Exclusive Back in 2010 Linux.com published a list of the year's top Linux distributions, and the popularity of the topic made it an instant annual tradition.
There have been several shifts and shakeups on the lists presented since then, of course, and -– as you'll soon see – this year's offering holds true to that pattern. In fact, I think it's safe to say that the past year has seen so much upheaval in the desktop world – particularly where desktop environments are concerned – that 2013's list could come as a surprise to some.
Let me hasten to note that the evaluations made here are nothing if not subjective. There also is no such thing as the “one best” Linux distro for anything; in fact, much of the beauty of Linux is its diversity and the fact that it can be tweaked and customized for virtually any taste or purpose. The one best Linux for you, in other words, is the flavor you choose for your purpose and preference and then tweak until it feels just right.
Still, I think some Linux flavors stand out these days as leaders for particular use cases. I'm going to diverge a bit from past lists here when it comes to those categories, however. Specifically, where past lists have included the category “Best Linux LiveCD,” I think that's become almost obsolete given not just the general shift to USBs -- some PCs don't even come with CD drives anymore, in fact -- but also the fact that most any Linux distro can be formatted into bootable form.
On the other hand, with the arrival of Steam for Linux, I think this year has brought the need for a new category: Best Linux for Gaming.
Read on, then, for a rundown of some of the best of what the Linux world has to offer.
Best Desktop Distribution
There are so many excellent contenders for desktop Linux this year that it's become a more difficult choice than ever – and that's really saying something.
Canonical's Ubuntu has made great strides in advancing Linux's visibility in the public eye, of course, while Linux Mint and Fedora are both also very strong choices. Regarding Ubuntu, however, a number of issues have come up over the past year or so, including the inclusion of online shopping results in searches – an addition Richard Stallman and the EFF have called “spyware.”
At the same time, the upheaval caused by the introduction of mobile-inspired desktops such as Unity and GNOME 3 continues unabated, spurring the launch of more classically minded new desktops such as MATE and Cinnamon along with brand-new distros.
For best desktop Linux distro, I have to go with Fuduntu, one of this new breed of up-and-comers. Originally based on Fedora but later forked, Fuduntu offers a classic GNOME 2 interface – developed for the desktop, not for mobile devices -- and generally seems to get everything right.
Besides delivering the classic desktop so many Linux users have made clear that they prefer, Fuduntu enjoys all the advantages of being a rolling release distribution, and its repository includes key packages such as Netflix and Steam. I've been using it for months now and haven't seen a single reason to switch.
Best Laptop Distribution
At the risk of sounding repetitive, I have to go with Fuduntu for best Linux distro as well. In fact, the distro is optimized for mobile computing on laptops and netbooks, including tools to help achieve maximum battery life when untethered. Users can see battery life improvements of 30 percent or more over other Linux distributions, the distro's developers say.
Such optimizations combined with this solid and classic distro make for a winner on portable devices as well.
Best Enterprise Desktop Linux
The enterprise is one context in which I have to agree with recent years' evaluations, and that includes the enterprise desktop.
While SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is surely RHEL's primary competitor, I think Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the clear leader in this area, with just the right combination of security, interoperability, productivity applications and management features.
Best Enterprise Server Linux
It's a similar situation on the server. While there's no denying SUSE Linux Enterprise Server has its advantages, Red Hat is pushing ahead in exciting new ways. Particularly notable about Red Hat this year, for example, is its new focus on Big Data and the hybrid cloud, bringing a fresh new world of possibilities to its customers.
Best Security-Enhanced Distribution
Security, of course, is one of the areas in which Linux really stands out from its proprietary competitors, due not just to the nature of Linux itself but also to the availability of several security-focused Linux distributions.
Lightweight Portable Security is one relatively new contender that emerged back in 2011, and BackBox is another popular Ubuntu-based contender, but I still have to give my vote to BackTrack Linux, the heavyweight in this area whose penetration testing framework is used by the security community all over the world. Others surely have their advantages, but BackTrack is still the one to beat.
Best Multimedia Distribution
Ubuntu Studio has often been named the best distro for multimedia purposes in Linux.com's lists, but it's by no means the only contender. ZevenOS, for instance, is an interesting BeOS-flavored contender that came out with a major update last year.
For sheer power and nimble performance, though, this year's nod goes to Arch Linux. With an active community and thousands of software packages available in its repositories, Arch stays out of the way so your PC can focus on the CPU-intensive tasks at hand.
Best Gaming Distribution
Last but certainly not least is the gaming category, which surely represents one of the biggest developments in the Linux world over this past year. While it may not be relevant for enterprise audiences, gaming has long been held up as a key reason many users have stayed with Windows, so Valve's decision to bring its Steam gaming platform to Linux is nothing if not significant.
The Linux distro choice here? That would have to be Ubuntu, which is specifically promoted by the Valve team itself. “Best experienced on Ubuntu” reads the tag line that accompanied the Steam for Linux release last month, in fact. Bottom line: If you're into gaming, Ubuntu Linux is the way to go.
Have a different view on any of these categories? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Comments
Subscribe to Comments FeedFred Said:
Personally I prefer KDE to Gnome and so do many others. Would be helpful if the best desktop/laptop distro could include listings for Gnome, KDE and Other Shouldn't we also start thinking about best tablet distro?
Nz Said:
Agree with Fred, KDE is my preference as well. I find it odd that Linux mint is discussed as if it was separate from ubuntu, it is not : Linux Mint 14 is based on Ubuntu 12.10. http://Sabayon.org really should have been mentioned in that list, if your looking for comparables. For me Sabayon is always a step ahead of these semi rolling distros...
cym13 Said:
I think it would'nt be relevant to seperate them. When talking about distros, we talk mostly about the base configuration and the first user experience, otherwise it can't have any sense. For example, my distribution is based on ubuntu as I built it from ubuntu-minimal. But the only 'ubuntu' thing I use are the repos and apt. The window manager, the installed programs and so forth are mine. Is which way is it comparable to ubuntu ? I think the same prevale for any distribution such as Mint wich proposes a totally different user experience even if incorporating elements of ubuntu. Don't you ?
pjhercules Said:
I agree with the article. It was by chance that I discovered Fuduntu and I haven't looked back since. Easy to pull clients from Windows and Apple to this as well. It just works and is very smooth. Cheers!
Rick Said:
Yeah, I don't know what the big fuss is over Unity. If you don't like it, switch! Cinnamon works great on my current ubuntu installation.
stlouisubntu Said:
I agree wholeheartedly regarding Cinnamon. Check out the Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix for a complete user friendly implementation: http://cinnamon-remix.sourceforge.net
themainliner Said:
I'll have to try Fuduntu, however if you're looking for a rolling distro with Gnome2 (MATE) I wonder what you make of the excellent Linux Mint Debian Edition (with MATE or another DE of your choice).
opt1mus Said:
The back|track team's "silent development"; Kali Linux, is very much worth a look.
john Said:
It looks fantastic. The documentation is great, and there are builds for arm architectures, which is great for someone like me who uses Chromebooks and Raspberry Pis.
William Babb Said:
I would like to see a recommendation for category we might call work-oriented. This is one with absolute minimum of overhead leaving > 98% of a single-processor cpu for applications. In my case the work being done is "community service" in the form of distributed computing running Boinc as as the process manager for World Community Grid.tasks. I thought Debian would fill the bill but after the strange experience I've had I'm going with Lubuntu this time around.
ShadowX Said:
What, no slackware? Huh....
pajafumo Said:
I didn't try Fuduntu but recently I try Korora, a Fedora based distro and I recomended it to desktop users and to switch Windows users to the Linux World. You should give a try. kororaproject.org
LinuxLover Said:
Zzzzzzz... There is not "best" distro for anything. I simply hate the fact that these lists come out. For me, PCLinuxOS is just heads above everyone else, but that's me. For someone else, Fedora may be the ticket, or Mageia, or OpenSuse... You get the point.
EazyVG Said:
Best "Enthusiast" distro and perhaps polished (KDE/Gnome) - openSUSE. Also, compared to 90% distros out there it indeed is very well optimised for notebooks.
George Said:
Personally, I would prefer any article not written by Katherine Noise. I find her articles to be vapid and lacking in content.
njin Said:
Ubuntu is the best for the medium usr, easy, simple, intuitive.
jors Said:
Debian for server for sure, take a look at the trends: http://w3techs.com/technologies/history_details/os-linux ;)
dza Said:
I'm sorry for the negative comment, but I just had to say I expected something new from this article and what came out of it was another 7 random distributions with 7 random badges with no explanation as to the process of the deciding process whatsoever, pros/cons, or any insight whatsoever... 1/10 .. highly insignificant ..
devrim Said:
i thinks other about that and distrowacth shows so. linux mint is best desktop distro ever.
Scott Dunn Said:
I notice that Gnome Shell seems to get a bad rap just about everywhere. I draw this inference from the following passage: "Fuduntu offers a classic GNOME 2 interface – developed for the desktop, not for mobile devices -- and generally seems to get everything right." While I can understand that there will always be people who will be unsettled by change, Gnome Shell represents a wide departure from the menu driven desktop, a departure that was necessary to break the paradigms promoted by Apple and Microsoft. I like Gnome Shell because it dispenses with the need to traverse menus to get to the program I want. Gnome Shell has found what I believe is a very good compromise by erring on the side of the keyboard rather than the mouse, particularly when launching programs. I have also found that application integration is very good on Gnome Shell. So while it is quite different from Gnome 2.0, there are still familiar interfaces within, such as the file browser once it's open. To me, the convenience of opening a program with a couple of keystrokes, without having to set up a special shortcut, is only part of the bargain offered by Gnome Shell. I've been living with for more than a year and I really can't imagine going back to navigating menus to launch a program.
tim Said:
I have to agree with George and dza. Where are the tests and benchmarks? Or, at least, the supporting statistics on usage trends? It seems as though the author made a quick search on Google and cobbled together a list of other people's opinions. Linux.com should be better than this.
Abderraouf Adjal Said:
I use Xubuntu, not the shit (Ubuntu).
psmatias Said:
Sabayon está show (very cool)
David Said:
I find opensuse parked with kde and the awesome dolphin desktop manager still my favorite. certainly gnome2 is much stable than kde, but kde comes with tones of out-of-the-box software tools to things done. Other than using it as a desktop OS, u can also turn your laptop into a server with easy management tool like Yast. The fact that the distro supports a slew of hardware platforms make it almost painless to work with. However, opensuse aside, i also totally love Linux Mint for it's simplicity and elegance!
Andre Gompel Said:
Like David, I am impressed by Mint 14: a nice, easy to install, solid Linux distro. However for software and kernel development Ubuntu derived distro (Mint is one) are really not that great ! On the flip side, RedHat derived are very good at that. I was very happy with Fedora 17, but Fedora 18 does not seem to be ready for prime time yet. So Fubuntu may be worth trying. So far, impressed with the Live version. I do not know if the Fedora repositories ar fully usable with Fubuntu. If yes, Fubuntu may be to Fedora what Mint is to Ubuntu... which could be bliss ! Andre
Tim Chambers Said:
Tsk, tsk, Abderraouf. Profanity is the effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcefully. +1 for this article, Katherine! I took a look at Fuduntu on your recommendation, but it uses RPM. You'll pry my .deb files out of my cold, dead fingers. I do appreciate being made aware of RMS's criticism of Canonical. However,I believe LF is too quick to take his side, shunning Ubuntu. Unsurprisingly, Canonical community manager Jono Bacon calls it FUD [1]. Here's more of the story. "After criticism by the community members, Canonical included a feature to turn the online search off." [2] Ubuntu is succesful because of the laudable foundation laid by Debian. If it matters that much, then why not spend energy creating Freeubuntu [3], a "pure" free distro variation of Ubuntu that defaults to only what RMS approves of. Why? Because such a distro would be used by not many more people than Debian. Canonical disagrees with Stallman's interpretation of what is best for free software. In the process, they are reaching a mass audience, most of whom don't understand, nor do they every care to understand RMS's lofty philosophical principles. [4] Good for RMS, and good for Canonical! The world's big enough for both. I love emacs more than the command line, but I also love Unity. Too bad it doesn't play nicely with VirtualBox. There was a bug in 12.04 [5]. I took advice to try Xubuntu [6] and loved it. When 12.10 was released, I tried Ubuntu again, but now seamless mode seems to behave like VMWare Unity, which stinks. Performance is a little choppy and flickery. I use Unity in native environments, though. [1] http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/121012-bacon-stallman-264946.html [2] http://www.muktware.com/4942/richard-m-stallman-joins-eff-calls-ubuntu-spyware [3] I like "Frubuntu," but that's the Forensic Response Ubuntu remix LiveCD. [4] All of which I agree with. In principle. Not in practice. [5] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/999929 [6] http://askubuntu.com/questions/136397/seamless-mode-not-working-correctly-in-virtual-box
Tim Chambers Said:
Tsk, tsk, Abderraouf. Profanity is the effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcefully.
+1 for this article, Katherine! I took a look at Fuduntu on your recommendation, but it uses RPM. You'll pry my .deb files out of my cold, dead fingers. I do appreciate being made aware of RMS's criticism of Canonical. However,I believe LF is too quick to take his side, shunning Ubuntu. Unsurprisingly, Canonical community manager Jono Bacon calls it FUD [1]. Here's more of the story. "After criticism by the community members, Canonical included a feature to turn the online search off." [2] Ubuntu is succesful because of the laudable foundation laid by Debian. If it matters that much, then why not spend energy creating Freeubuntu [3], a "pure" free distro variation of Ubuntu that defaults to only what RMS approves of. Why? Because such a distro would be used by not many more people than Debian. Canonical disagrees with Stallman's interpretation of what is best for free software. In the process, they are reaching a mass audience, most of whom don't understand, nor do they every care to understand RMS's lofty philosophical principles. [4] Good for RMS, and good for Canonical! The world's big enough for both.
I love emacs more than the command line, but I also love Unity. Too bad it doesn't play nicely with VirtualBox. There was a bug in 12.04 [5]. I took advice to try Xubuntu [6] and loved it. When 12.10 was released, I tried Ubuntu again, but now seamless mode seems to behave like VMWare Unity, which stinks. Performance is a little choppy and flickery. I use Unity in native environments, though.
[1] www.networkworld.com/news/2012/121012-bacon-stallman-264946.html[2] www.muktware.com/4942/richard-m-stallman-joins-eff-calls-ubuntu-spyware[3] I like "Frubuntu," but that's the Forensic Response Ubuntu remix LiveCD.[4] All of which I agree with. In principle. Not in practice.[5] bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/999929[6] askubuntu.com/questions/136397/seamless-mode-not-working-correctly-in-virtual-box
Tim Chambers Said:
I apologize for the duplicate comments above.
Tsk, tsk, Abderraouf. Profanity is the effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcefully.
+1 for this article, Katherine! I took a look at Fuduntu on your recommendation, but it uses RPM. You'll pry my .deb files out of my cold, dead fingers. I do appreciate being made aware of RMS's criticism of Canonical. However,I believe LF is too quick to take his side, shunning Ubuntu. Unsurprisingly, Canonical community manager Jono Bacon calls it FUD [1]. Here's more of the story. "After criticism by the community members, Canonical included a feature to turn the online search off." [2] Ubuntu is succesful because of the laudable foundation laid by Debian. If it matters that much, then why not spend energy creating Freeubuntu [3], a "pure" free distro variation of Ubuntu that defaults to only what RMS approves of. Why? Because such a distro would be used by not many more people than Debian. Canonical disagrees with Stallman's interpretation of what is best for free software. In the process, they are reaching a mass audience, most of whom don't understand, nor do they every care to understand RMS's lofty philosophical principles. [4] Good for RMS, and good for Canonical! The world's big enough for both.
I love emacs more than the command line, but I also love Unity. Too bad it doesn't play nicely with VirtualBox. There was a bug in 12.04 [5]. I took advice to try Xubuntu [6] and loved it. When 12.10 was released, I tried Ubuntu again, but now seamless mode seems to behave like VMWare Unity, which stinks. Performance is a little choppy and flickery. I use Unity in native environments, though.
[1] www.networkworld.com/news/2012/121012-bacon-stallman-264946.html
[2] www.muktware.com/4942/richard-m-stallman-joins-eff-calls-ubuntu-spyware
[3] I like "Frubuntu," but that's the Forensic Response Ubuntu remix LiveCD.
[4] All of which I agree with. In principle. Not in practice.
[5] bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/999929
[6] askubuntu.com/questions/136397/seamless-mode-not-working-correctly-in-virtual-box
crimsonmane Said:
Every one of these is an ad for linux in general. But they're so hollow that I wish authors of things like this will some day understand they are not helping anyone convert to linux - they're actually confusing the newcomers. Who follows these articles if not every-day users (enthusiasts)? These are not people who benefit in any way from hollow articles. Make a more relevant article by testing popular distros against a task and measuring the OS performance. You can't say "this distro wins for multimedia" if there's no actual competition - that's hollow. You should first set up the parameters: One desktop streaming the same HD video to 3 (or 5) WDTV-Live units on the same local network, Then set the scoreboard: RAM usage, CPU usage, ability to perform other tasks while streaming such as LibreOffice or Steam or Handbrake, Then compare the results and announce a category winner (in this case, multimedia). On the surface this seems like a good way to compare hardware, but since you made the claim "Arch stays out of the way so your PC can focus on the CPU-intensive tasks" it would also be the perfect way to prove it.
rolfman Said:
my 200 euro Packard bell netbook works great with lubuntu...tnx all Linux and other computer/software specialist :)
Iliev Said:
Why are most of the "childish" Linux distributions listed above? Do You remember the SLS project... do You remember Slackware? Why most of the people are like "the easier, the better"?
themainliner Said:
Scott, I'm pleased that you have found in Gnome 3 Shell a desktop that you can work with a desktop that makes you more productive. What irritates me about your comment is that you persist in recycling the hackneyed old myth that people that have rejected Gnome Shell and prefer the menu systems of Gnome 2, xfce, Lxde or even KDE are simply reactionary and unsettled by change. For starters I like nothing more than trying new distros and revel in working with new and different Desktop Environments. One thing I've learned over the past twenty years in this industry is that adjusting your mindset to new working paradigms and giving yourself time to adjust to new modes of operation reaps rewards. However, at a certain point if the DE is an obstacle to your productivity Linux offers choice and you can switch to something that promotes it. I don't like Unity or Gnome Shell and I am far from alone. I prefer the working paradigm of MATE and xfce, I am linerated by these DE's to get to work not shackled by dashes, hotcorners, only keyboard shortcuts or bereft of effective task switching, window controls or tiny screen paradigm. Thanks for you input. However, many of us really dislike your DE choice and we're not idiots or ludites.
Fred Said:
Again this rather lame post of linux distros has brought out the fanboys and trolls and Linux.com got more hits. Even sadder I fell for it as well. Unsubscribe.
ShaunGeorge Said:
Ubuntu bugs flying around than an amazon rain-forest
Timko Mathiasen Said:
I for one appreciate the post. I am a Ubuntu user for my main OS, and like the default desktop of Unity. I agree with some comments, on more content of why that distro is the best in that category. I choose Ubuntu because ease of use in install .deb files, or the continued avenues of easy installation like a YPPA manager as applications continue to find their way to a repository or for what ever reason they are a YPPA. I gave a quick look at Fuduntu, didn't really give it a chance, but maybe I will, if more content was given I might strive more to give Fuduntu a chance. The quick look I gave at Fuduntu, I was not impressed on the software manager. I like the Ubuntu Software Center, it is easy and has a better experience of what the software is, unlike Fuduntu my experience didn't, it is like you definitely had to know what it is called and what it is listed as to know what you are installing. An other problem to me is getting proprietary codecs working, it seems almost impossible, not much on the internet, or community when I looked, but maybe that has changed? yah I hear Fedora or Red Hat Linux are great, where Fuduntu is born from, but my experience so far has put it in the back ground still. Any one to elaborate or suggest why to give Fuduntu a closer look?
CSRedRat Said:
Ubuntu the best for home desctop :)
Iliev Said:
Easy =/= the best... however the best distribution is the one that fits your needs... it's highly individual.
Simon Said:
There's a lot of choice in Linux and a lot of great things happening right now. Furthermore, with the two most popular distros for new users being effectively the same, it is now easier than ever for new users to find all the information they need. All positive. All we need now is for people to stop making new users feel bad about using Mint and Ubuntu, for people to stop using words like "fanboy", "polished" and "bloat" and for people to stop attacking Canonical for infringing upon unwritten rules that people themselves make up when Canonical is only bound by the GPL. I repeat: only bound by the GPL. Rule of law, people. Rule of law. So Canonical doesn't contribute to the kernel? So what? Neither do I. Does that make me an illegitimate user? They are an upstream contributor to Linux Mint, which is a hugely respected and popular distro. Does all that amount to a non-contribution? Linux Community is a "description" of what has naturally built up around this operating system (or systems) we love and use. It is not a "definition". There is no monolithic Linux Community. Just a bunch of people - contributors and non-contributors - and private businesses such as Red Hat, Novell, IBM, HP and Canonical who occasionally toss stuff into the mix to see what they can get out of it, with uniquely (and quite acceptable) commercial motives. Re Richard Stallman: the Ubuntu he approves of exists. It's called "Trisquel". It's rather nice now. He's right to try to get people to think about privacy etc. but I do wonder why some opponents of Ubuntu, pick and choose ideas from RMS to bash Ubuntu but then ignore the ones where he doesn't approve of Fedora, Debian, OpenSUSE, Linux Mint, Mageia etc. If you want to follow Richard's lead, please use Trisquel.
luc Said:
I believe Debian quality is the best. A different approach from all others. A debian testing is much more stable then the other's stable release.
Carling Said:
Katherine, Every user or should I say critic has their own thoughts on which is the best Linux distribution as for me I download every distribution and install them and test them out, The best of the bunch I install on multi boot usb jump drives to demonstrate them to new users, My choice would be Best Desktop Ultimate Edition 3.5 Everything works out of the box Best Gaming Commodore Vision Katherine, Every user or should I say critic has their own thoughts on which is the best Linux distribution as for me I download every distribution and install them and test them out, The best of the bunch I install on multi boot usb jump drives to demonstrate them to new users, My choice would be Best Desktop Ultimate Edition 3.5 Best Gaming Commodore Vision Katherine, Every user or should I say critic has their own thoughts on which is the best Linux distribution as for me I download every distribution and install them and test them out, The best of the bunch I install on multi boot usb jump drives to demonstrate them to new users, My choice would be Best Desktop Ultimate Edition 3.5 Best Gaming Commodore Vision 64 brilliant gaming system Best Multi Media ArtistX does not need Installing everything works from the DVD Best Security System Qubes A total sand box system
Carling Said:
Sorry about that post something went wrong somewhere along the line and I can't correct it in any way. There is no way to delete the post
kurmis Said:
I heard that Netrunner is very nice and stable linux on KDE. Does anyone have any experience with Netrunner? And looks like they have same sponsor like Kubuntu.