PSA: Linux distributions other than Ubuntu and Mint exist.

[Shayd]

For us to get a decent foothold in the "normal" user market it is important that the user doesn't need to have a blackbelt in CLI-FU. This is the major reason I recommend UBUNTU(or mint) to most newbies.

Don't worry, those with a blackbelt will always have your linux playgrounds.

 

[MyWorld]

I do not for one moment propagate that everyone should be a CLi fundi, my wife sure isn't, but as an administrator I would think it paramount to know your way around the CLi?

I'm not against the GUI, I also prefer to use it when it can save me some time, just don't dump the CLi.

 

[newklear]

Thanks Kasyx and to the other guys for explaining that other Distro's do exist and that we should all be encouraged to see "what else" lies out there.

To be brutally honest, it is frustrating when you have yourself been through the steps of finding the best OS/Distro for you and see others stuck or only aware of the more common Linux Distro in South Africa.

I also started out on Ubuntu as a desktop user but fortunately had the tenacity to try as many other Distro's as I could. Ubuntu is a good, but I do not recommend it to new users.
Reason: You are going to use and learn Ubuntu and come to a cross-path of installing another Distro either due to bloat, inefficiency, limitation or inquisitiveness anyway, so for that I skip ahead and recommend a decent/stable Distro for a new user to get familiar and grow with. I am not bashing Ubuntu, just being honest in my opinion that a new user switching over to Linux deserves a better welcome in the interim and near future. I sit in the Ubuntu Support channel on Freenode and see this kind of frustration daily.

Many of us can argue over which version or Distro is better, what it boils down is to how you want to use it and progress with it. I run on a distro that serves both as a desktop and server utilising many features and services such as: httpd/ftp, dns, sshd, unrealircd, transparent/cache proxy, mysql, etc. the list actually does go on a bit. I have over 2200 desktop applications currently installed only utilising 28GB's of disk space, yet only using 800MB of my memory. If I want to try out other Distro's not a problem, just a matter of installing it via VirtualBox and taking it for a drive.

What matters most to me as a user is performance and function while being efficient as possible. For the reasons of performance, learning and ease-of-use, My list for new users to the Linux scene would be, how does it compare to yours ?:
PCLinuxOS
Fedora
Arch Linux

I personally run the last two under VirtualBox in PCLOS and suites me 100%, on the other hand there are still so many other Distro's I have not tried yet but do keep an active look at DistroWatch and always encourage others to keep do so too.

 

[hawker]

I find that for doing simple admin tasks on my desktop pc, CLI rips the GUI to shreds in terms of speed and efficiency. I've even started using a CLI IRC client. It's just better. At the moment I only use Ubuntu but at the end of the year I think ill try move over to arch.

 

[zamicro]

I fully agree with Linus, the CLi is the only thing that makes Linux feels disjointed as an OS.
...
Who doesn't use Webmin to administrate headless servers? And why do we all use Webmin? Cos the GUI is just SO much faster than the command line. Click click...and it's done .

And I challenge you to do anything on a server faster than I can do it in Webmin....and as an extra, ask anyone who uses Mac OS or Windows 7 if they would rather go back to a MS-DOS style OS and dump the GUI.

I think not.

Let me start by saying I am a big fan of webmin. To do a simple job is quick and easy. But. There is always a but The CLI must always be available.

You want a challange? Doing a simple task is quick in webmin. But doing 100 tasks? And doing the same on 100 servers? Who will be done first? You with webmin or me with my script and CLI?

 

[kingrob]

You want a challange? Doing a simple task is quick in webmin. But doing 100 tasks? And doing the same on 100 servers? Who will be done first? You with webmin or me with my script and CLI?

Ah, a script kiddie. lol

Just kidding! If it's lots of changes, a well designed script will always win....but for the rest, there's Webmin.

 

[MyWorld]

IT guy salary - Not enough!
A server room humming in glorious harmony - Worth the effort!
A well written script - Priceless!

For everything else there is Mastercard.

 

[Logicklz]

IT guy salary - Not enough!
A server room humming in glorious harmony - Worth the effort!
A well written script - Priceless!

For everything else there is Mastercard.

LoL!!!

 

[milomak]

I think the "landscape" has changed a fair bit, from how things were and used to work in the year 2000.

The only way that Linux will survive, is if young people keep buying into it. And they all have smartphones nowadays. And if they plug it into their pc/notebook, they expect it to sync/copy music/contacts, etc straight away. So, if it doesn't do that, it's off to Windows 7 or Mac OS.

If Linux must stay "a hard and difficult OS" to use, it's already dead, will stay a "geeky OS" & will only reside in a Virtual Box for years to come.

But, there is hope. Mark Shuttleworth realised this & gave us Ubuntu - and people started using it, keeping Linux alive and kicking.

I actually predict distros like Gentoo to become extinct in the near future.

the above is not true. linux has survived without being popular and it will continue to survive without being popular. and it is a mistake that is often made. perhaps except for ubuntu, the general goal of linux is not to be on every desktop computer. it provides a value proposition - one that requires users to take the effort (whether it be troubleshooting their own problems, helping others or actually coding).

 

[porchrat]

Other distros?!?

Who is propagating these lies?!?!?

 

[milomak]

Other distros?!?

Who is propagating these lies?!?!?

hahahahaha.