Hi,

I have been a long time user of Windows and want to try out Linux to see what the hype's about. I've got an old computer (Pentium 2, 128MB RAM and a 4MB Video card). And the hard drive's only 10GB.

I currently have Windows 2000 installed on the hard drive. I want to keep this and partition the hard drive so I can install Linux along with Windows 2000.

Can people please make some reccomendations on which Linux distribution would be the best. I prefer a stable operating system with good compatibality with software and especially hardware(almost all hardware in the computer's at least 5 years old).

If you post a recommendation could you please let me know the goods and the bads about the distribution?

Thanks to anyone who helps.

You have no idea how tired we get of this question. Just closer your eyes and pick one.

I have an older computer at my school that I am interested in using Linux on. I am not ready to completely convert my home computer, but may be interested in partitioning it as well. I just want to see what this Linux thing is all about and can it help my computer be more useful in my DJ business.

Why not goto www.distrowatch.com and look for 'livecd' that can run from the cd/dvd drive without installing anything.

This way you can test to see what works and what may not work.

Thanks.

Come on now, I know this question gets asked at least 5 times a day by people who can't be bothered to read the forums, but there's no need to be rude. They can't help it that they are far too busy to look through the forums and see that this question gets the exact same answers each and every time.

Guys, do some reading on the various distros, download some LiveCDs like Ubuntu, Knoppix, SimplyMepis, and whatever else strikes your fancy, decide what fits your needs, and install it. The only good Linux is the one that meets your particular needs.

Oh, and by the way, what hype? I thought hype was a Microsoft app.

Don't be offended or put off guys, it's just that a quick read of the Distros section of the forums would show you a ton of the exact same question.

http://catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Kane2000,

Kubuntu
http://www.kubuntu.org/

PCLinuxOS .92
http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/dist...glish/preview/
ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/distr...glish/preview/

This is the distro I use and recommend, Why because it works right out of the box. No need to configure Everything, everything just works. It also comes as a 1 CD install that is a live CD that you can install later if you wish.

BeatrIX
http://www.watsky.net/download.html

Blag
http://www.blagblagblag.org/download/

Mephis
http://www.mepis.org/

erockallstar,

feather Linux
http://featherlinux.berlios.de/

Vector Linux 4.3
http://www.vectorlinux.com/

DSL
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

Puppy Linux
http://www.puppylinux.org/user/viewpage.php?page_id=3

SLAX
http://www.slax.org/

you can find more here

http://www.linuxlinks.com/Distributi...Distributions/
http://www.linuxlinks.com/Distributions/Floppy/

if your still unsure of the distro try these distro choosers:

http://eedok.voidofmind.com/linux/chooser.html
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/
http://www.linux.org/dist/list.html

Thanks everyone for your quick replies. I completely understand your frustration. I've looked around the forums but dtruggled to find anyone asking about a linux distro for slow computers.

I saw the term live CD on a website and still isn't sure what it exactly is. Could somebody please shed some light on live CDs? I never knew you could just use an operating system without installing it.

Thanks.

A LiveCD is an operating system (usually containing other software as well) stored on a bootable CD-ROM that can be executed from it, without installation on a hard drive. The system returns to its previous OS when the LiveCD is ejected and the computer is rebooted. It does this by placing the files which typically would be stored on a hard drive, onto a ram disk. This however does cut down on the RAM available to applications, reducing performance somewhat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_CD

If you have small ram then that may be a problem using a livecd. Here is a list of livecd's...try to find one with small ram requirements.

http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php

Thanks heaps FredGSanford. But does that mean that the LiveCD can also be used to install the entire operating system onto the computer? Or is the CD for LiveCD different to the CD needed to actually install the OS on to the hard drive.

Many of them are dual use. They can be run as a LiveCd and also contain an installer. Ubuntu and SimplyMepis are two examples of such.

With only 128M RAM I'd suggest going with a light distro like Damn Small Linux or choose a light window manager like Fluxbox or XFCE on whatever distro you choose.

Avoid bulky distros like SuSE or Fedora unless you add some RAM.

Slackware runs well on machines with lower RAM, but requires a bit more of a learning curve as it doesn't hold your hand the way some of the others do.

Zenwalk or Slax might be a good choice. Heck, SimpleSlax oughta be perfect. That and Slax are live-cds, so you can check them out first... There's a new Zenlive too, which will let you try out Zenwalk.

Is Ubuntu 10 the same as Xubuntu the same? If not which one should I donwload?

And I recently saw most people think that openSUSE is the best for beginners. Do you guys think it would be fit for my hardware? Anyone here use it? What are its features?

I don't believe Ubuntu is up to release 10 yet. They're around 6.10 I believe.

If you want to know the differences between Ubuntu and Xubuntu, go to Ubuntu's website and read the information about each one. If you're going to use Linux you should get used to reading documentation as that can save you a lot of hassles.

As for your question regarding SuSE, see my reply #10.

I'll throw PCLinuxOS's branch-off called SAM Linux that runs xfce for a desktop Environment, or you can just use PCLinuxOS which case KDE. KDE takes up much more ram, but I like it better. On the other hand, xfce is very simple, and I like it better than GNOME. If you want example pictures of xfce and KDE, you can always try google images.

I've read info on both Ubuntu and Xubuntu (only skimmed) and I can't seem to understand much of it. It goes on about different platforms like Xfcs or something. There's an awful lot of jargon. There isn't much iformation about the OS's on their official websites. I can't understand the differences. Perhaps someone could help me?

Anyone willing to maybe help me understand what Linux really is? All these platform stuff confuses me.