Linux Distros

Dempsey

Im looking to get a Linux distro but Im not sure which one will do the job for me. Is there any rule of thumb or way of figuring out for selecting a distro?

Chad ghostal

Dempsey wrote:

Im looking to get a Linux distro but Im not sure which one will do the job for me. Is there any rule of thumb or way of figuring out for selecting a distro?

do a search, theres a big thread somewhere around, about which linux distros for noobs and what each of them is like

mneylon

There are a couple of questions you need to ask:
1 - What are you going to do with it? ie. desktop / server / mail server / router

2 - How technical are you?

3 - Stable vs. bleeding edge. Do you want all the latest "toys" or do you want something that is solid?

There was a very long thread about this not so long ago.

You'll also find a lot of links over at http://www.linuxmall.net/resources

HTH

Dempsey

I'll be putting it onto a very old P3 so it wont need all the lastest toys. I want one so I can get used to linux more than anything and play around with it.

Is there any distros fully compatible with NTFS? In case I want to dual boot with my main pc.

What was the name of that thread? I cant seem to find the thread you're on about

galactus

knoppix is a good place to start - its a distro that runs from CD (ie nothing is installed on your HDD).

All recent versions of Linux can read NTFS. Writing to it is a different story!

Dempsey

galactus wrote:

knoppix is a good place to start - its a distro that runs from CD (ie nothing is installed on your HDD).

All recent versions of Linux can read NTFS. Writing to it is a different story!

Knoppix, ok thanks ill try that

So basically dont move or change any files on a NTFS partition to be safe. Stick to FAT32?

galactus

FAT32 is fine but i wouldn't complicate things if you have NTFS on your PC (i assume you have 2000 or XP) Apparently you can convert NTFS to FAT32 but i wouldn't try it at home

IMHO, dual-booting is a problem waiting to happen. If you get a copy of VMware or MS virtual PC you can run Linux without the dual-booting.

Even better is to get your hands on a cheap PII/PIII.

Dempsey

I actually have a P2 and P3 that are on the scrap heap so they might get a new lease of life soon

Ste-

For the p2 I'd recommend something that installs a lightweight window manager say xfce.
For the p3 you could try Ubuntu, in LinuxFormat this month it was rated 9th place but I found it very easy to handle with a lot of howto's. http://www.ubuntulinux.org

I also came across this yesterday, it's like knoppix but it has xfce instead of kde(hog) for the window manager, it's also a small download. http://luitlinux.sarovar.org/index.html

tempest

Aye xfce is on FC3 as well which is handy for lower end boxes.

The FC3 DVD is on the latest (???) Linux Format as well. I've been playing with it on my lappy lately and have to say it's good. (Installer doesn't repartition though!!! so probably not for use in a dual boot unless you have some experience).

Other than that Suse or Mandrake (IMHO) would be the way to go, but I think the latest version of Suse has no free (installable) edition, which is a bit of a pain.

tck

i also recommend www.ubuntulinux.org

its debian based and comes with an idiot proof installer and has support for x86, powerpc or amd64. You can also run it as a live cd if so desired.

EDIT: on that note of knoppix, gnoppix (the gnome version) is based on the ubuntu core.

voxpop

Gentoo is not a bad little distro,basically you compile the whole distro from source so its custom built for your hardware. Not for the newbie,
but by the time you have it installed you will know alot more than when you started.

bringitdown

PS: Ubuntu will ship you a Live CD and installation CD for free at their site.

No shipping costs, nothing...

/aaaaa tempest robbed my avatar....

aidan_walsh

After you've tried a LiveCD to decide IF Linux is for you, take a look at the "Which Distro is for you" link in my sig for a quick test that will quite accuratly tell you which is most suitable to your needs.

tempest

bringitdown wrote:

/aaaaa tempest robbed my avatar....

which is mildly humorous considering I don't even know what my avatar is..... I've got them switched off....

Capt'n Midnight

you can use CAPTIVE NTFS to write to ntfs using windows drivers. Since M$ have made NTFS a trade secret it's about the safest way to do it.


If you have more than 1GB free on a FAT32 partition then try the poor man's install of knoppix - much faster than CD because you use the Dos program loadlin.exe to load the CD image file, the knoppix menu also allows you to create a swap file and persistant home folder on a fat32 drive - simply delete them when finished.

Again the question - are you looking under the bonnet or do you want a GUI, is it to do programming or for free software or what - different distros suit different apps.

Both ubuntu and knoppix are debian based, I think knoppix is closer

There was a linux mag a while back with about 7 live mini distros on the cover ...

versa

I have tried many distros just for the fun of it, i must have tried most of the top ten on distrowatch.com but the one i keep comming back to is Xandros at http://www.xandros.com it is the most user friendly disro i have used . I like SUSE and Mepis but if you want to play while getting the basics done this is is then I would suggest xandros. The best thng anyone can do is go to distrowatch.com and see what might suit you, download and try it. A live CD like mepis or knoppix can give you a quick feel for it before you try a full install. Many moons ago in GMIT (or galway RTC) I used BBC micro's and digital mainframes, it was very basic, I have grown up with windows point an click i have and palyed over the years with Linux but until i discovered xandros I was never able to get much done,(other than with windows) no distro will meet all of your needs every one has something that they dont like about it, it all depends on how deep you wnat to get into it. I also run SME Server on my DSL for web and email etc, again install it and with a bit of playing around it works out of the "tin"... I have run xandros on PIII 450 to P4 1.7 the more memory the better (and this applies for all distros with a user interface) on sme server I have ran it on a PII350 with 128Mb ram and a 10G Hdd+.

declan_lgs

Mandrakes the best dist for new-comers to linux imo, but I dunno if it'd run on that hardware. Ya can choose not to install the heavy window managers, and any other carp ya won't be using.
If ya wanna dive right into the deep end, try Slackware... but it is pretty out of date now, so I wouldn't go for it. Although, I'm sure it would run well on that hw, and you could update (recompile, if your up for it) the kernel and any apps that you use. It's not good for new-comers tho, and it's package manager isn't very user-friendly (unlike RPM (used by practically every other decent dist. Slackware doesn't believe in package managers that much. You *can* install RPM on Slack, but I wouldn't... You'd be better off on a different dist), which has many GUI's and stuff... and RPM's are easier to get).

As for NTFS support in Linux, you can read + delete files (afaik) alright, and nothing else... no write support, yet.

I don't see whats wrong with dual-booting with Winblowz... It's alright if your careful, and shouldn't be too hard to recover from any disasters, should they occur. Whatever distribution ya choose, most of the good ones (Slackware + Mandrake anyhow) ask what bootloader you wanna install. In my experience, GRUB is *much* better than Lilo, and easier to recover from.

Ubuntulinux seems cool. I ordered my (15... incl 5 for 64bit and 5 for PPC, which I'll never use heh) cd's about 2 weeks ago and they're still not here, so if yer on broadband, and wanna check it out, you'd probably be better off downloading it.

PS: It was the (xbox) hub, stopping me from setting up a (usable) network :cool:

Goodluck with linux, Dempsey

-piratePenguin

Dempsey

I just ordered 20 CD's of Ubuntu. 10 x86 5 PowerPc and 5 64-bit. I'll give it a try, i've been meaning to get linux for quite a while now.

Jesus, that was a long time ago, declan_lgs

declan_lgs

yup
just taught I'd bring it up for some odd reason...

I apolagise, for saying that I'd never use ubuntu.. I was pretty happy with mandrake untill yesterday, when my cd's *finally* arrived and I installed it on my new hdd...

anyhow, ubuntu is feckin class! has all the latest software (GNOME 2.8.1, w00t!), a kick ass package manager (aptitude.. ubuntu was, afterall, based on debian).. the website [www.ubuntulinux.org] is amazing... seems like a great community, and has a right bit of doc's (just to get ya started: http://desktopos.com/ubuntu-starter-guide/index.html)...
It also has a livecd with it (the x86 ones only), and it seems good aswel (haven't used it too much).

you'll probably be waiting a while to get them cd's delivered tho tbh..

Dempsey

declan_lgs wrote:

yup
you'll probably be waiting a while to get them cd's delivered tho tbh..

Ubuntu seems to be the up and coming distro, its getting a good reputation. How long were you waiting for delivery?

Ste-

I have a spare ubuntu cd if you want it.

Dempsey

Ste- wrote:

I have a spare ubuntu cd if you want it.

If ya dont mind sending it ill PM my address to ya. Thanks Ste-

declan_lgs

I've got 14 spare ubuntu cd's
yea, I was waiting over 2 weeks... so ya better get a cd off Ste-
I'd give ya one a mine but Ste-'s already kindly offered

seanos

Dempsey : if ye like I can give you one in college.

tck

I have a few spare also..

so if anybody wants one, for x86, amd64 or powerpc

Fenster

Weirdly, I also ordered Ubuntu discs, even though I use Fedora 3.