Linux. Start here!

[ShadowFlare]

Here's kind of wizard that tells you which distro(s) would suit you the best:
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php?firsttime=true

(ps. thanks for the Linux section, actually 80% of our household's comps are Linuxes/Unixes )

Hmm, for the perfect matches it gave me Debian, Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Fedora; all of the ones I was considering when setting up Linux on my computer. I installed Debian, but I have been considering trying those others, too. However, if I can get an e-mail server working on it, I'll probably just leave it as is. BTW, I do not have it as the main OS on this computer or even in a dual-boot configuration. I am currently running it in Virtual PC 2004.

 

[v-zero]

Mepis should be added to the beginners list, because it is just so easy...

 

[POGE]

While I am by no means a linux pro, I have tried many distro's and I have found knoppix to be the most friendly of all, even compared to the full featured distros.

 

[Steevo]

I like Debian.

However back a year or twoo ago I was into trying out many different versions and flavors. And I still have my Debian 2.2 soemwhere around.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

gave me fedora, what i already use

where's the "i dont need one" answer when it asks for which desktop you like ?

If you need to put that, you already know which distro you want

Edit: Just took that distro selection test again, and it gave me mandriva and Kubuntu.

I use mandriva now..

Its spot on!

 

[Telexen]

If you can get passed the "Gentoo Politics" and the constant reminder that Gentoo is being held back because of it, then it's hard to beat Gentoo

 

[gamer210]

Here's kind of wizard that tells you which distro(s) would suit you the best:
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php?firsttime=true

That thing seems to be pretty accurate. It recommended Ubuntu, which I am currently using, and Debian. I also recently purchased a linux magazine that did a pretty good comparison between several different distro's. If you guys want, I could probably scan some of the pages and post them later today.

 

[Atech]

If you can get passed the "Gentoo Politics" and the constant reminder that Gentoo is being held back because of it, then it's hard to beat Gentoo

Damn right. All that QA bollocks, we shouldn't just have nightly ebuild updates, we should have hourly svn ebuild updates (user submitted)!

 

[Kursah]

It suggested Mandriva, Ubuntu, OpenSuSe, Kubuntu and Fedora when I become more Linux knowlegable. I may have to create a dual boot config and see which one I like...

 

[7mm]

I've Been Intoduced To Linux In August 1999, With RedHat 6........Bundled With Mag. I've Tried The TBI (Text Based Installer), The Only Option Available Then. I End-Up Distroy'n All My Data On 4.3GB HDD. When It Did Get Installed (After Giving 23 Days To The InBuild Partition Manager), The GUI Crossed The Limit of The Monitor. Later Came To Know That Linux Has Hardware Issues That Can Keep People Away From It, No One Wanted To Try Even As Not Many Apps Available Either. Known To Be Geeks OS.

It Cahnged a Bit With 2002, When I Got My Hands On Mandrake (Now Mandriva). Boy I Was Surprised With Ease of Installation Procedure. It's Done In No Time But Again, Linux's Half-Way-Grown Image Prov'n, My Sound Card Not Get Detected. With Gnome & KDE Both Installed Hardly Any Apps That Can Run In Both Envir'nments.....Forced Me To Choose Just One As My Printer Ran Wel With KDE & Partitions From Windows (FAT32) Detected In Gnome Only. Left The Workshop.

Since Than I've Tried Many Distros.................RedHat 9, SuSE (30 Day Trial), Fedora 4, Ubuntu 5.x, Ubuntu / Kubuntu 6.06, 6.10, 7.04 (Both 32-Bit & 64-Bit), OpenSuSE 10.1, Fedora 7, Mandriva 2007 With KDE & Now PCLinuxOS 2007.

Ubuntu Has Been My Favourite Among' Anything. Though You Need Have Internet Access To Use It To Full. As Default Installed OS, Not Many Audio / Video Codecs Provided, Needs To Do Some Basic / Advanced Updates To Bring It In Full Action. Unlike PCLinuxOS2007 With KDE, Comes PreLoaded With Much More Stuff As Multimedia Functions Works Well Without Updates. Which Makes More Sense For People In Remote Area Without The Internet Facilities. Though It's Just Few Functions (Popular Audio / Video Codecs, Firewall) & Apps (Gnucash, CAD App)Which Can Be Fixed In Next Release With Ubuntu - New One Every 6 Months, & That's What Makes It More Likely To Be The OS To Be Installed On PC Owner With Hardly Any Linux / Computer Knowledge.

This Was Just The Experiance With Linux That I Have So Far, Though Putting Story of 8 Years Older May Not Make Sense, But With Such Experiense I Can Still Pic The Best So Far. Thank You All For Your Valuable Time & Attention.

 

[average..]

hmm.. the test gave me Gentoo and Slackware, i left slack for gentoo a couple years back so yea thats a good test there..

Gentoo with Fluxbox... its all i need.

 

[cdawall]

w1z you should make a tpu distro of linux that would be amazing

 

[asb2106]

Well I have used Linux here and there the last 2 years, but I just cannot stick with no matter how hard I try, and its strickly because of gaming.

I have tried to run a version of windows inside my linux install just for games, but it never works right and I have issues.

I never really got into Linux enough to really learn it well but it never did enough for me for me to hang on. But I will say, of all the distros I have tried I love Ubuntu, especially the new Gusty Gibbon, WOW its nice to install, easy to use, and it comes out of the box with great software.

I install Gutsy Gibbon on alot of customer PCs that do basic tasks like email, web browsing and media stuff. The thing that impressed me the most is how easy it is to use at any age. I have installed it for elderly customers and they love how easy it is to find stuff and get around, so if your grandma just cant figure out windows, go Ubuntu!!

 

[Linuxcomputersolutio]

Mandriva-Linux stated aim was to make Linux easy, easy to use and install. I think they have had success. I was never comfortable using Windows am glad that Linux is now getting to be a viable alternative. In 2008.0 Mandriva-Linux even has a utility that eases migration from Windows, all your settings and documents can now be exported into the /home folder by type so backing-up all your data is now a thing of the past. You can now just click replace Windows and read a book. Even Windows native games can either be played under Wine or Ceroba.

 

[jonmcc33]

Mandriva-Linux stated aim was to make Linux easy, easy to use and install. I think they have had success. I was never comfortable using Windows am glad that Linux is now getting to be a viable alternative. In 2008.0 Mandriva-Linux even has a utility that eases migration from Windows, all your settings and documents can now be exported into the /home folder by type so backing-up all your data is now a thing of the past. You can now just click replace Windows and read a book. Even Windows native games can either be played under Wine or Ceroba.

I tried PCLinuxOS 2007 (a fork of Mandriva) and found it easy to use at first but found it too easy to really screw up. I didn't find it easy to implement new packages into it either.

Tried out Solaris 10 due to past experience using it when I was in the military on Sun SPARC stations. Ugh, that was a nightmare. No thanks to the Java Desktop System.

Gave Kubuntu 7.10 a try as I prefer the KDE over Gnome. Wasn't too long before even that gave me headaches.

I have finally fallen completely for OpenSUSE 10.3. Wow, I really like the package installer although I had to add all the repositories. The look of it is also something quite nice. I have it running smooth as silk on my Dell Latitude D800 laptop right from the start. Best of all, with all my noobness to Linux distros, I have found it quite hard to screw up.

Linux distros should take a look at OpenSUSE in regards to layout, application and design. I think most Windows users would be able to easily convert to it. It honestly doesn't bore me to use as other popular distros have.

Best yet, it has huge corporate support from Novell and AMD as a sponsor.

http://en.opensuse.org

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Added installation guide for uBuntu 9.04.

 

[GREASEMONKEY]

I did'nt want to start a new thread for this so i thought this would be a good place for an ubuntu ?I have 9.04 loaded on a machine that is running a 6200 gs gpu(pci)with restricted driver(provided by ubuntu??).I want to replace the card with a 9600gt(pci-E).
The mechanical aspect and the bios prep i fully understand.But as far as ubuntu goes ,is there anything i should do before swapping card's?I my-self would assume to remove restricted drivers before hand.......??Or do i even have to worry about it?
I only ask because i dont realy want to reload ubuntu on this machine because it's one of my crunchers and i don't want it down for long. Thanks

 

[Solaris17]

I did'nt want to start a new thread for this so i thought this would be a good place for an ubuntu ?I have 9.04 loaded on a machine that is running a 6200 gs gpu(pci)with restricted driver(provided by ubuntu??).I want to replace the card with a 9600gt(pci-E).
The mechanical aspect and the bios prep i fully understand.But as far as ubuntu goes ,is there anything i should do before swapping card's?I my-self would assume to remove restricted drivers before hand.......??Or do i even have to worry about it?
I only ask because i dont realy want to reload ubuntu on this machine because it's one of my crunchers and i don't want it down for long. Thanks

you should be good.