Hey, I have recently been quite interested in getting the penguin on my computer. Right now, I have used Knoppix for about a month - 2 months, and I really liked it ( minus the slowness of a cd, and some programs didn't run... no idea why ). A few days ago, I put FC 3 on my computer, wanting a permanent linux OS on my hard drive. It's... ok. To tell you the truth, there were some things I like more about Knoppix ( mainly just the feel of it ).

My question to you linux junkies out there is: What are the main advantages and disadvantages of FC 3 / Ubuntu / Gentoo. I don't want to ask "Which is the best distro!", b/c that just cannot be answered. I would like to figure out which distro is best for me through the facts ( although I'll take opinions into account ). The main usage(s) of linux for me will be writing code (I'm a computer science major), playing the video games that linux supports ( or through WINE ), and generally figuring out linux. Thanks a ton for the input!

p.s. If you think any other distros would be a good idea, feel free to suggest them... but please tell why

If you look into Linux-Distribution forum you'll see a big number of threads similar to yours. It's because distribution choice is not a matter of facts, but opinions. There are general guidelines, but they are... well... general.

For example, when thinking about FC3, Ubuntu and Gentoo, Ubuntu is not for a person who likes to change all the settings and wants everything tuned perfectly. On the other hand, such person may like Gentoo. It may take a week or more (really!) to install it on a slow machine, however. Plus requires knowledge. FC3 is somewhere in the middle, like most popular distros (RedHat/Fedora,SuSE, Mandrake/Mandriva).

to Mara's point about personal opinion, out of those three, i would choose...arch or slackware. you really just have to try a few distros and see what suits you best. gl

Alright, thanks for the heads up... I'll meander over to the disto forum.

Download and try as many different distros as you can until you hit that one that feels right to you.

Hello!

Here's my two cents, maybe even a nickel's worth if I get long-winded. ; )

I agree. Try several different Linux distributions to find a flavor that suits your needs. Currently I'm running Ubuntu 5.04 on my desktop and PCLinuxOS on my laptop. I tried FC3 for a few months and Suse 9.1 before that. A couple weekends ago I loaded several distros onto my laptop trying to find one that would work on the old beast. I tried several Live-CD's including Knoppix, Gnoppix, Kanoppix, DSL, Feather, Ubuntu/Kubuntu, Mepis, and Slax. I also installed Debian, FC3 and Suse. Lots of coffee and little sleep. : )-

I was looking for a distro that:

1. Was easy to install and easy to use.
2. Would fit on my laptop's 4gig hard-drive and leave room for my stuff.
3. Recognized the PCMCIA ethernet card.
4. Was Debian-based for the apt-get / synaptic programs (easy to use)
5. Wouldn't disappear tomorrow because it was just somebody's hobby until they got tired of it.

Debian was true to it's reputation of being a nightmare to install. Ubuntu/Kubuntu and FC3 didn't leave much room on the 4gig hard-drive. The Live-CD's were too stripped down for what I wanted to do on a daily basis. Only a few distros could find and use the laptop's ethernet card (Linksys DP100). For installing and updating software Synaptic was frequently recommended in reviews and threads that I read through. Knoppix and DSL took it easy on my old laptop's limited resources but these distros are maintained by single individuals. As I become more vested in Linux I want a distribution that's going to be around for awhile. At least until I'm comfortable enough with Linux that I can pull all my files and favorite programs and swap them between distributions without worries.

One of the things about Linux that impresses me is it's dynamic development. I'm confident that as my needs and hardware change there will always be a variety of Linux distributions to suit me.

Have fun!
- snobird