Hit me with a Distro
 

Hello. I was just wondering if some people could recommend me a Linux distribution for the computer I just built. I have already used Ubuntu and Xubuntu, and have dabbled in Kubuntu. But, for this new computer I was hoping to try something completely different. So here are the specs for my fairly crappy "new" computer. By the way I HATE XFCE! (please GNOME or KDE)

AMD Duron 1.0GHz
256 MB RAM
Gigabyte A-7ZXE Motherboard (if that matters)
40 Gig HD
DVD, floppy, and zip drives
the GPU is an older 128 MB Nvidia Chip but I have a spare ATI Radeon 9550XL chip I can use instead

What do you want to do with it? Just fiddle? I typically install a bare bones debian and then build on top of it whatever I want. I've had a KDE install that was usable under Debian Sarge (note that the current version is Etch) with worse specs than that. The trick is to just install what you need like xorg, kdebase (not full blown kde w/ all the extras), iceweasel, abiword, gnumeric, gnucash, etc. Then you get a pretty trim machine.

You can also dabble with recompiling the kernel, which was quite helpful on the Celeron 400MHz I was using, but it took me a few tries to make sure I got everything in the kernel that I needed....

Re:
 

Honestly I think that right now I'm a little too much of a noob to start recompiling the kernel. But yes, I would like to fiddle. Also, I want to do my homework on this computer (I have a research paper on Linux do soon!=P). I would like an easy to adapt to distro that can function much like an office computer but still gives me the ability to do stuff like listen to music and play DVDs. And I like to screw around with it!

Uh, you do know XFCE, Gnome and KDE aren't the only environments you can get don't you? There is also fluxbox, blackbox, KDE light, etc. All the examples I gave you run faster than XFCE, Gnome or KDE. So, that said, Absolute Linux, aLinux, ALT Linux, Arch, Arudius, ASP Linux, Damn Small Linux, Dark Star Linux, Debian, FreeSBIE, Knoppix, Kurumin, etc. To see more, or to search, visit Distrowatch.com

Gentoo ... it will force you to understand Linux.

I have a Gentoo Laptop with lower spec's than your PC and it works fine.
Modular KDE is a great option.

FYI: with Gentoo you must have patience ... as it compiles from source.

***nerdman978 was slain by r00tb33r's sharp Debian 4.0 CD***

Re:
 

I tried the Zegenie studios test and got Fedora. I have heard of Fedora but is it easy to install and get up and running? Just some input on this distro please.

Fedora is the free version of Red Hat.
Last version I used was Fedora Core 2 which featured a very nice GUI installer... Very easy to install, just follow the onscreen instructions.

Fedora is a nice graphical setup, it takes a little while, but not long. I have never installed it on a computer with 256mb of RAM, so I don't know how it will act. Fedora is very popular, pretty reliable and well supported. You may want to do some research by yourself as the LQ rules plainly state:

NO I am not using this to do my homework, I just want a distribution of Linux to run on the computer I just built XD!

Re:
 

Ok I'm going to download Fedora, install it, and see if I like it.
Thanks for the quick response guys! I really appreciate it.

Actually theres this new n00b trend - Ubuntu.
Theres a livecd version of that (boots right off the cdrom no need to even have a hard drive). You can try that before you install it.
Knoppix livecd used to be the best though... And you can install it on a hard drive with a press of a button.
Then theres the super minimalist livecd distro - DSL, just 50mb and can work either off a cd or usb flash drive... Can also be easily installed on hard drive. Its upside is the speed, it does not use much resources and will fly on your specs. I used to use it on my P1 200mhz server.

I did not mean to insult or hurt, simply inform. Asking what Fedora's install is like can be seen at it's site.

I have already used Ubuntu but thanks anyway. O and Kalabanta no insult at all no big deal. But I'm definitely giving Fedora a shot and if it doesn't work out no problemo, I'll just try another one.

Thats the lovely thing about Linux being open-source, no matter what Bill says, its free. :D