Switching to Linux - Which distro should I pick
 

Hello All,

I really quite new to Linux and in about a month when I go on R-n-R I plan on installing Linux on my Acer Laptop. I've played with live versions of Knoppix and Unbuntu and was really impressed with the fact that everything seemed to work fine (ie no device configuration problems). Will this be the same when I actually install Linux as the OS? Anyway, in reading up on Linux I found out that there are like million different distros, so which ones would be best to try out first? Thanks for all your help.

http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Read through that page. Look for interesting links as well as the primary reviews. Picking a distro is a philosophical and personal choice. All you can get here is people advertising their favorites. None is distinctively superior to the others in any technical sense.

You really should have just read one of the other 10,000 or so threads with the same title.

Hello,
On my laptop (Toshiba Satellite),I run PCLinuxOS.
It was the only distro to find my D-link 650 wifi pcmcia card. Mandriva 2007;Knoppix 5.x.x;Ubuntu;DSL;
SUSE 10.2; and Fedora 6 all failed to find my wifi card.
PCLinuxOS easier to install than Win2k or XP. It found all my hardware without any effort on my part.
After using PCLinuxOS, I am only keeping the M$ OS around to run some games. I have yet to try Cedega or Wine.
Good luck,hope you find Linux as enjoyable as I have.

I have found that the best distro's are the one's with good community support. They all say they have that so you will just have to try them to find out.

Hey rguym,
I am with you as far as the M$ and gaming is concerned. I only use my windows to play some games anymore. My personal preference is Slackware, but my preference will most likely not be yours. Just wanted to put my opinion out there.

DragonM15

Except that for some distributions it really is more difficult to get some parts working, like mp3 audio for example. Some distributions have an easy way for this (an extra reposity, or EasyUbuntu script for Ubuntu), some don't (one has to manually hunt down and figure a way to install the needed stuff).

I'm pretty sure if you are a newcomer there's no sense in starting off by installing something which feels difficult, like Slackware might at first (it's a great distribution, but it's far from being user-friendly -- which isn't necessary, anyway). At DistroWatch you'll notice that the "big ones" people use are Ubuntu, Fedora Core, SuSE, Mandriva and so on. These are good choices, with a wide support for hardware right out of the box, but sadly it usually means that they're also fat (some people say "bloated": they have a lot of stuff you don't actually need). Like it was said, community support is a thing you should take a look at: when using a non-paid Linux distribution you won't of course get technical support (unless you buy it from somewhere), but the community can often be even more helpful. I've found that Ubuntu and Slackware (and Zenwalk) have a nice, friendly community; Fedora is ok, but then there are some distributions that have mad people at their irc chans (i.e. if a newcomer happened to ask if s/he can ask for help, the first answers are "RTFM" and "DIDN'T YOU READ THE GODDAMN TOPIC"...sad).

The best way to find the best distribution for you yourself to start off with is to try. You may, or rather will, notice later that you want to switch to another distribution -- it's ok, and often it's easy as well, so you're safe just trying out. It would be different if you paid $300 for every operating system, but here you might just as well try and if you don't like it, try anotherone.

Kubuntu
http://www.kubuntu.org/


Mandriva
http://www.mandriva.com/community/mandrivaone


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.

Mephis
http://www.mepis.org/

PCLinuxOS looks interesting!

is it Debian based?

You say "everything just works"... you mean also hardware detection?

Moved: This thread is more suitable in <Distributions> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.


And that said: Slackware all the way. At least you'll know what's
happening on your machine. If I wanted to be led as a blind by the
preposterous I could have stuck with Windows ;}

PCLinuxOS is not based off debian. It is based off Mandriva.

I would try SimplyMEPIS (sometimes just called MEPIS). MEPIS is based off Ubuntu and uses KDE, so if you have a slower computer, don't use it.

Other suggestions are Fedora Core, Ubuntu, openSUSE, PCLinuxOS, Mandriva, Zenwalk, Vector, KNOPPIX, and some others.

You might want to get started with a distro called Freespire (or you can buy a version called Linspire). It acts a lot like windows, and is Debian based. It also has something called CNR, which lets a newbie easily install driver, software, and much more.

yes I also mean HW detection