Top 10 or 20 in any category (food for example) has a false sense of security and it applies to Linux too.
For example Coca Cola is on top of the list and as a doctor I would say it is the worst drink (Pepsi included) a cricketer can drink (with World Cup Cricket which is on now) while playing.
See what the Indian advertisements are doing on our TV and how rational and sensible human beings are?
We are only sensitive to taste but not sensible and that is my assessment.
It is true when they bomb Libya too.
When we bomb in Sri-Lanka it is human rights violation but when NATO bombs Libya it is called UNO convention.
Bunki Moon should be ashamed now being a puppet on strings.
All these comments applies to Linux top 10 to 20 too.
1. If one has used only one or two Linux distributions on a regular basis and writes an article on top 10 it is not valid scientifically. It is like somebody who used Microsoft or Apple Mac all his life says they are the best.
2.If somebody who works for a Linux Enterprise Company either part time or full time makes statements about Linux does the same mistake.
3. They must say I have tested 10 (not 100) and these are my subjective assessments and should not make statements as if they were objective.
4. Unfortunately the word GURU has come into Linux and it has no meaning scientifically or metaphorically. They distorts the facts.
5. The reason why I tested 100 and more (dalmatians) was to get this unscientific tradition out of the way and out of the fray.
We are not going for a talent contest.
It is the use and the utilities that are incorporated in Linux distributions that matters.
That is why I try to highlight the utilities presently instead of trying to win a talent contest.
6. Other point is that Linux developers are poor CEOs and they do not know how to market useful and good products but get involved in flame wars like politicians.
Flame wars are killing Linux and Microsoft also add to this to the confusion.
We must start with the saying "Microsoft sucks your energy and money but Linux stands tall and delivers the goods", no matter what distribution you may use.
That is the starting point and Linux really work for me and saves time in the long run.
That is why I use it daily.
One has to learn the basics and get the tradition of computing out of power politics and money.
Below is a comment I made about 7 distributions listed.
Thanks for updating the article but no thanks for the recommendations.
I can agree with Knoppix and Backtrack only.
SuSe is beautiful and still clumsy and slow. I have stopped using it from this month.
Ubuntu is popular with lot of useful utilities but stability is a problem with frequent release cycles.
Redhat is rock solid but its service is poor like SuSe.
Ubuntu Studio I have not seen because of its very slow download speed and is painfully slow even with torrents.
Knoppix can be installed now without a hassle and it has extremely beautiful graphic features.
It really rocks!
I have downloaded Vesta 1 today and it is sleek and has plasma effect but cannot be installed.
It took 3 days to download it.
This is Java based and Oracle is promoting it and due to its ownership claims I am not prepared to recommend it.
It looks like everything is Java and it could not configure internet (router) automatically which any good Linux distribution does automatically.
Only kernel is Linux and the rest is Java and it will have stability problem since who is somebody anybody can write Java to upset its inner work and that is going to be the biggest problem a user may encounter.
Like Microsoft Visual Basics it has all Java platform development kits and eclipse.
If you are a Java man or woman, Vesta 1 is for you but remember it does not have a script for installing.
None of them support Sinhala installation except Debian.
The latest version of Debian 6 is pretty good and I have all the assortment of Live and Installable CD and DVDs.
It is taking a leaf out of PCLinux and spending time on light weight distributions. It has packed in one CD, LXDE, XFce and Rescue and that is what I recommend for users in the third world with little money and has Sinhala capability too.
What beats everything for me is Mepis which also has assortment of distributions (namely AntiX) that support 486, 686 to 32 and 64 bits. One need not throw away an old computer because win 2007 is there.
Its test version (11) is out for testing now. I have downloaded and tested it and has a big face lift this time. Download it and enjoy it.
I have dropped SuSe and have gone back to Debian (AntiX too) in my office because of its versatility.
It has over 60,000 packages (for every one from a kid to a scientist) and one rarely use all of them in one go.
Mind you it is the God Father of Linux and Ubuntu is the most successful derivative of Debian.
This article is useful for a newbie if he reads it with my comments at parafox and asokaplus (Linux 100) written in the same tone and flare of as Fortune 100 (or is it 500) companies.
Other option is to have several distributions installed in one computer and that is what I usually do.
Top 25 Linux Distributions
I have analyzed over 50 Linux distributions both qualitatively and quantitatively and following is a summary according to points scored of the top 10.
Rest are listed according to the points awarded without a comment.
Top Rank
1. Debian scoring 3005 points
Coming to IT industry where there are very few heroes Debian is the clear winner which gyrates and spins at the correct orbit.
It was no surprise.
Score of above 3000 and well above the Gold Standard of 2500 for the standard CD/DVD.
For the heavy weight category it is within the Gold Mark where no other distribution has all the components at disposal with over 30,000 package well tested and stable.
It has gParted which is around 100 MiB with partition tool and security features.
It has Blender, Scribus and Inkscape.
Only missing component was O.E.M. component.
Ranking Second with 2620 points is Untimate Linux
2. Ultimate Linux/ArtistX
This is taking whopping 2620 points, simply because it’s a games DVD based on Ubuntu and it has graphic features including Inkscape and Blender.
Apart from that it is basically a Ubuntu distribution.
Even though it gets lot of points due to inclusion of many packages it should be used as a games DVD rather than a general purpose distribution.
This warning is due to the changes in Ubuntu Unity and the attendant repository changes that may come as a result of that change.
Rank Number 3
3. UberStudent with 2610 points
This is one of the very good Ubuntu derivative packed with utilities and only utilities I could not find were gparted and blender.
It’s on the fat side with a 2.7 GiB image.
This is one of the Linux distributions I could not download due to download problem but with some difficulty I managed to download both the CD and the DVD versions.
There were not enough seeders but I used point to point download.
It’s Ubuntu based and excellent for students in the higher grades and in the University. It has many utilities that student would like to use in literature search albeit web based.
I have no hesitation in recommending it.
It has almost everything one needs.
Why blender was not included is a bit of a mystery.
4. Knoppix fourth with 2410 / (GnuArtist 2445)
Knoppix stands tall and scores 2410 which is well above Ubuntu and Unity on the threshold of becoming a Gold Standard on its own.
It is 4th in the my list of 50 and only three others above.
Debian comes first.
Ultimate Linux comes second.
UberStudent comes third. Packed with utilities except Blender and gParted..
Good old days when it was difficult to find a distribution and DEMO CDs were hard to come by Knoppix started the revolution of Live CDs.
I have used it from its 3.1 versions and up and it was available even in Sri-Lanka.
It’s significant features apart from Live CD running on RAM are
1. Good hardware detection
2. Sound configuration and unique start up with sound effects.
3. Ability to compress lot of programs into a CD/DVD.
4. Enormous number of packages
5. Partition tool and many more
6. ORCAs that is fun for visually handicapped user and is as good as Vinux.
It was way ahead until Puppy Linux came into the scene and took another twist by making Live CD under 100 MiB.
Soon I became a convert of Puppy that comes inherently for my love of the canine species.
Its weakness was it could not be installed into the hard disk and I found a way to mount it on a FAT partition. I always had a copy mounted on my hard disk when the LXDE came into the scene.
Then came the 10th anniversary release which was big hit by itself both CD and DVD versions.
Now it can be installed and administrative right can be restored after installing.
There is Knoppix for Kids and Games DVD which was something lacking in 95% of the Linux Distributions.
If you do not use any other Linux distributions this is the one one should always have.
I cannot find anything wrong with this distribution when I format my hard disk once a year towards December, it is the first one that goes into the hard disk as the flag bearer of Linux and other distributions are installed afterward.
5. Poseidon with 2390 points comes fifth
Poseidon Linux
Poseidon Linux not Scientific Linux (actually this name is misleading and does not have any scientific packages in this distribution) takes a big spot in my scale by a wide margin for packaging productive utilities for scientific (including statistics) and business purposes and for schools.
Its score is 2390 which is close to PCLinux but have more packages than PCLinux.
They are inkscape, blender, statistic and plotting packages but it is on the heavyweight category and downloading is slow mainly due to not having a torrent facility.
But it has CD version too and again it is a Debian/Ubuntu derivative.
In spite of its FATTY layer I like it very much and one has almost everything one needs in one shoe.
6. Pinguy/Pin Eee comes sixth with 2385
Pinguy and Ping Eee
For the time being Pinguy and Ping Eee are the best innovative Ubuntu derivative which is in the market and the score is 2385 which is very close to the Gold Standard and well above Unity.
Out of the Ubuntu derivatives this is the most eye catching feature filled derivative to entice Linux newbies as well as savvy guys / girls.
It has Cloud Utilities, Light Scribe and it almost look like apple Mac for one who has never seen a Apple Mac.
I have the feeling Ubuntu's Unity has taken a leaf out of Pinguy and Ping Eee for netbooks and laptops.
Its grub file could not figure out my other distributions and that was why it was not in my box up till now.
The new version has now ironed out this minor glitch and I have installed it with 5 other distributions in my laptop which I upgraded to 500 GiB recently.
Interestingly enough this is the one I boot first since I am getting attached to it day by day.
It now does a good job with GRUB and recognize all the other Linux derivatives.
It will certainly take the tablets not by surprise but by its own imagination.
7. Dynabolic comes seventh with 2290
Dynabolic 3.0.0 beta is currently available at www.linuxtracker.com.org torrent and this was one of the oldest Linux music distributions. It was created by Denis Rogo an Italian musician. It was in hibernation (version 2) but lately has created the version 3 for download.
I call him the Bob Marley of computer music.
It is feature packed but cannot be installed as yet.
It scores thumping 2290 points was not a surprise for me.
PCLinux comes 8th with 2255
My favorite distribution gets 2255 points which is well below the 2500 points which I have for my Hypothetical Gold Standard but a future candidate for that award. It has promised to introduce bit 64 from the current version onward.
Even though it has no special features it sticks to Linux base with administrative functions and very stable once properly configured.
It gets lot of points for it’s web site and the digital magazine which it maintains.
The package management is excellent and lets you install all the packages easily from repository. To be on record this is the only distribution which has a usable Skype (except perhaps Linvo). It also does not bother one with updates unlike Suse. It is a KDE desktop and has two Mini versions, one LXDE and the standard KDE. Once installed there is very little maintenance if firewall is correctly configured and easy with downloads and remove redundant files at boot time and if it is run on 24/7 schedule it does a good cron job too.
No wonder it is my favorite and may be so for others too (once 64 bit version is introduced it will become more popular).
Ubuntu’s departure from traditional base would be another reason.
It is bit slow at boot time and K-torrent is good (it may be bit slow because of my heavy daily work and downloads) and if one is using it for light work, one may not find the slow boot up a problem. Even one is a light user of the computer it is a good practice for the distribution to run 24 hours at least once a week for maintenance which it does automatically well past midnight.
My reason for choosing it
It is very stable and stands 8th in the ranks.
9. Puppy comes 9th with 1910
It is Small and Beautiful size ~100MB!
It is Live booting from CD and USB flash drive.
It runs from RAM, making it unusually fast even in old PCs and in netbooks with solid state storage media.
Includes a wide range of applications: word processors, spreadsheets, Internet browsers, games, image editors and many utilities.
Puppy is easy to use and little technical knowledge is assumed. Most hardware is automatically detected.
Who is the founder?
Barry Kauler from Australia.
10. Simply Mepis with AntiX ranks 10th
Simply Mepis is high in my honour's list with its stable KDE desktop, K3B, the CD/DVD burning utility with a cleaning utility called sweeper included to delete redundant files.
It also has AntiX for older computers. Taylor Swift which has taken roots from AntiX is still not yet mature enough to be recommended as a general purpose distribution but AntiX is light weight and robust. Mepis does a overall good job of covering new and old computers which is somewhat mandatory now with lot of changes happening in the IT market and some proprietary Operating Systems abandoning their customer base and luring them to go for newer versions without substantial benefits for the average user except the eye catching cosmetic changes and that also at the expense of overheads which include battery usage and additional expenses for the RAM etc.
Newer version has Libre Office and all the utilities one needs in a CD or DVD which is less than 1 GiB and save the time of download.
It scores 1880 in my scoring scale which is value for money.
Its ranks 10th in my ranking scale.
11. Ubuntu Dream Studio comes 11th with 1775
Ubuntu's Unity-Dream Studio
Is it a dream come true for newbies?
I think so and thumbs up for this distribution which I could download overnight with 2.1 GiB.
There were only four seeders but it was pretty fast. Go and download it and increase the number of seeders in proportion to leechers and enjoy the Unity experience.
It is a new experience for old hand of Linux like me who never used Ubuntu on regular basis except for demonstrations.
Regular Ubuntu users will grumble but I will tell you what to do. Go ahead and have both old version and new version in the same box and enjoy the difference.
Sinhala capability was there which I did not test but probably needs some smooth ironing out which is another plus point.
It has Libre Office and Blender a new version (Maya replacement).
Please do not call it Apple like but call it this is Unity Linux Desktop.
Sure it is a winner at the time of debt and cash crisis.
For good effects find a good compatible graphic card. That may be the only thing one may have to change in one’s computer.
My old computer’s graphic card was not enough to take advantage of Unity.
The few glitches I had with the Unity CD with workplaces has been reasonably taken care of and I could load all the workplaces with a running program and with a mouse click it goes into full screen image.
Play with it and enjoy the experience.
I do not know how far one can configure it to one's own needs but it is good as it is why configure and make a mess out of it?
Rest with Only points scored.
11. Dream Studio Ubuntu 1755
12. Trisquel 1660
13. Suse 1560
14. Sabayon 1430
15. Swift Linux 1415
16. Ubuntu-Unity 1405
17. PureOs 1385
18. Salix 1380
19. Kubuntu 1355
20. Fedora 1325
21. Berry 1275
22. Linux Mint 1260
23. CloudUSB 1240
24. Apodio 1165
25. Vinux 1130
Incognito comes 26th and it for anonymous web browsing and cannot be installed.
I have missed ArtistX which would score around 2600 and could be in place of Ultimate Linux (If you do not like games Linux DVD).
It is also Ubuntu/Debian derivative and for Audio/Video and artistic work.
I can report to you now it got 2610 points.
GnuArtist got 2445 points, less points scored, indeed due to not incorporating proprietary software and keeping itself to Gnome base.
I
have made some correction here. Simply Mepis comes 10th.Other versions not included was the result of inability to download or incompatibility with my old graphic cards.
