Coming to Linux again

Soldato
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Planning on coming back to linux for something to do. I used Ubuntu 8.10 in the past I believe there is 9.04 or something now. Is there much difference?

And on another note: Gentoo, Debian or Ubuntu?

Also, why is there a lack of threads in this board now??
 
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Because the only discussion on here is "which distro" ;)

I dunno, it went through quite a busy phase and now seems to have died a death. Who knows :)

And go with whatever you're comfortable with - though Gentoo is a bit iffy nowadays in terms of development (or lack thereof).

Personally I use Ubuntu unless it's a server or doing a specialised job (i.e. CentOS for clustering or HA stuff, BSD for firewall etc) - it gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. :)
 
I remember there used to be a stack load of pages now there is three.
I feel like trying something different last time i posted here i asked the same question but then i had pc trouble.
So gentoo is iffy so debian vs ubuntu then unless there are smaller gems out there.
 
What is your experience level with linux? etc etc?

I suppose I'd suggest Ubuntu though :p

Pretty much only used ubuntu really. But am willing to have a crack at other distros that might prove interesting to use.
 
on the new ubuntu are the ATI drivers sorted yet? as I wanna try linux again, but I have crossfire so that may casue issues:P
 
I'm a complete noob when it comes to linux but found a home using Mandriva which i've been using for a week now after trying a few others
 
Pretty much only used ubuntu really. But am willing to have a crack at other distros that might prove interesting to use.
That's good stuff, I really don't like recommending distro's for people and when people ask what they should be using my defaults are Ubuntu for desktop and CentOS for server.

If you have some spare CD's, some patience and plenty of time I would definitely try burning some install CD's of some of the better known distributions to see what you like the best.

Although LiveCD's are good in theory you can never get to grips with what the OS is going to be like because you will just get frustrated with the CD seeking all the time. I suppose you could go for the LiveUSB option though?

Just to start you off, a short (no means complete!) list:


  • Ubuntu (9.04 :p )
  • Fedora
  • OpenSUSE
  • Linux Mint
  • Debian
  • Mandriva
  • PCLinuxOS
That should get you started! :p
 
So whats the main differences between mint and ubuntu then. I have heard a few people mention it. And i also have an ati 4870x2 assuming this wont have problems with any install? Last time i installed it was a 4870 and had no problems. Not that i can game properly with linux anyway though lol.
And one more thing i currently have windows 7 installed how do i uninstall this without messing up the bootloader?
 
And one more thing i currently have windows 7 installed how do i uninstall this without messing up the bootloader?
If you have backed up all your data just proceed to installing your linux distro. When you install you will usually be presented with the option to use the whole disk or manage partitions yourself. For the latter option, just delete the windows partition and create your own partition layout :)
 
So whats the main differences between mint and ubuntu then. I have heard a few people mention it. And i also have an ati 4870x2 assuming this wont have problems with any install? Last time i installed it was a 4870 and had no problems. Not that i can game properly with linux anyway though lol.
And one more thing i currently have windows 7 installed how do i uninstall this without messing up the bootloader?


Mint comes with some of the extra media codecs / library's included
 
Ah its summer, therefore not really linux time... (well working and stuff has ruined it for me)

But yeah recomendations id give mint 7 a bash, seems to be the best option currently :)

And as for Gentoo, its died a slow and horrible death as nothing makes it onthe the portage tree anymore, so drivers dont get updated and songbird never made it on :( (im saddened by it, untill i learn how to do overlays propperly)
 
I'm a new Linux user. After having loads of trouble with 9.04 I went with 8.10 and it's been solid so far, really pleased with it.

Today I installed Mint 7 on my work laptop (which is a server 2003/win XP network) to really put my money where my mouth is and see whether I could work without Windows for my general administration tasks. I'm glad to say terminal server/vnc is working brilliantly so far. I took a bit of a risk with Mint 7 seeing as it's based on 9.04 but touch wood no problems yet.

I'd definitely recommend Ubuntu or Mint, be warned though my experience with Ati card and Linux hasn't been great so far, I'm just glad I have an nVidia at home.
 
True about the ati drivers as found that mandriva was the only linux which knew what chip i was running a 9700 mobility plus i can run flash videos full screen without any problems which i could never do with other distros
 
If you have backed up all your data just proceed to installing your linux distro. When you install you will usually be presented with the option to use the whole disk or manage partitions yourself. For the latter option, just delete the windows partition and create your own partition layout :)

I have vista 64 and windows 7 64 if i want to remove windows 7 in favour of mint i can just pick the partition with windows 7? Will have a go tonight.
 
I have vista 64 and windows 7 64 if i want to remove windows 7 in favour of mint i can just pick the partition with windows 7? Will have a go tonight.

yeh.

Maybe an idea to play with linux in virtualbox for a week or so. That way you don't have a risk of data lose.
 
Its ok. I have literally nothing on my 7 install i did all my proper work on vista 64. Will download mint tonight. Thanks for the help troops
 
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