Hi,

I am thinking of returning to linux from windows after over a year away from the penguin. I left due to numerous issues mainly a result of certain programs refusing to install due to endless dependency issues. So having just finished my first year of med school I have lots of time on my hands over the summer to get back into linux and stick with it.

I have tried Mandrake(mandriva) and Gentoo without really liking them so I want to try something different. Easier than Gentoo (that just made me cry) and harder than mandriva and not containing rpm packaging.

A friend handed me a ubuntu disc today and that looks nice and colourful but I would like to hear the opinions of people who have used it before I take the plunge.

Just looking at the distro vote post and seeing that MEPIS is popular though I haven't even heard of it. Can someone advise me if that’s worth trying, and why.

Cheers

Boffy

I would say that both are fine distros, based off of the tried and true Debian distribution. If my recollection is correct, you can try both as a live CD, but that to install Ubuntu, you'll have to download an install CD (they're different). On Mepis, my understanding is that it has an installer script that you run from within the live CD to do an install to the hard disk. So I would recommend trying them both from the LiveCD (although it might feel more sluggish than a hard drive install because everything is being decompressed from the CD).

Both have good package managers (apt-get & it's gui interface, synaptic) that will take care of dependency issues. Ubuntu has a good community built around it and a good Unofficial Guide to Ubuntu for installing things like java, flash, codecs, etc. I think Mepis will install some of the proprietary stuff for you automagically (although I don't know that for sure).

Also, if I remember correctly, Ubuntu uses Gnome and Mepis uses KDE. KDE is typically more Windows-ish while Gnome is more Macintosh-ish. But you could always install Kubuntu if you wanted KDE or install it from the Ubuntu repositories.

Personally, I still stick to pure Debian. But for someone newer, the setup can be a bit tedious and both Ubuntu and Mepis will seem to be a smoother install for a newbie. Anyway, just my ...

Since you're not a totally new user, and you specifically said you want something harder than Mandriva and easier than Gentoo, I'd recommend Ubuntu. Mepis is a little too beginner.

Use the Dapper Beta, though, not Breezy.

I prefer KDE from past experience so Ubuntu looks good given it offer both options.

You have pointed out debians flaws, what is the upside that make you use it?

aysiu - thanks for your advice.

If I'm correct? Believe that MEPIS will be is based on Ubuntu. Can ran Ubuntu for the last couple of months and possess nothing bad to say about. Very easy distro to work with and good for windows users that are trying to learn an new OS. Apt-get makes configuration a breeze considering Debians based OSes. Ubuntu's GUI is really nice and user friendly. If your interested in KDE then Kbuntu would be the proper choice considering the Unbuntu OS. Everyone possesses different tastes referencing GUIs. If you are just making the change from Windwos then Gnome is probably better suited for you. KDE just has soo many applications installed by default that it makes the change a little bit harder. Considering all of the new applications and locations of these apps. (Not trying to start a GUI flame war here.)

Helpful Ubuntu site regarding setting up your box.

http://easylinux.info/wiki/Ubuntu_dapper

Mostly I like it because I don't like any surprises. I use the stable repositories, currently Sarge, which only get security updates. I have >15,000 packages available at the touch of my fingertips. I've done two dist-upgrades (upgrading from one release to the next) without anything breaking. I also like doing a basic install and then just apt-get what I want. It allows my old machine to run a very stable and quick OS without all the bloat.

Now a couple of other cons are that if you use the Stable branch, your software will become a little outdated. For example, using the standard Sarge, I'm stuck with Firefox 1.0.4 unless I want to use a third party repository. But that's fine for me. If you want newer software, you can dist-upgrade to unstable (Sid) and I would say it's as stable as Ubuntu, where things can occasionally get out of whack because all the packages haven't been tested as thoroughly as Debian stable.

So I guess the biggest reason I like Debian is that it took me one time (a few days worth of tinkering - actually a lot longer because I was on dialup at the time, but most of that was letting it download a couple hundred MB's overnight) to setup the box the way I wanted it, and I've not had to mess with it since. I can just add anything else I need and it has so far (knock on wood) dist-upgraded flawlessly. I keep reading about people worrying about their dist upgrade on Suse or Fedora or Ubuntu and fretting about breaking things and I think "Gee, I've never had that problem with Debian".

Plus, I'm a bit of a geek and like tinkering with computers. So the initial setup was kind of fun for me. =) A guru once told me that if you really want to learn linux, try one of the big three: Debian, Slackware, or Gentoo. After messing with RH and mandrake, I switched to Debian and haven't looked back...

I can understand that philosophy totally, I used mandrake for a long time and in the end I felt I was doing all sorts of hacking and it was taking longer than it would on a real linux distro to get anything done. RPM's were never working correctly and you could never get source installations to work because it was all geared up for RPM. So in the end I decided to try gentoo. That went badly to say the least. I got it installed after several days but it didn't like my hardware at all and I was so stressed I reverted to windows and I have been with that for about a year. It has done me well and I only want to change because I prefer the open source mentality and the fun of fiddling with the system for real (I am also a bit of a geek - don't tell my girlfriend I said that though).

So I think I will go for Ubuntu since I couldn't cope with really old software and I don't want the cutting edge that might be too unstable for my liking. Hopefully things will go well.

Thanks for the advice!

Good luck! And if you have problems setting something up, be sure to follow the guide posted above by brianthegreat, there's a link on the Dapper guide to the version for 5.10 if you go with Breezy (Dapper 6.06 isn't due out for a few more weeks). Also, not sure if it will work on Dapper or not, but google for Automatix, which can help install some things like codecs and whatnot.

Look forward to seeing your success story posted here sometime!

If you want to use a more Windows-like system and have decided against MEPIS you could just use Kubuntu.
(An exact copy of Ubuntu, only difference being that it uses KDE instead of GNOME.)

Ubuntu has worked great for me for over a year. I've never had any problems with instability of any kind. My favorite part of Ubuntu is that it's easy for a person new to linux to use, but at the same time it encourages use of the terminal and allows you tinker with the system to your hearts content. Dapper will be coming out June 1 (though it's already pretty much 100% stable) and bringing tons of cool new features. XGL/Compiz is MUCH better than any graphics Vista is said to bring.

Well I had a try. I got it all working nicely with some teething problems relating to MP3 but they were easily fixed.

However I am back on windows because it was running so slowly.

I went with Kubuntu in the end and running the dapper version I found my computer struggleing and firefox crashing or freezing for a long time while running that and amarok at the same time. On windows I can run Firefox with itunes without any problems and open many other windows, and thats with a lot of crap running in the background.

Is this problme unique to me or is it something all users on anything other than top spec systems have to live with.

(I have a 2.8GHz, 768MB Ram System)

They're both good. And don't get suckered by the "KDE vs Gnome" debate. You can run any WM you want - or all of them - on either of these distros. Choosing one doesn't lock you into Gnome or KDE.

I can't say if your problem is unique, but something sounds very wrong. My specs are 2G celeron and 256RAM and no problem playing (or streaming) music while web browsing. Were you using amarok for something else?

Not that I know of. I will look into it when I have a bit more time. Can you tell me the thing I have to type into the terminal to get the running program data so I can post it on here to help me be helped. (I think its "ps" or something like that).

Cheers

I use "ps -ef" to print out all the running processes. The BSD folks seem to use "ps aux". They work similarly on Linux, as far as I know.