Today's Top Linux Desktop Distributions

If you have spent any time on a Linux forum, you will have seen the question posted "What is the best Linux distribution?" Like with most "best of" questions, this question has spawned many Internet flame wars with all parties involved believing they have identified the one true distribution for everyone. From my perspective, asking which distribution is the best is like asking which ice cream flavor is the best--it's largely a matter of taste and beyond that, a matter how you use the distribution.



While it is a matter of taste which distribution is right for you and I ultimately recommend that you try as many as is practical to see which one you like the most, when you narrow the focus of a distribution down to a particular purpose, you do start to see certain distributions rise to the top. With this in mind I will compare what I consider three of the top Linux distributions for desktop use--Ubuntu 7.04, Fedora Core 7, and openSUSE 10.3.

One of the first and best impressions a distribution makes on you is during the install process. A good installer does as much automation as it can, and asks a minimal amount of questions. By this measure, Ubuntu comes out ahead of both openSUSE and Fedora with a simple installer that asks only a few questions and then installs a base system. openSUSE's installer does get an honorable mention here since even though it does ask a lot of questions, if you are a power user it does an excellent job of balancing automation with the ability of a power user to control and tweak what it has donee very step of the way.

There are many differing tastes for how a desktop should function so it can be difficult to evaluate which desktop would work best for everyone. However, the default Gnome desktop that both Ubuntu and Fedora choose is much more accessible and has a much shallower learning curve than either the Gnome or KDE desktops on openSUSE. The default management programs for each of these distributions match the desktop itself pretty closely, with Ubuntu and Fedora both having an average selection of graphical system management tools that are easy to use, and openSUSE having a single large program that could become easy with extended use, but by default is pretty daunting. Ubuntu and Fedora tie this round.

All three distributions contain automated graphical package managers that make it easy to install new software and keep the whole system up to date. That having been said, Ubuntu leads the pack with an enormous available list of packages, an incredibly easy-to-use package installation tool, and the addition of the Medibuntu repository which makes it simple to add third-party multimedia packages to your system.

So which distribution is the best for the desktop? Overall Ubuntu a safe, easy-to-use choice that excels in almost all of the areas that are important for a desktop distribution. You shouldn't completely rule out the other two, however. Fedora and openSUSE would make excellent choices as a desktop distribution, particularly if you are familiar with or support their enterprise cousins Red Hat and SUSE. If you have the time, do yourself a favor and try out all three distributions and see which one suits you the best, but if you only have time to try one, then try Ubuntu.