The Brand New UltraMegaSuper "Which Distro" Thread

I'm going to install Linux on my HP zt3000 Laptop - and before i did i just wanted to ask what people thought was the best Linux for Laptops i'm torn between Fedora 5 and Suse 10.1

Thanks

Peter

Try them both and then see which you prefer.

Desktop BSD is pretty slick as well - and you can run all linux software as well.

Originally Posted by jaakkop Hi, Simple question: What is the most secure and stable Linux distribution out there? I'm looking for a distribution that is like Slackware and OpenBSD: Simple, secure and stable. And I specifically am interested in distribution that runs Linux kernel. Ty, jaakkop

If you want stable and secure, Debian is a very good bet. Especially the stable release of the distro (Sarge at this point in time). It gets the most attention to security and stability compared to testing and unstable. Debain also tends to have alot of tools that make maintaining a system less of a PITA.

Debian isn't as simple as Slackware. Slackware is well known for keeping things simple and straight forward (easier to trace things down). Debian tends to have it's own way of doing things which can be kind of confusing sometimes, but over time, I've found that it's ways are pretty ingenious.

As far as BSD, Linux tends to be a different beast. BSD has a good way of addressing and handling things, but Linux tends to take a less conventional approach to just about everything. I don't know if there really is a more unorthodox OS than Linux. That also seems to be it's strength or weakness depending upon how you look at things. I feel it's a strength and what makes it's so great. It's built on the attitude of, "nobody is going to tell me what to do or not to do with my system". Also, the general attitude of it's community is, "It's your box, so it's up to you...". This makes things less clear and more ambiguous, but it's a healthy environment for not stimieing innovation and conducive to the natural selection of the best conventions and standards getting adopted. The upside to BSDs tend to be that there is less room for programs to end up conflicting with each other due to their more centralized and regulated nature. Conflicts, and wrinkles to work out, are kind of business as usual in the Linux world. However, more matured and conservative distros, such as Debian and Slackware, address alot of that due to their staff/community working out alot of the kinks through their dedication and release strategies.

If you want a good example of stability though, I can say that Debian Sarge has never ever froze up or crashed me. Some apps crash (very rarely), but the system itself goes on chugging away without so much as a hiccup. Then again, seems like I can't recall any other distros crashing operating system wise. Linux has stability (exception may be if you run the latest bleeding edge, and untested, kernels). I think people's whose Linux systems freeze up and crash is more of a result of an issue with their hardware (things like flakey PSUs and DRAM modules) or they're running with everything on the untested bleeding edge where instability should be expected since it's unrealistic to expect new and minimally tested code to be completely free of any serious bugs.

A month ago I tried on my laptop Fedora 5 and became really disappointed. So I deleted it and installed Ubuntu instead. Still can't stop being glad over it!

In my experience debian based distros have been a little more kind to the hardware ...(:

Using Ubuntu 6.06 server ed with Xfce4 on a IBM R31 w 256MB ram and loving it (:

Runnig Debian on my Laptop and everything is working fine.

Not to mention apt, and the module-assistant made it a snap to install Wireless drivers.

I have a little problem.
I have a pentium-S and pentium MMX chipset.
Can anyone tell me wich Linux distro I should use. Can anyone tell me wich I should use?
thx,
Reyn

I don't get it -- what's the problem here?

A bad topic: "ASAP"
A very bad topic: "As Soon As Possible: ASAP!"
A better topic: "<short description of the problem>"

So, tell what's wrong. If you're just wandering around looking for a nice distribution, use the Search method - you're not alone.

freespire 1.0

I have been wanting to try Linux for quite some time. I was doing some research today regarding the subject and found out that there are ALOT more distributions of Linux than I thought. The amount is mind boggling. I'm just not sure.

Does anyone have any recommendations, or know where I can find some comparison research?

I've been using Linux for over ten years and I've installed a lot of different distributions. Most have their individual challenges before you can get them running. I recently installed PCLinuxOS and I was amazed at how easy it was. It installed on my Toshiba Satellite without any problems. I highly recommend PCLinuxOS.
http://www.pclinuxos.com/page.php?7
Get the Big Daddy version.

Originally Posted by akeith106 I have been wanting to try Linux for quite some time. I was doing some research today regarding the subject and found out that there are ALOT more distributions of Linux than I thought. The amount is mind boggling. I'm just not sure. Does anyone have any recommendations, or know where I can find some comparison research?

distrowatch.com for more than you wanted to know about all the options. You cannot go wrong with anything on their top list (the rankings are page hits--but are still an indication of popularity.)

Second the comment about PCLinuxOS--it is very good.

Pick any one of these and try it:
Ubuntu
Fedora Core (5 today--6 out next week)
Open SUSE
PCLinuxOS
Mepis

You should check out XavierP's UltraMegaSuper Which Distro thread right here at LQ.org. There's a very good chance this thread will end up merged with that one.

Second the motion to also check out distrowatch.com.

The Ubuntu family and Fedora are good choices the others from the previous post I haven't used. Debian's good too. Hell, they're all good! Remember, most are free other than the cost of the CD/DVD you burn them on. I've seen several people (non-business use) in these forums lately that are paying for their CD's. You don't have to do that.

Originally Posted by akeith106 I have been wanting to try Linux for quite some time. I was doing some research today regarding the subject and found out that there are ALOT more distributions of Linux than I thought. The amount is mind boggling. I'm just not sure. Does anyone have any recommendations, or know where I can find some comparison research?

welcome to the world of linux. here are my personal thoughts on some linux distros:

Fedora Core (FC):

great easy distro to install and use. YUM is your friend. sadly the native support for things like DVDs and mp3 are LOCKED out of the distro and you have to know what you are doing to hack the distro to install the support for media files. some times i can get it to work, others i can not and it crashes or just will not work with every file type.

Ubuntu:

again great and easy distro to install and use. If you only have 1 computer and do not plan on sharing any system resources via the network (LAN) then it is ideal for a newbie. most media type files are supported and it is real easy to get used to the way it does things. #1 issue i have with the entire *buntu line of distros (kbuntu, edubuntu, ubuntu) is the fact they intentionally LOCK out several key Linux network functions like ssh, cups and several others. i have yet to be able to connect to my edubuntu box via ssh and forget talking to cups (this is printer sharing in linux). even with the firewall REMOVED from the distro and following the "HOWTO" guides to getting those functions working, i have failed. so have serveral memebers of my LUG(Local user group or linux user group) for the same things and they know way more about linux then i do. so if you want to play around with those things FORGET IT. i also have not been successful at getting my edubuntu box to talk to my NFS server and connect to the shares. cant manually or via automount file. so for stand alone it is great, in a LAN it suxs worse then windows.

SuSe:

exact same as FC so far as ease and media files. great distro, excelent hardware detection etc... just horrid when it comes to media file support and does not always work when you install the hacks to get those files supported.

Debain:

not so easy to install. requires MUCH more skill and knowledge about linux and computers in general to install and get working properly, but once its up WOW is it great. this is my distro of choice. you have support for all media types, you have very good hardware detection, but you do have a much harder time installing the distro in the first place and getting it working. once its up and running i have less issues with Debian then any other distro i have worked with.

Gentoo:

if you have 1 - 4 weeks to install and configure a computer, then this is the #1 distro out there for you to customize. good media support, great hardware detection, but takes just to flippin long to get up and running for my cup of tea. i gave up after 24+ hours on trying to install the basic OS with KDE as my GUI.

for a newbie, if you can live without media support for MP3s and DVDs for a while i would sujest either FC or SuSe to start with. if you have someone who can help you get debian installed id go with that over the other distros. If you have no help and will ONLY be using the computer as a stand alone or to connect to others but not be connected to, then go with Ubuntu or Kubuntu.

again just me. try out some live CDs like Knoppix, SuSe, Ubunut and play with it see how you like it and go forward from there.