Which is the best Linux available?

[sidyadav]

Just wanted ya'll's opinion on which is the most "stable", "scalable" and "easy-to-usable" linux available - Slackware, Redhat, Debian, SUSE or something not mention in this post?

Just need to know, if in the future, I do decide to "buy one"

Sid

[evinrude]

Well, it all depends on your purpose. You'll likely get different answers depending on if you want to set up a desktop or a server...

Desktop: For ease of use probably Mandrake. Installation is a snap, and doesn't take very long, depending on install options you choose. Mandrake desktops that I've set up seem to be very stable and generally scaling wasn't much of an issue.

Server: Well, I'd defer to FreeBSD for that, but for Linux, I haven't seen anything that tops a Gentoo built server. Can't claim ease-of-use on that one, though, at least for the installation. Once installed, though, it's pretty easy to maintain with the emerge system.

Since it's built literally from the ground up for your system, they tend to be reliable and stable machines.

That said, I've only built small systems that easily handle the load they are given, so I haven't had to worry much about scalability.

[bakedjake]

Stable, Scalable, Easy to Use

Pick any two. :)

The most stable and easy-to-use platform is probably Mandrake. The most stable and scalable is probably one of the RedHat derivatives, as is scalable and easy-to-use.

For all three? If you've never used Linux before, and you don't want to learn the internals, I'd stick with Mandrake.

[danny]

I'm not sure if Best Linux still exists - they're web site used to be at [bestlinux.net...]

[Kronan]

I would definitly say Slackware Linux, its very secure, installation isnt really all that hard.

[Wertigon]

I'd say go with Debian if you want a server environment - It's rock-stable, and has very much scalability, as well as offer ease of use. It is not, however, user friendly, but once you learn the system and familiarize yourself with apt-get, it's very easy to use. =)

[bacon]

Debian prides itself at cross-platform stablity, it regularly lags being the cutting edge (on the 'stable' releases) but this makes for a very stable platform.

Mandrake has to be the easiest to use, being very Desktop related.

Redhat has server market in its pocket (so scalable?), my experience is only of the enterpise and I find it great.

Currently I run Debian, for my day-to-day. Gentoo for my development, Mandrake to show to my friends!

PS: 'bestlinux' is now www.sot.com