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What Your Choice of Linux Distro Says about You

iter8 writes "NewsForge has an article explaining what your choice of distro says about you. There's no comment on what using Windows or OS X does for your rep. I use Mandrake, so that makes me suave and sophisticated."

47 of 494 comments (clear)

  1. Slackware? by slavemowgli · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No mention of Slackware? What a pity.

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    1. Re:Slackware? by Performaman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Indeed. But it would probably be "Slackware users are no-nonsense, doctrinarial, and do most things "by the book." They take pride in theirs being the oldest Linux Distro, and shun all others as being "childish."

      --

      I have gas, but my car uses petrol.
    2. Re:Slackware? by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      that is because most journalists are frightened by Slackware. It's the oldest existing Linux distro (Yggdrasil was the very first) and as far as I am concerned the single best distro for doing what linux is supposed to.

      Slackware on a machine is usually 50% or more faster than the fedora,redhat,mandrake and it makes sense where things are and where config files are insteaad of the randomized placement found in other distros. (which is the single bigest problem with linux, I dont care who is right, let's pick one filesystem layout and EVERYONE use it.)

      I have tried ALL linux distros and I keep coming back to slackware. It just works.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    3. Re:Slackware? by slavemowgli · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, slackware isn't the oldest distro. That credit is generally given to SLS, which appeared in mid-1992; however, there also was MCC Interim Linux (available from the university of Manchester in feb 1992), and TAMU, from the Texas A&M university (about the same time).

      --
      quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    4. Re:Slackware? by Hatta · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Aren't libertarian (or even anarchist) and control freaks mutually exclusive?

      Nope, anarchists want control over their own destiny, and aren't willing to give up any of their personal sovreignty to anyone. They're also intelligent enough to understand basic arguments of symmetry.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    5. Re:Slackware? by Jane_Dozey · · Score: 3, Informative

      Oldest surviving distro then.

      --
      Silly rabbit
    6. Re:Slackware? by JWSmythe · · Score: 4, Insightful


      Well, you're wrong. No offense intended.

      Take a warm fuzzy distro and install it. do a 'ps -auwwx' and look at all the crap running.

      Take Slackware, install it like I would (install everything, don't let anything but SSH start as services). Then recompile the kernel specifically for your platform. Compile everything you *NEED* into the kernel, and don't make anything as modules. Now boot. It'll boot faster, run faster, and be far more enjoyable.

      Why start and use things that you don't need? No printer, why CUPS or lpd? No SMB network, why samba? Do you really need/want Apache, MySQL, pcmcia services (on a desktop), etc, etc, etc, if you just want a fast running machine? Nope.

      Most distros have fallen into the Microsoft way of thinking. Go ahead, start up as much crap as you can. They use might use it someday (or probably won't). If it's slow, they'll buy a bigger, faster computer.

      The biggest reason for me to upgrade my home machines:

      1) to support more drive space for things I work on.
      2) to compile things faster
      and very occasionally
      3) Better video support for the games I occasionally play.

      Again, that's Linux. I'm not part of that Windows gaming world, where you're almost expected to be running the latest/greatest hardware (and overclocking it at that) to play your games.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    7. Re:Slackware? by tzanger · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, you're wrong. No offense intended.

      Sorry, I'm a Slackware user (since '96) and you are the one who is wrong here.

      Slackware is not 50% faster than the other distros. Sorry, there just isn't enough crap running on FC2 or Gentoo or Suse to slow down the same machine that much. And yes, I'm talking runlevel 3 or 4. I find Slackware zippier than the others, yes, but 50% faster? Give your head a shake.

      Also you will find if you take the time to do the critical analysis that having everything in the kernel is not measurably faster than having a lean kernel with modules. I prefer the latter myself and have done the tests -- it's not worth the effort to compile everything into the kernel and then have a kernel that's only usable on a limited subset of machines. Build the kernel as generic as possible, modularize everything and now you have a kernel you can throw on all your machines. Or are you a Gentoo user in disguise and think that a full compiler environment is required on every machine? The package system is there for a reason. Use it. The dependency hell that all the other distros have doesn't exist on Slack, which is one of the bigger reasons I enjoy it.

      I have a USB2 hdd with a development-ready version of slack9.1 and slack10.0 on it (since I have both in my environment). If I need to build something I mount it, chroot to the proper environment, build, checkinstall and now I have the package available for all my slack91 and/or slack100 machines, and I save myself the 600 or so megs I need for a proper development environment on every machine and I save myself the problem of keeping the development environments up to date on all the machines. Hell I even have a script that'll make pretty much any Perl module a Slackware package without destroying perllocal.

    8. Re:Slackware? by Mad_Rain · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Slackware on a machine is usually 50% or more faster than the fedora,redhat,mandrake

      Please report to the following website: Gentoo Is for Ricers and join their well-informed masses.

      --
      "What do you think?" "I think 'What, do you think?!'"
    9. Re:Slackware? by dildo · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't use a distro. I do everything myself. I even make my own shoes. I am a bad ass.

      My first computer was a mancala, and I was so bad ass that I programmed my own version of doom using nothing but red pebbles -- and after that I wrote a C++ compiler for an analog pinball machine (you think that compiling all that crap for gentoo is a pain in the ass for your pentium 200? this thing had to do like, 6-multiball play for three months straight before KDE was finished, but now I just use it to run TCPdump on the cluster of pinball machines I've got in my house).

      I'm still trying to get X-windows running on my toaster, but the video card is REALLY obscure so I may have to write the driver myself. For security, I'm using 4096-bit ssl connection between the plug and the wall, and I'm taking notes from OpenBSD by encrypting the crumbs at the bottom so some script kiddie from Finland doesn't know what kind of bread I've been eating.

      I'm moving forward to cyborg stuff -- I'm going to start small by getting LOGO installed on a baby tortoise, but I need to find a good wireless protocol (WEP = weak encryption protocol. ha!) to send commands to it. I don't want the NSA to know what goes on between me and my tortoise.

  2. Don't believe everything you read. by Rahga · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I use Mandrake, so that makes me suave and sophisticated."

    In other news, Bud Light gets you lots of chicks. In bikinis. And twins.

    Oh, well... It's a Saturday.

    1. Re:Don't believe everything you read. by nwbvt · · Score: 3, Funny

      That really says a lot about the effectiveness of Coors Light's famous "twins" commercials. People remember the ads, but associate them with the wrong product.

      --
      Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
    2. Re:Don't believe everything you read. by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was gonna say. Sure, if John Wayne had played a Linux user in a movie ("Well, now ... pilgrim ... looks like your kernel needs a recompilin'") he'd have played a Gentoo user. In real life, Mr. Marion Morrison wouldn't even have touched Linux; he'd have been Windows all the way.

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
    3. Re:Don't believe everything you read. by ameoba · · Score: 3, Funny

      With a name like Marion Morrison, I'd think he'd own a Mac.

      --
      my sig's at the bottom of the page.
  3. It works...? by DogDude · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What if I use the distro that I use because it's the only one that I could get to actually work?

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:It works...? by nomadic · · Score: 5, Funny

      What if I use the distro that I use because it's the only one that I could get to actually work?

      Then you must enter an intense period of training to hone your installation skills. Go out now and get a copy of NetBSD and begin. After you can install that, you can return to Linux in triumph, for you will be able to install anything.

  4. They forgot Caldera by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Using Caldera says that if your linux install fails, sue someone.

  5. A distro doesn't say a damn thing about anyone by phoxix · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There are plenty of hardcore code, library, kernel hackers running distros like fedora, suse, mandrake, etc

    There are also plenty of totaly linux newbies using gentoo, archlinux, etc

    I know that this article is a joke (not a funny one either), but these stereotypes need to come to an end.

    Sunny Dubey

  6. Uhm.. by Xeo+024 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Oh please, this is just as reliable as the Which OS Are you? quiz.

  7. Great. No Slackware. by Xpilot · · Score: 5, Funny

    So I'll just make one up:

    Slackware users are grumpy, bearded old Unix sysadmins who prefer things be done the "good old fashioned way", making their Linux distro stick to traditional Unix principles, through 10 feet of snow, uphill, both ways!

    P.S. I'm a slackware user myself, don't flame me ;) It was tongue-in-cheek.

    --
    "Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
  8. Does Fedora count? by Sensible+Clod · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't see any mention of Fedora. Do they expect everyone to believe it's the same as Red Hat's commercial distro?

    More likely, we Fedora users are just too good for words.

    --

    The difference between spam and poop is that you don't have to dig through septic tanks looking for real food. -- Me
    1. Re:Does Fedora count? by NTmatter · · Score: 5, Funny

      Full-time emplyment works quite well with gentoo, actually. When you wake up, you start compiling the results of last night's 'emerge sync' and then by the time you get home your compile should be finished and you'll sink a few minutes updating your config files. When the weekend rolls around, you'll finally have the time to use your freshly compiled system. Bonus points if you use your lunch break to check up on the status of your compile.

  9. Suse users like a *clean* desktop? by KublaiKhan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obviously, theyv'e never seen mine...the only reason that the icons even line up is because the automatic line up feature's enabled. As for my non-computer desktop....it's been declared a Superfund site, and the EPA guys will be along any time now with the hazmat suits.

    I guess I'm using the wrong distro, huh?

    --
    In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
    A stately pleasure dome decree
  10. Lisandro by Lisandro · · Score: 4, Funny

    Gentoo

    If John Wayne had been a Linux user, he would have used Gentoo. Gentoo users are pioneers, people who like to live close to the metal, and don't mind hurting themselves on sharp objects. Some feel that Gentoo users are simply lazy louts who always want to have a ready excuse for why they are not doing constructive things with their computer, other than compiling or recompiling the latest kernel, app, or hapless passerby. The official Gentoo motto is, "If it moves, compile it."


    Paraphrasing Maddox, Gentoo users are baddases and listen to Pantera. Red Hat users get their nails done and shop for purses.

    Ok, i'll shut up now :)

    1. Re:Lisandro by Rob+Riggs · · Score: 4, Funny

      You misspelled "Porsches".

      --
      the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
  11. The article is a troll by dancedance · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The entire point of the article is to piss off everyone using any of those distros.

  12. Not a pity... by SaDan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slackware users don't need to be compared to the rest of that trash!

    Oops... Did I say that out loud? ;-)

  13. Gentoo by toupsie · · Score: 3, Funny

    I use Gentoo because I believe that an OS should be loud, obnoxious and have glass packs on the exhaust. Of course my Shuttle XPC has a "Type R" sticker on it.

    --
    Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
  14. No need for that by CaptainZapp · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Knoppix users are pushy and aggressive. It's not at all unusual for them to hand you a CD and tell you to boot from it.

    What a cincidence and a true story.

    One of the broad minded Windows admins in [insert major logistics company] yelled at me "Linux for President" when I passed his office before yesterday.

    It turns out that one of his laptops was fuxored and no matter what he wasn't able to boot it under Windows.

    Since he is broadminded and a good admin (even though he's an MCSE) he has his tools ready and one of it is Knoppix.

    The laptop booted like a charm, made the partition visible, the files where saved to another laptop and Linux oughta be president.

    There was really no need to push Knoppix on him.

    --
    ich bin der musikant

    mit taschenrechner in der hand

    kraftwerk

  15. What Gentoo REALLY says about you by Have+Blue · · Score: 4, Funny
  16. Got Slackware Right Here by Jameth · · Score: 5, Funny

    Since they didn't cover Slackware, here you go:

    Slackware users are paradoxically obsessed with being cutting edge and traditional at the same time. They love to point out that their distro has all the latest programs, but explain that it's ancient installer is 'still up to the task' and that the lack of powerful package management 'leaves them in control'. Slackware users like to do things for themselves and tend to ignore what popular opinion (and logic and reason and all rational thought) says is good.

    And, since they didn't include Fedora either, here's that one:

    Fedora is synonymous with Red Hat, but many of its users believe that it isn't. The song of the king of the Linux street, Fedora is popular with those who want to be in the middle of the road, but leading the crowd. Unfortunately, they are actually be pushed along from behind, with the silly-hat men leading from behind. Fedora is very loyal to its customers, except when they want something that Red Hat doesn't, in which case they consider the feature risky.

  17. Not informative, not funny, whee... by sultanoslack · · Score: 5, Informative
    Uhm, this isn't really news and isn't even really decent humor.

    If you want something informative, there's the old reliable Distro Watch and if you want something funny, try:

  18. Sure by Sivar · · Score: 4, Funny

    I had opened the link in a new tab and was about to read it, and then I caught the "I use Mandrake, so that makes me suave and sophisticated." part, which instantly removed any faith I may have had in the test. ;-)

    --
    Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
  19. A non-distro specific answer by j0e_average · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Stereotypes aside, the fact that I've chosen a linux distro should say something loud and clear:

    1. I HAVE A CHOICE.
    2.I DO NOT HAVE TO CONFORM TO THE SCHEMES/STANDARDS/LICENSING SET BY REDMOND.
    3. I GET TO USE MY COMPUTER IN THE MANNER I SEE FIT.

    If these choices are important to you too, then consider becoming a member of the EFF and supporting your favorite distro by purchasing a copy once a year or so. There's lots of software projects that could use help as well!

  20. Debian comments are a touch off by debrain · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The people I know who use Debian, myself included, have less patience for crap that doesn't work. Though harder to install, unlike the other distros, you only ever have to do it once.

    Tongue in cheek or no, the myth that Debian is behind other distros has continually been dispelled. Debian/Unstable is consistently ahead of other distros. What other distros besides Debian, and maybe Gentoo, currently include Kernel 2.6.8, KDE 3.3.0, and Firefox RC1?

    Debian users simply loathe frigging around with the basics of their system, an experience all too common with some other distros. We prefer to spend our time frigging around on Slashdot, et al. Or advocating free software.

  21. Star Trek + Linux by starseeker · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think it would be more fun to pick a Star Trek race for each user to assume at a convention.

    Mandrake - Humans. Like it simple and straightforward, but can be badass at need and gets things done.

    Redhat - Vulcans. People may not like them, but they do a lot of things right and everyone owes them.

    Debian - Romulans. Tough, but strangely elegant. Deserve more respect than they get.

    Gentoo - Klingons. Never do it the easy way if there is a hard way - it makes one stronger!

    If any MacOSX guys wander in, they get to be the tribbles. Soft, cuddly, and relatively harmless.

    Windows users unlucky enough to stray in - the Borg, of course. The one common enemy of everybody else in the room.

    --
    "I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
  22. What Your Choice of BSD Distro Says about You by HenryKoren · · Score: 5, Funny

    OpenBSD - You are a paranoid schizophrenic and you think everyone is out to get you. You consider your pores security holes

    NetBSD - You take solace in the fact your operating system can run on playstation2 and dreamcast and is thus superior.

    m0n0wall - You are the Calista Flockhart of the BSD world. You like to keep your base at six megabytes because anything more would be bloated.

    Dragonfly BSD - You are a rebel without a clue. You are against the status quo establishment and all the conformist sheep that follow it. Anybody who questions your judgment can go fork themselves.

    FreeBSD-CURRENT - You are a crusader, living on the bleeding edge of the Open Source revolution. You build worlds, merge masters, and slay kernel panic modes with nothing more than an UPDATAING file to defend you.

    FreeBSD-STABLE - You are a corporate whore... caring more about production, stability, and uptime than any reasonable person. Your if it ain't broke don't fix it mentality makes OS developers ponder the true purpose and meaning of their life quests.

  23. Bar pickups got a lot more complex by GMFTatsujin · · Score: 4, Funny

    Single White Gentoo-Using Male seeks chique Mandrake-Using Female for late-night RPGing...

    So, what, now instead of knowing that my Sun Sign is Leo with Mercury in ascention, I instead have to be able to recite my USE flags with /etc/portage/package.mask?

    1. Re:Bar pickups got a lot more complex by djcapelis · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You sun sign is probably not what you think it is, the chart that most of the world uses contains only 12 signs and is 3000 years old.

      The actual chart includes all 13 signs and accounts for the slight wobble that causes the chart to shift by about 1 day every 87 years.

      Look up 13th sign on google for more information.

      --
      I touch computers in naughty places
  24. What your choice REALLY means... by bwoodring · · Score: 5, Funny
    • Mandrake: You're a nerd
    • Red Hat: You're a nerd
    • Suse: You're a nerd
    • Debian: You're a nerd
    • Slackware: You're a nerd
    • Knoppix: You're a nerd
    • Gentoo: You're a nerd

    BONUS!!!!

    • FreeBSD: You're a nerd
    • OpenBSD: You're a nerd
    • Solaris: You're a nerd
  25. Fun and lighthearted by polyp2000 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Thats a nice fun and lighthearted article for a saturday afternoon. Makes a change from all the serious stuff!

    I wonder though what about people who use multiple different distributions? For example :- I've got a couple of higher spec machines I use for gentoo- but I also run Xandros (Open Circulation Ed.) on this laptop (which is for family use) and I've got my mother running Libranet on her aging K6.

    I suppose technically speaking Xandros and Libranet are Debian based - but so is Linspire - Where does this leave me?

    Im in a twisted state of being neither here nor there help me ... please!!!!

    Nick ...

    --
    Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
  26. Long live the Gentoo empire! by fireboy1919 · · Score: 5, Funny

    To accept binaries is dishonorable.
    He whose distro is not compiled from source will never enter the halls of Stovakor.

    Any ko'tal who cannot compile his apps to brings dishonor upon his family, and is a weak piece of baktag.

    We do not allow the weak to live.

    --
    Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
  27. Re:Libertarians vs. control freaks by jlar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Less power to the government = more power to the people = free people."

    That is a gross oversimplification. From your statement it seems like it is only the government which limits the freedom of the people.

    In fact one of the most important uses (in my opinion) of government power is to prevent a limitation in the freedom of people by restricting actions from other people and organisations that try to limit this freedom.

    An example could be pollution. The government (through regulatory bodies) limits the freedom of people and industry to pollute my neighbourhood. That is a limitation in their freedom but it is done to protect our right to avoid pollution (breathing unpolluted air and so on).

    My point is that your freedom to swing your arms in the air ends where my nose begins - and that it is the duty of our government to enforce the rules securing that (the rules are of course passed by the legislative body).

  28. Accuracy in Reporting! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Slackware: You have an old-school stick up your arse. Doesn't that chafe?

    Debian: You are like Ayn Rand: you insist that everything in your system be internally consistent, at the expense of nobody else being able to understand you.

    Red Hat: You want to be Microsoft, except without the jackboots and the viruses. Well ... maybe the jackboots.

    SuSE: You remember how fascist and self-righteous the Novell administrator for your high school was? Surprise -- that's you!

    Knoppix: You're good at getting Windows users to try Linux. But hey -- they're Windows users.

    Mepis: You sound like a child talking about urinating.

    Fedora: You eat Nike cheeseburgers and wear McDonald's sneakers, to show that you are not a corporate whore.

    Linspire: You are root. All the time. Isn't that k3wl? Here, have a virus!

  29. debian by sewagemaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "This distribution is popular with those who always count in binary, and are politically correct in a free software kind of way. Many are suspected of having been nursed on a TTY. Debian users take pride in the fact that their distribution is always several releases behind the latest version of the kernel, but makes up for that by being more difficult to install and use."

    uh... no....

    I use debian because it takes zero effort to upgrade packages - no BS, and if there's a change in the default /etc files, i have the option of keeping my old config or use the new package maintener's version. Unlike rpms, the debian packaging system doesnt just dump the files. it checks more than that.

    I dont ever have to download ISOs and reinstall the OS from scratch.

    There's also a lot less crap installed on my machine than distros like Mandrake or Redhat.

    I dont have to worry about rpm packages breaking my system. Packages aren't outdated because I'm running unstable...

    I actually find it quite easy to install with their newest installer

    i'd rather spend time getting work done than wasting time configuring my system and updating broken packages. I don't want to read packages of documentation from linuxdoc. I just want things to work without the need of manually changing LD_LIBRARY_PATH or using a distro that comes with a beta version of gcc (redhat).

  30. Re:Libertarians vs. control freaks by lightknight · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Inequality is unfreedom? Is "unfreedom" a word? You know, there might be a reason why a (frictionless system) breaks down into such equalities: some people are better at giving other people what they want better than others.

    For instance, I frequent Chilies, and I love their food (from the choices to the results). It's not Le Bec Fin, but it's a decent place to grab a bite to eat (average $16-22). Contrast that with any number of diners out there, lacking in business. Foods not terribly good, prices are ok, not much of an atmosphere. You see, Chilies gives people what they want, and so they grow($$$). What you argue is that they should all grow, equally. It's so a antithetical to...life, that you would have to redesign the universe from the ground up to support it.

    The rights given to you are simple: no matter how much property you accumulate (from nothing to a lot), you have the same rights to it. Live for yourself, and the universe will take care of itself.

    Lastly, while capitalism achieves inequality (with some people rich, and some people poor), and socialism does create equality, it's not in the manner that you think. Socialism, after a run of many years, creates equality by MAKING EVERYONE POOR. The U.S.S.R (putting aside the political figures) may have been one of the most equal states to ever exist, but I doubt the people saw it as that.

    --
    I am John Hurt.
  31. What your distro choice REALLY says about you by Glonoinha · · Score: 4, Funny

    Debian - Nerd

    Gentoo - Nerd

    Knoppix - Nerd

    Linspire - Nerd that shops at Walmart

    Mandrake - Nerd

    MEPIS - Nerd

    Red Hat - Nerd

    Slackware - Nerd

    SUSE - Nerd

    --
    Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer