Which flavor of Linux is best for a newcomer?

Question

Which flavor of Linux is best for a newcomer?

Answer 1

WHY LINUX IS BETTER

http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/



Linux is growing fast and is now in a position of offering a viable alternative to proprietary platforms and more than capable of offering a full desktop experience.



I thoroughly recommend Linux Mint 6 Main Edition. Its easy to install and easy to use plus it comes with much of the software you are likely to need preinstalled.



You would be best off RUNNING IT LIVE so you can get the feel of things.



Linux Mint 6 Release notes

http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_felicia.php



Linux Mint 6 Download

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=31



Once you have got the feel of things you may wish to consider an installation



The Perfect Desktop - Linux Mint 6 (Felicia)

http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-linux-mint-6-felicia



You download the ISO. image of Linux Mint 6 then you need to create a Bootable CD from the ISO. This can easily be done using Nero Burning ROM or similar software. Linux Mint can also be run straight from the LiveCD you have created without touching your Hard Drive.



Remember you can RUN IT LIVE !





LUg.

Answer 2

Ubuntu simply because its as user friendly as you get and lots of tutorials out there for it. Also ubuntu's wiki is great.



there cons are all the same with linux no matter which os you get.

Answer 3

Wish this was more like a forum so I could ask questions of Kool T. I downloaded Sabayon Linux and I'm really impressed by it with the Media Center. It ran slow on Live Boot, but after I installed it, it was fast. I would recommend booting w/o music though. Unless you are into rock n roll.



I am also trying PCLinux and Mint as well. Tried Mandriva and it seemed buggy and they want you to join some club or something. I've had Suse 11.0 running for several weeks and I like it too. Don't even try Slackware. My friend has Fedora, but there again you have to learn and work on the install. It's not that beginner friendly. At least for me!



So I'm downloading Ubuntu now, to give it a spin!



One thing about these Live systems run off the DVD. I think the reason they take some time to boot, is you are basically installing all the drivers and all the programs run off the dvd disk. Once installed the difference is incredible on all systems from PCLinux to Sabayon!



Microsoft has those certificates for Suse from Novell and although it takes time to install it, it has some great advantages. You will find that any problems you have, are most likely related to not knowing how things work in Linux. Linux is an extremely powerful system and the number of programs available is mind boggling. Don't let it scare you off and you'll get use to it.



I've had Suse booted up now for two weeks straight on my 2nd computer and can't seem to make it crash... lol..... like XP or Vista! haha xDDD

Answer 4

sidux for home. Debian Stable for work.



Sidux is for fun. It's the idea of an individual, based on Debian Sid. Sid is the Debian repository where anything that can compile and run gets in. If nobody reports any trouble for a few days it goes into Testing.



Every six to eighteen months about 95% of Testing gets released as a Stable and is named after a toy story toy character. Sid, if you recall, was the mean neighbor boy who broke all of his toys.



This is only for home and for fun. For work you would use Stable, and supplement with candidates from Testing "backported" to run with Stable.



Debian is up there with Slackware and Red Hat (or whatever they call themselves) as a major general purpose distribution.

Answer 5

Go with ubuntu LTS simply because it works and it doesn't update every six months more like 3 year cycle





Always use a home partition so your files don't go byebye if your system goes down

Just don't format your home partition when you reinstall your system or migrate to a different distro



as with every op sys you have a chance of breaking your system on an automatic update



but Ubuntu is pretty reliable.



In a work enviornment I would recomend Fedora though



In a work enviornment it seems more secure and is easier to configure permisions and firewalls that sort of things



to my knowledge though it is a little harder to get codecs and restricted extras that sort of thing but that shouldn't matter in a business enviornment.



Fedora server is verry configureable you'll want the dvd for this to get everything w/o having to hunt it down.



If you want to actually want to learn linux installing Arch linux it is a core system that you have to configure from the get go but be aware that it is a smaller distro that doesn't have as big of a comunity and in my experience pacman tends to break itself but it is good to learn from because you actually have to configure your text files and install your desktop enviornment but wasn't worth the trouble in my opinion but i did learn allot from it



Try and stay away from smaller and or the optimized streamlined self styled distros at least at first go with something you know you know how to get working.



there are the big three each to a certain extent or another has a free or comercialized equivalant.





freebies comercial equivalant



Fedora Red Hat

Open SUSE Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop and

Open Enterprise server

< the new Netware>

Debian Ubuntu
corporate Partners> (Cannocal)

Answer 6

My favorite Linux distros are Ubuntu and Fedora. Ubuntu is great. It's very easy to use, especially for newcomers. I'm no Linux expert by any means, but I use all the time without issues. There are 3 flavors of Ubuntu too. Kubuntu provides a Windows-like atmosphere. I find it to be a little cartoonish for my tastes though. Xubuntu is for older or less powerful computers. None of the Linux distros require a lot of power, but Xubuntu is really lightweight. I think of the three flavors like the three bears--Xubuntu's not enough, Kubuntu's too much and Ubuntu is just right, the balance between the other two.



Fedora is like a grown-up version of Ubuntu, in my opinion. It does the same things, but it seems to be more for a work atmosphere. It has a bit more of a professional feel to it as opposed to Ubuntu's everyday man feel.



The biggest con of Linux is that it's a little hard to get used to. It's not difficult to use, it's just that after a lifetime of using Windows, it's weird getting used to how things work. Like installing new programs and things like that. There's a bit of a learning curve. It's also frustrating when there's no Linux version of one of your favorite Windows programs. But there are plenty of good and free alternative programs to try.



Overall, I like Linux. If you want to try it out without actually installing it, there are several things you can do. I currently have Ubuntu installed using a program called Wubi. It allows you to install Linux like it's a program in Windows, but it behaves like a dual boot set up. You can also install it in a virtual machine.

Answer 7

PCLinuxOS is also worth a look. I couldn't come up with a list for you if I tried; I just know that there are certain distros good for newbies, having been one, and this is one of them. ;)



'Course you can just boot from the live CD and try them all out yourself.

Answer 8

I chose Ubuntu (9.04) simply because it is the most popular and therefore has the most people who can answer my questions. It took quite a bit of tweaking to get it to run to my satisfaction, but then again I am very demanding of it.



One thing to keep in mind is that you should avoid ATI graphics card like the plague if you plan on using Linux. The drivers are ridiculously buggy. You could probably get by with an ATI card if you weren't playing much video or using multiple monitors, but as soon as I installed my GeForce card there were about 5 issues that cleared up. Dual monitors, VLC crashing, XBMC crashing, gerky video playback, etc.



Now that it's running though, I'm really happy with it. It looks pretty slick. I've gotten quite a few compliments on it from friends.



Hardware support is pretty damn good (to install the new graphics drivers, a box popped up in the corner of the screen, I chose the newer of 2 drivers offered, and it was done). In some cases they even have better support than windows does (especially for older hardware).



One of my favourite features is the Add/Remove software window. It's nothing like windows. It contains a list of useful software with a short description. Just check a box, click apply, and the software installs. If the software isn't in the repositories (repos) it can be a bit painful to install though. I always have trouble compiling software from source, but that's what you're forced to do if you can't find one of the auto-installing .deb files.



Unless you're using specialized software there isn't much to worry about in that department. There's a free alternative to pretty much anything, even for business use. OpenOffice is totally compatible with MS Office and all its formats, so no worries there.

Answer 9

I agree with answerer number 2. Get ubuntu. It's easy to install. It's also upgraded every 6 months (and the upgrade is easy to run).

Answer 10

Although Ubuntu is a nice system and they claim it's easy for beginners. For me that has never been the case. You have to build the system with the programs you want and install, update and configure them!



The reason is that it's a ground up install (like Windows), rather than like some versions/distros of Linux, that instead simply install a pre-configured image to the hard drive. Like a compressed partition image for restoring an OS!



The advantage is that the install is very fast, easy and these distros come complete with every program you could imagine, already installed and configured. So as soon as you boot into the fresh install, you just start using it!



They will also have additional tools pre-installed to make installing any other programs very easy w/o having to "Compile" (and CLI (command line interface) that strike fear in the Minds of Windows users). Plus you may already have a choice of desktop environments between at least Enlightment, XFCE (not MCE is Media Center), Fluxbox, KDE, Gnome, etc. Whereas Ubuntu is Gnome only and Kbuntu is for the KDE Environment.



So my top choice for anyone new, is not Kbuntu or Ubuntu unless you want to build a system ground up and learn Linux before you can even start using it. Main problem for me with Ubuntu is YOU don't have power over your system except by always using Sudo. There is no Root or Administrative account to log into (even Windows has this)!



So I say go with Sabayon Linux (a full custom Gentoo based OS) as my #1 choice. You can even sample it before you install it, with a "Live Boot" off the DVD. You will simply download the appropriate image for your machine. Like if it's a 64bit then, you can choose the 64bit version or simply stay safe with the 32bit version. Then you have x86 choice that works for both AMD and Intel processors. If it's an AMD 64bit processor there's a chose for that as well! (boot screen has many choices for media center, desktop environments, safe mode, etc in Sabayon)



Quote:

"Sabayon is an Italian distro that believes you should keep it K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid), as a way of operating and installing Linux"!



http://www.sabayon.org



"How is Sabayon Linux different from other distributions?



* Sabayon offers a complete out-of-the-box experience, it comes with pre-installed media codecs, drivers, and games. (and a media center)



* New versions are released in a short amount of time. This means that you don't have to go through the headaches of updating by hand to the latest and greatest software available. Also, you don't have to fiddle around with updates, making this distribution that much easier.



* Unlike most other distributions, it's completely independent from commercial interests. No big firm stands behind Sabayon Linux and dictates what it should do. The developers of Sabayon Linux are all users from other Distributions, so they started to make a distribution "from users for users". End Quote!



For the download I've chosen the fastest location in America for you. If you are located in a different country, you can find a link for that in the above main link. Here's the fast download URL:



http://sabayon.linuxfreedom.com/



You will see many version choices here of various sizes. Ones with a 'K' are KDE(Windows like) only and the ones with G are Gnome (Mac like) and the ones with MCE (are for Media Center environment choice. If you want a smaller install and are already familiar w/ these interface choices, then choose what you want. Otherwise you should choose the full package (includes MCE Media Center, Gnome and KDE). Which is larger (around 4gigs) and you'll see an 'R' in those listings.



After downloading and burning the OS install to DVD, you will simply reboot w/ the disk in and an intro screen will appear. Simply do nothing (or press Enter) and see if it boots recognises your system and the "Live" disk boots with everything running (w/o music is better). It should Live boot most any computer you have with all drivers pre-installed. When booted off the DVD, you will most likely see everything just as if it's installed to the harddrive, but you will see a performance hit. It's more or less to preview the system. Not to show you how fast or slow it is.



Also when booted you can log into whichever environment interface you choose. Gnome will be more Mac like and KDE will be more Windows like. Play around with all them to see which suits you best or use one for some things and one for others!



If you have any questions and you have a YouTube account I can be reached at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/kroneage

(my linux video link is there if you want to take a look)



Note: The install is pretty simple and straight forward. How Linux identifies partitions is different so beware of that. That's why you should notice the size of the partition you're putting it on. Also you probably still have it blank, so that helps too.



I'm pretty sure you are going to Love it!!!

(the special effects desktop has shortcuts. let me know if you need a link for those. That's it for now)



Sabayon is probably the most beautiful install of all linux distros right out of the box. It is also the 2nd most installed distro next to Ubuntu and has Live Help available for installing it!



**************************************************

If you really like KDE though, you can shut down some of the fancy destop features on any slower system. But I run it on a fairly slow system with great success. It sounds like you should have no problem, since you were already running Vista. Make it fun and keep Dual Booting till you know your way around the interface you choose. BTW.... Ubuntu does have a great community of users, if that's what you choose!



@ijustdoit

You can make a YouTube account and contact me there! ;)



Yes forgot about Dream Linux. I was just there and it can be installed on as small as 1gig flash drive. Then it's a completely portable OS like what BeOS used to be!

http://www.dreamlinux.com.br/

Answer 11

There are certainly a plethora of options, and they largely boil down to what you, the user, want.

There are very user-friendly distributions, such as ubuntu. These usually feature easy hardware detection, a ready-to-go desktop environment, and general ease-of-use.

A drawback of these systems is the lack of customization and optimization. When a system is made user-friendly, it sometimes loses the capability to perform as many tasks quite as well. Unless you're hosting a web server, doing heavy coding, or rendering Pixar's latest film from source, this probably won't be a serious problem.

When you use these types of distributions, you'll be introduced to the function of Unix-like systems (e.g. the typical file tree) and will probably reach roughly the same level of understanding that you had of windows, but a large amount of the system's functionality will be somewhat hidden to all but the most courageous explorers.

The motto is, 'make it easy'.



On the other end of the spectrum, there are highly customizable, streamline-able, and optimize-able distributions, the most extreme of which (that comes to mind) is Gentoo. You'll notice that all of these end in -able: it's possible, but by somewhat difficult for beginners.

It allows users to literally build their own operating system, customized and optimized to their specific needs. This works well for users who have well-defined needs, can approach the installation guide with to-the-letter obedience, and have a pretty good knowledge of their hardware. At the end of the installation (if successful; it's a somewhat daunting task for beginners), you'll have a very modifiable system and a rudimentary idea of how it functions. These systems are characterized by not hiding the system from the user; if you need to modify the system's core functionality, you can (provided that you know or can figure out how to) do so.

The mottos include 'make it fast', 'make it customizable'.



As I said, these are what I consider the two extremes of the spectrum; I wouldn't take one over the other just from the descriptions here. With that in mind, I'd recommend a more user-friendly build for the beginner who needs a work-environment similar to, but without some of the problems of, that of Windows. I've put the links to a few linux distributions at the bottom; I'd recommend reading the 'about' section of their sites to decide which system is right for your needs.

Answer 12

get the bubble gum flavor