Should Phoronix switch to a different "main" distro?

[Electric-Gecko]

Although Phoronix covers news on all things Linux, and occasionally other OS's, Ubuntu remains to be the main distro of choice for running tests (as you can see in the PTS panel at the beginning of benchmark articles. While Ubuntu has long been the most popular example of a desktop Linux distro, it has recently been on it's own separate path to become less of a Linux distro, and apparently much of the Linux community has felt betrayed by Canonicals choices with it. The more Ubuntu moves away from Linux, the less accurately it represents Linux in general.

Does everyone (or anyone) else feel like Phoronix should switch to a different main distro? I think it would be a good idea.

Michael might just be using Ubuntu because he thinks that's what most of his readers use. But I suspect that many are moving away from Ubuntu now due to the way Ubuntu is headed. But even without that, going with the most popular distro isn't going to make these benchmarks represent the general Linux userbase any better while they're using the latest unstable MESA pulled straight from git.

Other distributions would also make it easier for Michael to install more updated versions of software (as he always does). Ubuntu just isn't suited to that. A distro that's more oriented to this would also make it easier for Phoronix readers to replicate Michael's set-up.

While I started on Ubuntu a few years ago, I have now moved on to Manjaro. It keeps the software much more up to date (with it's automatic update system) than Ubuntu with it's silly release system, and I have not experienced any trade-off of stability. It's arguably more user-friendly than Ubuntu even for basic users, but definately better for Michael's use-case. So I'm going to recommend switching to Manjaro or Arch Linux.

Which Linux distribution do you think Phoronix should centre around?

If you vote anything with "other", then I recommend specifying it in a post.

Update: If you simply don't mind the way things are, then please don't vote "Ubuntu". Instead, vote for the "I don't care" option which I added at the bottom.
But I recommend voting for an actual distro if you have any preference whatsoever.

[Hi-Angel]

Not gonna vote because I don't really care what distro other peoples use, but if that helps: a year ago I moved Ubuntu→Archlinux, never looked back. Among different features I can mention really fast package manager — it's around 3 times faster than dpkg.

[Beherit]

I'd vote for "it's good as it is".

I don't use Ubuntu, but I'm fine with it being used as the comparative base. There'll always be controversies, real or not, regardless of distro. I'd be fine with Debian, Slackware, Fedora as well. But I don't see the usefulness in switching benchmark distro based on subjective controversy or likes/dislikes.

[Electric-Gecko]

I'd vote for "it's good as it is".

I don't use Ubuntu, but I'm fine with it being used as the comparative base. There'll always be controversies, real or not, regardless of distro. I'd be fine with Debian, Slackware, Fedora as well. But I don't see the usefulness in switching benchmark distro based on subjective controversy or likes/dislikes.

You didn't vote "Ubuntu" based on that, did you?

If so, that's not the point of this poll. The point is to select your favourite. Voting Ubuntu doesn't mean you don't mind how it is; it means you would prefer it over something else.

EDIT: I have now added an "I don't care" option. So if you voted "Ubuntu" because you don't mind how it is, then please change your vote.
Because there's a limit of 10 options, I decided to merge "Linux Mint" with "other Debian", although those didn't have any votes yet.

[Beherit]

EDIT: I have now added an "I don't care" option. So if you voted "Ubuntu" because you don't mind how it is, then please change your vote.
Because there's a limit of 10 options, I decided to merge "Linux Mint" with "other Debian", although those didn't have any votes yet.

Fair enough. Can I change my vote, as in, is it possible? I can't find any edit button.

[jayki]

IMHO: Ubuntu has too much distribution specific patches and options/fixes, which won't be in any other Linux System, so i would like to have more "vanilla" testing done here.
I think Archlinux might be one of the easiest one for doing this, because they don't disimprove packages with their own shit.

[enihcam]

- For some benchmarks, it is better to test without X server.
- People love Arch not only because it is simple, but also because it can be easily customized and optimized.

[TheBlackCat]

I personally use openSUSE, but I think using a more pure, unpatched distro like Arch (which I voted for) would give a more accurate measure of the performance of Linux.

[Shevchen]

I've started with Arch (with a little help) and like it. Up-to-date, easy to modify, perfect wiki to get started and I can do all the stuff on it I want. I've told a couple of friends about it and they think about switching from Windows directly to Arch too, while some of them are still... erm... "afraid" and want to try Ubuntu first. Nevertheless, for gaming-benchmarks most people are enthusiasts anyway (if they care for gaming benchmarks) and want to see any possible performance available and for that very reason, I'd be most comfortable with Arch.

[Adarion]

Gentoo, of course! SCNR.
I know Michael would never do that.
So yes, all that Ubuntu focus... well, it's a bit much. On the other hand it is Debian based and Debian and its derivatives are relatively widespread. I guess unless distributions do their own patches to Kernel, Mesa etc. the sheer kernel / mesa version numbers might be more important and give somewhat comparable results.

It would be fine though to occasionally test on some other-than-Ubuntu binary distribution occasionally. Or have the occasional comparison of different distributions with the same HW as Michael did in the past. That'd be enough for me.

(didn't vote on the poll since I won't try to force Gentoo upon people, it's all about choice, you know)