Like Carl and Matt, I've worked with both RPM and DEB based
distributions.  I've also committed a year of my life (that I'll never
get back, mind you), trying to wedge Gentoo into a production
environment (not my first choice by any means).  Like Carl and Matt, I
have a biased opinion about which distribution is "best".

This is my own biased, honest opinion.  Debian's quality, transparency,
and ease of use far exceeds that of other distributions.  Ubuntu
polished this for the masses of Desktop users and Corporate types who
want to be able to point a finger and blame someone for their problems.
Ubuntu did what Debian couldn't do alone, raise corporate awareness and
support for DEB format of packages.

The fact of the matter is this, it all boils down to familiarity with
the toolset.  If you want hands-off experience with Linux, go with a
commercial distribution where you can submit bug reports and expect a
prompt call or email to help you.  If you're willing to get your hands
dirty, you may find yourself rolling your own RPM or DEB or PKG or
whathaveyou.  Which is easier?  None of them.  They all have a suite of
applications that you'll need to research either via manpages (the
correct place for info), web pages, or forums.

I'm most familiar with Debian-based tools.  I can cruise around at
light-speed creating backport packages, new packages, applying patches,
and making a general nuisance of myself.  RPM's and the spec file format
have never been all that interesting to me.  I understand them, but I
prefer to be able to create multiple files for my maintainer scripts
(postinst, preinst, etc.)  Gentoo .ebuild files, like .spec files, and
like debian/rules files, all contain information on how to patch,
compile, and build binaries.  They all have different features, are
maintained (whether well or poorly) by different people who invest
differing amounts of time in to them.  Is it wasted effort to maintain
all of these different distributions, all of these different build
systems, participate in all of these different communities?  No,
everyone has different needs and holds different ideals.

What's the best distribution?  Depends upon your environment and needs.
Basically, who cares.  It's all just code anyway.  You just need to
commit, be it with money or time.

Chad