Which Linux Dist

[richk]

I'm thinking about downloading a linux dist. However I dont know which
one I should get. I'm not a programmer so If I have to put anything
together code wise forget it. I'm a pretty basic user....Which can I
download for free and put onto a cd-r...

 

[Mike Andrade]

I'm thinking about downloading a linux dist. However I dont know
which one I should get. I'm not a programmer so If I have to put
anything together code wise forget it. I'm a pretty basic
user....Which can I download for free and put onto a cd-r...

Mandriva is the most user-friendly.

--
Mike

Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help! I'm
being repressed!
- Monty Python

 

[Don Boring]

I'm thinking about downloading a linux dist. However I dont know which
one I should get. I'm not a programmer so If I have to put anything
together code wise forget it. I'm a pretty basic user....Which can I
download for free and put onto a cd-r...

Redhat. No problem, hassle free installation.

DB

 

[nog]

I'm thinking about downloading a linux dist. However I dont know which
one I should get. I'm not a programmer so If I have to put anything
together code wise forget it. I'm a pretty basic user....Which can I
download for free and put onto a cd-r...

http://www.ubuntu.com/

 

[Onedayflyer]

richk wrote on 16-1-2006:

I'm thinking about downloading a linux dist. However I dont know
which one I should get. I'm not a programmer so If I have to put
anything together code wise forget it. I'm a pretty basic
user....Which can I download for free and put onto a cd-r...

I Love (Novell) Linux SuSe but Ubuntu is also good.

--
Greetings from Holland

Gene6 FTP-server: http://tinyurl.com/66pue
MesNews Newsreader: http://tinyurl.com/8zwcb


Posted by news://news.nb.nu

 

[bambam]

I'm thinking about downloading a linux dist. However I dont know which
one I should get. I'm not a programmer so If I have to put anything
together code wise forget it. I'm a pretty basic user....Which can I
download for free and put onto a cd-r...

The first linux distro that ever had the wow factor for me was Knoppix-

http://www.knoppix.com/

As good a place as any to start.

 

[CoMa]

How about

Damn Small Linux (DSL)
http://damnsmalllinux.org/

DSL is a very versatile 50MB mini desktop oriented Linux distribution.

Damn Small is small enough and smart enough to do the following things:
- Boot from a business card CD as a live linux distribution (LiveCD)
- Boot from a USB pen drive
- Boot from within a host operating system (that's right,
it can run *inside* Windows)
- Run very nicely from an IDE Compact Flash drive via a method
we call "frugal install"
- Transform into a Debian OS with a traditional hard drive install
- Run light enough to power a 486DX with 16MB of Ram
- Run fully in RAM with as little as 128MB (you will be amazed at
how fast your computer can be!)
- Modularly grow -- DSL is highly extendable without the need to customize

Or

Puppy Linux
http://www.goosee.com/puppy/index.html

Mission Statement:
- Puppy will easily install to USB, Zip or hard drive media.
- Booting from CD, Puppy will load totally into RAM so that
the CD drive is then free for other purposes.
- Booting from CD, Puppy can save everything back to the CD,
no need for a hard drive.
- Booting from USB, Puppy will greatly minimise writes,
to extend the life of Flash devices indefinitely.
- Puppy will be extremely friendly for Linux newbies.
- Puppy will boot up and run extraordinarily fast.
- Puppy will have all the applications needed for daily use.
- Puppy will just work, no hassles.
- Puppy will breathe new life into old PCs




/CoMa

 

[John]

How about

Damn Small Linux (DSL)
http://damnsmalllinux.org/

DSL is a very versatile 50MB mini desktop oriented Linux distribution.

Damn Small is small enough and smart enough to do the following things:
- Boot from a business card CD as a live linux distribution (LiveCD)
- Boot from a USB pen drive
- Boot from within a host operating system (that's right,
it can run *inside* Windows)
- Run very nicely from an IDE Compact Flash drive via a method
we call "frugal install"
- Transform into a Debian OS with a traditional hard drive install
- Run light enough to power a 486DX with 16MB of Ram
- Run fully in RAM with as little as 128MB (you will be amazed at
how fast your computer can be!)
- Modularly grow -- DSL is highly extendable without the need to customize

How do you get DSL to boot from within Windows?

John.

 

[Thip]

http://www.ubuntu.com/

Seconded!

 

[Dan Glybitz]

I'm thinking about downloading a linux dist. However I dont know which
one I should get. I'm not a programmer so If I have to put anything
together code wise forget it. I'm a pretty basic user....Which can I
download for free and put onto a cd-r...

My personal favourites, and you don't hear them mentioned often, are Vector
Linux Soho to install, and Kanotix as a live CD. The KDE based versions look
very nice, but the main criteria for me, after trying out about 25 different
flavours, was that they either instantly had sound set up and mounted my
windows partitions, or were very easy to adjust to that situation without
editing text files. It's not that I'm lazy, I just can't be arsed to ponce
about with stuff for hours and still not get what I want out of it.
HTH.

DG.

 

[Whirled Peas]

I'm thinking about downloading a linux dist. However I dont know which
one I should get. I'm not a programmer so If I have to put anything
together code wise forget it. I'm a pretty basic user....Which can I
download for free and put onto a cd-r...

I would recommend trying a few "Live" CDs to get a feel for some of the
distros before you do any actual installation. A live CD will load a
working copy of the distro into your RAM without disturbing the files on
your HD. They run slowly, but they are very good for seeing if your
hardware is recognized and supported and for getting a feel for what the
GUI looks like.

I recommend the following Live CDs to your consideration:

ubuntu 5.10 - http://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/5.10/
Knoppix - http://www.knoppix.com/
Suse 10.0 -
http://www.novell.com/products/suselinux/downloads/suse_linux/index.html

I use ubuntu exclusively at home, after trying out a few Live CDs.

Some good reading for choosing a distro:
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Some essential reading before jumping on the Linux bandwagon:
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

Seriously, I can't stress that last link enough.

Good luck in your search!

 

[Roger Johansson]

I would recommend trying a few "Live" CDs to get a feel for some of the

I recommend the following Live CDs to your consideration:

I am surprised nobody has mentioned Mepis, live-CD and install.

It is the only linux that worked well for me, and allowed me to access
internet.

But that was maybe 6 months ago, and I have not tried any linux version
since then.
It sounds like Ubuntu/Kubuntu is the version to try today.

But what happened to Mepis, it cannot have disappeared in only 6
months?

 

[Duddits]

I'm thinking about downloading a linux dist. However I dont know which
one I should get. I'm not a programmer so If I have to put anything
together code wise forget it. I'm a pretty basic user....Which can I
download for free and put onto a cd-r...

Kanotix is my fav
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=kanotix

regards

Dud

 

[richk]

ok so which is it Kanotix or Ubuntu

 

[richk]

When it says Live Cd..What does this mean...

 

[Mark Carter]

When it says Live Cd..What does this mean...

It means that you just put the CD into the computer and reboot the
machine. The OS loads up from the CD drive, and you're ready to rumble
in a short space of time. Compare with hard drive installations - where
you have to install the CD contents to the hard drive first before the
thing will run.

The advantages of live CDs is that you can try them out quickly, and you
don't have to risk messing up your hard drive. The disadvantages are
that they are slow (you're running off a CD, which is much slower than a
HD), and you can't save any data.

 

[El Gee]

When it says Live Cd..What does this mean...

Live means that it runs from CD/RAM only. Nothing is installed on your
HD, which is great for figuring out how well your hardware is supported.

I use Ubuntu on some old hardware and it ran VERY nicely on a high end
HP lab PC we have at work.


--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
El Gee // www.mistergeek.com <><
Know Christ, Know Peace - No Christ, No Peace
Remove .yourhat to reply
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

[Roger Johansson]

The advantages of live CDs is that you can try them out quickly, and you
don't have to risk messing up your hard drive. The disadvantages are
that they are slow (you're running off a CD, which is much slower than a
HD), and you can't save any data.

Live-CDs run from the RAM memory, but may have to fetch stuff from the
CD, so it is not so slow, if you have a reasonable amount of RAM.

The live-CD's I have tried allowed me to save data and settings on the
hd (Knoppix), or give full access to my hd's, from the Mepis live-CD. I
could take a picture from the hd, change it and save the result, take a
text and change it and save it back to the hd, just like working from
an operating system on a hd.

I surfed on the web from the live-CD Mepis, it had no problem with my
cable modem.

 

[Andy Axnot]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned Mepis, live-CD and install.

It is the only linux that worked well for me, and allowed me to access
internet.

But that was maybe 6 months ago, and I have not tried any linux version
since then.
It sounds like Ubuntu/Kubuntu is the version to try today.

But what happened to Mepis, it cannot have disappeared in only 6
months?

Mepis is alive and... uh, on the road to recovery

Many Debian distros had some problems this last year as the repositories
for updates went through some changes. There has also been some churning
with major software packages. Mepis seems to have not kept up, but a new
release is expected shortly; they are working out some bugs with the
installer, etc.:

"There have been a few items that have cropped up on SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3 RC1
and we currently working resolving them and we have updates on some of
these issues." (from http://www.mepis.org/)

Right now PCLinuxOS seems to be 'hot' and got a lot of positive comments
on Distrowatch recently.

Andy

 

[Andy Axnot]

When it says Live Cd..What does this mean...

I think some others have explained live CDs quite well, they run from the
CD without actually installing them to your hard drive. It's a good way
to test drive the "distro" to see if it plays well with your hardware and
if it has the features and usability you want. They do run slower than a
regular Linux installation, but most of the live CDs can be installed
after you decide you want to do so.

Take a look at Distrowatch, http://distrowatch.com
which is a site for Linux fans who want information on the various
distributions or "distros."

Some of the more popular live CD Linux distros are:

Mepis http://www.mepis.org/
PCLinuxOS http://www.pclinuxonline.com/pclos/index.html
Kanotix http://kanotix.com/

and quite a few others. Check out Distrowatch.

Here is a 'problem' with Linux: so many choices!

Ubuntu and its KDE cousin, Kubuntu, are also available as live CDs, but I
don't think you can install without downloading the install version.

You need to take your own needs and situation into account. How new/fast
is your computer? With good hardware I would suggest you try PCLinuxOS
these days. A few months ago I would have recommended something else, and
in another few months I'll probably have a different recommendation.
PCLinuxOS is very polished these days, and very newbie friendly. Very
easy to use, easy transition from Windows.

If you have a friend who uses Linux, and if he/she would be interested in
helping you, whatever he/she uses is what you should use

Andy