Is CentOS a good way to get started with Linux?
 

A friend of mine said the CentOS is the best Linux to set a video effects terminal developer.
But I can not find enough information for newbie users.
I'm trying now to install a Gforce driver and it says there is a "X server" running and can not be installed, I've tried put the servers down using

netsat -tap

to list the servers and "/service x stop" to stop but does not work.

The X server is the graphical prettiness that you see. You need to shut that down and go to a tty (command line only) to install the gforce driver. Easiest way is to use Ctrl+Alt+F1-7 to get to a tty (one of them will be X, the other 6 should be ttys), log in as root, run "init 3", then navigate to the file you downloaded and run it with sh (eg: sh NVIDIA-linux-...). When it's done, use "init 5" to restart X, and use Ctrl+Alt+F1-7 to get back to X.

Centos is based on a commercial product. That product offers (so far) all the technical support anyone could want.

Centos copies the info usually word for word and changes a trademarked name.

To suggest that Centos is the best is a very arbitrary sentence.


Where did you get this command from? netsat -tap

you are about to have a LOT of problems !!!
CentOS 6.5 shipps wit hthe OPENSOURCE "nouveau" driver installed
you can NOT just install the nvidia.run driver !!!!
you must blacklist the nouveau driver and REBUILD !!! the "boot image"
--- FIRST ---
then and only then can you install the nvidia.run driver

this is very well documented in the redhat documentation
( centos6 uses the redhat docs on the redhat web site)

you can PORT this fedora 20 guide for use on RHEL/Centos 6
http://www.forums.fedoraforum.org/sh...d.php?t=280750
you can also port these two ScientificLinux posts
for use on CentOS 6
http://scientificlinuxforum.org/index.php?showtopic=15
and a script to rebuild the boot image from my post here
http://scientificlinuxforum.org/inde...showtopic=2258



your BEST bet is to install the epel repo on Cent and use yum to install
see the centos wiki:
http://wiki.centos.org/AdditionalResources/Repositories
and install the "kmod-nvidia"
the nvidia.run is a pain in the "rear end" to install

I personally in this situation would test-drive a Live DVD/USB of a user-friendly distro such as Linux Mint. You might find that it just magically works. :)

That fits my experience.
And the instructions nvidia.run gives you for blacklisting, don't work in Centos.
But I wouldn't know how and didn't need to.

I edited /boot/grub/grub.conf to blacklist nouveau on the line that loads the kernel (that works, where the nvidia suggested method of blacklisting fails). Then rebooted to init 3 and nvidia.run was fine.

Actually, I made two different versions of the section in grub.conf so I can no select nvidia or nouveau at boot time.

Oh, hello and welcome to LQ.

As a CentOS user and advocate, I'd still say "dont't start with CentOS". Mint should work fine.