In Search of a Decent Distro

Muel

Muel

Muel

Soldato
Joined
26 Jun 2009
Posts
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Location
Sheffield
Hi All

I'm a Linux user, I've used various versions of Ubuntu for a while, but I'm starting to get sick of them.

I have a Netbook, which I use for Web Development. In the past I used Ubuntu Desktop on it, which worked fine for a while until it started crashing and playing up. I then wiped it and installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix, which is seriously annoying me. Loads of little flaws with it and it's locked down, I can't edit a lot of stuff I want to.

So, I'm on the lookout for a clean, unflawed, streamlined, un-neutured Linux distro with some form of GUI, and the ability to run Opera, Firefox, Chrome and Gedit.

Any recommendations? Maybe Fedora?
 
Debian 6? Fedora imo will not be a 'unflawed' and streamlined os. It is used to test new features for Red Hat.

How much effort are you willing to put installing Linux? Some distros such as Arch could serve you well if you can put the time into customizing it to your needs.
 
Hmmm I see. It just seems to be the next biggest player to me.

As little effort as possible really, I need it sorted and running properly as soon as possible.

My experience comprises mainly of installing and uninstalling packages, and plenty of file manipulation, no scripting or anything.
 
I used Zenwalk for a while, nice and nippy OS, based on Slackware. However, you might struggle getting Chrome installed on it as it's seemingly not straightforward (I hosed my install doing that very task... oops!)

If you wanted to try Fedora, you could try CentOS. Based on the same redhat "stuff" (for want of a better word), I've found it to be very quick and stable in the past (my linux-only box runs it at the min and that's only a Celeron 1.4 with 512Mb RAM - it's pretty rapid :D)

As JonRohan said though, if you put the effort in, you could get something that's "just right" for you (sounds cheesy, but it's true lol)
 
jonifen said:
As JonRohan said though, if you put the effort in, you could get something that's "just right" for you (sounds cheesy, but it's true lol)
Click to expand...

:D :eek:

My other suggestion would have been CentOS. One problem with Debian is that is it not that cutting edge. It is built on stability though.
 
CentOS looks like it could do with a good look...

I forgot, I need to also be able to install a LAMP stack and Ruby on Rails.

It'll be running on a 1.4ghz Atom with HT and 2gb RAM, on a 5400rpm 160gb HDD. Not the highest spec in the world, (in fact, rubbish), but Ubuntu Netbook Remix is easily fast enough, it's just glitchy and restrictive.

I'm beyond caring about cutting edge. It just needs to support the latest versions of PHP, MySQL and Ruby on Rails, and ideally run Opera, Firefox and Chrome, or at least one of them.

EDIT: Oh, and I need the wireless, keyboard and trackpad to work faultlessly.
 
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Muel said:
Hmmm, last time CentOS released an .iso was Jun 2010. That's a long time ago!

Are they still providing updates regularly?
Click to expand...

Updates on 5.5 were coming through regularly until ~6th Jan ... since then there have been hardly any as they have been working on the 5.6, 6.0 and 4.9 releases. 5.6 is due in the next few weeks.
 
If you install Debian 6 (Squeeze) I think you'll be disappointed really. Don't get me wrong it's rock solid stable and well polished... but

Try it on LiveCD first if I was you.

Because it's stripped to totally free software the core software is basic to say the least. Sticking with Epiphany as default browser has me baffled so you'll end up having to install Firefox, Chrome etc Even listening to MP3's and watching DVD's means that you'll have to install additional repositories and install non free codecs manually, since you won't see any prompts advocating them.

If you want a Zen lifestyle install Debian :)

Ubuntu is memory hungry and on netbooks that can be a problem. Have you had a look at Lubuntu 10.10 with the LXDE desktop? Might be worth a bash or even Xubuntu :)

www.lubuntu.net

If you want to step up above novice (not for me yet) you could try CrunchBang Statler. But I'm not sure if that is really suited to netbook application

www.crunchbanglinux.org
 
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Muel said:
CentOS looks like it could do with a good look...

I forgot, I need to also be able to install a LAMP stack and Ruby on Rails.

It'll be running on a 1.4ghz Atom with HT and 2gb RAM, on a 5400rpm 160gb HDD. Not the highest spec in the world, (in fact, rubbish), but Ubuntu Netbook Remix is easily fast enough, it's just glitchy and restrictive.

I'm beyond caring about cutting edge. It just needs to support the latest versions of PHP, MySQL and Ruby on Rails, and ideally run Opera, Firefox and Chrome, or at least one of them.

EDIT: Oh, and I need the wireless, keyboard and trackpad to work faultlessly.
Click to expand...

I found it a bit of a pain getting the mp3 codecs onto CentOS (they don't come pre-installed) but this seems a common theme with a few other distros too.

I've not had a recent distro throw up any problems with the wireless, keyboard or trackpad. Ubuntu 10.10 even detects the KVM by name (Belkin Switch2 USB) on my main desktop - CentOS recognises it too, but not by name.

As for knowing if it allows the installation of LAMP stacks etc, I'm a VB6 programmer (hence having to keep windows installed on the main desktop too) so I'm stuck in the past when it comes to all that :(
 
Try arch linux. Always up to date thanks to it's rolling release schedule.

jonifen said:
I found it a bit of a pain getting the mp3 codecs onto CentOS (they don't come pre-installed) but this seems a common theme with a few other distros too.
Click to expand...

This an old topic. You need to compile gst-plugins-bad and gst-plugins-ugly + gst-ffmpeg from scratch or find someone that provides them for your distro. There are quite a few rpm's out there for centos.
 
Muel said:
Hmmm, last time CentOS released an .iso was Jun 2010. That's a long time ago!

Are they still providing updates regularly?
Click to expand...

Yes, 5.6 is still in the works and 6 eventually....

My recommendation is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 just for the KVM enhancements! :eek::D

PS: Fedora is a good choice, for desktop definately over CentOS, remember, Fedora > Red Hat and CentOS based on Red Hat... food chain etc.
 
Debian is the best, but as has already been said... Its basic and bare and pretty much contains sod all.

Its possibly the most reliable one out there IMO.

SuSE is also another fantastic one, I myself have hated it for many reasons, but I have a mate who has used it since year dot and its never crashed on him...

I really love ubuntu in many ways and its fairly solid.
 
I just put Crunchbang on my netbook. It's excellent.
Based on Debian so very stable; also geared towards being lightweight and quick so runs very well on netbooks.
Install the XFCE version if you want something a bit more user-friendly, as openbox requires quite a lot of configuration to get it how you'd like.
 
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