When looking in to the Linux operating system, one can easily become overwhelmed by all of the choices that are available. Linux is all about choice. There are many many different distributions of Linux available today and almost all of them are free. This makes it easy to try one and if you do not like it, you can easily download and install a different one. While it is always a good idea to have a couple of the “live” distributions on hand (see my post on my recommended live distributions), sooner or later there will be a desire to have an actual Linux installation on a computer.

For actual hard-drive installations, my distribution of choice would have to be Debian. I have dappled with Fedora, Mandrake, and a couple of other distributions, but I keep coming back to Debian. Some of the reasons for this are that there is generally very good information available via Google to assist with any questions or difficulties I have (which makes it easier to learn and use) and the aptitude package management tool makes installing and removing new programs a breeze.

You can check out DistroWatch.com to see a fairly complete list of the different distributions available.

What is your favorite Linux distribution for a hard-drive install?