If I recall correctly, PCLinuxOS is an RPM distribution. Don't download .deb files if you can find an .rpm version of the same thing. If the program you want ONLY comes in .debs use alien to convert them, or rethink why you want the program

Personally, right now I think it sounds like he's wondering what distro is best for someone unfamiliar with linux. Ther are a few that are very user friendly, and others may be more powerful.

Remember, Every linux distribution that exists is there because someone wants something specific for their computer/phone/mp3 player/laptop/toaster. Define what you want out of it. If you want a large, good looking desktop pc with lots of features I really have to recommend Fedora, Ubuntu, openSUSE, or one of their flavors. For more utility based, or for slower systems there are other options.

Actually, the toaster runs NetBSD, not linux

In that case, I would suggest Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS or possibly Fedora (just because it's so easy to find red hat guides to everything) as a first Distro (in that order... Ubuntu gets a bad rep for being n00bish, but it gets the job done)

Ubuntu is a debian based distro, you would need to install deb packages

PCLinuxOS and Fedora both use the Red Hat Packagemanager (in case you wanted to know what rpm stands for )


When you get started with linux, there's always that temptation to try all the different "flavors". The thing is, when you strip them down and look at their guts, they're all pretty much the same. Yeah, Ubuntu is configured to keep its networking settings in a different place than red hat, and yeah they come with different programs pre installed... but once you know enough about whatever distro you choose, you can always strip it down and build it the way you want to.

I guess my advice is, if you have PCLinuxOS, stick with it. It's solid enough, easy enough for you to learn to use and powerful once you start tinkering.

Yes, I'm still here . The deb file I saved on linux won't install mainly because I don't know how to use the Package managers on these distros . I thought all these commands that I can use are pre installed during the installation . but they don't work when I open the terminal . so after installing linux I have to look for a website or ask here in the forum what's the distro's main installer . so I've decided to use both windows and linux to learn a bit about both. the disadvantage about using linux is that I have no manual , no guides for a beginner ... Thanks !

You have : PCLinuxOS 200X.x, that's for sure.

PCLinuxOS is one of the most easy to use.
And also has everything, you will ever need.

The command 'dpkg' is not installed by default,
as PCLinuxOS is not using ' .deb ' packages.
Uses " .rpm " packages.

The package manager is Synaptic ( for rpm ).
Find it in the 'Menu'. After launching it, please
hit the button " Reload ", to get it updated.

After that, it will show the package count = 11,759
( today ). Please use the "Search" to find software.
.....

it all depends on what you want it for, there are many guides on the strong and weak points of distros.
if you want a nice all around distro, I like suse

I'm sorry, but suse was extremely slow for me. It's not like I'm even running it on a slow computer... I don't know why. It's just my experience with it.

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I don't approve of this, you never mentioned why it was slow!

with a linux distro you can always strip out stuff you don't need, and I'm willing to bet that during your SuSE install you chose several options to install packages that you never needed to use or which were always running in the background!

Hell, Ubuntu and Fedora are also slower than usual too until you turn off most of the default crap running in the background. Same goes for windows too.


Still... you ARE allowed to not like SuSE just give a valid reason so you don't mislead new people.

I found most distros that used KDE never ran quite as well (for me) as with gnome, plus I find gnome to be more intuitive. You might try a gnome based distro? Or, if that still runs slow, you should probably go with an xfce-based one, like xubuntu or DSL.

Please note that all of the above statements are opinions and you should try them yourself.

If I'm not mistaken, DSL runs Fluxbox. I think a good combo would be a net install of Debian, with XFCE. Unlike DSL, it would be upgradeable and up-to-date, also easy to manage and probably pretty fast. I would think Ubuntu distros can be installed in a similar way too.

maybe it was an odd hardware config, like subpar parts.
I am running 11.2 on a thinkpad x200, and it's great.
boots fast and runs fast.
the reason I recommended it was because of the experience with this setup.
if you haven't tried 11.2 it's worth a try.

agreed, I don't like kde especially kde4.
I usually use xfce or gnome, the new ones are really slick.

I understand what you mean. I'm 99.9% sure I could adjust SUSE to make it faster. I just never got into it, like I did Slackware and Fedora. If anyone reading this wants to try it, by all means, please do.

@Replica

Yes, if you get unetbootin and put it on a flash drive, virtually any Distro can be netInstalled, unless it's so small (Like DSL) that it is virtually the same speed.

I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with DSL, so you're probably right. The main reason wrote that was because it is a very lightweight os.

If you want an actively upgraded lightweight os, personally I would go with Puppy, but there are a few disadvantages over most distros, like their own package manager (.pet) and irregular release cycle.

I would personally never install debian. It's either too unstable or too old to be worth my while, but I like the os itself, which is why I usually go with debian-based distros.