The [Main] What Distro should YOU use?

[EnigmaOne]

Best Distro for Low resource PC?

LFS is the way I'd go...but that's me.

[nicekit]

What apps do you use most?
errrr does World of Warcraft falls into this category?
if not it will be Firefox and xplayer (video)

Do you have a broadband connection?
Yes

How familiar are you with computers?
Know how to assemble computer from scratch.

How familiar are you with Linux?
nada... i am a windows user ..
abit with MacOS 9/X exposure.

How much time are you willing to invest into learning Linux?
depends i guess

How powerful is your computer?
AMD Athlon XP 2600+
with 1GB of memory
with 320GB of harddisk but 75% full
plan to do the linux experience on Microsoft Virtual PC
because currently VPC is installed to do my windows emulation.

some help pls

i have Redhat 9 CDs in hand
and also Mandrake 10 i guess ....

[hard candy]

For running virtualization, I would recommend Opensuse 10 (free and downloadable or web install). It seems to me to have the best documentation and the best packages available for virtualization. Redhat 9 is a little dated.

[nicekit]

For running virtualization, I would recommend Opensuse 10 (free and downloadable or web install). It seems to me to have the best documentation and the best packages available for virtualization. Redhat 9 is a little dated.

okie will try that out

on hand i have Knoppix 4.0
Debian 3.1
suse 9.1
Redhat 9
and i cant find my mandrake

as u can see
i wanted to learn linux...

some bump that preventing me to do so...

1. redhat/debian/suse that i tried last time.. on VPC and VMware doesn't work properly... (havent try knoppix yet)

2. do not know how to install application
most thing i saw requires me to compile the application..
i am a user not a compiler.. simple command .. still managable...

3. any good and SIMPLE guides..
to get me started first..

[hard candy]

Linux Newbie Administrator Guide

OpenSuse Documentation

Hacking OpenSuse

[Parcival]

i am a user not a compiler.. simple command .. still managable...

A common misconception by the average Linux newbie. In the Windows world you download software from the author's website and install it with a one-click install. In the Linux world, you only find the sources on the authors' websites. What you want to do is have a look instead at the package manager that comes with your distro. If you are using SuSE, you can install virtually every piece of software using YaST.

[nicekit]

A common misconception by the average Linux newbie. In the Windows world you download software from the author's website and install it with a one-click install. In the Linux world, you only find the sources on the authors' websites. What you want to do is have a look instead at the package manager that comes with your distro. If you are using SuSE, you can install virtually every piece of software using YaST.

but the problem is

alot of item doesnt come with package manager..
maybe i am looking at the wrong places

will try it out once i downloaded the OpenSuse...
btw .. if i use OpenSUSE instead of SUSE... which contain proprietory item like Real and yada yada..
will i have problem downloading those item ?

[Parcival]

alot of item doesnt come with package manager..
maybe i am looking at the wrong places

Just start YaST and go to Install/Remove Software. On the left you should be able to switch to the search dialog. Before you install any piece of software, you should always check if it's available there.

If it isn't, you should search the web to see if there is an RPM of the software of your desire. If there is, download it and install it in Konqueror. (Konqueror will fire up YaST for that purpose)

Only if the two previous strategies fail, I would compile from source. However, if you do that, you have a) the disadvantage of no automatic updates and b) in most cases a rather unconvenient uninstall.

If a software package can't be found in YaST, it's probably not popular since there are better. Aks here in the forums if you are not sure what software package to install.

will i have problem downloading those item ?

I don't know. I use the mplayer plugin in Firefox which is sufficient for me.

[nicekit]

Just start YaST and go to Install/Remove Software. On the left you should be able to switch to the search dialog. Before you install any piece of software, you should always check if it's available there.

If it isn't, you should search the web to see if there is an RPM of the software of your desire. If there is, download it and install it in Konqueror. (Konqueror will fire up YaST for that purpose)

Only if the two previous strategies fail, I would compile from source. However, if you do that, you have a) the disadvantage of no automatic updates and b) in most cases a rather unconvenient uninstall.

If a software package can't be found in YaST, it's probably not popular since there are better. Aks here in the forums if you are not sure what software package to install.

totally have no idea what is YaST or Konqueror .. LOL

will finish the Newbies Guide that u linked.. then perhaps i will be able to understand what you are talking about :P

I don't know. I use the mplayer plugin in Firefox which is sufficient for me.

to open video files?
like the xvid that u download or the Real files that u downloaded

[Parcival]

totally have no idea what is YaST or Konqueror .. LOL

will finish the Newbies Guide that u linked.. then perhaps i will be able to understand what you are talking about :P

It won't help you a whole lot since YaST (Yet another Setup Tool) ist SuSE specific. YaST is the tool that installs SuSE Linux on your computer and - once it is installed - serves as your "System Settings". You will definitely run accross it, it's very prominent.

Konqueror is the default filebrowser in KDE. If you have downloaded a software package in the RPM format you can right click it in Konqueror and inspect it. If you like what you see, you can install it at another click of the mouse.

to open video files?
like the xvid that u download or the Real files that u downloaded

mplayer handles virtually every multimedia stream. However, for this purpose you also need to make sure you have the win32codecs installed.

[jammer42777]

I use Mepis, (i don't remember the version#)
I like it,
I like the fact that I can load the install CD and it boots me to a fully functioning copy of the OS

Yes I'm a noob, but I'm learning

[_z0]

Hi everyone,

I have been visiting these forums for a year or so but finally got round to registering today! I just need a bit of advice on what linux server OS to go with now.

As a bit of background we are currently running Fedora Core 3 or 4 on an old AMD K500mhz. We are using it as a samba server and it seems to perform ok.

We also have a P3 800mhz 384mb ram 9gb SCSI server currently running Windows 2000 server (need it for .NET and SQL server)

However we are now getting a new server to run Windows 2003 server and will be taking the old server and the samba server to make a new linux box.

This will then have the following stats:

P3 800mhz
384MB ram
9GB SCSI drive
PV100T SCSI backup tape drive
40GB IDE drive

I would like this new machine to perform the following duties:

Backing up from new server to its hard drive and to tape
Samba server
Maybe some internal web/app serving possibly using jboss and/or php
Total remote management by a single user (me) through ssh (after initial installation and configuration)
Based on the previous point security is obviously a high priority

I don't mind using Fedora again but as I have the opportunity to start from scratch I wanted to evaulate the options and throw it open to people with far more linux experience than me! I am happy in linux not an expert but have no problems compiling apps and setting up things like qmail, djbdns and nice things like yum for updates! I am leaning towards Gentoo or Slackware but don't mind something completely different including some of the BSDs if it will do what I need.

Thanks again,

Stephen (_z0)

[Parcival]

Well, since you want it to be secure, I would recommend Gentoo. One reason is you can go for the hardened kernel plus Gentoo is very fast on delivering updates and fixes. On the other hand, if you want a server that is just rock solid and doesn't need all these compilation times, I would suggest Debian.

If you are also willing to include BSD in your evaluation, I suggest you have a serious look at it. Anyone I know who uses it for a server never wants to go back to Linux again. They say there is even a stronger focus on safety plus the default settings are specifically made for networking purposes. Furthermore, BSD clings even stronger than Linux distributions to the philosophy that the admin needs to unlock a service first before it can be used.

[_z0]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I will definitely check out the BSDs to see what they offer over Gentoo. I guess searching for a BSD is the same as searching for a Linux distro. I will try and install a few on some spare partitions and see how I get on.

Thanks again,

Stephen

[premier69]

Hello, This is my first post and will probably be my first act in the linux world, you see I'm getting pretty fed up with microsoft and windows and wanted to learn how to change that.

I'm using my computer for streaming via smb to the xbox, photoshop, dreamweaver/golive, downloading stuff, browsing, stuff like that!

I have an Asus P4P800 mobo, with 4 stick of 256mb ram in dual / linear mode.
A 3.0GHz P4, an Ati Radeon 9800 pro card, a controllercard with 4 hdd's and a sata raptor disk for windows.

I would like to be able to pretty much do what i do today but in a linux newbie friendly enviroment.

I have NEVER used linux before but am growing more and more fascinated by it's world daily.

I have ADSL 8mbit down and 1mbit up.
I am very PC self-educated in hardware and windows but totaly novice in the ways of linux.

I am very eager to learn linux but I'm probably known as a slow learner.