linuxgeek: Re: [LINUX_Newbies] Which distro would you choose ?

On 5/15/2011 5:04 AM, Roy wrote:

I am currently running CentOS on my primary Desktop. I began running
Linux with Red Hat 6 or 7, and continued through RHEL 3, so I guess I
followed the track of learning one distro, and learning it well.

> FreeBSD

I ran FreeBSD as a server briefly, and switched to OpenBSD, which I have
now been running for web/email/whatever services since
v.3.something...long time. It's rock solid, 24/7/365, requiring a reboot
maybe once every year, when I pull the cover on the server and blow the
dust out of the case.

I would not recommend it to a newbie, though... very hackish.

> Slax

I ran Slackware back in the day... before GUI's became popular, and
grabbed Slax' Live-CD to do diagnostic and repair. Now there are a bunch
of great *nix Live CD/DVD distros, some for basic Desktop/Web surfing,
some with great sets of diagnostic/repair tools.

One specialised *nix Live CD that gets a lot of use, is 'Offline NT
Password and Registry Editor', which is designed specifically to permit
an experienced user to repair damaged Microsoft Windows installs, and
erase/replace lost and forgotten passwords.

In my daily computer usage, I use only a few basic apps. I used to write
a lot of C/C++, so gcc is a necessary evil, and I rely on a lot of
command line tools and pipes to get things done.

On the GUI interface, it's browsers and email, and Freecell. :)

After...sheesh... 20+ years in front of a console, on the job, the shine
sort of wears off.

--
http://www.robertwittig.com/
http://robertwittig.net/
http://robertwittig.org/
.