Ubuntu now in second place on distrowatch

[darkscot]

This might be old news but I have just noticed that PCLinuxOS is now at No.1 position in the distrowatch charts. Personally I don't like PCLinuxOS very much but there is no denying it is a very good distro, especially for beginners.
I thought Ubuntu would loose its position as top dog eventually but I am still slightly surprised but gratified to see it happen. I am gratified because I think that Ubuntu was just getting TOO dominant and in many people eyes Ubuntu WAS Linux.

[wolfden]

Never cared for PCLinuxOS - performance was poor for me

I guess I see being at the top not really that important, it doesn't mean it is the best distro for every body. You still need to find the one that works best for you.

[Stupot]

I agree that being on top isn't all that important, as long as you have a solid user base.

It is annoying when you tell someone you use Linux and they instantly ask "Ubuntu?".

[xt600]

This might be old news but I have just noticed that PCLinuxOS is now at No.1 position in the distrowatch charts. Personally I don't like PCLinuxOS very much but there is no denying it is a very good distro, especially for beginners.
I thought Ubuntu would loose its position as top dog eventually but I am still slightly surprised but gratified to see it happen. I am gratified because I think that Ubuntu was just getting TOO dominant and in many people eyes Ubuntu WAS Linux.

PCLinuxOS is the ultimate beginner's Distro in my opinion. Mepis is also very good for beginners. However for someone who wants to tinker and have a solid working system Sabayon is number one!

[Richlion]

Hi All,

I just recently switched to Sabayon and I find this version a really good version. And it looks brilliant too.
I downloaded Ubuntu DVD and PCLinux Live CD to see how it works ... and some things just don't work. Especially they don't have Skype, and that is one reason why I chose Sabayon. This is also because I need to install this system one someones computer who knows nothing about computers and uses Skype.

Also the way those popular distros look like, to be honest - I am fed up with distros that look like they belong to the stona age with all the rubish menus and fonts.

I can understand Ubuntu not installing Skype - lack of sources, etc. But after all this is the best option for me to make cheep international calls. I read about another Linux tool that would provide this kind of funcionality, but when I ran through the documentation how much it takes to install and get the tool activated - I said no way. Not at this point.

In the end, Mandriva was good for me for many years now, but Sabayon has overwhelmed right from the beginning and I am not going back despite having some hard times with updating software on Gentoo/Sabayon.

Regards,
Richard.

[rhomp2002]

I thought I would give PCLinuxOS a try to see what it was like. However it is using 2.6.18 version of Linux and doesn't work with my hardware. I asked on their forum when it was going to be updated or if there were any updates in view. Got a bunch of snarky answers. Don't think I will even bother anymore with that one.

Down to BlueWhite64 (offshoot of Slackware), Sabayon or Ubuntu at this point in time. All working well for me with this bunch except for a slight problem with equo on the DVD version of Sabayon but I think that is solvable.

[Fitzcarraldo]

I wiped Windows XP off a 4-year old PC (AMD Sempron 3000+, 512 Mb RAM, 130 Gb HDD) a couple of weeks ago and installed PCLinuxOS. All the hardware was recognised, and the PC now flies (in contrast to the sluggish performance with Windows XP).

I have to say I'm very impressed with PCLinuxOS: it's better than Ubuntu in my opinion, and ideal for Windows users who are using Linux for the first time, or for experienced Linux users who want a no-fuss distro. I did have to do a little tinkering on the command line to install a printer driver not in the CUPS database but, by and large, PCLinuxOS is 'plug and play' and I reckon less likely to frighten Windows fans than the GNOME-based Ubuntu. PCLinuxOS is a professional-looking distro with a lot of attention to detail. It may be unexciting for people who want to get 'under the hood', but it is a solid OS for use on a family desktop. Installing RPM packages from the command line is simple, and installing DEB packages using the Synaptic package manager GUI is even easier still and takes care of all the dependencies. The best Linux distro I've seen to date for your average user who has no interest in how an OS works and wants to get on with word processing, spreadsheeting, Web browsing, watching videos, listening to music and so on.

Just a couple of minor tweaks are needed after installation: libdvdcss has to be installed (easy using Synaptic) because of the developers' policy of not installing it for you, and -- as Kaffeine would still not play encoded videos after I had installed libdvdcss -- I installed VLC (also via Synaptic) and changed the default video player from Kaffeine to VLC.

[Richlion]

Hi,

I recently read a review that comapred an MAC OS with Linux, specifically Ubuntu. There were many things people are not happy about a MAC OS. Some other links indicate that even a MAC OS can loose for a Linux distro:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/ ... buntu.html
http://www.linux-mag.com/id/4641/

I guess what matters is not that it's Ubuntu, but mainly a Linux over a Windows or MAC OS. I just came back from a holiday where I watched one of my Spanish friends struggling with a problem on a Windows Vista workstation. He complained a lot about his Windows installation and all the problems this system is giving him. What I think is that we all have to use an operating system. Yet many companies like MS and Apple produce things that do not fully satisfy the demands. Of course, lots of things are working, the graphical side is sometimes ovewhelming, floating windows, applications that can think for you, etc. Lot's of gadgets, lots of easy new ways to use a computer, but at what price? Still - when someone has a file locked by the system on Windows, a simple user who doesn't know how to deal with such a stupid problem may not find the solution by himself, so the question is - are those systems that are meant to be easy to use really are so easy?

So far Linuxes are also still full of glitches. Let's be honest - programmers have to struggle with millions of new devices and ideas to get the new technology working. This in turn gives us in many cases unstable systems or systems that lack the support for some new devices, etc. Nevertheless, Sabayon to me proves many things are possible and this disto is pretty stable and that's what counts. And also what is important, a lot of things work without upgrading or installing, so straight out of the box. The system works without recompiling it. So it's also easy to install and use right away, a good option for someone who wants to discover the system. And the hugest benefit is in the Live DVD's, where you can start using the whole system without installing it.

Good luck to the Sabayon team.

Regards,
Richard.

[Death Dream]

I don't care for Ubuntu to much really, I was able to crash the system within only a few minutes and send my computer HD in a downwards spiral to death.

I will just stick with Sabayon, been doing my good so far.

~Death Dream~

[Ookami]

A friend of mine recommended Ubuntu to me, which was effectively my first step into Linux.
I immediately stepped back and headed straight for SabayonLinux... and no matter how hard I try (Fedora, Debian, heck I even tried Ubuntu again) I can't seem to stop using Sabayon.

I've never heard of PCLinuxOS so I have no idea how it works, but I have no desire to find out... I'll stick with Sabayon, it's done everything I've wanted it to do thus far.