Ubuntu


My personal favorite was Ubuntu for desktop (#1 in this list) and Red Hat for servers (#5 in this list).

If you are new to any of the distros listed in the top 5, read the rest of the article to understand a little bit more about those distros and find out whether your favorite Linux distribution made it in the top 5.

Linux Distro Review

Fig: Favorite Linux Distribution Voting Results

1. Ubuntu

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop

Like most of you, Ubuntu is my #1 choice for desktop Linux. I use it both at home and work. Ubuntu is the #1 in the Linux desktop market and some use Ubuntu for the servers also. Ubuntu offers the following three editions.

  • Ubuntu Desktop Edition
  • Ubuntu Server Edition
  • Ubuntu Notebook Remix

Additional Details:

Refer to our Ubuntu Tips and Tricks article series.

2. Debian

Debian is also called Debian GNU/Linux, as most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU Project. A lot of other famous distributions are based on Debian, which includes our #1 distro Ubuntu and many others — such as Knoppix, Linspire, Damn Small Linux, etc.,

Additional Details:

Read more about Debian Distribution at wikipedia.

3. Fedora

Fedora 10 Server Edition

Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat. If you are interested in experimenting with the leading technologies, you should use fedora, as the release cycle is very short and fedora tends to include the latest technology software/packages in its distribution.

Additional Details:

Read more about Fedora Distribution at wikipedia.

4. CentOS

CentOS 5 Linux Distro

If your organization does not want to spend money on purchasing Red Hat support, but still want all the benefits of the red-hat distribution, this is obviously the best choice, as this is totally based on the red-hat enterprise Linux.

As you can imagine the Nort American Enterprise Linux vendor mentioned in the quote below is Red Hat.

From the CentOS website: CentOS 2, 3, and 4 are built from publically available open source SRPMS provided by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor. CentOS is designed for people who need an enterprise class OS without the cost or support of the prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor.

Additional Details:

Read more about CentOS Distribution at wikipedia

5. Red Hat

Linux Red Hat 4 Enterprise Linux for Server

This is my favorite server distribution.  If an organization doesn’t mind spending dollars on purchasing the red-hat support, this is always my #1 recommendation to any organization who runs mission-critical applications.

On a side note, one of the reasons I like Red Hat Linux for mission-critical production applications is that Red Hat tends to take some of the new features from Fedora, which is well tested by the community.

Additional Details: