I would urge anyone new to Linux coming from a windows background to try PCLinuxOS. It took me a while to discover as it seems to be the best kept secret of Linux. I've gone through Debian, Arch, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, Slackware, Mepis, Puppy but always come back to PCLinuxOS. It's easy to install, easy to maintain and has excellent hardware recognition. Add a welcoming community that is happy to answer all the newbie questions without insulting people and you have the recipe for the 'Distro hopper stopper'. The PCLinuxOS version of KDE4 is also the best set up of all that I've tried.

This is the poetry of the 22nd century!

You wouldn't consider adopting me? I just wanna have phun!

No mention of Gnewsense? Unusual - Sure is. very few distros take software freedom this seriously. Obscure - Sadly again true. Very few Linux users take software freedom this seriously. Useful - If you want to know if your hardware doesn't require non-free binary blobs then this is a good way to check.

Can't get to the site but if your list is complete I'm surprised there's no mention of Scientific Linux. The distro created by the Fermi National Accelerator laboratory and CERN has to be high on the list of unusual and interesting Linux distributions. Actually, works pretty well as a standard desktop too...

These odd naming conventions and 'complete lack of marketing savvy' are one of the reasons I love Linux. The Gimp is a slap in the face for all the 'Image over content' people. Its like the whole nonsense of branding. I choose a product because it does what I want, not because it has a cool name and makes me feel better about myself. Its not Linux naming conventions that need to grow up, but the rest of the world. If they changed the name of Photoshop to Plop would it change the underlying software? Nope... Would people stop buying it in droves? Yep... I'll continue to use Gimp because it does what I need...

Yup, they are all patently stupid.

I'm a PC... Windows with no boundaries... er.. well...um...