Redhat Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 The almightly Distrowatch - http://www.distrowatch.com Go here and look through the different distros. See what tickles your fancy. Heres my opinions on distributions of Linux, and what kind of linux users I think are suited to them. 'membr, these are just my views! Ubuntu LinuxI run this on my Dell Inspiron currently, and it works wonders. I'm running the preview release of the next release of Ubuntu called Hoary. The current release is called Warty, and is a stable distribution based on Debian . Installation is easy for computer minded people, but people new to computing and linux may want someone else to install it for them. Text-based install a la debian. WebsiteForumsGentoo LinuxI used to run this on the desktop, until I wanted to try SuSE 9.2 x86_64. Then I realise 4 hours work had gone and I couldn't be bothered to reinstall. I plan to reinstall when 2005.0 is released, although I could install now and upgrade through the package system (portage). Good, solid distribution, contrary to popular opinion I found it easy to install, just takes a while to get it up and running with a desktop environment.WebsiteForumsSlackwareI used to run this all the time. I think the reason I switched from it was because I wanted a 2.6 kernel but was afraid to compile my own at the time. Extremely solid distro with a main development team of...one! The only distro that's really kept strong from the beginning. 10.1 just released!WebsiteUNOFFICIAL ForumsSuSEI've run this (64bit version - comes on same DVD) on the desktop and was impressed. Although it's VERY VERY VERY annoying when you get software that isn't compatible. I'm not sure why, probably missing dependencies, but in my experience, always been the way with SuSE. Good for new people to linux that don't want to install much extra software. WebsiteUNOFFICIAL ForumsMandrakeI tried this on the laptop, as I'd heard it had good wireless support preinstalled, no mucking around with ndiswrapper. To my disappointment, my Broadcom built-in chipset neither worked out of the box nor could I configure using iwlist/iwconfig and let Mandrake notice there was hardware there. But apart from that, it seemed quite a nice distro, FTP install option, easy for beginners also. WebsiteUNOFFICIALl (I Think) ForumsFedora CoreRefused to work on the laptop. Both old and new one. Sluggish on the desktop, but that was out of the box. I'm sure after some service tweaking, it would run as any other distro. Nice for beginners (not I've been refraining from calling new people to linux "newbies"!!) simple enough to install and administrate. WebsiteUNOFFICIAL ForumsSimplyMepis (3.3)Superb distro for the beginner, and those that want a working desktop out-of-the-box. Picked up the wireless card, picked up the sound, picked up everything. Came with a thousand and one applications with everything that you need. Nice if you want that sort of thing. WebsiteUNOFFICIAL ForumsDebianDid a net install, then apt-get'ed linux-image-2.6.10. Simple to use if you know what your doing. Stable distro which many have based their's on (Mepis, Ubuntu, Knoppix etc...). To me, feels like gentoo with a shorter get-up=and-running time.WebsiteUNOFFICIAL ForumsArch UPDATE!!Did an FTP install on 3rd April 2005, and this is now on both the laptop and desktop. If your not new to linux, I'd recommend Arch. Like gentoo, you install the latest and greatest over the net during install, I had a bare system up in 10 minutes or less. Simple install of x.org and kde. Am now running enlightenment on the laptop and I'm simply loving it.Website ForumsUSEFUL LINKShttp://www.distrowatch.com - Distribution information site.http://www.linux-on-laptops.net - Name explains it all.http://www.gentoo-portage.com - Index of Gentoo's package system.http://www.linuxpackages.net - Slackware Packages.http://www.rpmfind.net - Software in RPM Packages.http://www.google.com/linux - Linux version of Google.http://www.linuxlinks.com - Linux links portalhttp://www.linuxsecurity.com - Linux security websiteMore links soon...Shall add more distros soon too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popeye Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 I will be very interested to follow this thread.When I purchase my new Comp I intend to install Linux on this present machine and I have have been pondering which Distro to try.Keep us posted Redhat please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topband Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 Redhat,I notice you haven't mentioned Xandros I have been using it since last June 2004. Its based on the KDE desktop, if you're used to Windows you should get on with Xandros with no problem. They have a very good forum as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhat Posted March 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Redhat,I notice you haven't mentioned Xandros I have been using it since last June 2004. Its based on the KDE desktop, if you're used to Windows you should get on with Xandros with no problem. They have a very good forum as well.I've never really tried Xandros, but I may download just for reviewing purposes :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Besty Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Just a quick question. Can normal windows apps run on linux or do you have to get different ones. Im a bit worried as I aquiredt microsoft office 2003 pro and dont want to have to spend money rebuying? Same for games. Otherwise id be glad to give it a whirl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhat Posted March 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 You can run alot of Windows apps under a program called "Wine" and, I am pretty sure, office 2003 will run under it. There is WineX that plays alot of games, those that require DirectX mostly. Half Life2 is also playable under linux. At the end of the day, you could dual-boot and run Windows apps that dont work under Wine on your existing Windows partition :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Besty Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Thanks mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhat Posted March 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Thanks mateYour welcome :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topband Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 I've just checked Wine and I've only got Office 2000 supported at the moment, but checking the CodeWeavers site it says Office 2003 is untested, so it may or maynot work.I find its a case of trying Windows applications, a lot will work, if they do they seem to work far better in Linux than in their native system which is a bit ironic!By the way, I've also tried Win4Lin, if you have a 98SE disk you can run Windows 98SE within the Linux partition, I couldn't think why I would want to do that, so I uninstalled it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhat Posted March 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 There is also Crossover Office. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 There is something important to remember here. While utilities such as Wine, Crossover Office (Cedega/WineX), and Win4Lin are useful, there are open-source applications for nearly every Windows program available.IE: MS Office - OpenOffice.orgAccess, MSSQL, other databasing tools - MySQLBrowser - Mozilla, FireFox, etcMedia/Movie player: XMMS, mplayer, Xine, etcI could go on for days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 Go on scuzzy.You might as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 Just take a look:http://www.cooltechzone.com/index.php?opti...sk=view&id=1107http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&saf...nts&btnG=Searchhttp://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:w7tYt...uivalents&hl=en Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 This is a kind of fun distro-matching quiz: http://www.allthetests.com/quiz05/dasquizt...stid=1048489288 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topband Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 This is a kind of fun distro-matching quiz: http://www.allthetests.com/quiz05/dasquizt...stid=1048489288You got 32 points.You look like the person who want an errorfree system that functions quickly. You should try RedHat, Gentoo, or Debian.Mmm, interesting, I'm running Xandros which uses Debian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 http://213.131.236.10/testedich/redirect.php3?siteid=8857Quiz link ^You got 37 points.Linux is definitely for you. You should try Slackware, Trustix, or RedHat. Also, you might want to take a look at FreeBSD or something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homecomputeraid Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 I've only had experience with to Linux distro's, Ubuntu, and RedHat. Of the two, I found Ubuntu a bit easier to install and update, and it's completely free! I was getting frustrated with RedHat's annual subscription prices for auto updates/support going up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 I've only had experience with to Linux distro's, Ubuntu, and RedHat. Of the two, I found Ubuntu a bit easier to install and update, and it's completely free! I was getting frustrated with RedHat's annual subscription prices for auto updates/support going up.WindowsXP = expensive program, free supportRedHat = free program, expensive support Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 Slackware = free program, free support from an enormous community of gurus.In all actuality, I have emailed Patrick Volkerding (the primary maintainer of Slackware) and got a response less than 48 hours later. I was amazed - try that with Windows :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhat Posted April 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 Added Arch Linux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuzzman Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 I like arch -- simple, stable, and slack-based :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhat Posted April 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 I like arch -- simple, stable, and slack-based :DYup! Lovin it so far, enlightenment is snappy as per usual, KDE on the desktop runs like lightnin for the first time... package management is simple too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhat Posted April 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2005 With the release of Ubuntu Hoary I wiped Arch off the lappy, and am now running Ubuntu with KDE. I'll give it a week to see if I go back to arch :D The repositries are so much bigger with Ubuntu as it's debian based.. and it's running just as fast as Arch :D Am keeping Arch on the desktop though... I still really like it's design :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korgg Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Another Slackware based linux: iSlack...Give it a try if you have some spare time...Download link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhat Posted June 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Another Slackware based linux: iSlack...Give it a try if you have some spare time...Download linkNice, thanks for posting :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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