The [Main] What Distro should YOU use?
This is the ONLY 'What distro is best for you?' thread on the board now. Well if you're not sure tell us what you do and a little about your computer and we'll help you figure out which is best for you and why.
Some things to think about when posting:
- What apps do you use most?
Do you have a broadband connection?
How familiar are you with computers?
How familiar are you with Linux?
How much time are you willing to invest into learning Linux?
How powerful is your computer?
This is a popular topic and in the interest of providing info as clearly as possible on the topic we think one cetral thread is a good idea. So, all new threads that should have been posted in this thread will be locked from now on.
Looking for a Linux Distro- Have some specific needs and a lot of questions
Hello!
I'm new to Linux and am looking for a newb- friendly distro.
Here are my system specs:
Pentium 4 HT 3 ghz
ATI Radeon x300SE
512 MB Dual Channel DDR2 RAM
48x CD-RW
16x DVD-ROM
Soundmax integrated audio
Logitech MX510 optical mouse
I've tried Fedora Core 3 but think it's probably a step too far for a newbie. I also tried Mandrake but it doesn't work on my computer (probably because of my video card.) I tried the hoary hedgehog release of Ubuntu and didn't like the desktop interface. So I might try Kubuntu. I'm also looking at SUSE. Can you download the CD version of SUSE, not the DVD verson?
Also, I'm assuming I have a i586 computer because my processor is 32-bit. Am i right?
My main goal is ease of use and how big the hill I have to go over is. My other main goal is to get my Linksys WUSB54 wireless-g network adapter to work in my Windows network so I can get on the Internet. Will I need Samba to so this or will using ndiswrapper to load the drivers be enough?
I also want something that comes with lots of software- preferably the latest version of ndiswapper to save me the pain of learning how to unzip a tar.gz and install it.
Thanks for your help!
Re: Which is right for me?
Quote:
Originally posted by J-Val
Should I only be using RPMS because I'm running mandrake, or should I switch to an OS where I can use both?
I think Mandrake will probably be fine for you. You can mix installing from source and installing rpms as long as don't try to install a package from source that you already have installed by rpm or vice-versa. You may want to look into using checkinstall to build rpms for you, so you can have the packages you built yourself installed by rpm.
Best distro for low end laptop?
I have an old PII 266Mhz laptop with 128MB RAM and a 4GB hard drive.
What would you recommend I run on it for the best effeciency? I would prefer a Debian or Red Hat offspring but all suggestions are welcome.
Re: Best distro for low end laptop?
Quote:
Originally posted by moo113
I have an old PII 266Mhz laptop with 128MB RAM and a 4GB hard drive.
For anything old and slow (like my laptop) I'd suggest using a lean distro, like slackware, and an even leaner X (xfce is what I use, or Windowmaker, blackbox, etc)
Which Distro for a Dell Power Edge 2600 Server?
Hello all-
Long story short (details later if wanted/needed): I work for a contracting company that recently recived a Dell Power Edge 2600. It was recieved with no operating system installed. Furthermore, it is very likely that none will be purchased.
When asked to see what if it works, I poped in my Ubuntu live CD (which I happened to have with me) and it came up nicely. So far this machine has only been used to display screen savers. . . . .that's just not right.
My question is this: Which Linux distro should I install on this machine? What distro will best use all of it's hardware features? (6 raided SCSI hard drives, Dual AMD 2.4Ghz)
Thank you.
Re: Best distro for low end laptop?
Quote:
Originally posted by moo113
I have an old PII 266Mhz laptop with 128MB RAM and a 4GB hard drive.
What would you recommend I run on it for the best effeciency? I would prefer a Debian or Red Hat offspring but all suggestions are welcome.
damn small linux
Re: Which Distro for a Dell Power Edge 2600 Server?
Quote:
Originally posted by s0ldier93
Hello all-
Long story short (details later if wanted/needed): I work for a contracting company that recently recived a Dell Power Edge 2600. It was recieved with no operating system installed. Furthermore, it is very likely that none will be purchased.
When asked to see what if it works, I poped in my Ubuntu live CD (which I happened to have with me) and it came up nicely. So far this machine has only been used to display screen savers. . . . .that's just not right.
My question is this: Which Linux distro should I install on this machine? What distro will best use all of it's hardware features? (6 raided SCSI hard drives, Dual AMD 2.4Ghz)
Thank you.
Dell has not and probably never will use an AMD cpu in any machine they build.
Slick Distro, for Low resource PC.
Can anyone sugest a good distro for a low spec PC?
The spec is:
- AMD K6 400MHz
- 256 MB Ram
- 5 Gb HD
My own criteria in order of most desired:
[list=1][*]A Responsive System (no problems using Xface, IceWM etc)[*]Can install new junk/software.[*]Will leave me with enough power to play DVD's, MP3's etc and browse the web at the same time! (my favourite passtime)[/list=1]
Any suggests are most welcome, I'm currently running Debian (Sarge), which is ok, it runs and does just about all I want, but I think there are slicker options available. (also got puppylinux, which is fast I have to say, but I can't get connected to the internet on it:( )
Feel free to sugest ones I haven't mentioned in the poll.
w00t another chance for war;)
Q: What apps do you use most?
A: Firefox,Thunderbird,Amarok,Azureus,OpeOffice.org,G aim,Kaffeine,OpenGL games native or w/ Cedega
Q: Do you have a broadband connection?
A: yep
Q: How familiar are you with computers?
A: Very
Q: How familiar are you with Linux?
A: Very (since Slackware appeared into my life ;) )
Q: How much time are you willing to invest into learning Linux?
A: A lot.
Q: How powerful is your computer?
A: look in the sig
PS. KDE 3.4, Kernel 2.6.12-rc2-love1,genetic CPU/IO sched,Nvidia 1.0-7174
Re: Re: Which is right for me?
Quote:
Originally posted by retsaw
I think Mandrake will probably be fine for you. You can mix installing from source and installing rpms as long as don't try to install a package from source that you already have installed by rpm or vice-versa. You may want to look into using checkinstall to build rpms for you, so you can have the packages you built yourself installed by rpm.
XandrOS has support for both RPM and DEB(Debian) packages. If you want to go with something other than Mandriva than try that. It's very easy to use and has a great support and community.
Re: Best distro for low end laptop?
Quote:
Originally posted by moo113
I have an old PII 266Mhz laptop with 128MB RAM and a 4GB hard drive.
What would you recommend I run on it for the best effeciency? I would prefer a Debian or Red Hat offspring but all suggestions are welcome.
Gentoo would run nicely on that machine.
If you want soething really fast try something like DSL, Feather, Vextorlinux or BeatriX.
Re: Which Distro for a Dell Power Edge 2600 Server?
Quote:
Originally posted by s0ldier93
Hello all-
Long story short (details later if wanted/needed): I work for a contracting company that recently recived a Dell Power Edge 2600. It was recieved with no operating system installed. Furthermore, it is very likely that none will be purchased.
When asked to see what if it works, I poped in my Ubuntu live CD (which I happened to have with me) and it came up nicely. So far this machine has only been used to display screen savers. . . . .that's just not right.
My question is this: Which Linux distro should I install on this machine? What distro will best use all of it's hardware features? (6 raided SCSI hard drives, Dual AMD 2.4Ghz)
Thank you.
Gentoo would be nice on that machine.