too many choices (distros)

[Joseph Sinclair]

I use Ubuntu for 4 reasons:
1) AMD64 is one of the supported architectures, most distros still don't support AMD64, or do so very poorly.
2) Ubuntu's AMD64 release is a fully 64-bit system, not a 32-bit system run in a compatibility layer under a 64-bit kernel as some others do.  This does mean that 32-bit apps don't run properly, and most don't compile either, but it also means that the system really uses the CPU, and most black-hat software dies on impact ;) .
3) Ubuntu is a *branch* off of Debian, so it has all of the advantages of Debian (apt-get/synaptic, lots of packages, huge community, etc...) without the long release cycles, and updates to Ubuntu are available to(and frequently incorporated by) the Debian maintainers.
4) Ubuntu does a great job of creating a desktop distro that "Just Works", with good package selection, good support, and a good level of QA.

If I was setting up a server, I'd definitely run either Debian (if the server was going to run all free software) for it's stability and manageability or Suse (if the server was in a corporate environment, or had to run non-free software) for it's paid commercial support, RPM-ness, and the "they get it"-ness I've seen from Novell lately.

==Joseph++

P.S. Did I mention Ubuntu works well on AMD64?


Josh Coffman wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
>   This is not a complaint. I enjoy the choices; it's
> kinda like being single again... just kidding.
> 
>   I've been using Fedora for a while now. It just
> leaves me a little unsatisfied in some areas
> sometimes. 
> 
>   So I have to admit I find myself being tempted by
> other distros though. OpenSuse should be released
> before too much longer; Mandriva 2006 is close to
> release. SimplyMepis 3.3.2 is also close to release. I
> keep wondering what I'm not seeing that makes Ubuntu
> so popular. ..and there's the temptation to get really
> hot-n-heavy with Slackware or Gentoo. Some of these
> I've fooled around with in the past. Does this make me
> a distro gigilo?
> 
>   How about a little banter about distros? What are
> you using and why? Anyone consider things like boot
> time, trimness of the distro, included soft packages &
> version, window manager?
> 
> 
> 
> 		
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