Since there are more than 100 different distros which offers GNOME as one of their desktop environments, it would be a “bit” difficult to test them all and see which one is the most suited for you. Instead of doing that, it would be more realistic to focus on certain aspects you wish to include inside your distro of choice, such as: high level of integration with GNOME apps, easy to install, being user friendly (or not) and having the latest versions of packages at your disposal…
The above are just general thumb rules you may use to help you solve the “GNOME quest” by yourself. Using these aspects mentioned above I have found there are basically 3 main distros which most people would probably find as the ones offering the best GNOME experience of them all, so let’s rank them one by one and use these rankings to help us decide which is the best one:
Fedora
Fedora is the distribution with the largest amount of developers working on GNOME project, it has just recently built a new automated installer and uses YUM and RPM for default package management. Its release model is – scheduled release – i.e. released on a specific predetermined date.
Rankings:
- Easy to install: 9/10
- GNOME integration: 10/10
- User friendly: 8/10
- Large repository: 8.5/10
- Latest software: 9/10
- Stability: 7.5/10
All-in-All: 52/60
Arch
Arch is the most bleeding edge Linux distro there is, always providing the latest upstream packages and using a rolling-release model, it is heavily relies on the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle, and aims for intermediate to advanced users. Arch has not long ago switched its BSD style init to GNOME compatible – “systemd” system manager.
Rankings:
- Easy to install: 3/10
- GNOME integration: 9.5/10
- User friendly: 4/10
- Large repository: 8/10
- Latest software: 10/10
- Stability: 7/10
All-in-All: 41.5/60
Ubuntu
Ubuntu has the largest repository of all Linux distributions – more than 50,000 packages and still counting, it aims to be very user friendly and unlike the other two distros mentioned above it is based off of another distribution (Debian). Ubuntu uses apt-get and deb for package management, and a more mature init called Upstart.
Rankings:
- Easy to install: 10/10
- GNOME integration: 8.5/10
- User friendly: 10/10
- Large repository: 10/10
- Latest software: 8/10
- Stability: 8/10
All-in-All: 54.5/60 – Overall winner
In conclusion
Judging by the above mentioned criteria, the distro who got the best rankings out of the three is Ubuntu, and for a good reason may I add – out of the 3, Ubuntu is the only distro which declares being user friendly as one of it’s main goals plus having a large repo is very helpful no matter what’s your computing skill. Based on my own experience the results are pretty much reflecting what I’ve felt during the use of each distro.
But what does that means? is Ubuntu the ultimate GNOME distro for everyone needs? probably not. Although I’ve tried to make the rankings as objective as possible, it is still based on my own knowledge and perception. Beyond that, if you’ll take out the user-friendliness and ease of installation from the equation, which aren’t so crucial for experienced users, you’re going to end up with a totally different result – Fedora wins while Ubuntu and Arch are in a draw. So basically, it’s up to you to decide which variables should be taken into account when choosing your own best GNOME distro.
Best of luck :-)