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Advanced Linux Distributions You Should Try

internetling.com — Some people will argue with me in that these GNU/Linux distributions are as advanced as you want them to be. Well, of course Linux is all about choice...

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 24, 2008

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  • Cupantae, on 11/23/2008, -3/+61I highly recommend Arch Linux.
    I do agree that it's an "advanced" distribution, in that it's not as GUI-centric as Fedora or Ubuntu, but it could still be the first distribution you use (providing you're willing to learn), because of the brilliant beginner's guide. I think what makes it so good is that it's fast, flexible and up to date, but it doesn't get in the way. Once it's set up just the way you want it, it's no more effort to maintain than the "easier" distributions.
  • ribo, on 11/24/2008, -9/+35Man, I really hope you're just being sarcastic.

    "Have to go find debs" vs. "Do 50 things"
  • Kingoftherings, on 11/24/2008, -11/+37What's really nice about Gentoo is the fact that everything is compiled from source. That means you don't have to find any .debs, or .rpms. So if you need a package newer than what is in Portage, you can make your own Portage overlay, and copy the ebuild (basically just a bash script on where to get the source, and how to compile it, and what it depends on), and then rename it to the version you want, most of the time that works. Sometimes you'll need to change something, like where to download it from.
  • artsike, on 11/24/2008, -7/+25+1 For Arch
  • noahspurrier, on 11/24/2008, -5/+23The best part about Gentoo is the documentation and wiki. But for daily work I use Ubuntu 8.10.
  • illDecree, on 11/24/2008, -0/+16well... that makes me wonder _why_ you came into a linux topic then...
  • RoboDonut, on 11/24/2008, -21/+37I've always thought that the whole "beginner distro" thing was backwards. Beginners should not be looking for a distro that will do all the work for them. They should be looking for a distro that will _teach_ them.

    Sure, those "complex" distros might be a little intimidating at first, but they've got the best documentation and a community who really knows their distro. Conversely, Ubuntu has mediocre documentation and a pack of howler monkies.
  • inactive, on 11/24/2008, -6/+21How is it "advanced" when its more difficult to do something simple? I think the distros are more complicated, not advanced.

    This isn't a flame, none of the distros suck. I'm just saying that having to compile everything from source is hardly progress on the user front.
  • jugglingjon, on 11/24/2008, -3/+16I disagree that beginners should start with these advanced distributions as a learning experience. I'm a linux novice and I couldn't care less about the inner workings of the kernel or reverting back to dos-like command consoles; I use the operating system as a tool to get things done with less effort, not more. But that's the nice thing about linux I guess, there's a distribution for you, and one for me.

    I dugg you up though for the howler monkey thing, that's spot on.
  • mohtasham, on 11/24/2008, -4/+17Personally, I recommend Gentoo for unemployed people who have a lot of spare time. Because, it's a great way of spending time with and learn about Linux. I used Gentoo in a wrong time. I uninstalled my ubuntu from my only computer and installed Gentoo on it a week before my final exam. I ended up reinstalling ubuntu so that I could study for my exam.

    I'm graduating this semester and have two computers now. That's why, I'm going to play around with either gentoo or ArchLinux soon.
  • etx313, on 11/24/2008, -2/+15Gentoo is pure awesomeness, But I've been sticking with Debian based distros lately because they are easier to setup and provide everything I need.
  • inactive, on 11/24/2008, -0/+12lol, BSD elitists.
  • laelfrog, on 11/24/2008, -0/+11Some people prefer Gentoo and thats great. This is part of the freedom we get with different Linux distributions. I am glad Gentoo is out there - It is a different philosophy and has its place just as Ubuntu has its place.
  • BigManOnCampus, on 11/24/2008, -0/+11I'm using Arch more and more at home. The only bad things I can say about it are the thin 64-bit linux repositories. I sometimes (somewhat rarely) have to simply abandon using a particular application because it's just too difficult to get working on Arch-64. However, This complaint is specific to the 64-bit version, and many times when there isn't an official repository solution, there's either good documentation for compiling it yourself or there's an AUR equivalent. On the whole, my experience has been just awesome.

    Try to imagine the flexibility of Slackware linux, with the ease of use of Ubuntu, and you've got a good idea of what using Arch is like.
  • Slade605, on 11/24/2008, -0/+11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moran

    damn those Morans!
  • rowjimmy, on 11/24/2008, -0/+11hint - go to your user settings and select hide stories in the linux/unix category. or stop clicking on them just to post a bitchy comment.
  • csarak, on 11/24/2008, -0/+10They're speaking to people like me, I guess, who are simultaneously, paradoxically, satisfied with their current distribution, but always wanting to try other ones.

    I have 3 partitions - one for windows, one for linux mint, and one for a 'distro of the day/week/hour.'
  • czarr, on 11/24/2008, -3/+13Your confusing "ease of use" with simplicity. For example you may find its easier to use Ubuntu because there is a GUI for practically everything. But pop open the hood and you're looking at a very complex system. Arch linux on the hand may require you to manually edit some config files but the under workings are much easier to understand and manipulate. It's easier to figure things out in Arch without needing to find a guide to walk you through some weird intricacies that i found to be commonplace with ubuntu.
  • inactive, on 11/24/2008, -2/+12LOL.

    Do you think that everybody wants (or even has the time) to learn the ins and outs of their OS? Of course not! That's why ubuntu and other "beginners"* distros are so popular. The people that want to know everything that there is to know about their OS are the ones using Gentoo and similar distros right now.

    *The whole "beginners" distro concept has to die. Is not like people use their OS in order to get a final set of knowledge about it, they just want to get their *work* done.
  • elementop, on 11/24/2008, -0/+9That's not exclusive to Gentoo, whether you are compiling from source or from packaged binaries. You could just as easily say "Most people have no idea what to do when their apt-get fails after waiting for an hour to download and install prerequisites."

    Case in point -- I've used Slack since 2001, Gentoo since 2006, and just installed Debian on a laptop from a Knoppix hard disk install (long story). So while I'm new to Debian, I'm not new to Linux. Anyway, after building Deb on the laptop, I updated the packages and installed Gnome, but ran into a problem I never did solve installing...nuts, can't remember what the package was now.

    Point being that regardless of which distro you use, or even which operating system that you use, you *will* run into a problem that stumps you once in a while.
  • sx66gns, on 11/24/2008, -8/+17I disagree , but I will not digg you down because the first part of the post you are correct but you should not blast the distro that will propel Linux based OS's into the mainstream , Ubuntu is the catalyst of the next computing age.


    in other words so you'll understand , don't be a hater bitch , cause' real gangster's use big brown.


    "Damn , it feels good to be a gangster"
  • dhughes, on 11/24/2008, -0/+9 It still exists even though you're not using it.
  • thelastknowngod, on 11/24/2008, -0/+9Arch is the only thing I use anymore.

    Having a (mostly) single file for system configuration makes it super simple.

    Never having to reinstall the OS because of a new release is huge.

    For the author of the article, check out yaourt. Yaourt is a wrapper around pacman that allows you to install from AUR more easily.

    Also, if you want to recompile your own applications it is really easy and convenient if you use ABS.
  • czarr, on 11/24/2008, -2/+11This idiot has never even used linux. The only reason you're comparing arch to FreeBSD is because most summaries of arch mension that it uses a centralized config (rc.conf) like BSD. Explain how arch is broken, other than your dumbass not being able to Bash your way out of a paperbag.
  • RaulMuadDib, on 11/24/2008, -1/+10+4 for Arch
  • 1n4007, on 11/24/2008, -0/+8It is advanced because you have CONTROL.

    And compiling from sources is hardly more difficult than installing your package. 'apt-get install firefox' or 'emerge firefox', what does it matter?
  • Phocion55, on 11/24/2008, -2/+10It's great except when both Firefox and OpenOffice updates appear in your emerge tree.

    Not gonna be using your computer for a few days..........
  • swazo, on 11/24/2008, -0/+8I've used Arch for about 4 years now. Definitely my favorite distro. Last I heard Judd transfered everything to aaron griffin.
  • jdhore1, on 11/24/2008, -2/+10+3 for Arch
  • Paranormalized, on 11/24/2008, -1/+9"Never having to reinstall the OS because of a new release is huge."

    I don't need to do that with Slackware or Debian either.
  • int19h, on 11/24/2008, -0/+8I've been using Slackware, Red Hat, Mandrake, Debian and now Ubuntu for more than a decade. About half a year ago I tried Arch, and it's my favorite so far. Ubuntu is extremely nice when it comes to hardware support, but I love how Arch keeps things simple, beautiful and functional. If you install a package in Arch, things will never start running in the background without you knowing it. The package manager works great and the system for user-submitted packages makes it feel like there are more packages available than for Ubuntu (but I have not counted). Five stars.


  • thtroyer, on 11/24/2008, -3/+10Hmm... I do prefer the Gentoo way of installation, mostly because everything I need is already in the tree. New versions, old versions, bleeding edge -- it's usually there.

    Ubuntu gives you one option, one version. If it doesn't work for you, you're left looking for .debs that don't conflict with something else, or bypassing the package manager completely. I've run into this various times, like trying to install Virtualbox. I need the proprietary version (it has USB support), but Ubuntu only has the FLOSS on in the repo. Go figure.

    So, it may be more time consuming, but using Gentoo, one can usually get the software to work, even if it's not in the tree, using the package manager, and without horrid hacks to the system or nabbing 3rd party binaries that came from who-knows-where.

    _That's_ what I like about Gentoo. When something doesn't work, you can fix it. While Ubuntu usually "just works", it's been my experience that it's painful to fix when something doesn't.
  • giloron, on 11/24/2008, -0/+7I use it because I think portage is a superior package management system. I recently tried Debian again, but went back to Gentoo. What is the point of having an automated install system if all of the packages are out of date? Debian is still using Firefox 2. As others will also point out, the performance gains from compiling are negligible.
  • mamboboy, on 11/24/2008, -0/+7http://media.urbandictionary.com/image/large/moran ...
  • MuffinFlavored, on 11/24/2008, -1/+8I just made the switch from WIndows XP to Linux, and I chose Arch Linux.
    I just set up my "perfect desktop" starting with just the Arch Linux Core CD.

    I was surprised when I read the title, clicked the article, and read that the first entry of "advance Linux distributions" was Arch Linux.
  • reddevild, on 11/24/2008, -3/+10+2 For Arch
  • 1n4007, on 11/24/2008, -0/+6Are you kidding? Of course Gentoo's package management is the main reason to use it. Compiling from source is definitely better (and don't you whine about compile times, learn to nice emerge and do it in the background)

    Optimizations for your architecture, manual control over what gets compiled and better control over package versions among others are the main advantages.

    Also, Portage simply is -huge-. You can't compare official apt repos to that. When I switched from an apt-based distro to Gentoo, I did NOT have to add half a ton of repos to get some of the obscure apps I use.
  • LastDitchHero, on 11/24/2008, -0/+6Sweet, just what the world needs, just another Ubuntu remix!!!
  • ghotli, on 11/24/2008, -1/+7All of these distributions get more in depth about how the linux operating system actually works than the standard issue ubuntu/fedora desktop user will ever want to know. I would suggest that if you are serious about learning how a linux distribution actually works you should work through Linux From Scratch. It has you do absolutely everything by hand; create the partitions, format the partitions, create a bootstrapped toolchain, compile all the needed packages, compile and recompile the linux kernel, then set up the bootloader. Of course this is just for a learning experience. I've set up incredibly minimalist distributions with linux from scratch for some homegrown routers, but I would never use it day to day (I just love apt-get too much).

    Have Fun.

    http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/
  • ahurt000, on 11/24/2008, -2/+8Gentoo is Rice.

    http://funroll-loops.info/
  • elementop, on 11/24/2008, -0/+6How about optimizing your use flags to eliminate dependencies that aren't necessary for your environment, "build it once and update it forever" rather than rebuilding every time you need to update libraries, building software that is optimized to run on *your* specific CPU rather than running binary packages that were built for the lowest common denominator CPU that the package maintainer thinks someone somewhere might still be using. These are the reasons I dumped binary package based distros for Gentoo. I like the flexibility, customizability (is that a word? whatever...), and the ability to make the build as lean and mean or as bloated as I need it to be.
  • 1n4007, on 11/24/2008, -1/+7Then use firefox-bin and openoffice-bin on your Pentium 2. Sheesh.
  • nadadingsda, on 11/24/2008, -0/+6I tried Debian back in 2002 and then quickly switched to Gentoo and have been using it ever since. I have it running on my desktop at home, on my thinkpad, on my desktop at work and on my digital picture frame (which was made from my old laptop). In my opinion the biggest advantages and disadvantages of Gentoo are:

    Advantages:
    -Gentoo teaches you a lot about the underlying system, when you use it on a regular basis you learn more and more, through newsletters, manuals, form, etc.
    -The combination of USE flags and the fact that (almost) everything is built from source is really powerful. USE flags define what you want on your system. You can for example enable the USE flag "gtk" which will enable GTK support for packages that support that, or the USE flag "encode" will enable media encoding on some packages (e.g. mplayer)
    -There are more specialized packages available than on other distributions (e.g. for scientific computing)
    -It is fairly easy to make an overlay with your own ebuilds (packages)
    -The packages in the tree are usually up to date.
    -You never have to reinstall everything to update to a new release.

    Disadvantages:
    -Compiling takes time, but as computers get faster this becomes less of a problem. You can also distribute compiles using distcc (I usually update my thinkpad at work when it is connected to my desktop, so I can use 4 cores to compile).
    -It takes some time to keep your system updated.
    -Sometime some random stuff breakes, at least you learn something when fixing it ;-)
    -It is not the easiest system to use (I recommended ubuntu to my girlfriend and she loves it)
  • smotpoker, on 11/24/2008, -0/+6@jdhore

    grep $useflag `locate use.desc`

    Sucks your system is unusable from compiling a single package. Mine is 4 years old and works fine playing video (via flash or xine) on integrated video at the same time.

    I guess if your system is 5+ years old *and* for some reason cannot update it when you aren't using resource-intensive apps or don't have a second system to use, Gentoo really isn't the proper choice for you

  • thelastknowngod, on 11/24/2008, -0/+6Slackware does not track dependencies natively.

    The author mentioned slapt-get which works ok. There is another tool developed by Chess Griffin of the now canceled Linux Reality podcast. It's called sbopkg. It allows you to sync and install packages from SlackBuilds.org.

    sbopkg:
    http://code.google.com/p/sbopkg/
  • RoboDonut, on 11/24/2008, -2/+7No distro is perfect. Not even Ubuntu.
    Ignoring flaws doesn't make them go away.
  • centran, on 11/24/2008, -0/+5come on over to gentoo!

    I was a slackware user but switched to gentoo because of portage and the lovely emerge. emerging can have it's problem and you could "kill" your system... that is if you wait a really really long time to do an update. You don't really kill it but just run into an annoying problem that takes awhile to figure out. That is why a recommend running emerge -uD world at least once a week to two weeks.
    You don't always run into problem but those that pop up you want to discover right away. What "kills" your system is after you update after a year and run into 5 of those problems at once. Good luck with that. Much easier to take them on one on one.

    Oh and most of the problems are from packages blocking each other or if it is somehow missing a dependency. A lot of those problems can be fixed by simply unmerging a conflicting package(then re-merging if it is still important) or running revdep-rebuild.
  • ArachnidDude, on 11/24/2008, -1/+6Started with Slack in the '90s. Was a fantastic learning experience. Now use Kubuntu, because I'm old and lazy. But definitely would not have the skills to truly understand my OS without the good old Slackware experience.
  • dhughes, on 11/24/2008, -0/+5 I'd say if you really want to learn Linux try (Linux From Scratch) LFS, there's nothing like getting to know an OS by building it from all its pieces!
  • zzzpoohzzz, on 11/25/2008, -0/+5"!="
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