Recommend me a Distro

Sanchez

Sanchez

Sanchez

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20 Oct 2002
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I was hoping someone here would be able to help me choose a distro to install on my laptop as a second OS.

I’m a fairly proficient PC user (I was an IT technician for a few years and have an IT related degree, so I’d consider myself to be IT literate) but have only had any experience with Windows (which makes Linux frustrating I find, I just need to re-learn, I know). I’m looking for something that will ease me into Linux to start with but later give me the ability to use advanced functions of the OS and maybe move over to Linux permanently.

So far I’ve only taken a look at a few distros: OpenSUSE, Xubuntu and PC/OS. OpenSUSE had issues with my touchpad, Xubuntu seemed to work well and PC/OS is okay; I’ve only had a few minutes to play with it and I think the duel task bar will annoy me and I hated the default browser (Flock), which admittedly I can change.

I guess the main uses really will be just the usual web browsing, bit of office stuff, media and burning disks.

Does anyone have any other suggestions that might be useful. Bear in mind that atm I wouldn’t even know how to install an app from the terminal window and I think I’ve only just figured out how the file system works (could anyone point me to a nice simple tutorial on the use of partitions, swap files, boot etc just so I know I’ve got it right?)

My laptop isn’t going to set the world on fire (1.73Ghz Pentium M, 768mb Ram, 120Gb HDD of which 80Gb belongs to XP) but it’s not a dog either. It runs XP pretty well so I don’t need anything like Puppy.

Any help is appreciated.
 
Arch linux would be a good way to go if you want to do some learning on the way. It does have a somewhat involved install but the beginners guide on their website is excelent and will take you through all the steps point by point.
 
Mandriva is good but will he be willing to buy the powerpack.. ie: spend money, on something he considers is just a test ?

I know he doesn't have to buy the powerpack but as a n00b he would probably find that a lot easier.

It's because of this I'd say install a *buntu. Probably Mint
 
Im currently looking at Linux (again) and Im finding Mandriva picks up hardware better than Ubuntu. To be honest Id just download every distro and have a play.

Also take a look here - http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

Makes it easier to play around with apps.
 
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Outcast said:
Mandriva is good but will he be willing to buy the powerpack.. ie: spend money, on something he considers is just a test ?

I know he doesn't have to buy the powerpack but as a n00b he would probably find that a lot easier.

It's because of this I'd say install a *buntu. Probably Mint
Click to expand...

AFAIK there isn't much extra in powerpack compared to free, only propriety drivers and some software pre-installed (and free trial of cedega IIRC).
 
Mr_Orange said:
Arch linux would be a good way to go if you want to do some learning on the way. It does have a somewhat involved install but the beginners guide on their website is excelent and will take you through all the steps point by point.
Click to expand...

Another vote for Arch as long as you want a text based install. Their Wiki and community are very helpful but the install will be much more involved that say Ubuntu
 
Im going to be mean and say the best thing you need is Gentoo (yeah im a bit of a fan boy but its only as its how i learnt how linux actually works).

Basically you compile the whole system specifically for your pc (well a stage 3 doesnt do the basic tool kit and a few other bits but its a pretty similar and amazing end result) and it explains how pretty much everything works (most usefully how to set up programmes from the .conf files).

Its also VERY well documented (Arch tends to steal bits and bobs off it...) from the official page and its Wiki page :)

As for the file system structure its based on the old unix structure that everything comes from / and as such partitions are mounted as folders of / eg say in windows you have your c drive as the OS partition and d say music they would be different discs. In the linux/unix structure c would be mounted as / and d would be a subdirectory of it eg /home/pingwing/music (home being the users my documents)

Anyway get into the Gentoo handbook and learn more :)
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I’ll definitely check our Arch and Mandriva along with any other suggestions. I guess the beauty of Linux is it only takes 10 minutes to install so you can get through a lot of distros in a day!

I also had a feeling that Gentoo was going to be suggested. This sounds a little ‘hardcore’ for me and just now I’m trying to not be overwhelmed with a shed load of info just to get up and running. What the hell though, I’ll give it a crack.

I understand the concept of Linux partitions and I’ve got the following:

/swap: 1536Mb
/boot: 8Gb (way too large I know, perhaps cut this down to 2Gb)
/ : remainder of disk

Is this okay for an install? From what I understand it’s good practice to have a boot partition so you keep your install separate , a swap (essentially virtual memory) 1.5-2 x the size of you RAM and the remainder for your files.
 
Moved to linux for the first time recently and tried out ubuntu and kubuntu, prefer the gnome setup at the moment and have configured things to a single taskbar and menu button to ease the transition from windows!
 
I'd suggest learning the basics using a *buntu (my preference is the original - Ubuntu) and then see how you feel about moving to something more involved.

I've got a Gentoo install heading for its fourth birthday (survived two system rebuilds including a switch from AMD to Intel - took two complete system re-compiles but try that with Windows :)), but even though it now has a LiveCD-style install it's still not as noob-friendly as a *buntu.
 
Minto said:
/boot doesnt need to be bigger than afew MB, not GB's!
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Berserker said:
Indeed. Didn't spot that. Mine (Gentoo)...

/boot : 67.73 MB of 98.72 MB available ( 68.61%)

You'd get 6-8 Ubuntu kernels in that. You typically only need 2-3.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I thought that it was going to be the equivalent of a \Windows folder so I put it in the GBs. I'll make sure that gets changed in future!
 
Ubuntu's just too simple to bother with anything else, IMO :)

Unless, of course you have specific needs, or it's for a server.
 
Sanchez said:
I also had a feeling that Gentoo was going to be suggested. This sounds a little ‘hardcore’ for me and just now I’m trying to not be overwhelmed with a shed load of info just to get up and running. What the hell though, I’ll give it a crack.
Click to expand...

Gentoo is far from "hardcore" you just need to be able to read, installation is explained perfectly in the manual and you can always google for "application_name gentoo guide" or something like that if you are struggling to install something. By far it is no different to binary distributions in complexity, but what I love is the package manager.
 
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