DISTROS DISTROS DISTROS

[BoB.gov]

i need a distro opinion. which does everyone prefer and why? i got fed up with slackware! red hat is having some problems... and i'd like a new distro, preferably one which has the ISO file on their ftp site!

[demian]

:rolleyes:

Check out the Distro-NHF (http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/distros/distronhf.html). Or better yet shove aside some 4Gigs of HD space, get the isos for any distro you want to try (for instance at linuxiso.org), install them, fool around with them and decide for yourself.

[jdctx]

If I had the knowledge and time to build my own I would. Other than that I usually like to pick distros that are well supported.

[fateswarm]

Mandrake! The best for newbies and installs everything automatically. Well, almost anything. I was at Slackware and then I moved to Mandrake.

A total new world I tell you :)

Well, you can try some but Mandrake is the first to go!
Also, consider SLackware as the most newbie unfriendly distro. Debian, Mandrake, SusE, RedHat would be better for all newbies.

[z0mbix]

Give Debian a try. Although I wouldn't consider it really newbie friendly. You can't beat the Debian package system! :cool:

[bdg1983]

We should have a separate forum just for this question so everyone can TELL us what THEY think YOU should use. Have a look at http://www.linuxnewbie.org/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=6&t=005166 as just about every distro is recommended. Take your pick.

[johnmann]

Do a forum search and you will have opinions coming out your ears.Or get SuSE 7.3 and have a nice stable distro. :D

[ 22 November 2001: Message edited by: johnmann ]

[bdg1983]

All the distros are stable as long as you do the research YOURSELF and find if your particular hardware is supported.

There are so many complaints about any version of Windows being not stable. I rarely have problems with 95, 98, ME or W2K. I do the research and ensure my hardware is supported and the drivers I install do not conflict with other software and drivers.

Now some may wonder why I never post questions here at LNO while so many others have SO MANY problems with their distros. Simple... I use Caldera

Everything always works. I install, reboot and enjoy my 1600x1200 16bit resolution, mouse wheel, cdrw, ls120, KDE/Gnome and whatever nics I use (dynamic or static), networking always works the first time. I've never had to manually configure ANYTHING at all. Guess I'm kinda spoiled by Caldera.

Enjoy your Mandrakes, Redhats, SuSEs etc.

[saithan]

I have only tried 3 distros
Suse
debian
redhat
I liked all 3 distros redhat(my home preference) was the easiest to install.
Suse was my first exposure to linux comming from windows Suse made me feel confortable in exploring linux.
debian I like allot for stable work enviroment and the debian community is always sharing ideas so there is always help when you need it. Debian gave me the hardest time installing but it was worth it.
I can't say any one is better than the other. I like them all. :)

[fateswarm]

Originally posted by Logon Name Gone:
<STRONG>There are so many complaints about any version of Windows being not stable. I rarely have problems with 95, 98, ME or W2K. I do the research and ensure my hardware is supported and the drivers I install do not conflict with other software and drivers.</STRONG>

I will agree that even windows needs some knowledge to suceed a reasonable stability.

But. about the device drivers, I hope you're not serious!

Appart from 3.1 every windows version is supported for every device and only latest versions(e.g. XP) have some issiues which *in days* are solved.

Is Easy CD Creator not supported on XP? Wait 3 days and it will be.

[ 23 November 2001: Message edited by: FateSWarm ]

[bdg1983]

I had major problems while rebuilding a pc for a friend. The latest (at the time) drivers for the Promise ata100 controller conflicted with a dll from CD Creator 5 and W2K would not boot at all.

My point is if you are having problems with Windows, investigate the possibility of driver/software conflicts instead of just blaming the os.

[fateswarm]

And if everything doesn't succeed, blame the os :cool:

Well, the main problem with windows crashes are not the crashes themselves but how you go back.

Instead of other reasonable OSes, on Windows you just get a stupid blue screen with an I/O memory address that you have to be an assembler coder to decode.

[sixfeetsix]

I've seen the BSoD only once on windows 2000

And, by the way, when's your bedtime LNG?

[ 23 November 2001: Message edited by: sixfeetsix ]

[bdg1983]

I never sleep.

Actually I'm up at 5 every morning to take my pain medication and get the kinks out of my back. No more getting out of bed and straight to the shower. So I spend a hour or so laying on the sofa with keyboard and trackball before I get ready for work. I leave around 6:45 since it only takes me around 15 minutes to get there. The public transit hasn't had a chance to get behind schedule that early in the morning.

Except yesterday and today I'm on a 2 day course at IBM, so I will leave around 7:30 and drive there.

I usually don't post here much past 7 p.m. as I've had enough of LNO in the morning, 8 hours or so of work (Technical Analyst/Support) and a few more hours of LNO when I get home.

And I wonder why my own home pc projects are getting behind. :rolleyes:

[bdg1983]

Time to finish getting ready. See you in the afternoon.

I did manage to compile the 2.4.15 kernel this morning though I haven't booted it yet. That can wait until I get home.

[PuterFreaK]

Although I havent tried it yet, for a new linux user Redmond Linux looks like it would be a good choice. http://www.redmondlinux.org.