New Convert...

[Pathos]

Hi I'm a second year University student (BSc, Waikato, NZ) and I will soon be converting to Linux.

Well...almost, can't let go of WinXP yet, it supports too many programs that I like too use. And its getting better with the onslaught of commercial grade GPL applications being released .

I've got an extra 512mb of ram (from 256) and and extra80gig HD (from 40)  in preparation. I'm looking for a simple distribution of Linux. One that will support all my hardware, has a basic gui and will let me get my hands dirty.

We have some dedicated linux labs setup at our university (gentoo) which has really made me fall in love with the OS. The file system is so clean, the gui so simple yet fully accessable and the shell scripting is very cool. Windows looks like a bombsite in comparision with its folders scrambled all over the place attempting to hide them from the user.

BUT...gentoo seems so slow. With the gnome gui gedit takes 4 seconds to startup, and another 2 to allow input. Why? These machines were far more powerful than mine yet struggle with this simple application. It takes 2 seconds to start the gimp on mine. 0.1 seconds to start up Notepad2 my favourite text editor. I do notice how ever the OS is always instantly responsive when a program hangs unlike Windows.

Sadly I am yet to see a Linux GUI that feels and looks as good as my current skin on WinXP with the Shareware version of WindowBlinds. None seem to respond as fast.

So please help me choose which distribution to get: Fedora, Gentoo, Debian (why is this so big?), other...

Also I am planning to possibly get a dual monitor setup on a Radeon 9600XT. Will this be a problem?

:tux::tux::tux:

[Lead Head]

You can try ubuntu for basic stuff, you ca get a live CD from ubuntulinux.com and if you like it, download it

[anphanax]

If you wanna try Ubuntu first via Emulation, don't do so with Virtual PC. It won't work (kernel panic while booting).

[worker201]

I am using Fedora Core 4, with Gnome, on a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 with 1.5GB RAM.  

FYI, gedit starts (and accepts input) in less than 1.5 seconds, as I timed it just now.

[Jenda]

I'd say Ubuntu's great for me, but it is indeed rather slow. It's ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for a person who wants a REAL OS to fill the function of MSWin. That is my case. And the shipit service is awesome.

[Pathos]

I am using Fedora Core 4, with Gnome, on a 2.4GHz Pentium 4 with 1.5GB RAM.  

FYI, gedit starts (and accepts input) in less than 1.5 seconds, as I timed it just now.

Thats still very slow (Notepad2 on WinXP = instant, less than quarter of a second).

Is it Gnome and/or the shell/Kernel that slows it down so much? Can you similar performance to winXP with another distribution/gui?

I'm probably heading towards Fedora Core at the moment. I want a distribution that is fully installed, I'll try the Ubuntu CD if I get my hands on it.

Only problem is that I have 56k modem so I can't download anything big. May have to order it.

[piratePenguin]

HS 1.5ram.

Thats still very slow (Notepad2 = instant, less than quarter of a second).
Is it Gnome and/or the shell that slows it down so much. Can you get a very basic GUI that has similar performance to windows?

I use XFCE and find it very responsive for my 256mb ram.
It's a good, lightweight window manager.

[worker201]

If 1.5 seconds is too long for you to wait to start typing, well, that's just plain scary.

[Pathos]

I just assume that there is a Linux GUI that can compete with Micosofts latest OS for speed...

When I cleaned up our old Pentium 150 (32mb ram) with Win98 it could open Notepad quick, even MS Word was ~7 secs so why does Linux choke such a modern machine so badly? I just can't understand it.


...some of the blame probably has to go to gEdit as gVim is alot faster even tho it has decent syntax hilighting.

[Jenda]

I'll try the Ubuntu CD if I get my hands on it.

Only problem is that I have 56k modem so I can't download anything big. May have to order it.

You might know this, but just in case: http://www.shipit.org will send you as many Ubuntu CDs as you wish completely free of charge. It takes a few weeks, but don't give up, they always come in the end.

[Aloone_Jonez]

I've never liked any Rehat Linux they've always been bloadted and slow.

Worker, 1.5 seconds on your hardware is slow, notepad and word pad both start in <2 seconds on my 1800Mhz machine with 256MB oof RAM (this is bullshit anyway as we're comparing totally differant programs on totally differant systems). Ubuntu isn't too bad, it uses way less resources than XP and Vector Linux is very fast, you could also try knoppix - I've had reasonable performance running it from a CD and if you install it on your hard drive it should fly.

[Commander]

This thread is probably going to turn into a oooo use-this-instead-of-that thread.... so i'm just going to put mine in.  
go for suse. (although i'm a little biased on that because no other linux company offered me free stuff like they did and no linux distro handles like it).  I think i should put in the fact that the free stuff came AFTER i was in love with suse  .
and one more thing, if you use xfce, almost any distro will function faster than KDE and GNOME.  I use a 2GHz machine with 256+512 of ram and it still strugles (about 2.5-3 seconds) with opening simple stuff like kate (edior).

BTW, novell is giving away another resource kit for free to anyone wants to try out their software.  dont have the link.  but i think you altually had to receive an email to get it. not sure though.

[Lead Head]

I am a big fan of SuSE too, 1 main reason is because the install setup is very easy to use with people who hae over 128MBs of ram and at least 500MHz CPU, If you meat these requirements it turns into a graphic install. Ubuntu is good for beginners but suse is good for people who know how to use linux but dont want something complicated

[worker201]

Worker, 1.5 seconds on your hardware is slow, notepad and word pad both start in <2 seconds on my 1800Mhz machine with 256MB oof RAM (this is bullshit anyway as we're comparing totally differant programs on totally differant systems).

You're right, this is bullshit.  But all the same, that 1.5 seconds to open gedit has to be qualified.  I was running a bittorrent download, firefox, gaim, a gnome terminal, and transcode in a second terminal (demuxing video) at the same time.  With the 4 different workspaces, it is sometimes hard to keep track.

But really, speed is one of those things that you don't miss if you don't have it.  OpenOffice on Linux 2.6.12 doesn't really open any faster than WordPerfect8 on Windows 95.  It just seems like it does, since minesweeper and notepad have remained unchanged all these years.

[piratePenguin]

It takes me about two seconds to open up GNU Emacs (in X), but then when I close it and open it again, it pops up in no time atall.
Does the same thing happen for you ppl with gedit?
Does the same thing happen in Windows (try it with something like Firefox)?