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12-10-2007, 04:03 PM
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#1
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Dec 2007
Posts: 3
Rep:
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Please Help :(
I'm completely new to Linux, and im thinking about duel-booting a Linux distro on my new PC upgrade.
I'm an offensive security tester who's working in a private group as shellcode developer and network developer.
Can anybody give me advice in the Linux distro that would be right for me? I want a sleek, customizable distribution. I want to be able to customize everything from button color, wallpaper, layout, right-click menu. EVERYTHING!
Im in desperate need as im new to Linux. Please help, and thank you!
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12-10-2007, 04:13 PM
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#2
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Member
Registered: Mar 2005
Location: North Carolina
Distribution: Arch
Posts: 977
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Teln3t
I want to be able to customize everything from button color, wallpaper, layout, right-click menu. EVERYTHING!
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You can do that in just about every distro.
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12-10-2007, 04:18 PM
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#3
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LQ Veteran
Registered: Jul 2006
Location: Crystal Beach, Texas
Distribution: Suse for mail +
Posts: 5,100
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Your thread title needs to have your question there. To answer your question as far as I know any linux distro can fit your bill, its just different distros have different looks and behaviors. That is one of the beauties of linux, if you do not like it change it or if it is too much work to change switch distros to one that comes closer to what you want.
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12-10-2007, 04:19 PM
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#4
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Dec 2007
Posts: 3
Original Poster
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Webb
Your thread title needs to have your question there. To answer your question as far as I know any linux distro can fit your bill, its just different distros have different looks and behaviors. That is one of the beauties of linux, if you do not like it change it or if it is too much work to change switch distros to one that comes closer to what you want.
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im startin to like linux already. But any distros you would recommend? Any that are solid and based around custimization?
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12-10-2007, 04:21 PM
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#5
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Member
Registered: Mar 2005
Location: North Carolina
Distribution: Arch
Posts: 977
Rep:
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I think you should be focused on how it works more than how it looks. You can make any distro look and feel just about any way you want, with the right configuration, nearly anything is possible.
If you are willing to read and learn, Arch can be made into anything you want it to be.
Last edited by elliott678; 12-10-2007 at 04:22 PM.
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12-10-2007, 04:33 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Following the white rabbit
Distribution: Slackware64 -current
Posts: 2,300
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There is an entire subforum that deals with distros. Oddly enough it's called Linux-Distributions.
A good title goes a long way towards getting quality replies.
Asking the "which distro" question for the millionth time will result in nothing more than people tossing out their favorite distros. You have to evaluate them according to your own needs, wants, preferences, and knowledge level.
Distrowatch.com is a good place to start.
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12-10-2007, 04:42 PM
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#7
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Member
Registered: Nov 2003
Distribution: Arch
Posts: 31
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Offensive security tester? I find that offensive!
I'd say Arch is right up your alley, but I'm heavily biased  It installs a base system that leaves you with nothing more than a command line. From there, you add only what you want using the package manager. You can customize every package to your liking using "abs", but 99% of them don't need to be changed. I have done a lot of distro-hopping, and Arch is the one that gives the sleekest install for sure.
This full-control approach is often intimidating to new users, though. You may want to start with something easier. Distros like Fedora or Ubuntu should work right out of the box. But they lack in the sleek department.
A good middleground would be Slackware. It's rather sleek, but still quite functional right after installation. I suppose it is the distro I would recommend to tech-savvy people such as yourself.
Don't worry about customizing your desktop, any distro will allow you to do that. Nearly all desktop environments (including KDE, XFCE, Gnome, and so many others) are entirely customizable. Just go check out kde-look.org, gnome-look.org, xfce-look.org, etc...
The best advice I have ever seen given is this: Find a live CD for a distribution that interests you, and take it for a test drive. If you don't like it, just throw away the CD. Nothing got installed on your PC, so there's no hassle.
Hope that helps,
peart
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12-10-2007, 05:10 PM
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#8
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Member
Registered: Sep 2005
Location: US
Distribution: Gentoo AMD64 Testing
Posts: 129
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I like Gentoo for being completely customizable, and I use Gentoo... but you should most likely start with something a little less customizable until you learn to love the command line.
Arch is not a bad choice. The live CD suggestion is also a good one.
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12-10-2007, 05:58 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Registered: Aug 2007
Location: South Carolina, U.S.A.
Distribution: Ubuntu, Fedora Core, Red Hat, SUSE, Gentoo, DSL, coLinux, uClinux
Posts: 1,302
Rep: 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Teln3t
I'm completely new to Linux, and im thinking about duel-booting a Linux distro on my new PC upgrade.
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Since you are completely new to Linux, I would recommend Ubuntu. After you get a bit of experience troubleshooting and maintaining your system, then you will be better able to decide what distro you want for "customizing".
If this were a decision about what car to get, we would all recommend something safe, dependable, and easy to maintain (e.g. Honda Civic). You should learn to drive before you start trying to "customize" or you will spend all your time trying to fix what you broke with your last modification.
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12-10-2007, 06:05 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Registered: Feb 2007
Location: Chilliwack,BC.Canada
Distribution: Slackware64 -current
Posts: 2,079
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I would suggest going to distrowatch.com and picking a few distros out of the top ten and trying them out
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12-10-2007, 06:46 PM
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#11
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Dec 2007
Posts: 3
Original Poster
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David1357
Since you are completely new to Linux, I would recommend Ubuntu. After you get a bit of experience troubleshooting and maintaining your system, then you will be better able to decide what distro you want for "customizing".
If this were a decision about what car to get, we would all recommend something safe, dependable, and easy to maintain (e.g. Honda Civic). You should learn to drive before you start trying to "customize" or you will spend all your time trying to fix what you broke with your last modification.
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Good advice, thanks. I'll do just that 
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12-10-2007, 07:10 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Registered: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,257
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Yeah, baby steps...
Your first distribution should be a live-evaluation CD that readily installs to the hard drive if you like what you see. Ubuntu is fine. Other possibilities:
PCLinuxOS
SimplyMepis
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