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Linux Distros

Question: Why Linux have so many versions from different companies? Which one should I use? Answer: There are so many version of Linux for many reasons and historic reasons. To put it simple, it doesn't really matter which you use. The main differences between the Linux distros are their: 1. Installation procedure 2. Software package management 3. default software bundles.
Screenshots	Fedora is the descended from Redhat. Fedora's installation is relatively easy to install if you have no problem with installing WindowsXP by yourself. It has many great default software bundles. It's default configuration make it easy to use as if you are using Windows. Pros: Easy installation. Newbie friendly. Cons: May encounter upgrade problems and software installation problems. The speed is kind of slow compared to other distros. My recommendation: 4/5 stars.
screenshots	Debian is famous for it's software management. Once you get the installation completed, installing additional softwares and upgrades are very simple. The downside of this distro is that its development is very very slow. It's stable version is 4 years older than other distros. It was my favorite distro, but not anymore. Pros: The software management feature is great. Easy upgrade. Cons: The stable version is way too old My recommendation: 2/5 stars.
screenshots	Mandrake is a developed by a France Linux Company. It's a very newbie friendly distro. However, the company sometimes suffer income problems. It offers a free version of Mandrakelinux, but it encourages users to pay a subscription fee to support the company. Pros: Newbie friendly. Cons: Annoying subscription ads. My recommendation: 3/5 stars.
screenshots	Ubuntu linux is related to Debian linux. Ubuntu means "be humane" in African language. It uses the same software management as Debian does. However, you get newer software than you can get from Debian. Unbuntu is a distro that focus on the desktop experience. Pros: It runs faster than Fedora. Software management is great. Upgrade is a snap. The support forum is very active. Cons: The installation is text based, which may scare away some users. But actully it's very easy to install. My recommandation: 4.5/5 stars.
	Gentoo linux is the current distro that I am using right now. It's a very fast distro. Pros: Highly customizable. Very good manual. Very active user forum. Cons: Not really a newbie friendly distro. My recommandation: 4/5 stars.
screenshots	Knoppix is a Linux livecd, which means it runs on CD. It's a perfect distro who people who never experience Linux. You can download Knoopix from internet and burn it on to a disk. Then you can boot Knoppix from a CD without formatting your harddrive. If you never try out Linux, Knoppix is the way to go! My recommandatoin: 5/5 stars.
For more information on linux distro: http://distrowatch.com/ To download get linux distro, you can get from their official homepage, or: http://www.linuxiso.org/