Users voted for best XFCE-based Linux distribution

I just tried Xubuntu 11.10, installed from the 32bit x86 CD iso.

Problem 1: It does not support networking natively in Thunar out of the box had to google to fix that problem.

Solution is to install a missing package gvfs-backends.

Problem 2: If you want perfect theme integration across all apps you can choose any theme as long as its "greybird". Any other theme causes some apps such as gnome-system-monitor to look like it was made for Windows 3.1 a quick google shows others have the same problem with other apps such as pavucontrol not theming either.

Solution: No perfect solution yet.

Problem 3: No central system settings area that I can find on the base install, I consider this a must have on any desktop OS regardless of how minimalist it is.

Please note I said desktop OS, Im also a Slackware user and i am well used to doing without these niceties but when it comes to my desktop I expect simple that my late grandma could use.

I use PCLinuxOS Phoenix (XFCE) Edition as my main os none of these are a problem, I can use any theme i like without any hardship. Control Centre is there for all your hardware configuration needs. Thunar networks out of the box. Memory usage from a cold start is 150 Mb with MySql and Vmware drivers running and 121MB without.

Why on earth would i use Xubuntu?

I would have to assume his readers are masochists as I like my OS to work pretty much out of the box,

Quoting:My problem with these "best distro for $DE" is that I have to wonder how many voters have actually tried multiple distros (with that same DE), so that they'd be in a position to make an informed vote.

One of the reasons I suggested the page hit ranking on DistroWatch is the users of that site largely represent the membership of Distro Hoppers Anonymous. I write for DW now and again and if you ever read the comments section (difficult at times, I know) you certainly know that a lot of those people change distros the way most people change socks.

Seriously, I've grumbled about the "perfect" this and "best" that articles for a long time. No offense to the author, but this 74 vote survey is about as accurate as a Ouija board.

Im reminded of the /. byline on their polls

This whole thing is wildly inaccurate. Rounding errors, ballot stuffers, dynamic IPs, firewalls. If you're using these numbers to do anything important, you're insane.

Easily fixed.

Suggest to DarkDuck that he re-label his informal survey as an "informal survey", or if calling it a poll is important, that he call it a "straw poll". If you ask nice, he might even add a few caveats specifying that it's not a mathematically or methodologically reliable, formal study. Problem solved. :-P

Not that I see it as a "real" problem, in the first place. I doubt any one (including DarkDuck) sees his blog -- or this poll -- as anything other than a fairly casual and informal presentation of Linux. That may be considered a fairly significant flaw, but it might also be considered its chief strength, and its principle charm.

Perhaps that approach is not to many LXers' taste (at least not the vocal ones) -- but so what?

@BernardSwiss - my suggestion is even simpler: change the LXer headline from

Users voted for best XFCE-based Linux distribution

to

74 users voted for best XFCE-based Linux distribution

@ComputerBob:

Quoting:change the LXer headline

Pointless. Whatever the number is before the "users", there will always be people who are not happy with poll results. Thus, they'll find any possible hole to say the poll is incorrect. How many voters would you consider as reliable source? 100? 200? 1000? 10000? Even then they will remember about firewalls, anonymizers, calculation methodology, users who only tried one and thus can't compare with others. Flaws are everywhere, if you are looking for them. That's why having "Users voted", "74 users voted" or "1074 users voted" won't make any difference.

Low number of votes? There were about 260 people who read that particular post before the publishing date. Only 74 voted - others were not interested in voting. I can't make them, it's a free world. But maybe they don't have their preferred distro? Those who care - they showed their vote.

In fact, this is my second poll. And there were exactly the same arguments about results of my first one about KDE. First round of results had 88 votes. There were lots of comments. Then I had new results published with 140 votes. Different number of votes, but still same leaders and even proportions between systems. It shows that statistics was correct even the first time.

So, whether you trust figures or not - it is subjective topic, not mathematical one.

@DarkDuck, 74 votes may seem significant to you, because your blog hardly gets any visitors, but IMHO, a poll with the results of 74 uknown visitors to an unpopular blog contains no information of value to me, and doesn't belong on a real news site like LXer.

After I read your blog, I felt like you had wasted my time. I suspect that I'm not the only person who read it and then thought "That *might* be interesting information for the tiny group of people who regularly visit DarkDuck's blog, but why did he post it on LXer?"

I fully understand that you don't care that I feel that way -- and that your standards for what should be considered "newsworthy" are much lower than mine. And that you apparently have no knowledge of, or interest in, the basic principles of statistics. Therefore, I won't make the mistake of reading your blog again.

Of course 1074 votes is more significant than 74. I take it you never took a statistics class, darkduck.

@caitlyn: In fact I had statistics class. The teacher there was one of the most boring in whole uni. But I still passed my exam. Of course, remember no formulas since then, because never used them since exam.

I understand that 1074 votes would be more significant, but not necessarily with different results. That's the point I want to explain.

...and not necessarily with the same results. The fact is that you don't know. The fact is that I am no better informed for reading your blog post.

... and I have already given you example where difference in proportion given by 88 and 140 voters is insignificant.

I think these links should help you agree on something.

Let's hope these are enough. :-)

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_...

http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm

http://www.robertniles.com/stats/sample.shtml

http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html

I just finished a 4-day poll of everyone sitting at my desk.

100% of them will never read DarkDuck's blog again.

Maybe I should post it as a news story on a really popular Linux news site, because - even though virtually no one ever visits my blog - I'm sure that the whole world will want to see the results of my really important survey.

/sarcasm (again, for those who would otherwise misunderstand).

No CBob, it's just you being childish and rude.

> Of course 1074 votes is more significant than 74. I take it you never took a statistics class, darkduck.

Well since "everyone" else is being picky I would like to point out that this statement may also be incorrect. Reason being that if the large sample is not *representative* and the small sample is then the latter is more significant.

This issue of representativeness is particularly acute in self selecting surveys that you find on the internet.

Having said that my guess is that DarkDucks very small survey has also not been checked for representativeness and so is likely of very limited value.

Happy Holidays Everyone.

Unbelievable. Are you people still arguing over this?

Take this down if it is offensive... But whenever I see an online argument my mind goes right to this saying - http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1368/987251565_22ea2338dd.jpg

~Jeff

Up to this point I was manfully resisting the urge to post this link:

http://xkcd.com/386/

montezuma wrote:Having said that my guess is that DarkDucks very small survey has also not been checked for representativeness and so is likely of very limited value.

just proves my previous statement

darkduck wrote:Even then they will remember about firewalls, anonymizers, calculation methodology, users who only tried one and thus can't compare with others. Flaws are everywhere, if you are looking for them.

Enjoyed Bernard's joke. Did not enjoy Jeff's, what is usual for me. Parted from this discussion.

@Jeff91: Your picture is offensive and in poor taste. You show a great deal of immaturity for someone who is the main developer of an Ubuntu spin. We get it you don't like darkduck, fine, but really you've got nothing better to contribute but a cheap gag at the expense of mentally challenged people? Arguing on the internet is far less productive than a mentally challenged person's sense of accomplishment in partaking in the Special Olympics. So carry on Jeff why don't you write another great article slagging off the Fedora IRC channel.