[kwlug-disc] What's the best desktop distribution?

[shane.msg at gmail.com]

The original parameters were; new to Linux and to be used in an office situation.  To me that means install easily and quickly, quick access to help, many useful  applications installed with distro and easy to use for first timers.  

According to the opinion of commentators and the results of surveys the answer is Ubuntu.  Nothing says it has to be the last distro but, given what we were given and thinking of the end user and not our personal biases, the recommendation must be Ubuntu or Kubuntu.  I don't really know which is the best distro and I don't care.  This will be the most help now to the person who made the request.  That is, by far, the most important consideration.

Sorry about getting carried away but I'm in the business of recommending strategies to people and often my personal biases must be disregarded.  The needs of the client, in this case the questioner, must prevail. Ubuntu.


================
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

-----Original Message-----
From: Raul Suarez <rarsa at yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 20:34:13 
To: KWLUG discussion<kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
Subject: Re: [kwlug-disc] What's the best desktop distribution?

Actually, Sometimes "what is the best distro?" gets confused with "which distro do I prefer". I'd say I'm guilty of that sometimes.

But to new users who just need it to work with the least amount of tinkering, I recommend Ubuntu even though I don't consider it the "best".

If support and integration with Windows environments is important, then SuSE.

It is really unfortunate that RedHat decided not to produce a desktop environment to match the server but it is an understandable decision.

Raul Suarez

Technology consultant
Software, Hardware and Practices
_________________
http://rarsa.blogspot.com/ 
An eclectic collection of random thoughts


--- On Mon, 2/1/10, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:

> From: Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com>
> Subject: Re: [kwlug-disc] What's the best desktop distribution?
> To: "KWLUG discussion" <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
> Received: Monday, February 1, 2010, 10:24 PM
> While "which distro is the best"
> feels initially like a flame bait thing, it doesn't have
> to be that. Even a discussion on religion can be
> informative, intellectual and entertaining if conducted with
> certain rules (e.g. with civility, comparative religion type
> of thing).
> 
> 
> The key here is to qualify "best" with "what
> the user needs/what the use-case is" and "why
> distro X is better" for such needs/use case.
> 
> 
> Ubuntu/Kubuntu was targeted to provide an easy to use and
> easy to keep up to date desktop from the get go. Their
> community bans the otherwise customary "don't waste
> my time, RTFM". They provide stable long term support
> versions for those who want to use their desktop as a means
> for doing other worth, and not Linux as an end goal itself.
> 
> 
> The RPM vs. DEB format is partially what you are familiar
> with, but I am one who made the crossover, and found that
> DEB is worth the learning curve (from a command line point
> of view, if you use the GUI, no learning curve at all).
> 
> 
> Fedora is bleeding edge, moves fast, and hence may be
> unsuitable for someone who wants to get on with their day
> doing work, rather than tinkering and exploring ...
> 
> 
> Only then would it cease to be a flame fest ...
> 
> Oh, and vim is better than Emacs ... Perl looks like line
> noise too ...
> -- 
> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
> 2bits.com, Inc.
> 
> http://2bits.com
> 
> Drupal optimization, development, customization and
> consulting.
> Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger
> W.Dijkstra
> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo
> da Vinci
> 
> 
> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
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