Most Linux distributions use one or more mainstream desktop environments. To be honest with you, I prefer KDE. My next preference is XFCE, followed by GNOME. And LXDE brings up the rear of the mainstream desktop environments for me. Every user has his own preferences, of course. That's why arguments over Linux distributions and desktop environments will never end. People will always have differences of opinion.
There is a way to determine a current leader, though. The most democratic way is voting. Wouldn't it be interesting to know which distribution is doing better with each of the mainstream desktop environments? I had already announced a poll for the best KDE-based distribution. And I've previously announced the results twice. Now it's time for my second-favourite DE to be voted on. I announced voting for the best XFCE-based Linux distribution on the 1st of December 2011, and gave visitors of my blog 2 weeks to vote. Let's look at the results.
First of all, I must admit that I have adjusted the resulting spreadsheet a little. There are two reasons:
- Spam. There was a record with a link which was intended to attract attention to the Comments field, rather than to put a real vote into the voting bin. Minus one vote for Aptosid.
- Likely double voting. Two records had the same choice, and were separated by a few seconds. Unfortunately, I can't see the IP addresses of voters. That's why I excluded one out of of a pair. Minus one vote for Xubuntu.
| Xubuntu | 31 |
| Linux Mint XFCE | 12 |
| Debian XFCE | 8 |
| Other | 7 |
| Fedora XFCE | 4 |
| Salix XFCE | 4 |
| Aptosid XFCE | 3 |
| Sabayon XFCE | 2 |
| Saline OS | 2 |
| DreamLinux | 1 |
As you can see, Xubuntu is the undisputed leader among the XFCE-based distributions used by readers of my blog. Linux Mint XFCE follows it with less than half as many votes. Another with less than half as many votes is Debian XFCE. Option "Others" gathered quite a few votes, too. Who are those "Others"? They are Crunchbang, Arch, Slackware and OpenSuSE. Yes, OpenSuSE is still an option.
Voters left many comments, apart from naming their favourite XFCE-based distro for the "Others" choice. Here are the most interesting, from my point of view:
- Out of these, Xubuntu is the only xfce distro that I have used. and it is pretty good.
How can you vote for the Best XFCE distribution if you've only tried one? - Well I love xfce4. It's so easy and straight forward to use. I also don't like spending money, and as I need my own laptop for work, I usually get the cheapest one I can get away with. Currently, it's an unbranded zoostorm, and the only distro that has picked up all the hardware including the "fn" keys was xubuntu (as I knew it would). So that's why I voted for it, it's pretty brilliant, actually, except for the lack of compiz support.
A close second would be zenwalk. It's what I have on my desktop, but it needs more setting up and has less hardware support.
I have to disagree about Compiz support. Otherwise, I totally agree that Xubuntu is good for low-resource computers that you can buy cheaply. - You don't even have the best one on here. It's Crunchbang (#!) XFCE. Now after saying that, I have to be upfront and say that the developer just announced that he will no longer support the XFCE version (which is a pity). Why is it so great? It's lightweight, simple, elegant, and everything just works. Also, I really like the developer's one-app approach. He doesn't have 5 media players built in or anything like that. I had taken the time once to setup Debian XFCE, but after setting it up, I found that #! XFCE was almost exactly like my Debian setup. So after buying a new computer, I went the #! XFCE route, and I am loving it.
I have tried neither #!, nor Debian XFCE. I should probably do it some time in the future. Alternatively, maybe you can offer me a review as a guest post.
What can I add myself? I have tried several XFCE-based distributions so far: Saline OS, Salix, Linux Mint XFCE, Fedora XFCE and Xubuntu. My choice definitely coincides with one of my readers. Xubuntu is the best choice for this XFCE lover.
Do you agree?
Do you want to try any of these distributions yourself? If you wish, you can order a CD with from Buy Linux CDs service, and the disk will be delivered to your mailbox anywhere in the world.
| This post was edited by djohnston. |
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