Which Linux version is better

[nomadic]

I have RH 6, but having some problem to install it, so I want to d/l RH7, but maybe it is not a good descision. Is Red Hat the best?

[ 06 May 2001: Message edited by: nomadic ]

[Stween]

perhaps the question should be "is redhat best for me?" ... with so many distros out there is it difficult to call one the best. Its really down to this - if it does what you want, then why look for anything else??

If you want to try things other than redhat, try stuff like SuSE or Mandrake (neither of which i have used personally...)

It isnt as easy to offer a decent answer to this question as it is to offer an answer to the question of "which version of windows is best?" (this answer to which, of course, is none of them :D :D )


Stween

[StanLin]

I started with RH 6.1 but the samba package was not good so I upgraded to RH 7 and samba works fine. I am also using the gnome desktop in RH 7 and its good too.

[X_console]

I can't really say RedHat is the best from a security and stability point of view. However it does tend to look a much more userfriendly than distributions such as Slackware and Debian. If you can afford to download ISOs and to burn them to CDs, then I would recommend going to http://www.linuxiso.org and over there you'll be able to download all the Linux distributions and even some BSD variants to try out.

[nomadic]

I went through some of the threads and saw that Mandrake friquently appears in discussions, How is it comparing to RH? In user friendlyness that is.

[ifred]

Mandrake is pretty user friendly. I used to use Mandrake 7.2 and it configures quite a few things during the install. It also defaults to a KDE desktop which is similar to the MS Windows GUI and easy to find your way around. Mandrake also comes with a plethora of hardware and system configuration tools to help flatten your learning curve, ease your configuration woes and facillitate your Linux adventures. As was suggested earlier you probably want to try a whole bunch of distributions and see which one you like best. Try www.cheapbytes.com (http://www.cheapbytes.com) for cheap Linux CDs and impeccable service. Good luck.

[cprofitt]

The answers is whichever one works with your existing hardware. Mandrake 8.0 - currenly only downloadable is based on the newest Kernel I believe.

I personally got RedHat from COMPUSA - $19.99 just so I would get 30days of support for problems that arise. So far though the Red Hat support team has been less effective than this message board.

I also downloaded Mandrake 8.0

RH 7.1 is installed on the home PC and Mandrake 8.0 is installed on my work PC. Both machines are dual boot machines.

Mandrake's install was much easier to navigate, but RedHat included more stuff.

Hell,... if you can burn the ISO's try them all.

[Odysseus]

Wow no distro flame war!!!!!!!

Anyway, I would probably recommend Drake 8 if you can download it. very straightforward from a newbie perspective and has great hardware detection. Be aware though that Drake does have a kind of bloat habit on install. BUT, it doesn't install a lot of the things that you might actually need. So be prepared to spend some time removing/installing afterwards - a process made easy by Mandrake as the package manager checks dependencies for you.

Once you have a handle on this one then move up to :cool: Slackware :cool: - which will give you a real learning experience on installation and configuration. But do go with one of the easier distro's first, probably Drake - a good starter if you are moving off Windoze

[johnmann]

The two best for me,Drake8 and SuSE7.1,both super easy for a newbie such as myself :)

[Coral Sea]

I've tried RedHat (6.x & 7.x including 7.1), SuSe 7.1, Peanut, Slackware, and Mandrake (6.x to 8.0). My favourite all-round distro is Mandrake 8.0. It is the most complete and best supported distro for home and small business users. ;)

[Bo Peep]

This sounds like a cliche but there is no "best". There's only the distro that suits your needs better.

If you want something that's easy to install, go for Mandrake 8 or SuSE 7.1. One of them might be a good choice for you.

Once you're more familiar with Linux and want a more stable distro with better software management, go ask my sig!!! :cool: