Distribution for newbie (not for me)

Zoris · 05-04-2008, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitboxx

Nothing can beat Linux Mint in terms of get it, install it and forget it. I would even say it's the number one newbie distro out there. It just works. Check it as live cd -> www.linuxmint.com

Though it's based on Ubuntu, but still it's even a worthy competitor to even Ubuntu itself :P. I'm using it for the last 6 months, version 4.0(Daryna) and it rocks! I have never updated my system(except OOo), why do you need updates when everything works..! Try it once, you won't be disappointed

I'm going to have to agree 100% with you; Linux Mint is my personal favorite distro right now.

exsencon · 05-04-2008, 06:00 PM

I would go for LinuxMint too.Very easy to install,almost "automatic". It has that windows-like look windows users like when switching to linux. Easy to use and as said before here:who needs to upgrade when everything works? I have a Fedora FC8 (among 14 distro's running) reminding me I have still 235 updates to download but the thing is running beautifully!
LinuxMint or Ubuntu have to be your first choice IMO.

brianL · 05-05-2008, 07:41 AM

I think you'll find that most updates are patches for security bugs, so it might be wise to install them.

IndyGunFreak · 05-06-2008, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by {BBI}Nexus{BBI}

Perhaps the problems you experienced stemmed from your lack of understanding rpm based systems? Just a thought.

No, I used Fedora 5 for about 6-7mo, so I have a reasonable level of experience with it. Honestly, it was the first distribution I got to work 100%. I always recommend it when people want a RPM based distro. If I was gonna use RPM it would be Fedora. The problems I had w/ Mandriva and Suse, had nothing to do with RPM, they were slow and both routinely locked up a system. That ran Fedora and Xandros fine. Similar experience w/ PCLOS.

I find apt-get superior to yum in resolving dependencies, etc, and just overall, find Debian a much better distro..

Thank Goodness for choice!

IGF

{BBI}Nexus{BBI} · 05-06-2008, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IndyGunFreak

Thank Goodness for choice!

IGF

Hear, Hear

Pikidalto · 05-06-2008, 01:46 PM

My suggestion is Ark Linux. It's a distro that's targeted toward newbies. It uses a combination of apt-get and it's graphical frontend Kynaptic (the KDE port of Synaptic), so it should be pretty easy to install software from the repos. It comes with Konqueror preinstalled and Firefox in the repos (and it works with the Linux version of Opera downloadable in a RPM from the Opera web site). It works great with DVDs and AVI files, and can play proprietary formats through Mplayer or it's graphical frontend KMplayer (and if you need to watch proprietary videos on a web site, just view the site in Konqueror). For MP3s, it has Mplayer/KMplayer and Amarok preinstalled, and has SMplayer (another graphical frontend to Mplayer) in the repos. It doesn't require much in the way of maintenance or Internet bandwidth, and comes localized in almost any language (what languages it doesn't have you can get from an addon CD). Also, there aren't very many root password prompts, it's able to do most tasks as a normal user without compromising security (you can look up the Ark security system in the Ark wiki). I'm told it's very well documented compared to a lot of other distros. Also, you can set it up to look a lot like Windoze, Macintosh (OS Classic and OSX), a traditional Unix GUI, the KDE Default, or a slightly customized Ark default. Best of all, it's free (as in free beer and freedom of speech)! Take it from me, I've disguised my mother's desktop to look like Windoze, she hasn't noticed she's not using Windoze, she just complains that there's no AOhelL installed.

masinick · 05-12-2008, 02:39 PM

Personally, I am a Debian fan, and my three favorite Debian derivatives are sidux, SimplyMEPIS, and Xubuntu. If you are at least going to be installing this, you may want to give sidux a try. I know it has Russian localizations, saw them yesterday in the locales list.

Not sure if SimplyMEPIS is localized in Russian. If it is, then it makes a great choice; very easy to install, maintain, and use.

Xubuntu is a Ubuntu version using XFCE instead of KDE or GNOME for the desktop environment. I guess you will have to rule that out if you are having hardware issues unless you can resolve them, but otherwise it, too, would make a good choice.

Linux Mint may be another option, trivial to install and maintain. Official project version supports GNOME, but the community has developed KDE and other alternatives as well. Again, not sure about the Russian, but I suspect that Russian is included or could be obtained.

Mandriva, of commercial software, has among the best in locale support, always has free community editions that work as well as the commercially sold versions, has plenty of support and a good community. If the others don't work, Mandriva is a very good alternative as well. The Spring edition is brand new, and it may merit a look.

openSUSE makes another solid alternative. Any of these mentioned are great systems, each with their own traits that make them best suited to specific tasks, but all are excellent general purpose systems.