Linux Noob - Which Distro?

su is disabled in Ubuntu just like it's disabled in OS X. You can enable it if you feel you need it. YOu can also use a nautilus script that opens windows as root then lets you manipulate files as the superuser.
 
thanks for all the advice guys, i have installed ubuntu just because i like the idea of a lot of automated systems for the noob, however i have now installed it about 3 times using the cd version and the dvd version (which was fun downloading on a 512k connection i can assure you). Every time i boot it goes so slow its unbelieveabile. I found the system monitor the cpu status is never below 93% but there are no processes running taking up this power - im running a full system update (which i didn't try before) hoping that its going to be sorted otherwise i think it may be a hardware incompatability and after an hour playing with linux i learnd one thing: install drivers is not an easy and enjoyable process :P - will post again when the updates have been completed
 
So your CPU usage is pegged near 100%? There is an option at the top of the system monitor window that defaults to showing your processes. Be sure you've changed this to show all processes. Let us know which process is hogging all the cycles.

EDIT: I reccomend Automatix highly for making installing video drivers easy. Check it out if you haven't.
 
ok i have just completed the updates for ubuntu the system is still going at the same speed and during the updates i think the kernal was updated and now on my boot screen (i duel boot to windows 2k) i have two kernals of ubuntu is this normal?

I have done what you said and looked in the system processes again. I made sure that all processes were showing, the only processes that were taking up the cpu were Xorg which I understand is a system process and the system monitor program but the monitor program took around 50% of the cpu and i dont think that its right

I am using a hp compaq nx6125 notebook with 512k of ram (according to resources i have plenty of ram available for use) and a 1.8ghz amd sempron 64 processor

only thing i can think of is that i am using a 64 bit processor with the i386 distro but i wouldn't have thought that would make a difference

please help :(

Additional - I just checked the hardware manager and the processor has not been recognised by the machine could this be why?
 
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Nothign in my system was recognised by the Device Manager in ubuntu either, although I thought it was pretty nippy to be honest... Much quicker than most distros I have tried lately.

I was about to throw FC5 onto it, but the installer ( Anaconda ) kept tellign me that it was tryign to read 2-3 bytes over the partition limits, and Mandrake quite often made slight changes to standard Partitions, so, With both Mandrake and Fedore, being based on RedHat, I am assuming my Partitions are fine, its just these gits playing silly buggers.

I tried xubuntu a short while ago, but the CD wouldnt boot... Cant be bothered trying to download it again, so I went for kubunu instead... Same old debian issues that I always have.... Sod it. Ubuntu just isnt for me it seems, or rather to be fairer, debian based distros are not for me.

I just cannot seem to gel with them, although I honestly cannot see why?

The missus however, seems to have taken to ubuntu quite nicely and she has asked me to chuck it onto her PC instead of that other thing thats on it now ( Thats called Windows XP love ) - Cool by me, another Licence for another one of my Boxes.

So, you get one, and you lose one in this house, all balances up nicely in the end eh?
 
Nevablade said:
ok i have just completed the updates for ubuntu the system is still going at the same speed and during the updates i think the kernal was updated and now on my boot screen (i duel boot to windows 2k) i have two kernals of ubuntu is this normal?
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Yup, that's normal. If you want to change the list edit the text file that generates it. It can be found in /boot/grub/menu.lst.
Nevablade said:
...were Xorg which I understand is a system process and the system monitor program but the monitor program took around 50% of the cpu and i dont think that its right
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That's how it should be. The system monitor is rather CPU intensive as it is continuously updating.
Nevablade said:
only thing i can think of is that i am using a 64 bit processor with the i386 distro but i wouldn't have thought that would make a difference
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That shouldn't make a lick of difference.
Nevablade said:
Additional - I just checked the hardware manager and the processor has not been recognised by the machine could this be why?
Click to expand...
I dont think it would matter but perhaps someone else could give greater insight about than I am able to give.
 
Ok since yestorday i have had a play with synapitic update manager. Linux was was on the default 386 kernal images, i changed this to one of the k7 images (says that it supports semprons) but i noticed no difference at all in performance, I even spent up to an hour trying all the different images and still no difference.

I know that this is not a hardware problem becuase i did install fedora in between trying to install ubuntu and it looked like it was running at the speed of my win xp amd x2 3800+ system. Only thing with fedora is that it has very little automation systems which makes things very difficult for me and it didn't recognise my wifi device in my laptop whereas ubuntu did - ( i kinda rely on this ) and the reason for asking my original question was becuase i was having a lot of fun trying to find/create/compile drivers for my wireless card.

I have talked to a few of my mates that also use ubuntu and they have no clue as to why it is doing this. Could it just be a bug and it having problems with my hardware setup?

are the automatix and or other autoconfiguration tools available for other distrabutions? If so i might give FC5 another go otherwise which distro?
 
Mandriva or SuSE.

I would go for Mandriva before SuSE for ease of use, however, both have fantastic driver support straight from the CD.

Linux has always had issues with various network devices, and Wireless is no exception. This is not linux's fault but the device makers really and not letting the community have access to their devices, so perhaps a different card maybe?

I got a cable & Wireless adapter here, that I had given to me by a mate who simply failed to get it working, yet under Mandriva, it worked straight off. I use Ethernet so have no use for it ( No, you cant ) so it might simply be a case of bad luck, especially if your ubuntu mates are stumped too?
 
Nevablade said:
are the automatix and or other autoconfiguration tools available for other distrabutions? If so i might give FC5 another go otherwise which distro?
Click to expand...
Nope, it's just for *buntu and Mepis.

Try out SuSE if Ubuntu doesn't do it for you.
 
my wireless card is internal to the laptop (mini PCI) wouldn't want to get another one unless I had to especially as its proven that it can work with linux.

Mandriva seems like the next choice then *sigh* - more days of downloading :o
 
EMail me your address, and I will chuck you a copy in the post... No need to Download.

Do it well before 5:30 cos thats the last post and it will be there in the morning!
 
I tried FC4 as my first linux distro and... well it just didin`t work out for me... its cool because its free and not MS but most of my software is windoze and although I could find alternatives they were alternatives and not really up to what I needed... plus I couldn`t get Maya linux to install so I gave up (twas the last straw).

So is there something easier to get my mind around and install things on than FC4?
 
I know ubuntu is very popular, but what is it that makes it the best?

Best at what?

One thing I did like about it was the ease of installing it to the HD, but then Mandrive also does that too!

I know also that everyone seems to like the DEB PM because it resolves any independencies automatically, but then RPM has done that for some time too.

what is it about DEB based distros that make them so much better?

I myself have tried and tried to move to DEBIAN distros, including Ubuntu, and I just cannot get my head around them at all...

Why is this? Am I really that much of a plonker?

Sheesh... I even managed to get Debian "Potato" onto my Atari TT and on that, the only way to get it installed, is purely by hand, so why cant I grasp it on a PC?
 
Apart from my unlucky experience with Ubuntu not liking my laptop it is fantastic for a noob like me - I tried installing fedora core 5 before ubuntu and had no problem.

However after installing FC5 i then had to install drivers for my graphics (to use hardware acceleration) , Wifi Card etc. seeing as i have never compiled drivers before it was an uphill struggle with my ati drivers, followed the instructions to the letter and all i could do after restarting was access the repair terminal mode. ( Which I know sooo much about :p )

the reason I tried to go for Ubuntu was becuase of the automation systems, it found all of my hardware devices no problem and the synaptic manager program that came with it allows you to install extra packages for your hardware and software and is just really easy to use. - (Shame for me it took about 2 minutes loading time just to open the synaptic window)
 
Yeah, Gentoo is delicious I got to give it that!

My first setup of gentoo was on an AMD K6/2 400 and it took me 4-weeks pretty much non stop to get it installed and have KDE running... What an eye opener that was!

Oh, those were the days eh?

If I was to go and install it right now, I would be finished before my coffee goes cold.

Oh right... It is cold, but you know what I mean!
 
Maybe I`ll try Ubuntu on one of my OSless pc's and see how it fairs compared to FC4... my only problem then would be software. What is there for Linux that can replace the following.

Photoshop - Gimp obviously any others though?
Painter
Premiere
AfterEffects
Blender/Maya - both have a linux version but is there any other 3D software?
 
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