No, actually Ubuntu is based off Debian. in no way is it associated with Windows other than cross licensing so that you can run an Ubuntu bash kernel in Windows. That's not being a Windows knock-off. You might dislike ubuntu (I do too), but don't spread complete and total lies, it does nothing but make you're opinion become useless. If you want to point out the disadvantages of an OS, stick to facts.

To many newbies that have neither the time or effort to install a ton of OS's, the question of what's good for beginners isn't a silly question. It's a question of "am I forced to stick to Windows or can someone help me find an OS that isn't windows that will work so that I'm not forced to have Windows steal all my information". This is a very valid point (quadruply with Windows 10 and it's very very intrusive behavior).

3 members found this post helpful.

I'd just take med school but yeah that's me..


VLC media player for Slackware Linux
VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

it is all in the software.

@hashtag

drops the mic

Here's the Distrowatch list of good distributions for beginners (and note, Slackware is not included in their list):

http://distrowatch.com/search.php?category=Beginners

1 members found this post helpful.

it's actually a matter of option, I was a beginner when I started using it. actually ... it didn't scare me away

To quote from BW-userx

what kind of advice is that?

Fred.

i do not appreciate newbies posting things like:
"What's wrong with you Linux guys, can't you Just Make It Work (tm)? Like in Windows?"

but posting things like this in response is not the answer:
(and going on to recommend to jump in at the deep end)

i just want to distance myself from this BS; dear op, not everyone in the Linux world has this sort of attitude problems.

1 members found this post helpful.

it looks like to me that the actual question should not be what is a good linux distro for beginngers. because most people that say this seem to be the one that do not want to have to learn anything about how to actually do anything in linux other then hope it runs like Windows. Just install, point and click and be done with it.

My experience with Slackware as my first distro is not a stressful experience. it is rather easy to install, and set up then run the apps on it that one want to run. the only real differeces for a basic set up of Slackware and another Linux/GNU distro is changing the run level so it starts up in a GUI enviroment. not that hard to do.

installing apps that are not already added to the install. One just has to install all of the apps dependencies one at a time and in the proper order. it is not that hard to figure out which comes first. it just takes longer to do then using a apt-get, or pacman and any of the other programs written to no longer have to install apps like this.


Slackware is actually not as hard to install, set up and use as most people let on about it being so.

Ubuntutus DE is too look what we've done for you to make it easy to do whatever you wnat to do .. it is too controlling and I have to do it there way set up for me. that whole environment is too Windows clone to me.

when even MATE has its personality quirks itself, and I bet is concidered a begnners Linux distro. MINT oo looks nice but it removes a certin amount of controlibility as well.

every stinking Linux Distro all have a leraning curve to it. Like that saying goes, if you want to learn Linux use Slackware, if you want to learn Ubuntutu then use Ubunutu, same goes for MATE, or MINT, if you want to learn MINT then install mint.

Slackware is not a buggy distro, just like with all of the other DIstros, a person is going to say how do I do this or how do I do that within it.

here comes the learnig curve.

the OP just does not want to spend time on figuring out how to fix something if something goes wrong. that is the KEY point he made.

if you've never used a LINUX/GNU OS then every stinking type of Distro is for beginners. they all have a learning curve behind it. That is just a matter of fact.

and even that statment is not completely true, becase depending on which distro one is using they all have sight differences in how to do something. therefore reguardless of what distro you pick to try and or use you're putting yourself right back into a different boat and now having to learn how to use them oars to get around with now.


this person just does not want to have to be bothered by How I got a figure out how to fix something if it breaks.


You do not have to go around fixing Slackware it is a solid Dustro. after you get it installed, it is ready to use like all of the other ones. if you want to change the way it works ie, starts in GUI or not, and which DE/WM to use just like anyother Distro you have to learn how to.

just like every other distro out their you're going to have to actually learn how to do something if you're going to go beyond just installing it then just running it as is.


he also clearly stated:
and what I have written is clearly my option as all of everything within this post and others are just that, someones option. it is free, and freewill allows others to either accept it or not.

Over the years that Linux has been around a whole lot of things have changed -- mostly, they've gotten easier.

You plug in a flash drive, it automagically mounts, same with a CD-ROM, DVD, Blue Ray, mouse, display, keyboard, printer, scanner, you name it. That's true of pretty much any distribution worth a damn.

You turn on the system, it boots, it figures out for you what's connected, gets you connected to the Internet, gets everything ready to go.

I'm weird. I let it boot to a console. I might want to do some maintenance, might want to fiddle with something or just want to start X and go look at Facebook with a browser, read some mail or, what the heck, just let it sit there for a while mumbling to itself and the other boxes on the LAN. I watch the boot sequence, looking for a potential problem, I look at the logs to see what's what and where's where and who's doing what with which and to whom.

I happen to have a lot of experience with both Unix and Linux, I know what I'm doing (not always, but usually) and I don't really have too many problems other than stuff I've forgotten and need a reminder or two.

I don't like surprises. I like stability. I like that I boot the things and they work for months without me having to touch anything; right now, this system has been up for 36 days and about 20 hours -- that's when I installed Slackware 14.2. The others have been up for about the same time. I generally have them running for up to a year or so without reboot -- we do have power problems 'round here (it was out for five days last December, far longer than the UPS would maintain) when the power came back, however, everybody booted and was running fine when I got back home.

Linux systems have gotten to the point that they can be treated as... a refrigerator? Plug it in and it just works? Something like that. There are different flavors, some annoying, most not, but, if you want a turn-key you can have it.

I happen to use Slackware exclusively. One of the nice things about Slackware is that you can run it turn-key. Or, you can dig in to the guts and change them in whatever way you'd like. I don't do that beyond configuring Xfce the way I want it. I add things, such as GMT because I do a lot of maps, PostgreSQL because I do data base designs for folks and am pretty competent with either MariaDB/MySQL and PostgreSQL and a few others and provide services as needed. Got all the tools at hand. I write shell programs, I write C (using the API in the DMBS'). That's me, been doing it since the 70's. Others haven't (and mostly don't really want to) and they get along jut fine with a little help here and there.

The beauty of the system is that you in fact can do that.

If you want to do serious programming you can; might have to learn how to use a text editor, might want to learn regular expressions, might even want to do system calls and maybe tweak the kernel and do some cron jobs, serve data bases, serve printers, whatever.

But you don't actually have to. You can set up a server farm. Or not. You can run blades and get into some really complex mathematics. Or not. You can use the thing to write documentation, maybe a book. Or not. You can learn Lex and Yacc, get really serious. Or not.

Thing is, you've got a useful tool to do whatever your imagination and effort leads you to.

Or not.

Hope this helps some.

Did he mention the brand of printer he have?

I would suggest he try Q4OS (based on Debian) and/or Salix OS based on Slackware). Though Salix may have a harder learning curve then Q4OS. But as mention, read all the documentation on whichever distro he chooses.