[NTLUG:Discuss] What is the Best Linux & Why?

[Burton M. Strauss III]

Ralph:

There is NO RIGHT ANSWER.  Just one that's right FOR YOU!

The 'right' answer may even be two or three.  I run Gentoo on my firewall
because I want to know what's running on it to a high degree.  I run RH9 on
my Development box because (at least until recently) that mapped to most of
my users.

What would I recommend?  Look at http://www.DistroWatch.com on their page
hit ranking.  You can use the drop down to see how this has changed over
time.  That will give you a feel for what's popular.

Pick four or five and research them - what are the project's goals?  How
current is it being kept up?  Is it more than just a few people's hobby?

For example, if you want a firewall, then a general purpose desktop distro
is probably not the best choice.  And vice versa - to run that firewall
distro as a desktop is going to take a lot of work.

Once you eliminate the 'bad' choices - FOR YOUR NEEDS - then just pick one
and invest the time to learn it thoroughly.  That won't hurt you if you
change again later on, as you'll have a good knowledge base to start from.

-----Burton