Recomended Linux Distros

[TheFinalFrontEar]

Hey guys, New to TPU and Linux, So can anybody recommend a good all-round distro, many thanks and also how easy is it to install kali-Linux on an asus nexus 7.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

@TheFinalFrontEar Hello new member from my part of the planet

...welcome to TPU.

I have found it hard...no worse than that...impossible to install Kali Linux on a Nexus 7,that was wifi.
Google wasnt any real help so hopefully we will both get an answer.
It quickly slipped down my list of priorities so i kind of gave up.

Be patient for replies this is a global community.

Loving the Badger. Ysbyty Gwynedd.


i have pmd you

 

[Frick]

I say don't bother, unless you just want to play around with Linux but if you're a newbie I still say don't bother, do it on a PC instead. But anyway Kali should work, and there are mobile variants of Ubuntu and Debian, though I don't know how stable they are.

But if you want it on a PC, Linux Mint is really nice, but you won't really learn anything as everything just works (generally) out of the box. Slackware used to be the distro of choice if you wanted to go deep.

 

[yesyesloud]

Hey there. Welcome.

I love Manjaro and ArchBang for desktop/laptop pcs, both are newbie-friendly, the first one being considerably more.

Mint is also great for beginners as @Frick said, plus it offers cleaner desktop environment options out of the box, more performance-wise too, as official Ubuntu releases have become full of bloatware and... Unity.

Arch itself is fine for ARM devices in general (I installed it on RK3188 oem devices, a tricky process though), you could try to load it on your nexus 7, and then all the extra software you need. Or you could simply go the easier way around, Ubuntu, and then mod the system for your needs. Slightly tricky stuff regardless.

Good luck!

 

[Schmuckley]

I like Lubuntu
..for PC
I cannot speak for ARM devices.

 

[yesyesloud]

Lubuntu is glorious

 

[TheFinalFrontEar]

Excellent feedback, thanks guys which out of the desktop environments do you consider to be the best? Many thanks.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Thought i would at least plug my one in today..............nothing ...not even a glimmer, so its a full diagnostic jobbie for me....shit

!. Cable
2. Battery
bored already,
its all too little for my old calloused hands.

 

[jeepdriver]

Check out Ultimate Edition 4.2

 

[yesyesloud]

Excellent feedback, thanks guys which out of the desktop environments do you consider to be the best? Many thanks.

Xfce and lxde are your usual lightweight alternatives.

KDE, Gnome, Cinnamon and Mate have more eyecandy (the first 2 need more system resources averagely, still lighter than Unity though, which can either be nice depending on your system).

You can install/uninstall multiple desktop environments on the same distro and pick your favorite on the login screen.

As we celebrate in the GNU/Linux community, it's all about freedom. Burn different distributions isos to flash drives (using unetbootin, LiLi or rufus for instance), boot them, get experienced and pick favourites.

Exploring new OS's can be a joyful digital adventure overall.

 

[Schmuckley]

Xfce and lxde are your usual lightweight alternatives.

KDE, Gnome, Cinnamon and Mate have more eyecandy (the first 2 need more system resources averagely, still lighter than Unity though, which can either be nice depending on your system).

You can install/uninstall multiple desktop environments on the same distro and pick your favorite on the login screen.

As we celebrate in the GNU/Linux community, it's all about freedom. Burn different distributions isos to flash drives (using unetbootin, LiLi or rufus for instance), boot them, get experienced and pick favourites.

Exploring new OS's can be a joyful digital adventure overall.

Someday I'm going to install everything
from DOS to FreeBSD To RedHat Enterprise..
Win95-98...Servers..2008
I really like that Lubuntu, though..Slitaz has possibilities but..not so newb-friendly.

 

[Frick]

Slitaz has possibilities but..not so newb-friendly.

Was about to mention that, for some reason I love it even though nothing works without miraculous lay on hands activities.

 

[Schmuckley]

Was about to mention that, for some reason I love it even though nothing works without miraculous lay on hands activities.

so true..still I like it

 

[Blue-Knight]

Hey guys, New to TPU and Linux, So can anybody recommend a good all-round distro

Linux Mint XFCE/*.

I cannot think of something better... Built-in driver support is very good compared to other distros, nice looking theme included, most common applications and codecs already installed, well polished, great community, STABLE!

I'm using it for months, no problems till now.

What more do you need!?

 

[Zafar]

I would recommend Linux Mint or any of the different versions of Ubuntu for beginners.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

I guess i am "cheating" using WINE

 

[Aquinus]

Excellent feedback, thanks guys which out of the desktop environments do you consider to be the best? Many thanks.

When I run Linux (as a software dev,) I use Ubuntu 14.04 LTS + i3wm. i3 has a steep learning curve, but it's incredibly minimal on resources. I used to use this kind of setup on machines with less than 512MB of memory.

I think you should install VirtualBox and play with Ubuntu in a VM before potentially wrecking a computer first.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

I think you should install VirtualBox and play with Ubuntu in a VM before potentially wrecking a computer first.

@Aquinus can you clarify please, i am new to Linux and really dont need problems. I am keen to learn more but not the "hard way"

 

[T.R.]

@Aquinus can you clarify please, i am new to Linux and really dont need problems. I am keen to learn more but not the "hard way"

You can try Linux distros on VirtualBox.

 

[Aquinus]

@Aquinus can you clarify please, i am new to Linux and really dont need problems. I am keen to learn more but not the "hard way"

VirtualBox is a free virtualization platform. You can "install" linux or most other operating systems into a virtual machine on your PC and use it inside of Windows. This lets you install Linux on a virtual disk image and not burn away a disk to do it.

VirtualBox 4.3.26 for Windows download link

 

[Frick]

@CAPSLOCKSTUCK Many distros allows you to run it without actually installing it. Virtual systems tends to be sluggish.

 

[[Ion]]

@CAPSLOCKSTUCK Many distros allows you to run it without actually installing it. Virtual systems tends to be sluggish.

Not really. As long as you have a decently fast computer (fast C2D or better + decent HDD) the performance of a VM is pretty solid. I wouldn't want to run VMs on a 5400RPM HDD or do 3D stuff, but as long as the OP has a reasonably modern computer a VM will be fine.

 

[Frick]

Not really. As long as you have a decently fast computer (fast C2D or better + decent HDD) the performance of a VM is pretty solid. I wouldn't want to run VMs on a 5400RPM HDD or do 3D stuff, but as long as the OP has a reasonably modern computer a VM will be fine.

Depends on what you mean by sluggish... They run ok, but if it's an OS with lots of eye candy a live OS will run better. Depending on your hardware configuration obviously.

 

[[Ion]]

Depends on what you mean by sluggish... They run ok, but if it's an OS with lots of eye candy a live OS will run better. Depending on your hardware configuration obviously.

I suppose that compared to the X61 I use every day, nearly anything feels fast
And you are right that something like Compiz or other snazzy effects doesn't always work well on a VM.

 

[Aquinus]

If you rule out graphics and 3D, VMs tend to almost have the same amount of compute power as the host, thanks for virtualization extensions that runs VMs directly on hardware (no emulation for CPU instructions.) You run into issues when you emulate things like the hard drive, network adapters, graphics, etc. Doing things like using VT-d (hehe) to do PCI-E passthrough can let you attach real hardware directly to a VM, as a result, a machine outfitted with VT-d and probably if it's not a newer nVidia GPU, you can get desktop-like performance out of a VM with dedicated hardware.