how to choose a distro
 

Hi ,

i'm very new to unix , how do i choose a unix distro there are so many out there is there an article that compares some ? what general types are out there ?
i need a unix os to install on a standalone pc which will be used only to run a java program that i wrote which queries the net and saves all data in xml format , i will not do much more on the system besides maybe a bit of web browsing and java programing .
any advices ?
thanks in advane

Any distro can do what you want. Browse around on distrowatch and try anything that sounds good. The trick to finding the right distro is to jump in and try several.

If you're after Unix (as opposed to Linux) Sun made their most recent OS (Solaris 10) available for free. Otherwise, for Unix clones, try the *BSDs (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD etc.). If you're after Linux, pick one of the top 10 from distrowatch, and go for it.

Actually you should try at least 5 of them. I tried most linux distros for a shorter or longer period of time including: UHU, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, RHEL, Slackware, Gentoo, Knoppix, aLinux, OpenSuse and the free Linspire. It took me more than a year to see which one is the one I like and finally I decided between Fedora and Ubuntu. They both have almost the same idea in the mind and they both are professionally managed and supported distros. The reason why I use Ubuntu more than Fedora is the deb packages. I dunno why I love them even tough RPM is the same good.
So keep trying and see how are each different.

wow that was fast :) ,
i ment linux , i've looked around and one thing that i don't understand is why is there such a big difference in size between
distros slackware is 6cd , puppy is 80mbs and ubuntu is 700mbs ?
i understand that puppy is a live cd but still can be installed unto hd and run as a regular os , what do one os offer me that the other doesn't after all there are all based on the same kernel aren't they ? (perhapes i'm wrong) and as far as installing additional software (eclipse , mozila , java sdk ...) i can do that on all versions right
i just need to download linux versions , the distro doesn't matter ?
i was thinking about solaris but i have heard many bad reviews about it , tough they were all on previous versions .
it's very strange that i cant find an article comparing calc. speed between diffrent distros ...

That's because each distro is packaged in a different way. Ubuntu includes everything on one cd but all the packages are binary (i.e. no source). You can obviously install everything to your heart's content after the initial install. Slackware needs an additional cd since it includes more software to start with than ubuntu. Various text editors, ftp, http servers, samba, sendmail etc. I am not sure if ubuntu includes everything on one cd.

Slackware actually needs just one cd (if you don't need a gui to start with). CD 3 & 4 are source codes on the binaries included in cds 1 & 2. Puppy linux only includes bare minimum to boot and run the distro it is not a full-fledged desktop system like ubuntu so the packaging is different. Obviously you can install bare minimum of any distro and go along configuring everything by hand.


Nothing really if you just want to run a system. If you want to learn Linux (like system administration) then you would go with so-called-hard-to-tackle distro like Slack, Gentoo, Debian and others.

yes that's correct with varying degree of difficulty, some distro have package managers so installation of additional software is a snap. On other distro (like slackware) you will have to install exotic packages by manual compilation (i.e. if you don't find a readymade package).

The distro do matter as some distro are easier to manage for newbies due to package managers and presense of graphical configuration (like in RH and Fedora).
Didn't quite get that...calc speed???? Of what?

Tux,

go to distrowatch and get the names of the top 5 on their "hit" list.
Print the list
Post on wall
Get a dart and throw until you hit one

Do you think I am kidding??

There is a very high probabily that you will try 2 or more before settling in.

thanks tuxrules ,
i ment an article with benchmarks comparing diffrent linux os how fast is one comparing with the other since i'm not that intersted in other applications, i was taking a look at solaris and it looks just right for me : fast, reliable and java oriented only con as i see it is i'm totaly up to sun's good will since if i understand right there are basicly no utilities out there for it beside openoffice , i can't just downlaod and install like in linux or xp .