Best Non Microsoft os

[sAvAgE]

The 2 best Distrubutions for Linux for all would be Redhat 8.0, RedHat 7.3, 7.2 THey are all Good also Depends what you want to do as well.. If ya need Mandrake then .. all the Power to you .. I suggest Mandrake 8.2 and Mandrake 9.0 as well. all gui installs and very simple as well in Mandrake I suggest you use the expert install (Not that difficult)

[Crunchy(Cracked)Butter]

quote:Originally posted by Doctor V:
I think the biggest problem Linux faces is the false beliefs.  People think Linux is a very difficult to learn OS that is just for hackers and programmers.  Getting people informed as to how easy Linux has become should be one of our goals.

V

I'll tell you something, its difficult to get an answer on things, i must go to 2 or 3 different linux sites and not one of them can ever give me a striaght answer, this is only for knowing if my hardware is going to work with their distro.  Its kinda crappy really even when i say i would go and buy their distro if the hardware works.  They just don't seem to want to reply so i still don't know and still don't have a distro to use on my laptop.  You would of thought they would help if they wanted more ppl onboard, if they cannot answer simple hardware q's then what should newbies do?

[voidmain]

quote:Originally posted by Crunchy(Cracked)Butter:


I'll tell you something, its difficult to get an answer on things, i must go to 2 or 3 different linux sites and not one of them can ever give me a striaght answer, this is only for knowing if my hardware is going to work with their distro.  Its kinda crappy really even when i say i would go and buy their distro if the hardware works.  They just don't seem to want to reply so i still don't know and still don't have a distro to use on my laptop.  You would of thought they would help if they wanted more ppl onboard, if they cannot answer simple hardware q's then what should newbies do?

You download it for free. You try it and see if it works for you. If it does you keep it. If it doesn't you try something else. It's quite simple really. Could have had that done way sooner than trying to get a straight answer from hundreds of peoples choices and biases. The whole point of Linux is *you* have a choice.

[cocoamix]

OS X.
End of story.

[Doctor V]

quote:Originally posted by Crunchy(Cracked)Butter:


I'll tell you something, its difficult to get an answer on things, i must go to 2 or 3 different linux sites and not one of them can ever give me a striaght answer, this is only for knowing if my hardware is going to work with their distro.  Its kinda crappy really even when i say i would go and buy their distro if the hardware works.  They just don't seem to want to reply so i still don't know and still don't have a distro to use on my laptop.  You would of thought they would help if they wanted more ppl onboard, if they cannot answer simple hardware q's then what should newbies do?

I'll agree that hardware support is one area where there is not enough documantation for (guys, lets make a site).  But I will say that in my experiences, I have never had any problems with hardware not being supported by Linux.  Cases where hardware is incompatible with Linux are rare, its the exception not the rule.  As Voidmain said, just keep trying different distros, they are free so you lose nothing.  Chances are you won't be searching very long.  The exception to this is the modem.  There are many microsoft only modems, called winmodems, and that is somthing everyone should check before buying their computer.  A good place to check is http://www.linmodems.org/ .

[rtgwbmsr]

quote:Originally posted by Crunchy(Cracked)Butter:


I'll tell you something, its difficult to get an answer on things, i must go to 2 or 3 different linux sites and not one of them can ever give me a striaght answer, this is only for knowing if my hardware is going to work with their distro.  Its kinda crappy really even when i say i would go and buy their distro if the hardware works.  They just don't seem to want to reply so i still don't know and still don't have a distro to use on my laptop.  You would of thought they would help if they wanted more ppl onboard, if they cannot answer simple hardware q's then what should newbies do?

Erm, which sites did you visit?
3 clicks got me to Red Hat's hardware compatability list. Check it out:
http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/?pagename=hcl

Specifically for your laptop, here is the site Linux on Laptops
http://www.linux-laptop.net/

Just ask. Most people [here] will be willing to help you if they can.