I’ve been running ArchLinux on my desktop for a couple of years now, but these days I am getting on that computer less and less. Little enough that I worry that my infrequency of system updates may cause some breakage. To-date, I have not had any problems, but it could happen.

This desktop hosts pictures, and runs ssh, samba, and cups primarily. So, I was considering hopping to another distro that would possibly be more stable and run for longer periods without a need for manual updates. After some discussion on identi.ca, I think I will be fine staying with Arch, though–I believe I can still manage to update once a month or so. :-)

I figure I will go ahead and re-detail my top 5 favorite Linux distros while I’m thinking about it, though. These are in order of my personal preference of use from past distro-hopping adventures:

  • Arch …naturally!
  • CrunchBang - I liked this one a lot the last time I tried it, and apparently now it is based off Debian instead of Ubuntu.
  • Sabayon - although a bit bloated on the default ISO, this distro and I really got along, and the community was top-notch.
  • Fedora - I don’t think I really gave fedora the close look it deserved, but I liked what I saw for the brief time that I used it.
  • Pardus - this is definitely another good one. I just didn’t “click” with it, but it was quality.

A few more that deserve mention as runners up are:

  • Debian - the big one. I’ve never cared too much for older packages, even for the sake of stability, but I still have great respect for the distro!
  • Mint - A spin on Ubuntu…but a very good spin! (I’m usually one for disliking the “remixes”)
  • Ubuntu - itself based on Debian. very polished. I used this one for a long time before hopping and eventually settling down with Arch
  • sidux - based on Debian sid. I liked this one but not enough to stay with it for very long.

So there you have it, my preferences along with my very short descriptions. Although I like for my desktop to stay stable, I may have to start hopping on one of my laptops again–I like to see what else is out there and what they all have to offer. I LOVE the sheer amount of choice that Linux and FOSS offer!

tags: #linux

Tags: #distro #distrohop #foss #linux #server #top-5

Published Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:13:40 +0000

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