What is Digg?56 Comments
- Mirag3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4sorta basic, yet too complicated at the same time
heres my suggestion:
SuSe - new users
Fedora - people who want reasonable useability (not great, not bad) with some very large flaws and compatibility issues
Debian - anyone who wants a great/stable server(i love it), also easy to update(as opposed to mandrake);outdated GUI on request
Mandrake - beginners distro, no real functionality, better go with SuSe
Gentoo - very good functionality, almost all text, "expert's linux",more difficult than,but about the same as debian(my opinion)
Ubuntu - never tried, sounds like debian with reduced function for nubs
Slackware - stable, but not as debian or gentoo, more updated GUI though - Genghis1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There are 2 things the Linux community just doesn't get.
Paid and Laid. - mtnhigh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Here's my take, I started out for slackware 8-9, its a good distro for the tech savvy. but I have to say the best distro for everyday home use (something my kids can use) is mandriva by far. No configuring (dell laptop) its just click click and you are done, tried suse 9-10 always had to configure the display or something else
peace - NidStyles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm a huge fan of Slackware myself. Slack since 7.2 for me. I don't use it that much anymore, and I'm current using a distro of Vector Linux, which is Slackware trimmed even more. No frills at all. Runs great on my Dell Latitude Cx 650MHz.
I don't use any fancy graphically BS though, straight up command line for me. Works great as a portable lab box. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well written.
It is nice to know that there are good articles being posted on digg after all. - FatController, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's a nice blog entry. Readers who want more information might find Distrowatch useful.
http://www.distrowatch.org/dwres.php?resource=reviews - Cam_86, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I am looking for a good starter distro, to put on a T23 IBM thinkpad(1.1ghz P3m, 256-768[deciding if its worth the extra cash to add 512 instead of 245] and a 30 gig hard drive)
I guess I'll go with SuSe. Gotta get a new laptop to run windows XP off of first though.(gotta become proficient before i use a Linux distro as my main computer) - eddieroger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I guess its a good fake conversation, but I have trouble accpeting that the guy would recommend those distros to a total noob as a good place to start. Im my far from humble opinion, a good starting distro would be Knoppix or some other CD based Live version (SuSE Live, Knoppix, etc), where the noob could get a real feel for Linux without investing money or hard drive space. I also like Mirag3's briefing of the distros. I use Gentoo, for what that's worth.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"haha, how many distros does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Sorry, there's no linux driver for the GE lightbulb."
carguy84 FTW. - f1gm3nt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Tom and Manish are fictitious characters and this whole train of thought took place inside my mind."
This guy may need some help. - raindog469, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, the way that was written made my skin crawl a little. By the time I got to the "inside my mind" line I had already pretty much come to that conclusion anyway.
It does remind me, though, that a year ago I would have just recommended Mandrake to someone regardless of who they were, and now Mandrake is somebody else and there are other user-friendly distros (I'm looking at you, kubuntu) that are worth a damn. As long as you have broadband, that is. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A very interesting read.
- nuxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0personally, i use SuSE 10,0
Ubuntu is quite nice too, and contrary to popular belief, it's not just a debian hack, it has it's own way of doing things.
i've also tried a few other distros, i started out on mandriva 2005...it was alright, but i found it just lacked the spit-and-polish of SuSE and Ubuntu. A distro that I am constantly pleasantly surprised with is Knoppix. I wish he (Klaus Knopper) would make a version that was a little easier to install onto a hard drive...it really is a great distro. As for Damn Small, I think it's all just a bunch of Hype and Gimmicks, I can see nothing special about it. - tranix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Mepis.org - even easier than Ubuntu, but has that KDE toyish feel.
- crapiolio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0How about the Damn Small Linux? I use that for my old Compaq.
- eklitzke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Arch linux for me :-)
- lampshade, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0bottom line the article came down to you paying money for the distribution. It is going to be really hard to convince the average user to give up windows, which is already installed and paid for, for a Linux distribution... I just don't see that happening. Article seemed to only highlight the good parts and forget all the negative parts about Linux...
- ztirffritz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've used CentOS, SuSe, Yellow Dog and Ubuntu. So far, Ubuntu is by far the easiest to use. SuSe is second. CentOS is a tool in a different category that does what it says it does, but not much more. I've found that SuSe has huge system requirements in RAM and HD space. Ubuntu seems to be a little less demanding in those areas. SuSe also does not have very clear support pages. Ubuntu is really easy to troubleshoot because of the support which is available. SuSe was my first Linux distro and it did well, but every so often it would just blow up and I'd have to re-install/rebuild things. I haven't had that problem with Ubuntu.
- clumsyninja, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The thing I like about Linux is the variety.
- J_Omega, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'll agree with some others here. For complete novices, I suggest Ubuntu. It really is pretty damned stable, easy to set up, etc. Plus the community support is really quite good.
Not that I use it. (Gentoo on my x86, Debian on my UltraSparc.) - Dummies102, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0reads like 1950s propaganda, or one of those chick comics. Still a good read for anyone computer literate who needs an intro to linux.
- boazg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0ubuntu, but only after i replace the kernel. oh and gnome is way to fat for my needs, i use openbox instead.
- aaarg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Linux will continue to owned by Microsoft until they add some of the things that make Windows/OS X great. Things like automatically configuring your wireless card, and automatically detecting attached devices. Post another one of these lame opinionated articles when it's worth trying."
ubuntu actually does a great job of this (in 5.10 even picked up all of my wireless on 3 different machines each with different cards.) windows didnt, i had to install the drivers, ubuntu worked out of the box. ubuntu also autodetects many usb devices (everyone i personally tried) - womble, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Funny how people like jjr2527 always claim Linux needs catch up with Windows by doing things that most distros already do.
- ceeze, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My WinXP installation was slowly getting worse and worse lately, so I went ahead and installed Ubuntu on a second drive this weekend. Super easy, nice UI, easy to find and install great apps. So far the only thing I've missed is iTunes.
I'm not quite ready to wipe the XP drive just yet, but I'm not far off. - jdrivein, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0linux from scratch.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Seems a bit biased to me...
- stimpack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0fairly basic but well written entertaining read.
- spakbunny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"But Slackware uses an entirely different format called TGZ" ... Haha.
Asking for Linux dist advice is like taking a survey asking what religion is best. If you're a nub and want to get into Linux, just pick one randomly and go for it. You'll probably end up loving a different one in the long term anyway. - jimmiejaz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0When are people going to get away from the "bicycle syndrome"? The idea of a 'beginner's distro' and graduating up to real distro's is just plain silly and wrong. Remember the early 90's when there was no such idea, or distro? My personal opinion, YMMV, start with LFS, even if you never finish, have an older machine around, use, learn LFS, along side your Windows, and *starter distro*. This way, you not only get the ease of use, but you also have a machine to break, understand how, and why things work. Of course, I'm a *BSD user, but I started with SLS, moved to Slackware, to Redhat 5.2, back to Slackware, than to Net/OpenBSD, now use FreeBSD, since 1999.
- JJR2527, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@Womble
I tried Debian, and SuSE 9.2 based on what I read in forums SuSE was a good way to start. I got SuSE to work but only when I had a hard line to my pc. Debian took 3 installs to get the UI installed correctly so I could see a desktop.
@aaarg
I will give Ubuntu a try. Thanks for the comment. - MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Debian is the only Linux distribution that supports architectures other than x86/IA32, Intel 64 bit, AMD 64 bit and PowerPC"
Huh?
Gentoo: x86, sparc, amd64, ppc, ppc64, alpha, hppa, mips - MonkeyFit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@ceeze
I would recommend reinstalling Windows. I let my install of Windows stagnate for 2 years after doing stuff to it that shouldn't be done to any operating system. It couldn't even play CDs properly anymore. It would always play them slowly and with skipping. I thought it was a problem with my drives at first, but in Linux they worked just fine. I finally reinstalled Windows and my fresh SP2 install booted faster than my fresh Kubuntu install. It worked wonders for Windows and it's good policy to reinstall every OS about once a year. - VStrider, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I use gentoo exclusively, for its flexibility and ease of use.
Flexibility because I can choose what features I want with any packages I install, while on other distros, if you need a feature that wasn't compiled in by the packagers, you're stuck.
Flexibility because I can choose whatever desktop I want, be that gnome,kde,enlightment,xfce,fvwm,fluxbox, or whatever. If it's out there, chances are, it's in portage.
Then it's ease of use. I can modify and compile my kernel at will, while on other distros, it's not so clear cut. You get the precompiled binary and if you need something else, tough luck.
Then it's the enormous size of the portage tree. Everything you'll ever need to install is there. It's as easy as typing 'emerge this'.
When I hear someone saying that Gentoo is difficult or it's only for elite users, I feel I want to slap them with an ubuntu cd. Sure it's not for the windows user who mindlessly clicks stuff, and they get a panic attack when they need to use the keyboard, but if you've tried a few distros and you're not new to linux, give gentoo a try. You won't go back. ;) - maskin1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This question is to gentoo users.
How easy is it to install Gentoo on your machine. A lot of people have commented about gentoo on this thread.
I have heard that you have to compile each package to install gentoo in your machine. Is that right?
I am asking this question because I am interested in giving it a try but am a bit hesitant when faced with compiling softwares. - Inbal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Good for people who have just heard about Linux and want to understand how it works, but it doesn't really help you choose your Linux.
Someone should make up a "Linux distribution suitability quiz" that will explore people's computer habits. - stevex0r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"So far the only thing I've missed is iTunes."
Amarok is a great replacment for itunes. The only real issue is that it dosn't allow you to purchase from the itunes store. - Tolpero, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0" I think you have taken a good decision because when you pay money for the distribution, they include addons like support for propritery file formats and the user is saved from the job of installing them himself."
Huh ?? Just go with debian, and getting all the codecs and mp3:s to play proper is just a matter of issuing a 'apt-get install mplayer w32codecs'
How hard could that be ? And the benefits of debian outweigh the discomfort of issuing a single line of command to get that media playing properly. - alphamerik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I agree with Snuggles that the BSDs should be mentioned... and when you try FreeBSD and then subsequently grow up try OpenBSD. (^_^)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Linux makes a great server or workstation ... but when it can play current games without game developers having to make a special linux version then it will be ready for the desktop.
- gookie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0that's wrong with linux. they're just too ***** many. if every developer just concentrate on this one might helluva OS, LINUX will someday rule them all. But what's happening is the opposite...everyone wants their distro to the ONE. and that's how you end up with 283084023849082323094820384 distros and consfusing everyone.
MEH @ LINUX!!! - VStrider, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@ maskin1
It's very easy. Although there is no graphical installer, the installation is very well documented. The gentoo installation handbook guides you step by step, so you won't even have to think. :) So basically you boot with the minimal live cd, open the gentoo handbook on another terminal with the links2 browser(Ctrl+Alt-F1 to Ctrl+Alt-F6 switches between the 6 terminals), and you read the handbook instructions while you type them on your first terminal. You could also have another instance of links2 ready on the gentoo forums, incase you need help with something.
As about compiling, don't let that scare you as you won't be doing any of that yourself. :) See the thing is, although gentoo compiles packages from source, you don't have to do any of that - Portage will handle it for you. Lets say you want to install somepackage. All you do is type emerge somepackage. Portage will download the source, compile it and install it. Ofcourse there are alot more things you can do to customise your gentoo installation, which you'll learn later on, as you become more experienced with gentoo.
Good luck! ;) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"How easy is it to install Gentoo on your machine."
It's pretty easy if you follow the handbook... for Gentoo and KDE on my 1.5 Ghz Laptop it took 3 days. Compiling X and KDE is a time consuming thing. I love how emerge works and I wish it came on every distro. It was definitely a learning experience and I have a greater appreciation for Linux and the config files. Six months later I received like 50 free Ubuntu discs so I installed that and promptly downloaded the kubuntu meta package for KDE and edubuntu for a few educational stuff for any little kids that come over.
Gentoo was great, but my only complaint is that certain packages would fail to compile with my USE settings and even when the USE settings were turned off some packages would fail with compiler errors about 3 hrs into it. Gentoo was also not really *noticeably* faster than other distros as people would claim. Another thing is ALSA was a pain in the ass on my laptop. Sometimes it liked being compiled into the kernel sometimes it didn't. My wireless drivers were really easy with ndiswrapper though.... - beneno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Linux will continue to owned by Microsoft until they add some of the things that make Windows/OS X great"
Linux is getting there, big steps.
When I installed Ubuntu 5.04 on a centrino notebook amazed me that the setup program asked me if I wanted to use the wireless interface or the NIC to download packages. On windows I had to install the drivers. - nouse66, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"... for Gentoo and KDE on my 1.5 Ghz Laptop it took 3 days. Compiling X and KDE is a time consuming thing."
for most people that's not acceptable. the first time i installed gentoo i went through all that but with all the pre-compiled packages available it's really not necessary. just emerge the binary packages and get yourself up and running (relatively) quickly. then, after that you can always tweak the use flags and re-emerge if you'd like. - hardkoretom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0everybody has their own opinions on the subject of linux distros and each one might be better for different reasons. my thoughts on the subject is that new people should do gentoo because it is command line only. By having mainly command line only, it teaches the easy commands and shows how to browse thru everything with ease. ive used gentoo and red hat 9 and i love gentoo because i am going the harder route and actually learning
- ericpp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Ubuntu, SuSE, and Fedora are my picks
- clevershark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've tried a lot of them (including RH/Fedora, Suse, and Debian in various versions) but my favorite is Slackware.
- MioTheGreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I have heard that you have to compile each package to install gentoo in your machine. Is that right?"
If I want to compile the 400-so packages in KDE, I'd just type 'emerge kde-meta', and each package would be downloaded and compiled for me with my compiler flags and USE flags. - carguy84, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1haha, how many distros does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Sorry, there's no linux driver for the GE lightbulb. -
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