The Utterly Improbably Huge "Which Distro" SuperMegaThread
 

Mod Note: The "welcome to this thread post is here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...58#post2915558


I have an IBM ThinkPad t-21 Intel Pentium III- 800GHz/128M/12Gb Hard Drive, What would be the best Linux distro for this laptop? I would like to use Open Office, Wireless Network and perhaps Gimp and a good DVD player. I searched linux-laptop.net however most of the links are dead and many of the distros listed are leagues behind what is currently available. :confused:

I would guess any modern distro should do okay on the hardware itself. Personally, I like Debian because I can install a base distro (command line only), then only install what I want. I had Debian 4.0 running a slim KDE desktop on an old celeron 400MHz machine w/ 256MB RAM.

You probably want to avoid KDE or Gnome since they're a bit heavy. Try icewm, fluxbox, or similar lightweight windowmanager. OpenOffice will be a pig. You might try Abiword and Gnumeric. The Gimp will probably drag you down too since you only have 128MB.

If you want a distro already catered toward lightweight stuff, try Damn Small Linux, Puppy Linux, Fluxbuntu, or Xubuntu.

The Utterly Improbably Huge "Which Distro" SuperMegaThread
 

Hello, I am currently deciding on a migration strategy from windows 2000 to linux.

I am a bit schizophrenic regarding how to go about it. On one hand i am a bit impatient and don't want a huge learning curve. I.e. drivers. I also dont want something that slows down my system.

I need something with as much support as possible for flash, mp3, wav, flac, USB interface with mobile phone and voice recorders or ipod, wine for windows compatibility etc..

Ideally i want a distro which provide a systematized teaching/training starting from basics of configuration, software install to shell scripting and network admin.

I have heard Mandriva has the best kernel for hardware support, and since they offer self paced training, it was a path i planned to follow. That was before I read that the latest power pack slows down even dual core systems. My machine is a pentium 3, 650 MHz with 512 MB ram and 60 gig hard drive.

I want to go "cold turkey" so wont be dual booting with windows. I do eventually want to become a pro at linux but with a gentle learning curve.

Someone on this site suggested i go with gentoo and I have just visited their site. They don't seem to offere any support apart from their forums. And there is no official self paced training. Yet some how i want to try it.

The next option seems to be SUSE.

Can any provide better solutions or advice.

Everyone here can provide better advice....;)
You are asking the classic question--everyone is going to have an opinion. My personal solution has been to install several and test-drive them as time permits. The current favorite is PCLinuxOS. However--at least to start--anything in the top 5-10 on the distrowatch "hit list" is going to be fine.

The "getting started" link below might help also.

You could do somewhat like I did and use Live CDs/DVDs for a while before you put out a contract on your Windows. Technically, I started with Slackware 8.1, but still...

SUSE was the next one I tried, too, but for some reason I got tired of it quickly. I'm not saying that you'll do the same, since you're not me (and a good thing too - generates too much confusion) but the only way to know for sure is to try it. Don't try anything out if you have anything mission-critical going on in the short-term and you want Linux to support it. I second the suggestion to distro-hop.

Get some books to read over, too. It's easier to look at printed pages, than a screen all day.

Good luck!

Slackware.

disto hit list
 

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions. When u say distro hit list your talking about the "Distro Reviews" section on this site...? cuz i don't see any scoring system on the review site. Are you talking about thing else. Please send me the link if you are.

You heard about XP Linux?

http://distrowatch.com

XP Linux (Actually Linux XP )is not on my list at all. #67 at Distrowatch

many thanks!!!
 

that link is fantastic. I am going to enjoy reading through it.

I wouldn't go for Linux XP if I were you

Small Distros like Mint or PCLinuxOS will give you the best multimedia support out of the box.

BUT

I would recommend either Ubuntu or openSUSE, due to these factors:

-Both are huge (lots of support available)
-Both have strong long term prospects
-Both give you fairly good multimedia support out of the box
-Both have good configuration tools

Honestly, forget about Gentoo or slackware, unless you really love to go technical.

Linux security
 

When I read about the pros & cons of a distro's security, do I assume that even in a distro that is not highly rated, it still is better than windows...?

I mean, like windows am i going to have to consider firewalls, anti virus etc. I am aware that linux is not immune to attack but it is not targeted as much windows, right.?

I am running win2k currently and worst case i have been plagued with spyware and possibly twice a year with trojans which my avast has detected.

Regardless of the popularity or size of your OS (or even the make), you should always use a firewall. Linux comes with iptables inbuilt - and has done since it was ipchains.

Shields Up is a simple, visual check for your firewall and whether it's working. In general, you won't need a virus guard for Linux, there are too few Linux specific viruses for the OS. However, if you are planning to share files with other OSes you should install one. Just because we don't get infected doesn't mean we can't unwittingly forward an infected document.

And, despite my words above, this is a very common question on LQ - a search would have given you these answers in seconds.

The Utterly Improbably Huge "Which Distro" SuperMegaThread
 

This thread will, by design, become utterly enormous. It is a landing place for anyone wanting to know which distro is the best for them. It is also a place for existing and new "Which Distro" threads to be merged into.

As a result, this post will be pushed down the thread, I will create a link in whatever the firt post is to this post. Should you see a new thread created, please report it and request it be moved to this thread.

Here's a tip: DO NOT just ask the question in a simple form, you will receive hundreds of opinions and will not be able to get anything usable. Instead, TELL US what you want to get out of the distro.

Some Links That Will Be Of Use:

• DistroWatch
• Linux Distro Chooser
• Another Linux Distro Chooser
• Linux Distro Comparison Tool
• Linux Distro Timeline Chart
• Linux Distro Downloads
• Linux Distro Reviews
• LQ Wiki Page - List of Linux Distributions

Which distro
 

Thanks for that. The thing is as i mentioned earlier my long term objective is to become an expert in linux, hence slackware. What I think i will do is to purchase slackware live cd. If it recognises my phone and voice recorder usb interface without too much bother, I will go for it. Otherwise I will opt for Ubuntu.

On the other hand, I guess with all distro one can opt to switch off the gui and work from vi editor and that way learn from the command prompt...right. ?

BTW I cannot find live cd for OpenSUSE. Will the DVD version work with my Dell P 3 650. I have upgraded the cd drive to dvd. The ram is 512 MB. HDD 60 gig.

I second the recommendation to go with Ubuntu or openSUSE. I started with Kubuntu and then switched to Ubuntu as I got a better appreciation of the benefits of staying as mainstream as possible. There is plenty to learn with a mainstream distro, I'd suggest starting with one and switching to Slackware etc. later on if you feel you're not learning enough.

You might want to think about creating a separate /home partition to make it easier to switch distros without losing your data.

which distro
 

The only reservation I have about OpenSUSE is the fact that I hear Novell is forming an alliance with microsoft..

Which distro
 

Just one other thing. I have been looking at the latest reviews on distrowatch. None of mention compatibility with x86 architecture, especially Ubuntu or OpenSUSE.

Does that mean i am not supported for these operating systems?

Most, if not all distros support x86, Ubuntu and OpenSuSE support x86 for sure, considering I have ran Ubuntu on x86, and I have seen openSuSE run on x86

One of my computers is a P3 500mhz with 512mb ram and 40gb hard drive. We've been running SuSE 10.0 on it for quite some time. Works great. A little slow to boot up, and some things take a bit to load, but is very useable. It doesn't have any odd hardware on it, so SuSE installed with no problems (if I remember correctly). Mostly used for web surfing and games now, up until a few months ago, that was the only computer in the house, and we did everything on it. We still use it enough that it was worth while to me to get a new power supply for it about a week ago.

I have found Opensuse to be very nice for laptops. It did all of the wireless networking and cpu scaling pretty much out of the box, as long as the hardware is supported and doesn't need any extra firmware extracted.

siawash - your thread has been merged into the purpose built, hand crafted megathread for "which distro" questions.

All the replies so far has been really fantastic. Many thanks to all.

I have done quite a bit of reading and using all the innovative distro chooser tools.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the "latest greatest" might slow down my seven year old P III Dell latitude. I read in one review how Mandriva's latest had slowed down a dual core system. On Linspire's official website it mentions system hardware requirements of at least a GHz processor.

My sys is P III 650 Mhz with 512 mb ram and 60 gig hdd. It's quite fast with win2k as long as i stay away from bitTorrent and avoid spy ware and stuff.

I have managed to make a short list of distro to try out first.

Ubuntu
Mandriva
PCLinux
OpenSUSE ( despite the MS deal )
Slackware

I read XBUNTU is for older machines so I might try that too. But none of the official websites mention hardware minimum requirements, except for Linspire. The live cd wont give any feel for performance either.

Ubuntu runs sluggish on my Pentium 3, Slackware runs as fast as hell on my machine, but beware of the slight learning curve

which distro
 

Yes, it increasingly looks my options are XBUNTU, OpenSUSE and slackware.
If only they could pick up my USB devices I would be laughing.. devices such my mobile phones usb, ipod, external hdd etc.


The live CD should detect these, right?

which distro
 

Yes, it increasingly looks my options are XBUNTU, OpenSUSE and slackware.
If only they could pick up my USB devices I would be laughing.. devices such as my mobile phones usb, ipod, external hdd etc. I also would like support for multimedia codec.

At the end of the day its going to have to be a happy medium between good level of support to get me started and thin client. The support for slackware does not seem as good as XBUNTU. Although I would like to challenge myself later with slackware as I get more comfortable with linux.


The live CD should help determine wether its going detect my usb devices, right?

Looking for a Linux Distro
 

I'm under heavy conditions. I want Linux, have no money and want a distro as relevant as possible to this:
Lotsa packages for distro
Can compile tarballs out of the box
Uses the latest alpha KDE version
NOT ASSOCIATED with Ubuntu or any deriatives (yea, that means no Mint)
Is fully customizable, but with no tradeoff with how easy installation is (in essence, no Gentoo.)
Not obsessed with wanting such-and-suck (no that was not a typo)a language to be compatible mainly (No ubuntu, again)
Is good for the experienced Linux user, but still very user-friendly.
The latest stable software is automatically watched over and upgraded when needed
Is good for the bored-as-heck Linux operator.

Okay, no telling me to go to that crappy linux distro chooser you all think is so friggin awesome...

Thanks in advance.

Wow. I was really going to go an suggest Ubuntu. Slackware? Fedora? Mandriva? What have you tried already and why did you not want them?

And what's wrong with the distro chooser?

Anyway, this is now part of the megathread where you will soon get a stack of opinions based on your options.

Mandriva or Suse has incorporated some of the latest KDE version into their latest distro, but if you want KDE 4, you will have to build it yourself. If Suse is your final decision, I believe KDE 4 has prms for Suse.

Xavier's on the ball. By the time I reported the thread, it had already moved here.

I've tried endlessly. Ubuntu,kubuntu, even xubuntu, fluxbuntu, mandriva, gentoo, fedora, uhh... Then...Kubuntu again.

Problem with each:
Ubuntu- Wanted KDE, stupid "all language, no repositories" prob.
Kubuntu- had an extreme bug and it died. Second time, which is now, is beginning to get utterly boring for Linux.
Xubuntu- Wanted KDE
Fluxbuntu- I was just desperate that time. Still wanted KDE.
Mandriva- Could not compile from source, which drives me crazy
Gentoo- I had no idea what the crap i was doing in that LiveCD...
Fedora- Sleekness has the tradeoff of no software and no source compilation off-the-bat.

Note that also I can only use things under 2 CD-Rs worth of data as well, thanks in advance.

Rushing into ONE distro will get you no more satisfaction than demanding that someone else tell you what will work for you.
According to your list of attempts, you haven't tried Slack. Why not? By the sounds of things, you've got nothing to lose.

Ubuntu, I have never had any repository problems, don't know what you are talking about
Kubuntu, please elaborate on bug
rest of *buntu, why did you try them if you like KDE so much
Mandriva, did you install gcc?
Gentoo, you should consult the documentation on the gentoo website
Fedora, don't know what you mean by no software

I suggest you try slackware

Which distro
 

Your signuture links are very usefull. Especially the links for older PC'S. Having said, I am going to try both Ubuntu, OpenSUSE and Mandriva on my pentium III see how slow it will make it.

Failing that, I will try Xbuntu, Poppy, Mint, DSL. I think out of the latter for hardware support Xbuntu would win, would you agree.

I still will need to get my usb devices and multimedia codec working. I also want to be able to read word docs and send docs to poeple which can be read by windows applications.

That is possible, right?

You'll want 'libdvdcss', and 'win32codecs' and/or another large codec pack for MPlayer or Xine or whatever media thing you decide on. These should take care of video/movies/multimedia etc..

Writing documents that can be read on Windoze machines is no problem at all. I use Kwrite, and save files as .rtf files (rich text format) and have had no difficulties reported back to me.

And far as I know, it works the other way too. You should have little or no difficulty reading most or all Windoze documents using either Kwrite, or something similar, or if need be, use Open Office.

which distro
 

I am assuming this applies to all the thin client distros. As a matter of interest, what do you use?

Everyone says slackware is steep learning curve and not supporting latest technologies. But the more I read the more it seems that it will support my usb drives, and it not too sluggish. It should also cell phone usb connections.

I can live with that. OK, wont till I try I guess.

Uhh, lol, but I only have about two CDS left for my linux distro search, not six. If there is a one or two CD version of slackware please tell me!
Also, what about SuSe?
That refers mostly to her. Anyone found a strip-down version yet? I'm rushing google pages like Jolt colas.

@ Archoniam -- Slack 11 when I got it, took up 3 CD's. TWO were important, the third contains all the extra languages and stuff like that.
I can't comment for Slackware 12, as I haven't played with it yet :)

@ Siawash - - I hadn't been specifically referring to 'thin client' oriented distros, but all what I said should apply just the same. Someone will surely be quick to correct me however, if I'm wrong. Just give 'em a little time :) lol.. I don't run anything on a thin client myself. Just my super duper Slackware-and-derivitives Desktop Computer :) heh heh..
Steep Learning curve? Relatively speaking, yes a little bit. But there is NO SHORTAGE of documentation and helpful information, as well as the (un?)official Slackware support site being right here under your.. Umm, under your fingertips!
Slackware is not sluggish at all, quite the opposite, and very configurable, though like any other distro or OS, you could load it up with so much 'blingy eye-candy junk and rotating cube desktop things' that it would probably get as sluggish as you wanted to make it.
USB drives should be no problem, but I can't speak to the cell-phone angle, as I simply don't use that functionality.

Dont head out yet GrapefruiT. It says there's only one ISO for i486 for Slack 11.0. For one, is 11 upgradable to 12? And if not, and even still, is it true?

As to whether 11 is upgradeable to 12, I'm inclined to say YES, but it probably is not something a brand new Slack user would undertake on his/her first day.
For specifics, you'd be weller off (lol) to search the Slackware sub-forum for the answer to that.
Last I checked, it could be done.

Now, which "it" is telling you there is only one ISO for Slack? Can you provide a link please?

Better yet, consider this link, which is the Slackware mirror I use:

http://gulus.usherbrooke.ca/pub/dist...ware-11.0-iso/

You can see Install CD's d1, d2, and d3, or a DVD which is one ISO only. Maybe it is the DVD you are seeing?

Uhh, Linuxquestions iso file place. Turns out you're right... uhh...lolz that idea is shot.
I still cant use a DVDR in my computer. If i did, i would be reading slackware docs while my d/l finishes.
[edit]
Turns out, miraculously, I will be. I got a third CD that was blank while waiting for a reply. Now i got three CD-Rs and ima wait overnight for the d/l to finish and tell ya how it goes when i get around to it.

Why? Just get the d1 and d2 disks and burn them. If you really want the third, download it and mount it on a loop and copy all the stuff out, then use pkgtool to install it all. d3 is pretty much optional though. I haven't used d3 in a long time, like prolly since the second time I installed Slack.

thanks for the compliment

Thanks, I will investigate the all in one /slimed down distros. They seem to hold the most promise for me especially Opensuse for networking, Puppy and Abiword instead of the big Open Office Suite.

What distro should I use?
 

I have an old Inspiron 4000 with a 500 mhz pentium III processor and 500 mb of RAM and would like to put a current Linux desktop on it. I would also like it connect to a wireless network using a pcmcia card. What distro would run reasonably on this setup?
Any suggestions?
Thanks,

Andy

I'd suggest that you read the Megathread. It's a "Sticky" in the distributions forum. Hopefully, this thread will be joining it soon.

I've tried Zenwalk on a computer like yours, and it worked very well. I've also heard that Vectorlinux is good for such machines. But if you want REALLY light, give Puppylinux a go, which I have tried with a certain amount of success on an old Pentium 1 laptop with only 32 Mo Ram!

I would suggest slackware using xfce, or xbuntu

actually
 

I think ubuntu would even still be fine or otherwise the lighter xfce based xubuntu http://www.xubuntu.org/

I find your computer not so slow yet by the way, most distro's would do I think. If you have problems, just switch desktop environments/window managers.

Puppy is for really low end stuff like indeed pentium 1's with 128mb of memory.