Linux? Which one?

-Mr.Fridge

Howdy m8s!
I'm currently using Windows XP, but I've been thinking alot of switching to Linux...
Should I?

I'm using the computer mainly for games, but I'm also learning Java2 and if I understand right, Linux is perfec for Java2 Programing...

So what do you say? Should I switch to linux? Will it be extremely hard for me? Which Linux is best?

I'm all confused

RIV@NVX

Try Fedora Core first. It includes lots of software for Java2 programming, so it's a good start and you might like it.
Also try Ubuntu. It's lightweight, one CD distribution which includes only the essentials, but picks all the right stuff.
Both are easy to use and install.

daRk_heLmet

I would suggest

Gentoo ---> for Linux

or be a man

FreeBSD ---> pure UNIX

or Both

Both of these are powerful, have ports, and can be compiled for you system.


A more easy going linux is Ubuntu, if gentoo or freeBSD make you pee in your pants

Psycam

Agreed.

Gentoo was the first taste of linux that got me addicted (tried redhat, predecessor to fedora core, didn't like it). It really gets you accustomed to the way linux works, so if you have time to learn, this is the way to go (and it's not hard at all). I still use it now.

Ubuntu is also great as well, easy and pre-configured. But that's just that.

waterloo

Gentoo will take at least 1 month to get set up.

Ubuntu is the Linux distro of my choice I like it a lot.

Xandros is most like windows for linux

I would say go with Ubuntu or Xandros for a bit than go to Gentoo because if you just go ahead and start installing Gentoo you are not going to know a thing and have a lot of reading ahead.

UberLord

Bollox.

You can install a stage 3 and be done in a few hours tops. And that's just using our Easy to follow installation guide.

If you want to have a fully working GUI interface, then you'll probably spend the rest of the day emerging X + GNOME or KDE.

But months? Only if you're really short of a few noodles in your cranium.

Not really. The out of the box defaults work pretty well for most people and if you have any problems then we do have friendly forums and IRC channels to help people out.

The plus side of going Gentoo in the first place is that you don't get locked into doing lazy GUI things that cosntantly change. The CLI is very constant in comparison

Tril

The first and only linux distribution I ever tried was Mandrake. It is now called Mandriva. It can be downloaded for free and it's easy to install. I was using the KDE GUI interface.

I don't know if it's the best choice because I've never tried other distributions but I know that it worked well for me. If I did not find pre-compiled software for my distribution, I downloaded the source and compiled myself.

Other people can probably help you better than me. I don't have much experience with linux.

Suggestion : You should dual boot linux and windows. When I installed Mandrake, it automatically set-up my computer for dual boot linux with the existing windows.

Fatal0E

I am liking pclinuxos www.pclinuxonline.com

I am a complete newb to linux and I am doing well with it.

anshuman

so some guy comes here.. ask ... i want to rider bikes now... i dont know much wht shud i do.... u all say.. hey .. build urself a custom bikers shop and build ur own a low rider... its awesome thing.. nothing can beat a custom low rider... dont take that ready made thing like ducati or cheap kawasaki hayabasu.. get a low rider... there are tons of manuals to get u thru ...

WHYYYY such a adviceeee?

ok thread starter.. now that i got it off my chest listen. this is coming from a person who is server administrator for past 4 years and has linux installed all over the places.

from six months ago i was telling everyone to get ubuntulinux.org, i even have 25 cds lying shipped directly by ubuntu. then when fedora core 4 was shipped i suggested that. (i got soft spot for fedora i admit )

but right now just from a week i am using suse 9.3 on a workstation. ITS THE ONE. period. get it . its got ALL GOODIES installed OUT-OF-THE-BOX

here is a good guide for you to follow. http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_suse_9.3 just follow the guide until you get working suse

have good day,
Anshuman Gholap.
Webhost server admin.

UberLord

Gentoo teachs you about how the various parts of the system work, which makes you a better Linux person. Best to learn things at the start so bad things like always running as root don't become habit forming.

anshuman

i will tell you wht my cousin bro said to me when i was talking of linux for his newly bought hp laptop. below are his words.

"bro... i want to use linux, i dont want to understand it, its like a girl man, just want use her, dont want to u.stand."

Although the above quote makes you giggle. it tries to tell cold truth about wht is happening in linux (developer) world and new people approaching it.

Only SOME have understood whats needed, i see Xandros, Suse have got this message and trying to go around it by solving the ease of use.

There is a thin line between "teaching NEW user of linux blind about whats good thing in linux (user level persmission) and bad thing in linux (root permission usage for normal task 24/7)" AND "totally hiding it".

Gentoo and others take it to heart (i am not saying thats bad, infact i am a vi, cli bash commands, ./configure - make - make install fanatic too ). But we need to loosen up a bit (not to the extend of lindows.. thats worse thing happend to linux) to new users coming to linux.



UPDATE:-



look at suse. they have nicely segregated Openoffice into different sections in the Office menu. its things like this.. mayb little but make huge difference for new user.
(btw its suse 9.3 with default things for GUI)


here is a plain gnome menu for office. all in one. a new user wont be haunted by this. but wht suse did can make them feel cared . (thinking of granpa granma, aunts uncles sisters and others here.)
(btw its fedora core 4 on my thinkpad with glossyp theme and humility icons for coming up ubuntu distro for gui).

Kombatant

What did you do, stage1 install on 386sx-33 with 2400 baud modem?

Joking aside, what you (the thread starter) should do is to download a live iso, which will allow you to run the Linux distribution from the CD-ROM. That will allow you to get familiarised with the OS, and see if it suites your needs. ubuntu has a live-cd you can try.

RIV@NVX

Actually, Gentoo requires i486 as minimum

Kombatant

I kinda added 10 days until he figured that out

md5

Er I would never suggest Gentoo to someone new to the *nix world... it's like having someone asking you how to drive a car and you replying "go get this DIY kit to build your own". Not the best thing to tell a novice user

At first, I'd suggest the well-known and easy distros:
1) Knoppix, one of the best-known live CDs. This is a feature-rich OS that boots off a CD, without requiring any installation. Try this one for a quick introduction to Linux
2) Fedora Core 4 is your best bet, as it's a very powerful and at the same time very well-made and user-friendly (and completely free, unlike some) distribution. I'd suggest this one (my personal favorite )
3) Ubuntu would be the second one I'd suggest, quite easy to use and small (just 1 CD that has all the essentials)
4) Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) is also very user-friendly, designed for the novice user in mind
5) Xandros is one of the most user-friendly distros out there

The aforementioned 5 can be downloaded off their respective websites, too. To be honest, I'd highly recommend one of them to start off with Linux.

SuSE is very good and professionally made. However it's not "100% free" as this OS was not available for download in the past. You can now download the "Personal version" from their website, and the "Professional version" with some procedure I haven't quite understood

Other well-known distros are Gentoo, Slackware and of course FreeBSD (which has a different kernel). I would certainly NOT recommend these to someone new to the *nix OS

You might want to have a look here:
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
for more information about the top 10 *nix distributions (there are certainly a lot more than these, but these are the most well-known)

anshuman

umm.. now it is >> "Novell to OpenSource Software"

talk about good coincidence.