New To Linux

[Kef9]

I bet you lot have had this question loads of times but searching the forums is useless.

Basically I want to give Linux a go and Ive checked out some info but there are loads of versions.

Which is the best version or what version do you use?

I know its subject to opinion but help would be good.

Cheers

[Splash]

this question really has been done to death... You'll prolly find

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=76753

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=76859

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=78279

of use to you.

Personal recommendations? I like opensuse (http://www.opensuse.org) but it's not for everyone. Ubuntu is very popular too. Until you feel a little more comfortable with the way the kernel works I would suggest you avoid Debian and Gentoo (though the support forums are a world of knowledge)

[killkoy]

http://distrowatch.com/
There are lots of threads on this, just use the search button.
I have used ubuntu since about 2 months ago and it has become my main os.
As you said its all a matter of opinion as to which distro is the best.

[directhex]

ubuntu is good if you come from a linux-free background.

debian is good if you come from a linuxy background.

the distinction is how much control you want on a) the initial state of the system and b) the degree of control offered over that system. ubuntu is a lot less happy about you changing things than debian is

i'd not really recommend suse or fedora these days - especially when suse's website proudly proclaims the package management system is broken.

ubuntu is a worthwhile choice.

[Speedo]

Ubuntu-server is a good choice if you don't like having lots of pre-installed rubbish .

[mike_w]

Pah, directhex has pretty much said all of it - my particular favourite is Debian, but that can be a bit hard for some, so there's also Ubuntu. There are also some scripts that can install some proprietary stuff - namely Automatix or easyUbuntu.

[directhex]

Pah, directhex has pretty much said all of it - my particular favourite is Debian, but that can be a bit hard for some, so there's also Ubuntu. There are also some scripts that can install some proprietary stuff - namely Automatix or easyUbuntu.

most of the proprietary stuff is in ubuntu's "multiverse" repository. the two things that aren't (w32codecs and libdvdcss2) are easy to get.

experience says be wary of automatix & easyubuntu

[killkoy]

experience says be wary of automatix & easyubuntu

Why's that?
I havent actualy used automatix but lots of people recomend it and it sounds like it would have made it alot easier for me when i started with ubuntu

[0iD]

I recon it's always safer to go for a 'live CD' version first. It'll give you the Linux experience without touching your windows install. Most Linux & BSD distro's do one & theyre often given away with PC mags (i believe the latest PC pro has a SuSE live DVD image in the DVD version).

[directhex]

Why's that?
I havent actualy used automatix but lots of people recomend it and it sounds like it would have made it alot easier for me when i started with ubuntu

experience says most of the people doing linux stuff are clueless. almost anything you read on forums is junk. and a lot of the apps designed to make life "easier" do so at the expense of breaking your system (think of a windows codec pack which just unzips to c:\windows\system32 and overwites discriminantly as a reasonable comparison)

[Kef9]

Thanks for the info. I have 2 hard drives in my gaming system, so im planning to just install linux at the start of the second hard drive and when i want to use it i will just change the hard disk boot priority in the bios.

That way there is no way i can **** windows up.

[peterb]

The Grub loader (I think that is used by Ubuntu) is pretty good at multi-booting systems. (I use Red Hat 9 myself) If you install Ubuntu last it should set up the Grub boot loader to give you the choice at start up. You vcan then back up the mbr and grub settings to a floppy to give a last ditch failsafe. Ifall else fails, you can always run the windows fdisk utility to re-write the mbr so that the system boots back to windows anyway (but then once you have got used to linux, you probably won't want to! )

[directhex]

Thanks for the info. I have 2 hard drives in my gaming system, so im planning to just install linux at the start of the second hard drive and when i want to use it i will just change the hard disk boot priority in the bios.

That way there is no way i can **** windows up.

here's the best bet:

set the boot priority to look at the linux hard disk first, then the windows disk

every linux distribution for the past few years has been able to boot windows too, and does so though use of a boot loader (grub or lilo) either booting windows, or passing off its current job to the windows boot loader.

if you set the disk priority the way i suggest, then it doesn't need to install *anything* on the windows disk, but will still allow you to dual-boot. and if you later remove the linux disk, then you don't need to touch a single setting.

[directhex]

Personal recommendations? I like opensuse (http://www.opensuse.org) but it's not for everyone. Ubuntu is very popular too. Until you feel a little more comfortable with the way the kernel works I would suggest you avoid Debian and Gentoo (though the support forums are a world of knowledge)

note of warning: i have been fighting with suse 10.1 for days. i've been a professional *nix sysadmin for a couple of years, and suse 10.1 is just incredibly poor. it's like the windows me of linux distributions.

[mike_w]

note of warning: i have been fighting with suse 10.1 for days. i've been a professional *nix sysadmin for a couple of years, and suse 10.1 is just incredibly poor. it's like the windows me of linux distributions.

Really? I tried SUSE 10.0 and it seemed pretty good, albeit a little bloated.

[directhex]

Really? I tried SUSE 10.0 and it seemed pretty good, albeit a little bloated.

here's a quote from the suse homepage:

The package manager in SUSE 10.1 is regrettably broken on most systems.

it continues at about that level