands of binary packages, easy to maintain and install new packages (dselect & apt-get...), good online community support

i'd use freebsd though.

Gotta love GFY. Ask a technical question about linux and half the people tell you to move to BSD. And I get a total of like 10 people posting.

I post a pic of a hot chick and there are like 4 million "I'd hit it"'s.

Learned a lesson. Post pics of hot chicks with servers holding up 2 cd's and ask "right or left?"