What is Linux?

Linux is an operating system created in 1991 by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish student then, and now maintained by a worldwide community of developers (including individual developers and companies like IBM, HP and Hitachi), coordinated by the same Linus, now a globally recognized developer.
Linux adopts a free license - which means, among other things, that all stakeholders can use it and redistribute it. Coupled with many other free software such as KDE, GNOME, Apache, Firefox and OpenOffice.org, Linux can form a modern, secure and stable for your desktop or server.


What's the best Linux distribution?

I have no doubt that this is the most common question in the absolute majority of forums and mailing lists for the Linux world.
It can come in many forms. Can be generic or specific, open or qualified. The novice user who wants to install Linux on your home computer asks what the best of the distributions that he saw on the newsstand. The system administrator or other architectures used to determine the best distribution for your server. The user who failed to run your hardware wants to know how best to work with other peripherals Winmodems and exotic design. And everyone keeps asking, what is the best distribution?
Unlike other frequently asked questions, this is one that tends to always be answered. This is because most distributions have true fan clubs, with users who resort to heated arguments attempt to demonstrate once again, and finally, that your Linux distribution of choice is the best of all, arguably the only sensible choice for installation , whether it be to run Oracle on a 4-processor server, a distance learning program on Pentium 133, a school or work environments in marketing for a multinational.
However, the responses of the various fan clubs clash, the user who asked the question is likely to end up with more questions than when you started. If the installation is on a server, there are three good arguments for using Debian, three more to Red Hat, plus 3 for Slackware, SUSE for many others, someone will say that the ideal is to create
its own distribution and respond to other others explaining why they should not use Debian, Red Hat, SUSE or Slackware.
Immediately thereafter, everyone will argue among themselves, looking for arguments on complex systems management packages, dependencies, who is older, who is more free, who gave birth to whom, and even about the personal life of each one of the maintainers of the distributions . Who has not watched this debate in a thread?
The question is old, and probably insoluble. While we have multiple distributions, have their fan clubs and users alike wondering what is the best. You can not avoid. However, experienced users tend to care for beginners in the disorientation caused by this type of confusion, offer advice and seek common, full of common sense and relatively neutral. Suggest to consult the websites of the distributions, consult users in your region (if you want to appeal to them for support, it is good to use the distribution that they know), or even try to find more than one that best suits you .
But is this the best answer? Probably yes, if we have to give a short answer. However, with time and space to prepare, can provide more complete, without indicating any specific distribution - as in general you can not specify a particular distribution without knowing the exact needs and capabilities of the applicant.
I have seen many attempts to answer this question, based on the most diverse arguments: one is the best for being the oldest, the other for having the largest number of packets, for taking another facility, another to be used by Linus Torvalds himself, other for being "more like a real Unix" (whatever that may mean), another for having a superior packaging system, another for not having automatic dependency management, another for being the most free, to have another the longer upgrade cycle, another by offering more documentation ...
As you can see, the criteria are multiple, even conflicting: one fans find that their distribution is the best by offering the largest automatic hardware recognition, and another think that theirs is the best of all because has no automatic recognition, leaving everything in the hands of the system administrator.
There are also some folk classifications. They say that the distribution would be better for X desktop, another is the queen of the servers, the third supports more hardware ... While many of them have merit in specific areas, it is not possible to say in a general way that some of them isolated and is the undisputed leader in these categories.
But I'm in my eighth year of participation in lists and forums for Linux, and I've had my share of infinite into that discussion. Over time, I developed a standardized response (and that does not mention any specific distribution) to offer help to those who ask me to select a distribution, and now I will share it with you. Use, adapt, copy, modify, or simply ignore it and continue doing as you already did. Free software is well ;-)

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