Which distro for a Linux beginner?

sehcure

sehcure

sehcure

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Haven't used Linux for years, and when I did it was minimal - what should I start on?

It'll be on an old 1GB ram laptop, just to get me used to it.
 
I use and like Ubuntu, some people hate the new unity UI but I think it will get better and the setup and update process is simple. Everything seems to work out of the box first time with no messing about.

Other people seem to like Linux Mint although I have not tried it, from what I have seen it looks promising.
 
This used to be such an easy question. Damn Gnome developers :mad:;)

I'd probably still recommend Mint. Even if i do have problems with Cinnamon they're not as big as problems with Unity. But you should at least look at a few others, see what you think you might prefer. Those being Debian, openSUSE, Fedora, Sabayon and something i think might be the one to keep an eye on for newbies - Chakra.

It basically comes down to if you get on with KDE (which i've heard has been going in a good direction of late) or some flavor of Gnome 3 (which, frankly, hasn't). Personally i went with XFCE, but that takes quite a bit of customization to get looking 'nice' so i wouldn't really use it as a beginner unless it's on a much slower computer. I don't think Mate is quite ready yet.

EDIT: Just saw the computer spec in the OP :p

It might struggle a bit with KDE... and Gnome 3 now. Depends what you'd be doing with it. But it might be worth checking out XFCE or other more lightweight DMs, maybe the Fedora spin or in Debian. I used Peppermint for a while when it first came out, it is nice, i just wanted a little more.
 
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Mint, purely for how pretty it is :p Ubuntu will just work (not saying Mint won't) but it is a bit heavy these days, IMO.

If you have the time why not try several? I do a lot of work on in Debian, with a minimal install and LXDE, anything more seems like a waste tbh. Windows 7 although great is only for gaming for me
 
This thread inspired me to give Ubuntu a go. Wow, how easy was that? Wubi I wub you.

It even recognised the crappy Belkin Wireless G USB stick and connected to my WiFi. I had to download a bunch of drivers from Belkins site to get it working on Windows.

Already got my Netbeans installed, too. Nice! :cool:
 
I'd say anything Debian based.

Ubuntu being the most common choice.

After you are comfortable with the OS/Terminal and want to up your game, I recommend Arch Linux. The Arch Linux guides are simply fantastic, the AUR is also very good.
 
Consider your hardware first and foremost ... go for a lightweight distro that fits the resources available to you.

As suggested before ... Lubuntu should be a good starter

:)

I'm running Mint 12 (Cinnamon flavour ... and it runs cool thanks) on a desktop with lots of cores and mem. I've currently got Lubuntu on the laptop..... I'm a newbie

EDIT

You'll be surprised how little you have to go near the terminal and command line these days with Ubuntu or Mint. You can learn and dabble at your own pace before moving on to more command line orientated flavours :)
 
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If you are using an ubuntu-based distro then the ubuntu forums are a great source of info. They will cover pretty much anything you will need. As above there isnt much need to dabble on the command line if you dont want to, but its good to learn how things work behind the scenes if you want to get deeper into it.
 
Out of the box, Linux (at least Ubuntu/Mint) are not going to be great for laptop battery life. Apparently, there might be a bug that is causing increased power consumption. There are some tweaks though, but I could never match Windows battery life or CPU temp on two different laptops I had.
 
Another thumbs for Lubuntu.

I tried it on a friends old netbook after reading this thread and its quick, not as rapid as Puppy but way quicker than vanilla Ubuntu.
 
Ok, now upon returning home it appears my sister is using the old laptop..

Are liveCDs worth it, and how about dual booting on my computer? or is it too much of a hassle..
 
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