I'm new to this forum and I'm interested in duel booting windows 10/7 and a form of Linux on my laptop. What form of Linux is everyone's favorite and why?
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Gentoo, because of the customization and optimization that it provides. Plus it makes me look cool to others. And you to should you choose it.
the stuff that Gentoo can do can technically be done on any Linux OS. But don't tell anyone. It will take the appeal away.
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Try a bunch, there is really no superior one.
I mean for a laptop specifically. Primarily I'm just interested in seeing everyones personal preference.
Asking what is the best distribution is like asking what's the best phone available on the market. There are thousands of phones on the market. Just like there are thousands of distributions.
The best distributions are the ones that the most simplest for you to use and have the most functionality.
Though in all honesty what separates distros is package managers, desktop environment and kernel features.
Go distro hopping and see which one you like best.
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It really depends on the hardware etc.
But if you are new to linux then i would say stick with one of the more userfriendly distributions that have a large support base.
Desktop envoirements is something really personal.
But something like Linux Mint or one of the Ubuntu familly distro´s are allways a good place to start with linux imo.
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It looks like some on here are no fun or don't wanna play ball.
Watt OS is supposedly great for laptops as it supposedly uses the least amount of resources or whatever. But I think that's just Watt did you notice the pun?they want you to believe, as Gentoo can do that. But as an out of the box solution, then ya. If you consider Gentoo to be a non out of the box distro.
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I really like Fedora 25 atm.
"Just works" but is easily customizable once you learn more about Linux. IMO, it's a good combo of the two.
I mean, all versions of linux are essentially customizeable, as Goalkeeper mentioned regarding Gentoo.
It's just the packages that are available that makes life easier. Arch has tons of packages, but Fedora has quite a few since it handles RPM packages.
The Major DIstros or the most popular are
- Debian
- Ubuntu
- Fedora
- Arch Linux (Manjaro, or Antergo for new Linux users)
- Mint
- OpenSUSE
I have my preference for Arch Linux and other arch based distros. cause the package manager is the most easiest to use in my opinion.
Fedora is great cause it's has impeccable security and a great package manager.
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Fedora25 in my opinion is a great distro,
but just not for new users.
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I mean, it feels kinda like Mac OS to me. Why would you say that? To be fair, I've noticed the Software catalogue is pretty limited, but this site makes that easier: https://www.rpmfind.net
As easy to install as a .exe at that point though.
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Yeah i know that, pretty similar to deb files.
However Fedora out of the box just isnt that userfriendly.
it needs a bit fiddling to get it nice.
But of course that depends on what applications he needs.
Its a great distro dont get me wrong, but i think that Ubuntu based distro´s,
are still the best starters for users that want to get into linux.
There is just soo much help and info the find about Ubuntu and or distro´s that are build up on it
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If you're a newbie and you want something that's going to be easy to use, you could look at Elementary. If you've ever used a Mac you'll be right at home.
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Wenn people ask me the question what is your most favorite Linux Distro.
Then i really cannot give a straight answer to it.
The only answer i can trully give, based on all the distro´s i tried over the year 2016.
Is that the perfect distribution as far as i´m concerned simply does not exists.
They all have their pro´s and con´s, same with DE´s.
But in the end they are pretty much all the same thing.
Its just that certain groups of distributions have other ways of doing things.
And its really a matter of personal preference on which way you are the most comfortable with.
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Fedora ! Ive learned the most on this and love dnf !
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Beginner? Ubuntu (Or Ubuntu variant) or Fedora.
If you're looking for something on rolling release, but not Arch or Gentoo, I would recommend OpenSUSE tumbleweed.
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Having used Linux for getting on for over 20 years and as my main OS for about 15 I never understand why anyone would recommend Fedora to a new user. I remember the days with SuSE 5.x and Redhat 4.x+ when you had to research your video chipset and hand craft your own XFree86 config. The same for sound and other drivers. While Fedora will pretty much detect everything out of the box you still have go looking for anything proprietary after the install yourself. New users don't understand that for some people the GPL is a means to share code while to others it's a religion. If you're coming from Windows install either Linux Mint or Ubuntu. You'll pretty much be up and running out of the box with a few simple questions about accepting proprietary license. Once you're more familiar, by all means play with other distros but my best tip is do it using virtualisation rather than mess up your main pc.
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The least resource intensive, and most efficient option will always be gentoo, as you can optimize it and get it running as lean as you want, however gentoo is not for the faint of heart, and I would recommend getting more familiar with other distros before trying it, as it does require addtionial steps to setup that a new user of linux might not be well suited for.
For simple and easy to use distros there are 3 that I would recommend you look into, Fedora, Linux Mint, and Ubuntu. All 3 are decent options to start with, and allow you to dip your toes into linux without as much hassle/configuration as may be required with other distros.
A few things to be aware of, your DE (Desktop Environment, that is what controls how your GUI looks, and responds) is separated from the OS itself, meaning you can change your DE for features/efficiency, if you are wanting to use it on a laptop and it be lightweight, I cannot recommend xfce highly enough. It is very minimal, simple, and easy to use, and runs extremely well on laptops.
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I realise I might be repeating others who have replied here. But here's my two cents:
Beginner - Ubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Gnome. Try those three, they are all noob friendly. I'd recommend MATE over gnome to early beginners because it's very much built with the none technical user in mind, but both unity and Gnome are very usable without any technical knowledge.
Eager to learn - Antergos (you get all the ups and downs or an arch rolling installation THINGS MIGHT BREAK, but the installation is made easy and the antergos community forums are a really good resource for less experienced people to take some baby steps into the gritty stuff.
Also, I'd recommend giving Solus a try. I'm not sure which of the above categories that it fits in, but I recently discovered it and it's very cool. - It's home to the Budgie DE, which is nice.
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