Which Linux?

seanooi

Dec 12 2005, 02:37 PM

I was just wondering, cause since windows had been giving me major pi*soff problems, I'm thinking of switching to linux.
I heard that FreeBSD is good for beginners, SuSE too, and so is Fedora Core. So which one would be the best recommendation for a total linux illiterated user like myself?

Inspiron

Dec 12 2005, 03:22 PM

I would put MadrakeLinux first on the Linux list.. Because almost everything is automatic upon installation.. Quite a good feature for people who know nothing about Linux..

2nd on my list is Linspire.. It looks like Windows XP by interface.. So its another good feature for Linux idiots too..

mukund

Dec 12 2005, 04:42 PM

if u think of luinux... go for Redhat Fedora or Mendake.

If U Want to avoid problems with Windows, use Windows Xp/2003

If You Can spent a bit more from your Pocket... Go get a Supe Babe - Apple.

Get a G5 loaded with Tiger. And U'll never cry again.
By Again I mean U'll have to cry once... For the Cost of G5.

pbrugge

Dec 12 2005, 07:58 PM

What linux??

What do you want to do with it??

ubuntu = easy installer and debian based. great beginners distro and as easy to install as windows (some say it is even easier). Most things work out of the box and getting software is easy as the abc

mandriva (formaly known as mandrake) = also a nice beginners distro but uses a strange path-tree which will seem weird when you go to a more 'pro'distro.
it is rpm based so packages are again easy to install but compiling software from source could become a hell because of the path-tree.

[url= http://fedora.redhat.com/]fedora[/url] Again a nice distro and most of the things I said in mandriva also count for fedora but there is one odd thing and that is that some mediasoftware are not supported for installing for example mp3 is something you need to install by a small work arround.

There are so many distro's you could pick. Just try a few and see wich one suits you best

But remember looks of a distro does not say anything you can custumice it the way you want. If you want a windows look well go ahead, apple look no problem, or something complete new?? its up to you.

One sidenote:

Linspire is a distro where you need to pay for software that you can get for free on the internet (no I dont mean warez). Its a distro that also comes with the crossover pluggin for windows apps but you will see that most things in windows (like office) also have a opensource friend (like openoffice) that can do the same and more.

GreetZ

pbrugge

Dec 12 2005, 08:01 PM

QUOTE(Inspiron @ Dec 12 2005, 03:22 PM)

Linux idiots???

sjees

SqlByte

Dec 12 2005, 08:37 PM

So if you are linux newbie the major problem for you is affcourse which distro to use...

My personal think is that first you need to use something like live linux cd. Koppix or some other... becouse that way you cant phuckup anything

Then you should install SuSe ( its very quite and beautifuly

) or Ubuntu ( he is frendly user, maybe more then suse ). Ubuntu you can order for free ( affcourse all linux distros are free ) and youll be shipped on your home address with free of charge..
http://shipit.ubuntu.com < you can order as many cd's as you wont ( default and minimum is 10cd's ) i ordered 20 im gona put em on my wall.

So i must say that Ubuntu have text based installer, but its realy noting hard

only on ubuntu i didnt like the brwon collor ..

nevermind
IF you have new version of SuSe and Ubuntu i suggest you to go for SuSe.

Then when you see how linux work and everything that you can choose on your own... i would say youll go for Slackware, yes he is very "hard" but if you hate windows that much you wont notice that slack is hard

Or you can simply use some Distro chooser.. like :
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php

or maybe:
http://eedok.voidofmind.com/linux/chooser.html

Have fun and post results from Distro choosers...
im too shame of my distro lol

realthor

Dec 13 2005, 08:38 AM

One nice article about Linux that explains things on Mepis Linux - a Debian based Linux distro- is set up on http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT3135712364.html. I would say it compares very well with Ubuntu/Kubuntu both debian based so a breeze to install anything and upgrade software and distro without reinstalling the whole package.
There are even XP themes as you'll read in this article that make you feel better if you're very used with WindowsXP, for example.Read on, it's very comprehensive article and explains many things. Cheers!

Sprnknwn

Dec 13 2005, 11:09 AM

I use Ubuntu. It´s free, of course, and if you want they send you copies to your house no matter where you live. I think right now it´s probably the best alternative to Windows for people who are not very familiar with computing.

By the way, the minimum they send you is five copies. I know because I got a packet with them a month ago.

seanooi

Dec 13 2005, 11:40 AM

Well, i've just downloaded the 64bit version of ubuntu's ISO file and am waiting for my extra RAM to arrive before i install it. So currently I'm still stuck with windows.

I also downloaded a SuSE DVD ISO file just to play around with it. But the RAM is suppose to come with my new DVD burner, so yeah, I'm also waiting for that before i can burn the image. Right now all i can do is just stare at screenshots of Ubuntu and SuSE, admiring the interface, and looking at a whooping 3.6GB file on my computer, hahahaha

pawitp

Dec 14 2005, 10:53 AM

What about trying the knoppix live cd to get used to linux while waiting for your RAM/DVDBurner. How much ram do you have anyway? Ubuntu should run fine with a little bit less RAM. If you can run a decent windows installation, then your ubuntu shouldn't be any problem for you.

Ps How come you have a 64bit PC with little RAM?

Latest Entries

DynamicMan

Jan 1 2006, 01:57 AM

My favorite used to be Slackware because the directory tree made sense to me and all configuration files were pre-populated and commented for easy learning. But it was/is not the easiest for getting up and going in a graphical environment.

I tried Redhat for awhile but, despite its popularity, I like to keep it simple and Redhat seemed/seems too complex.

Recently I noticed on DistroWatch, a website that tracks virtually all linux distributions, that Ubuntu is now the most popular distribution. So I downloaded it and installed it on my new 64-bit laptop. After a few days using it in a dual-boot configuration with Windows XP I liked it so much that I obliterated XP.

Now I only boot Ubuntu on my laptop. It is not cluttered like other distributions, but has all the essential stuff like OpenOffice.org, Evolution Mail, and Firefox web browser. It also makes it easy to add more packages as you need to. Hope this helps!

DynamicMan

Unregistered 015

Dec 27 2005, 07:15 PM

I see there are a lot of recommendations and I have to join.

I vote for Knoppix (Live DVD). It's filled with stuff for a begginer. I'm not that unfamiliar with unix/linux systems. I used Red Hat's when it was at version 6.0. Since then I turned back to windoze, but now I sometimes boot knoppix.

It comes with probably everything you wil need (including open office). It installs all the drivers (at least on my machine) without you doing any thing. I even can use my adsl connection without any aditional work. Great distro...

If you want to do "tricks", however, you might want to get NavyNos, but you'll probablly find it "hard".

fffanatics

Dec 27 2005, 05:36 PM

I agree with leiaah. In order to determine which linux distro is the best you just have to try them and see which one works for you. When i first started using linux i tried out fedora core 2 and then mepis and mandrake linux of which none of them i liked or could i figure out how to load them on an external harddrive. So finally, i tried Suse and it solved all my troubles with the external and i love the user interface and its features and how often it gets updated. So just go out and try some. I just dont recommend trying gentoo linux since you dont know much about linux nor making a kernal and all and this would just cause you major frustration

leiaah

Dec 27 2005, 04:34 PM

QUOTE(psychiccyberfreak @ Dec 26 2005, 10:03 AM)

there is really no 'best' Distro for you. You need to download them all, test them, and see which one is the best for you, not just 'the best'.

There are more than 200 distro out there and more in development so it would be very difficult to download and test ALL of them. Maybe just the proven and tested ones.

Eikon

Dec 27 2005, 05:50 AM

Personally, I'm a fan of Ubuntu, just because it's so easy to use and I don't know too much about programming or anything like that.