I thought it was about time to go back to Linux since my parents got a new pc......

Well I need a distro that will run a good web server thats reliable and will run good with vBulletin. It needs to be able to be connected to through a router.

Here is my pc set-up

AMD Athlon 1GHZ Thunderbird Processor
256 MB Ram
PNY nVidia GeForce2 64 MB Video card
SiS 900 EtherFast PCI Network card
SiS 7018 Sound Card


Well thats all the main parts of my pc that I thought would be important when asking about what distro to use........ I also would use it for graphics design if that helps you help me pick the right one! Thanks for the help everyone!

try Slackware 8.1 or RedHat 7.3

Slackware.



christo

Hmmmm...Slackware of course....

Hmm..... I installed slackware fully today. BUT It won't start kde or gnome...... It flashes the screen several times and it goes back to the console screen..... Any help?

you need to tweak your xf86config file. YOu will usually find it in /etc/X11/
scroll down to the monitor section and enter in correct values for your screen resolution and your horizontal and vertical refresh rates...

you can enter ranges for your values to give the system more chance of working.. but it'll take a wee bit longer for X to start that way.

once you've done that, save the file and run startx again.

Make sure you're working as root for all of this.

Good luck
Christo

Um.... I'm not that great with linux yet really used it a bit. I have no clue how to do what you just said.

okay do you have a text editor you can use?..

Do you know how to use vi or emacs?

first you need to login as root

then #cd /etc/X11
then #vi XF86Config

or use pico, or nano or something...

or perhaps you can edit the file somewhere else and then ftp it into place, or scp or something...

ooh - I just thought, before you do all this, you should keep the current copy just incase you really mess up, so make a copy of it with:

# cp XF86Config XF86Config.old

er.. and then start editing.

does any of the above seem doable?

Um...... I have no clue I'll try.... I'm reading this from Win(blows) right now

Poor you - thrown right in at the deep end. This is what a life with Linux is about.. anyway, here is a link to a Vi tutorial. vi is a text editor you can use at a terminal to edit text files. if you have a file called fred, you would open it into vi with the command
#vi fred
[note that the # is supposed to represent your prompt - so don't type it]

you will then need to navigate around the file and change some numbers for your system to work... this link will show you how to do that..

Note that you use the Esc key to toggle between input and edit modes. in edit mode, hitting a key will cause a command to be executed. In input mode, hitting a key will cause that letter to be typed....

So the first thing to do when vi starts is:
hit Esc then 'i' to enter input mode and start typing
or just hit Esc to confirm that you are in edit mode.. you might hear a beep.

http://www.collaborium.org/onsite/ve...es/vi/#basics4

see how you get on with that
If you're sitll having problems, we'll have to find another way

christo

just run this

the waters deep, but it's clear

How can you guys suggest Slackware to this newbie? It is obviously his first installation/distro and some supposed 'experts' are suggesting slackware? He obviously has not used linux before. Did you notice that he does not know how to use vi? Why is Slackware the best distro for this newbie?

Then with difficulties during his first installation, the 'expert' has to start explaining how to edit files in vi.

Oricon - what exactly are you looking for in your distro? as a newbie, do you want something that is easy to install, configure and use?

The easiest distros will of course be RedHat 8.0 and Mandrake 9.0 and SuSE 8.1.

Depends what you are looking for, but as a newbie, you will learn faster by at least having your distro actually working! (rather than stuck in the installation and configuring stages).

I've used RH8 before..... it worked fine untill my mom started messing around with it an erasing everything..... I'm just looking for something that will run a webserver and is capable of letting it have vBulletin software on it. I was suggested mandrake from a friend I might try that now that someone mentions it. Thanks for your help so far

sry - I tend to assume that people who start to play with LInux are doing it at least partly for the academic exercise... and when it comes to academics, Slack makes for a fantastic experiece.

My first proper installation was Slackware
My second was Slackware
My third was Redhat
My fourth was Redhat
My fifth was Slackware....

I have done some Mandrake installs and a Suse too, but Slackware consistently comes up as the most educational, the most rewarding and the most academically satisfying Linux experience.

er.. we should be in the distos forum anyway chaps

christo

I suggest it not just because it's the easiest to learn, but it's the best suited for what he's doing with it. Of course being the easiest to learn is going to help.

That's just my opinion.


Slackware has the easiest to figure out where everythings at scripts I've seen on any distro. And I believe they work the best.


And this whole X thing started out bad

All you do is run
that's it your X works


want to change window managers

not really sure how RedHat protects you from vi