In our last episode,

I lazily demanded that somebody tell me which Linux distro I should

embrace, so I wouldn’t actually have to think about it and make the

hard decision myself. Unfortunately, the manky gits that read last

week’s blog went all “Choose, but choose wisely” on my keister and

simply laid out the pros and cons of their favorite distros. No

consensus was reached, and I’m back where I started: Thinking for

myself.

In review, here’s how the voting broke down:

Xandros: 3 votes

SuSE: 3 votes

Vector Linux: 4 votes

DSL (Damn Small Linux): 1 vote

Puppy Linux: 1 vote

Ark: 1 vote

Knoppix: 3 votes

Ubuntu: 3 votes

Red Hat: 1 vote

SimpleMEPIS: 1 vote

Mandrake/Mandriva: 1 vote

Thus, our final five are Xandros, SuSE, Vector Linux, Knoppix, and

Ubuntu. We believe in democracy, at least moreso than doing all the

legwork of choosing a distro. SuSE and Ubuntu get extra points,

however, because TR blogger The Hot Button has install galleries for both Ubuntu and SuSE 10,

which could come in handy. Ubuntu/Kubuntu and Mandriva get extra votes

as they perfectly match my user profile, according to the Linux Distribution Chooser,

a slick little online applet that asks some basic questions about your

Linux skills and objectives and suggests a distro best suited to your

needs. A special shout out to member jmgarvin

for the recommendation of that helpful tool. (Full disclosure: The LDC

also listed SuSE as a near-perfect match.) Finally, Ubuntu gets another

vote, mostly because I believe in the path of least resistance. TR

staffer RexWorld has a spare copy of Ubuntu CDs I can have in short order, free of charge (he abandoned the distro when it couldn’t run iTunes).

All together, this gives Ubuntu 6 votes, edging out SuSe’s 4.5 votes,

and Vector Linux’s 4. Ubuntu it is. I should begin the install

early next week, and the distress signals should quickly follow.

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Keep up with the Trivia Geek’s ongoing Wacky Linux Adventures with the wackylinux tag. If it doesn’t say wackylinux, it’s not really a wacky Linux adventure.