Top 10 Linux Distro's

Linux, the operating system adored by many, and understood by the few.  Hands down one of the most useful operating systems on the market, smashing past Microsoft and Apple by miles in terms of community participation.  There are hundreds if not thousands of new tweaked versions coming out everyday, so which one is best for you to choose?  Here is my breakdown of my top 10 Linux distributions and their uses.

#10 Gentoo Linux

Yes I'm starting with Gentoo, and I'm going to put it lowest for one reason and one reason only, its not the OS for everyone, in fact it's possibly for the smallest group of all computer users, the tweaker.  This is the Linux distro for the high end super tech savvy computer wizard, and for good reason, it's capable of being the most powerful, capable of booting the fastest, capable of being the greatest distro on the market.  You have to be completely knowledgeable though, you have to understand what to do, its not a cookie cutter approach to Linux like the vast majority of Linux distro's.

Sadly I know seeing it this far down on the list is going to irritate a lot of people, but you have to agree it's not for everyone.

#9 Raspbian

Raspbian, a modified version of the Debian distro is a phenomenally small and simplified OS, optimized for the infamous Raspberry Pi.  For those not familiar with the raspberry pi, the raspberry pi is a credit card sized motherboard for new to programming, new to Linux, and all around makers of every generation.  Of course many swear that Arduino is the best, the pi is still a good all around project and prototyping platform.  You can do so many amazing things with it such as Host Your Own Cloud Server.  Though raspbian is capable of running full time as a fully functional OS, it isn't necessarily the greatest for the task.  I'd suggest some of the distributions below for that.

#8 OpenSUSE

Suse is my first real Linux distro that I fell in love with, and possibly my preferred Linux distro to many others.  With services such as SuseStudio available, and superb KDE implementation, the OS is really designed for the mid level user.  The multimedia support, the YaST (yet another software tool) software, and KDE it runs beautifully.  Now with that said KDE is a touchy subject, and this is for mid level users, yes its easy but it's not the easiest OS on the market, you can't be afraid of touching and clicking things you're not familiar with.  It's not complicated, but don't expect grandma to be playing with this any time soon.

#7 CentOS

CentOS is a great enterprise server option, built using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as its foundation, CentOS is completely community driven.  Running Samba, acting as a domain controller, print server, really any sort of server imaginable, in an enterprise environment CentOS is great.  But as previously stated it is community driven, unlike RHEL which the client pays for a support service, CentOS is completely on the shoulders of the community, no actual support.  Although it does function as a great server, although it is a great Linux distro, the lack of support can be worrying for some, and damning for others.  For newbies to Linux, CentOS might be a good server to play with at home though, set up a nice media server, just play.  Great OS, just comes with a good amount of finger crossing for non veteran Linux adminsistrators.

#6 RHEL / Red Hat

For the same reason CentOS is great, RedHat is a little bit better, not because its a corporation, but because it has a paid staff of programmers and tweakers always looking to improve the product.  The newest softwares, patches, and updates come out for Red Hat first before the migrate to CentOS.  Unless someone in the community working on the CentOS project comes up with something clever before RedHat.  From a small business enterprise stand point though, the added functionality of support is a game changer.  When a one or two man IT shop goes down for a couple hours, having someone on speed dial to get you back up and running as quick as possible makes the difference.  CentOS is still a great OS, and in some ways its better than RedHat and RHEL, but that mission critical support for enterprise users nudges them ahead just a little.

#5 Kali Linux

Kali is unique from the above list as its purpose isn't to be a daily OS, not to be a backend support os, not to be an enterprise server, it is designed as a tool.  Not just any tool though, Kali Linux is designed for security enthusiasts and security professionals.  What this means is Kali is designed with the intention of testing network strength, testing password strength, all around testing the security of a computer, a server, or a network.  Some would call this "hacking", which for lack of better words, it is hacking.  When used by security admins and penetration testers, Kali is hands down one of the best tools available on the market.  For the bad guys who get their hands on it, its a fantastic tool as well.  Kali is a great Linux distribution and hacker tool, its not the end all hacker tool though, just because you use it doesn't make you a hacker either.

#4 Linux Mint

Linux mint is one of the first entry level Linux distributions on this list.  Linux mint is based on Ubuntu, so most of the software available for Ubuntu is available for Mint as well.  Personally I never really fell in love with mint, but there are entire communities for the growth of this OS, it works fantastically, little to know real knowledge is required to make mint run.  And the implementation of new desktop environments work perfectly.  For newbies to Linux completely and just want to branch of from the Microsoft Apple way of life, this could be a good introduction.  Designed to work as a daily OS, production system, multimedia, just good all around desktop operating system.

#3 Fedora

Fedora is another one of those all around great operating systems.  Like Red Hat it is great for home users and businesses alike, but the fun part is, Red Hat is based on Fedora.  Fedora is the base of Red Hat, which is the base of CentOS.  As the parent of design of the other two OS's fedora is fantastic, and it's also free, all the newest features before they hit red hat, before they hit CentOS, but all 100% free.  They are always focused on getting a new release out with new features, and 100% free. Not really designed for enterprise, but could be used for it, its more of a home user haven for innovation and stability.

#2 Debian

Debian is extremely open, extremely user friendly, and acts as the foundation of many other modern distributions (such as raspbian mentioned above), and all around just a good play around with operating system.  Due to the very open nature and way its all laid out, Debian is a fantastic base for others to tweak and redistribute, as well as for new people looking to learn Linux.  Debian is very easily modified, and very stable.  Not really sure how much I can say about it, it's just good as an operating system.

#1 Ubuntu

Ubuntu seems to be the go to for computer users who just want an OS to be an OS, not a toy but a tool.  Simple to install, no modifications needed to be made, just straight line click click click, everything has a great GUI and very easily understandable.  Canonical, the parent company of Ubuntu, is constantly growing their catalog of available software's and services offering enterprise support, a new cell phone OS, server OS, all wrapped in a nice neat simplified user interface.  Although this isn't the OS desired by most Linux purists, it is the easiest way to start using Linux from the standpoint of any not familiar with a new type of operating system.  If you're completely new to Linux and want to see what it's all about Ubuntu is a great starting point, can be used by everyone from grandma to grandson.

Honorable mentions

1. ChromeOS
2. DEFT Linux
3. DamnSmallLinux
4. Puppy Linux
5. Arch Linux (I know this belongs on the list, I just haven't used much of it to judge)
6. Slackware
7. SteamOS

Everything on the honorable mention list is there due to my lack of experience with them, its not that they are bad, nor do they compare, its just lack of interaction on my end.

Why does this exist?

• Hannah Montana Linux

What are your thoughts?

Is my list wrong?  Did I miss something?  Let me know what you guys think in the comments below.  And if you like what you read please click that +1 button and share buttons, and don't forget to subscribe to our emails and keep up on some pretty interesting topics.  And as always, be safe my goblins.

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