Best linux distro??

[neo_x500]

Could anybody help me? The topic is self-explanatory, I'd like to know what the best linux distro is for simple, home use.

[TheQuirk]

I guess you'd be pretty happy with Red Hat, SuSE, or Mandrake--all are major distros that are designed with ease of use in mind.

Next time, don't say "best Linux distro", though--there's no such thing, and it usually just brings disto flame wars.

[Doctor V]

Best Linux Distro, yeah there's alot of disagreement on the subject.  Like asking whats the best movie, best beer, best looking woman...

Just my opinion, I like Gentoo the best for home use, but noone without experience using Linux should come near it.

For people starting out, I think Mandrake is the best.

V

[neo_x500]

Right, I should rephrase then. What would be the best distro for me, a user that has never even seen a copy of linux before, off the shelve, and which would logically follow, has never used linux before. I'm planning on dual booting for now, since I have a feeling that my proprietary boggled hewlette packard is gonna have about a million problems with drivers. Especially in the modem department. I've made a few steps to freeing my computer, such as getting mozilla, and deleting the IE folder completely. Of course that doesn't kill IE, since it's integrated into the system. I wanna ditch windows completely someday, though. Not for a while, I'll need time to get used to linux.

[Doctor V]

Then I'd try out mandrake.  Its hardware auto-detection is tops, its easy to start out using but doesn't try to copy windows too much (stay away from Lindows and Xandros).  The instructions are in plain English, and comes with just about whatever you need.  Its one distro that someone whose never touched linux before can install in less than an hour, and start using right away.  And I bet is won't give you any hardware problems, except for that modem of yours, which, if it is a winmodem, is going to be very difficult to get working if you can even get it working at all.
So you might have to think about getting a new external modem (or broadband).

Choose a Mirror and download the iso files.

Burn them to CD.  Pop the CD in and your ready to go.

Good Luck
   V  

[baggab]

I would say "how analytical are you?"  Are you ready for some headaches?  I just spend a day making the on-board sound card work for RH 8.0, with a lot of help from LUG contacts.  75% was me and 25% was machine.

I am in the process of migration from windows.  Millenium / Red Hat 8.0 on one Dual boot system and Koppix 3.2 / Red Hat 8.0 on an other system.

I just went through this debate at my Linux User Group (LUG.)  I would ask you if you have a LUG near  you?

I would choose the free one of these: Mandrake, Red Hat, Koppix.  In that order.  What do I mean free?  The copy you get from you local LUG.

Just load it and see which one finds the hardware best.  I would look into a external modem, what kind of video card you have, and remember fdisk /MBR.  You may need that!


[ June 08, 2003: Message edited by: baggab ]

[ June 08, 2003: Message edited by: baggab ]

[Stryker]

This is one of those topics we don't mind multiple posts for? There has to be at least 30 of them.

aw well, I'd go with RH9. as it supports almost all hardware (all on my machines) and is very user friendly. (and I hate mandrake for some unknown reason)

[Stryker]

I just got done with a search, you might want to try some of these...

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000067

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000101

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000292

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000372

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000403

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000434

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000526

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000670

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000702

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000865

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000899

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000906

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001071

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001090

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001125

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001159

http://forum.fuckmicrosoft.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001393

[neo_x500]

So, I'm going for mandrake linux, and I don't really know what to do in these ftp sites. Where is the image files, are we supposed to use the rpms or is there a simplier way, like an iso or something?

[TheQuirk]

quote:Originally posted by baggab:
I would say "how analytical are you?"  Are you ready for some headaches?  I just spend a day making the on-board sound card work for RH 8.0, with a lot of help from LUG contacts.  75% was me and 25% was machine.

I am in the process of migration from windows.  Millenium / Red Hat 8.0 on one Dual boot system and Koppix 3.2 / Red Hat 8.0 on an other system.

I just went through this debate at my Linux User Group (LUG.)  I would ask you if you have a LUG near  you?

I would choose the free one of these: Mandrake, Red Hat, Koppix.  In that order.  What do I mean free?  The copy you get from you local LUG.

Just load it and see which one finds the hardware best.  I would look into a external modem, what kind of video card you have, and remember fdisk /MBR.  You may need that!


[ June 08, 2003: Message edited by: baggab ]

[ June 08, 2003: Message edited by: baggab ]

Don't you mean "Knoppix"?

[Faust]

For a newbie I would heartily recommend Mandrake.

[realist]

Mandrake has been going steadily down the tubes for a good while now, the only thing that might make it more newbie friendly than Red Hat for example might be its flashy graphics and suchlike.

Leave Mandrake for now, try Red Hat instead.

[Faust]

Care to post some reasons for Red Hat Mr Realist?  Personally I like Mandrake more because it's large selection of packages gives a newbie much more to play with.  For example it actually has more Window managers than the windows look alikes gnome and kde.  I know ease of use is important here but while you can start with KDE / gnome it is nice to be able to delve deeper into differences later on.  Also I think mandrake has far better multimedia support than red hat - red hat doesnt support mp3s or video "out of the box" for example whereas mandrake does.  Red hats config sections are nice but they dont give you the option to delve into techy parts - for example my Red Hat using friend had difficulty getting his sound blaster live to work in Red Hat.  I managed to fix it with a quick insmod but a newbie shouldnt be expected to use module tools.  Also Mandrakes installer is _slightly_ easier, especially with a nice color coded partition scheme - partitioning is very difficult for a newbie (the most difficult part for me) and it is nice for people to be able to "not delete the blue or grey partitions" rather than "not delete FAT or NTFS partions."

Well these are my personal choices and I have noticed a lot of people like Red Hat so... could you please tell me why?

[Faust]

quote:So, I'm going for mandrake linux, and I don't really know what to do in these ftp sites. Where is the image files, are we supposed to use the rpms or is there a simplier way, like an iso or something?

There should be iso's available for download, thats the standard way of distribution.

Oh and the "best" linux distro is Debian, but that's not for the newbie.  Hopefully this will be fixed in the future.  

[Doctor V]

Three reasons I say Mandrake over RedHat:
1.)  There are less choices to make during the install, making it easier for a newbie.
2.)  The instructions are in plain English moreso than Red Hats are.  Especially in the partitioning department.
3.)  Mandrake is optimized for a i586 while Red Hat is still only optimized for a i386, yes, Mandrake may give him better performance than Red Hat.

OK Neo, time for some more step by step instructions.  After you go to the page I directed you to, click on the 'now' buttion after the text that reads: 'I'm already a member of the Club or plan on registering soon, please send me to the download page'.  That will send you to the download page.  At the next page.  There will be many mirrors, choose one close to you that you can connect to that is under the heading 'Mandrake Linux 9.1 ISO images mirrors for i586 and higher'.  I assume 'i586 and higher' includes your computer, if you don't know, don't worry about it.  ISOs are definitely the best way to go.  If the site doesn't connect, asks for a password or anything else funny, just go to another one.  On the site, you should find some files you can download, three should have .iso extensions.  You might have to look around a bit, depending on the site.  Remember to download the files for Mandrake 9.1 for i586.  The other files are optional.  Download the files.  Once done, open up your CD writer application.  All CD writing applications have to ability to write iso files to disks, search through the menu's on your application till you find it, and write the iso image files to cds.  Boot from the CD and follow the directions.  Ask us if you have any questions after that.  By the way, does the windows you are using now have only a C drive, or does it also have a D drive or some free space to install Linux onto.  If you only have one drive, you will probably need to shorten the windows partition to make room for Linux, which would be another thread.  Of course, whatever you do, backup your essential data first, just to be safe.

V