New LINUX user looking for advice.

[Skip Weiser]

I downloaded the Ubuntu distro of LINUX and burned it to a CD. I just booted with that CD and I'm taking it for a test drive before I install it to the HDD. I'm thinking of making my pc dual boot so I can choose either Windows or LINUX at startup.

So far I like what I see. It found my DSL connection without any input from me, and the Firefox browser is an old favorite that I've used for years with XP.

I guess my question is what distro would be the best to start with for a LINUX newbie, this one or some other flavor? What has been your experience with it? What problems will I likely encounter?

Thanks for any comments.

Skip

[Curt Harms]

I downloaded the Ubuntu distro of LINUX and burned it to a CD. I just booted with that CD and I'm taking it for a test drive before I install it to the HDD. I'm thinking of making my pc dual boot so I can choose either Windows or LINUX at startup.

So far I like what I see. It found my DSL connection without any input from me, and the Firefox browser is an old favorite that I've used for years with XP.

I guess my question is what distro would be the best to start with for a LINUX newbie, this one or some other flavor? What has been your experience with it? What problems will I likely encounter?

Thanks for any comments.

Skip

I've messed with Linux a little bit. The biggest weakness I see is with wireless networking support. I just haven't had much luck with wireless adapters. Other than that it seems fine as long as applications are available. Linux doesn't have MS's infamous registry which may contribute to better stability and fewer "surprises". If there were better hardware support, I think Linux would be more popular. I guess hardware support could be a potential problem with so many distros out there. I don't know enough about this stuff to form an intelligent opinion. I have heard of "dependency hell" not having proper library versions or whatever for a program or device to work. I wish I was more knowledgeable.

Curt

[Richard Venturelli]

I downloaded the Ubuntu distro of LINUX and burned it to a CD. I just booted with that CD and I'm taking it for a test drive before I install it to the HDD. I'm thinking of making my pc dual boot so I can choose either Windows or LINUX at startup.

So far I like what I see. It found my DSL connection without any input from me, and the Firefox browser is an old favorite that I've used for years with XP.

I guess my question is what distro would be the best to start with for a LINUX newbie, this one or some other flavor? What has been your experience with it? What problems will I likely encounter?

Thanks for any comments.

Skip

I would not recomend Ubuntu but then its your choice. I like Mandriva. There is a learning curve coming from Micro$oft. It's got more user friendly though. And most Linux distro's have a live CD including Mandriva.

I would suggest you go to this website to learn more and ask any question you have. Its not hard to Dual Boot but it's probably best to have 2 hard drives to make it easier for a newbee. It's WinBlows that makes it difficult not Linux. WinBlows does not like to play fair in the neighborhood.

A few nice things about Linux, you don't get ADWARE, Virii, and Trojans. Been using Linux since 1999 and have never had any.
Good Luck,

http://www.linuxquestions.org/

[Skip Weiser]

Thanks Curt and Richard for your info. I'm downloading the Mandriva distro to give that a try. The screenshots of the desktop looked pretty cool.

I've been curious about Linux for a long time and I've finally decided to give it a shot. Bill Gates has gotten enough of my money over the years.

I do have two HD's on this pc so maybe I'll wipe the spare and install Mandriva on that like you suggested Rich.

Thanks again,
Skip

[Richard Venturelli]

Thanks Curt and Richard for your info. I'm downloading the Mandriva distro to give that a try. The screenshots of the desktop looked pretty cool.

I've been curious about Linux for a long time and I've finally decided to give it a shot. Bill Gates has gotten enough of my money over the years.

I do have two HD's on this pc so maybe I'll wipe the spare and install Mandriva on that like you suggested Rich.

Thanks again,
Skip


Be sure to go to the website I linked to. In a previous post, poster was concerned about dependancy hell. With Mandriva you use the (urpmi) to get your software. It installs all dependancies for you. You can learn more about it in the linked site. Also the console terminal is widly used and can be use to find problems.

I love Linux, You set it up the way you want it, not the way windblows wants it. You are in the driver seat and everything is free!!!! OPen Source MAN!!!!! Its the wave of the future. Just give it a chance and try not to get frustrated because your a longtime Winblows user.

See a snap shot of my Desktop It's kinda small because of SMC requirements.

[Skip Weiser]

Rich,

OH YEA, now that's a desktop! That's awesome.

I did check out the website you noted. I'll read it more in depth tonight.

I'm running a Core 2 Duo desktop pc. Do I still want the i586 version of Mandriva?

I've had computers since the Tandy 1000 and DOS days, so I'm not afraid to experiment a little if needed. In fact, I enjoy it.

Thanks,
Skip

[Richard Venturelli]

Rich,

OH YEA, now that's a desktop! That's awesome.

I did check out the website you noted. I'll read it more in depth tonight.

I'm running a Core 2 Duo desktop pc. Do I still want the i586 version of Mandriva?

I've had computers since the Tandy 1000 and DOS days, so I'm not afraid to experiment a little if needed. In fact, I enjoy it.

Thanks,
Skip

I have a core duo too. Yes install the 32 bit version. Flash is not working yet with 64bit. And just like other OS's 64 bit programs are lagging behind, Also if youre going to Dual Boot then I would not be concerned yet about some hardware not working since you can boot back to WindBlows if you have to. Some Printers are not supported because of their deal with Micro$oft. You can check that site for supported hardware. I have not had a problem with it. I have an HP printer and they deal well with Linux.

If your use to DOS then you will love the console or{ command line. Also the C: prompt is no longer valid. You treat the file system like a web address / Have fun with it.

[Art Mulder]

I guess my question is what distro would be the best to start with for a LINUX newbie, this one or some other flavor? What has been your experience with it? What problems will I likely encounter?

I have to disagree with Richard -- though I'm not sure why, as he does not give any reasons for his comments about Ubuntu.

I've had Ubuntu on my home machine for about 3-4 years. When I discovered ubuntu, I was fed up with Mandrake (now gone) and redhat was also having grief with my (then-new) hardware. Ubuntu "just worked".

In the time since, I found that Ubuntu was far closer to the "it just works" aspect of the MacOS than any other Linux I had so far encountered.

Not to be sure, I stopped looking at others. I don't know anything at all about Mandriva.

Ubuntu is a very well designed and put together Linux distribution. It has a large market share among the desktop users out there. It has a very active user community (look up ubuntuforums.org or something like that) and tons and tons of online help files.

As for problems you are likely encounter. I suspect you'll encounter the same problems that anyone gets when switching OS's or Major Applications... and that problem is that some things are located in different places (or different menus) and some things just are done differently. And it'll be frustrating when you encounter situations like that.

But as for hardware issues -- I don't have any. As for OS issues... again, not many. Firefox works. OpenOffice is included and works fine. I use the word processor and spreadsheet all the time. Flash works in firefox. I plug in my canon camera, and a photo-importing tool pops up.

Photo editing might be a problem -- none(?) of the Adobe products are available on Linux as far as I know. I've been using Gimp for years for light photo editing, and it works fine for me. But some people HATE it since it does things differently than Photoshop and is missing some features.

Multimedia is also often a problem. So playing DVDs or playing Quicktime or Windows WMV files is probably a problem or at least a challenge. There are various howto's and other instructions out there on the web, but that can still be tricky. Copyright and other legal issues prevent the distributions from supporting Quicktime right out of the box, for instance.

Have fun.
...art

[Richard Venturelli]

I have to disagree with Richard -- though I'm not sure why, as he does not give any reasons for his comments about Ubuntu.

I've had Ubuntu on my home machine for about 3-4 years. When I discovered ubuntu, I was fed up with Mandrake (now gone) and redhat was also having grief with my (then-new) hardware. Ubuntu "just worked".

In the time since, I found that Ubuntu was far closer to the "it just works" aspect of the MacOS than any other Linux I had so far encountered.

Not to be sure, I stopped looking at others. I don't know anything at all about Mandriva.

Ubuntu is a very well designed and put together Linux distribution. It has a large market share among the desktop users out there. It has a very active user community (look up ubuntuforums.org or something like that) and tons and tons of online help files.

As for problems you are likely encounter. I suspect you'll encounter the same problems that anyone gets when switching OS's or Major Applications... and that problem is that some things are located in different places (or different menus) and some things just are done differently. And it'll be frustrating when you encounter situations like that.

But as for hardware issues -- I don't have any. As for OS issues... again, not many. Firefox works. OpenOffice is included and works fine. I use the word processor and spreadsheet all the time. Flash works in firefox. I plug in my canon camera, and a photo-importing tool pops up.

Photo editing might be a problem -- none(?) of the Adobe products are available on Linux as far as I know. I've been using Gimp for years for light photo editing, and it works fine for me. But some people HATE it since it does things differently than Photoshop and is missing some features.

Multimedia is also often a problem. So playing DVDs or playing Quicktime or Windows WMV files is probably a problem or at least a challenge. There are various howto's and other instructions out there on the web, but that can still be tricky. Copyright and other legal issues prevent the distributions from supporting Quicktime right out of the box, for instance.

Have fun.
...art

Not sure why I have a problem with Ubuntu guess I always thought it, basically Linux for Dummies. But he could install both and boot into either. Your right it has lots of support, sometimes I think to much. It could just be that I'm bias.

I plug my camera in and a window opens and asks me where I want to download my pictures to. Getting programs or updates is easy using URPMI. All my DVD, Quicktime, window media player video and stream video works fine with Mplayer or the Xine engine. Flash works fine in Firefox and Konqueror. No problem with Java.

Never used Photoshot but Gimp does everything I need it to. OpenOffice I believe is better than Office in my judgement. Linux is 10 times faster. And guess what? It's all FREE!!!!

I also use Slackware on occasion.

[Skip Weiser]

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

[Pat Germain]

I'm a Solaris administrator. I've worked with Linux only a little. The power of Unix, whatever the flavor, is in the command line. If you take the time to learn even basic commands, it's amazing how easily you can copy and move files, write text and even program with shell scripts.

Microsoft has lost a lot of credibility with Vista. A lot of people are jumping over to Mac and some are going Linux. I'm so sick of messing with adware, spyware, nagware, malware, viruses & trojans I doubt I'll ever run windows on a computer again.

[Paul Hendrickson]

Linux Mint is Ubuntu based, but has a nicer feel IMHO. It also runs beautifully on a 600 mHz laptop.

I have also used Ubuntu, OpenSuse and Zenwalk which runs very well on old hardware. The real beauty of linux is the ability to try it out with the live cd.

I have a Vista machine at work, and the other day I realized I have stopped using Office 2003 altogether. I have been using Open Office and love it.

Have fun.

[Paul Geer]

Great for the net. My brother got me going about 8 years ago and Mandriva Linux has come a long way. The only thing though I still have to start up XP to download music from propitiatory sources. What I use KDE Amarok (see snapshot) for all my music management and CD burning. I just think it's one of the most flexible app. I've used. Much better than MediaPlayer.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj121/RadioEar/WinterDream-Amarok.png

The only thing I found to be a problem is grub for dual booting. If you load Mandriva on one drive with XP for example, then it's not a problem. However, if you have two drives, one for Linux and One for Windows , just make certain Windows drive is the first in the BIOS setup. If not grub will have a problem identifying the proper drive for Linux.

[Richard Venturelli]

How on earth did you get that size pic to load on SMC?

2725.93 KB (2791351 bytes)

[Paul Geer]

How on earth did you get that size pic to load on SMC?

2725.93 KB (2791351 bytes)

It's a img link from PhotoBucket. Kinda surprised me too :)

[Richard Venturelli]

Just seeing if this photobucket thing works





That's cool it does work. Thanks Paul! Hope this image isnt to resque for SMC.

[Richard Venturelli]

Just to let folks know I do woodworking projects to.

My latest project for a customer.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll279/evodawg/tvcabinet8.jpg

[Phil Sanders]

Just my two cents:

Linux distributions that most home computer users have usually have a Graphical User Interface installed. There are two main interfaces, Gnome and KDE. Gnome is closer to MacOS, while a Windows user will have a shorter learning curve with KDE.

My choice is Fedora with KDE. Kubuntu is what I am testing now. Still like Fedora with KDE.

For a Command line Interface, as previously posted, Mandriva or Debian are very good.
http://distrowatch.com/
lists all the Linux distributions.

Just my humble opinion.

Phil

[Don Abele]

I've tried many versions of Linux over the years and am currently using Ubuntu as well. I like it, it was easy to install and configure, and the automatic updates and download feature is much better than many. There was a bit of a learning curve, but stick with it and you'll pick it up in no time. I currently have a separate linux computer hooked up with a KVM switch, so I can alternate back and forth between it and my XP box.

Be well,

Doc

[Don Abele]

Guys, in regards to picture size, SMC limits the upload size of photos for two reasons: to minimize impact on storage, and for those poor people still on dial-up.

You can link to any size image you want and insert it into a post. But remember, linked images are not archived and will someday be lost. Many posts that have images rely heavily on those images. If in the future someone searches and finds that thread, it will be useless without the image.

For getting pictures under the size requirement there are many free programs that will do this. I reduce mine to 640x480 which shows up nicely on most monitors (there are people who still run at 800x600). Also, and here is the big way to reduce a picture size, reduce the dpi. Most photos are 300, which is what you need for printing, not for viewing on a monitor. For monitors, 72 dpi is the standard.

With a little tweaking here and there, you can get any image down to the right size to upload. Resizing/altering this image took me about 2 minutes:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=88262&stc=1&d=1210524161


Be well,

Doc

[Curt Harms]

Guys, in regards to picture size, SMC limits the upload size of photos for two reasons: to minimize impact on storage, and for those poor people still on dial-up.

You can link to any size image you want and insert it into a post. But remember, linked images are not archived and will someday be lost. Many posts that have images rely heavily on those images. If in the future someone searches and finds that thread, it will be useless without the image.

For getting pictures under the size requirement there are many free programs that will do this. I reduce mine to 640x480 which shows up nicely on most monitors (there are people who still run at 800x600). Also, and here is the big way to reduce a picture size, reduce the dpi. Most photos are 300, which is what you need for printing, not for viewing on a monitor. For monitors, 72 dpi is the standard.

With a little tweaking here and there, you can get any image down to the right size to upload. Resizing/altering this image took me about 2 minutes:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=88262&stc=1&d=1210524161


Be well,

Doc

What Doc said. In addition, if you can go from true (24 bit) color to 256 colors, that often shrinks file size quite a bit and is still quite viewable, especially for a pic without a lot of shading and colors. One thing I found to help is manipulate the picture file, save it and open it in a browser-typically <file><open file> and click on the file name. I've found that how a file looks in pic editing software and in a browser are not always the same.

HTH

Curt

[Dennis Peacock]

I feel that I need to remind everyone that this is a Family forum and adult natured content will be removed.

Thanks for your understanding.

[Scott Kilroy]

Check out
http://www.howtoforge.com/

The "perfect desktop" guides are worth following regardless of the distro you use.

Currently I'm running Fedora at home, and a mix of Redhat and Ubuntu at work. I used to run Mandrake (now called Mandriva) each distro has it pros and cons. I think Ubuntu has the right idea when it comes to security and usability.

[Skip Weiser]

Thanks everyone for your input and the great Linux websites.

I burned the Mandriva Live CD and took that for a test drive today. It locked up my pc after I clicked a few things, whereas the Ubuntu one didn't. It was probably just a fluke but I figured that was a bad omen. This Gateway GT5268E model has an integrated Intel X3000 graphics accelerator on the mobo though, so maybe it didn't like that. I do need to pick up a good PCI Express video card that is supported by Linux.

I decided to install Ubuntu from the Live CD and I ran into my second snag. I kept getting an error during the disc partitioning process and it wouldn't complete. After doing a little reading, I found that using the text based installer usually corrects that.

Before I do any more partition and install attempts though, I think I'm going to make a full backup of the Windows partition to an external hd. You know how the old saying goes, I'd rather have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. ha

Thanks,
Skip

[Richard Venturelli]

Thanks everyone for your input and the great Linux websites.

I burned the Mandriva Live CD and took that for a test drive today. It locked up my pc after I clicked a few things, whereas the Ubuntu one didn't. It was probably just a fluke but I figured that was a bad omen. This Gateway GT5268E model has an integrated Intel X3000 graphics accelerator on the mobo though, so maybe it didn't like that. I do need to pick up a good PCI Express video card that is supported by Linux.

I decided to install Ubuntu from the Live CD and I ran into my second snag. I kept getting an error during the disc partitioning process and it wouldn't complete. After doing a little reading, I found that using the text based installer usually corrects that.

Before I do any more partition and install attempts though, I think I'm going to make a full backup of the Windows partition to an external hd. You know how the old saying goes, I'd rather have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. ha

Thanks,
Skip
Good Idea on backing up. Do it!!!

[Curt Harms]

Good Idea on backing up. Do it!!!
Even if you're not partitioning or installing Linux;)

[Skip Weiser]

Well, here's the latest. I could not in any way shape or form get the HD on this Gateway to partition a space for Linux. The Windows Management Console wouldn't do it, Partition Magic wouldn't do it, and the partition utility in the Ubuntu (can't remember what it's called, Gpart maybe?) wouldn't do it either.

It's a 320 gig SATA drive and it's set to RAID in the BIOS. I changed it to IDE and thought that was going to work but it didn't.

In my quest to find an answer, I ran across a Windows Linux installer that creates a partition and installs either Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Xubuntu (love those names..) inside of the Windows partition. At startup you can choose to boot with either Win or Linux.

One thing I don't like is that I don't have access to any of the other files on my HD. Like if I want to go to the Laser Engravers Forum and post some clip art, when I go to "Manage Attachments" and "Browse", I can't get out of the Linux partition to access my clip art files. Or, maybe I just haven't figured out how yet.


Update to the update.... there is no new partition at all, there is just a new 15gb folder named Ubuntu on the C: drive now. That's not really what I had in mind, but at least I can become familiar with Linux until I can figure out why I can't partition the drive.

Skip

[Richard Venturelli]

Well, here's the latest. I could not in any way shape or form get the HD on this Gateway to partition a space for Linux. The Windows Management Console wouldn't do it, Partition Magic wouldn't do it, and the partition utility in the Ubuntu (can't remember what it's called, Gpart maybe?) wouldn't do it either.

It's a 320 gig SATA drive and it's set to RAID in the BIOS. I changed it to IDE and thought that was going to work but it didn't.

I'm not familiar with Ubuntu but some Distros have a problem with SATA, so that could be a problem.

In my quest to find an answer, I ran across a Windows Linux installer that creates a partition and installs either Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Xubuntu (love those names..) inside of the Windows partition. At startup you can choose to boot with either Win or Linux.

Your biggest problem is not being able to partition the drive. I would have stopped at that point.

One thing I don't like is that I don't have access to any of the other files on my HD. Like if I want to go to the Laser Engravers Forum and post some clip art, when I go to "Manage Attachments" and "Browse", I can't get out of the Linux partition to access my clip art files. Or, maybe I just haven't figured out how yet.

If your clip art files are in the Windows Partition then you need to mount that partition.


Update to the update.... there is no new partition at all, there is just a new 15gb folder named Ubuntu on the C: drive now. That's not really what I had in mind, but at least I can become familiar with Linux until I can figure out why I can't partition the drive.

Skip



In linux C: drive is called HDA or whatever you setup in the install. I setup my cd/dvd as hda, my Harddrives are HDB and SDA

Do a search on setting up your partitions because it can get a little confusing.

Here's mine

Disk /dev/hdb: 80.0 GB, 80000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9726 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x62f4847d

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 * 1 615 4939956 83 Linux
/dev/hdb4 616 9726 73184107+ 5 Extended
/dev/hdb5 616 1124 4088511 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hdb6 6845 7808 7743298+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdb7 7809 8528 5783368+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdb8 8529 9334 6474163+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdb9 9335 9726 3148708+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdb10 1125 2462 10747453+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdb11 2463 2833 2980026 83 Linux
/dev/hdb12 2834 5454 21053151 83 Linux
/dev/hdb13 5455 5716 2104483+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdb14 5717 6844 9060628+ 83 Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 19457 156288321 83 Linux


As you can see I have many partitions. And this is not my usual setup cause I just repartitoned for new installs Did you go to
http://www.linuxquestions.org/ Before trying to install Ubuntu? Not going to get much accomplished in this forum and the moderator will probably come in and tell me I'm using to much bandwith. May need to talk through email or get help using newgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva I go there a lot.

[Randal Cobb]

Asking someone to pick "the best distro" is like asking 100 different people "what is the best beer?"... you'll get 100 different answers. I always suggest to people to do a little research and find the distro that is right for them. For example, I learn by "digging under the covers" to see what makes things tick. For me, the best way of "digging under the covers" was to try Gentoo Linux... it's basically a version of Linux where you almost build your entire system from scratch... you have to compile, you have to pick and choose what components you want to install, etc.; and you need to be able to do a good bit of it from the command line. This may not be the right approach for someone else. For example, my kids have no clue how "emerge" works and are familiar with Winders (from school), so I run something like Linspire on their machines. My wife is computer illiterate, so, I let her run Winders. There are distros out there that are designed specifically with users migrating to Linux from Winders; they help the user to transition and at the same time, make the user more comfortable with using the command-line and other tools to get the job done.

I don't know what all the other distros offer, but some are geared towards people wanting to learn Linux but are stuck in a Winders mindset so they offer tools with a Windows flair, others are geared towards people who can't stand Winders. You basically need to assess what is comfortable to you and pick the distro that matches your needs.

[Jim Becker]

Asking someone to pick "the best distro" is like asking 100 different people "what is the best beer?"... you'll get 100 different answers.

Not quite...it's 101 answers... :D Life is never so simple...

Relative to the OS choice, the question should be more like, "What are usually the best Linux distributions for {x-type of user/use}?" As this thread points out, different strengths compliment different kinds of users and uses. Unfortunately, this is also my biggest concern with "the masses" wanting to run Linux. There are too many choices for the average consumer to navigate and it's also a problem for vendors who might want to pre-load Linux. For that reason, I might play with Linux on a machine at some point, but would more likely buy a Mac if I wanted to tilt toward the Unix/Linux world for my next personal computer.

[Richard Venturelli]

Not quite...it's 101 answers... :D Life is never so simple...

Relative to the OS choice, the question should be more like, "What are usually the best Linux distributions for {x-type of user/use}?" As this thread points out, different strengths compliment different kinds of users and uses. Unfortunately, this is also my biggest concern with "the masses" wanting to run Linux. There are too many choices for the average consumer to navigate and it's also a problem for vendors who might want to pre-load Linux. For that reason, I might play with Linux on a machine at some point, but would more likely buy a Mac if I wanted to tilt toward the Unix/Linux world for my next personal computer.

Mac is a good choice, I have 2 Mac's in the house but I perfer to run linux. My wife had a problem with her Mac Ibook, the DC charging plug became worn out and not only would it not charge, she could not run it using the power cord.

She took it to a Mac Retail Store in the area, she was quoted $600.00 to fix. I found the part online for $29.00 along with some necessary tools and total was 40 something. Instruction to install DC and other hardware was online. Followed them to the T. Splitting the case was the hardest part but the tool I purchased made it easier. Took about an hour and now she's back up and running.

Mac's are great, but they are overpriced and if you ever have a problem, have 2 wallets ready to pay the price.
BTW, she had a warranty but it had run it's course.

[Mark Kosmowski]

I'm a fan of OpenSUSE. They are releasing version 11 soon. There are several very friendly support forums for this distro that are in the process of merging.

Once you have a stable Linux install that you are happy with, you might play with wine and virtulaization to see if you need to keep a dual-boot setup at all.

Good luck!

[Daniel Savard]

Asking someone to pick "the best distro" is like asking 100 different people "what is the best beer?"...

Guiness is the best anyway. Don't worth asking.;)

I am running Linux on all my servers, I had RedHat 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, SuSe x.x, Fedora Core 1 and Gentoo.

Recently I rebuild my old laptop for my daugther and I installed Unbuntu and since then she is happy with the base installation. We didn't test yet the wireless adapter I have, however I had it running with Gentoo in the past, as well as my brand new one.

One thing I can say, I DO NOT recommend Gentoo to any newbie or even intermediate level user. This is all about customization to the bones and building ground up the distro from the source. This is stuff for silly sysadmins and masochists.

[Randal Cobb]

... I DO NOT recommend Gentoo ... This is stuff for silly sysadmins and masochists.

That's basically what I was saying... Each distro has it's advantages and the OP needs to pick the one that suits his needs, not something that someone else says they run and they like.

And FWIW, I'm not a silly sysadmin or a masochist. I'm an enterprise architect. I just prefer to install what I want and need, not something that someone else determines that I "need". Again, IMHO, it's up to the USER to choose what distro is right for HIM. What I prefer and what others prefer are two different things. And, to be honest, IMHO, there really is no better way to learn Linux than to jump in with both feet, and that's exactly what you do with Gentoo. Any distro that starts out with having to bootstrap a C compiler before you have ever installed anything else is NOT for the faint of heart. ;)

[Richard Venturelli]

That's basically what I was saying... Each distro has it's advantages and the OP needs to pick the one that suits his needs, not something that someone else says they run and they like.


Well he did ask. And it's always a good starting point to suggest a distro when the OP has no idea where to start. He then can decide on what he like best. Gentoo and Slackware are not good distros to start with for the reasons you pointed out.

Even with blooted Distros you can always trim them.

[Daniel Savard]

I am actually running Gentoo on all my servers and laptops except three servers, two are running RedHat 7.x and the other one is running RedHat 6.x with a 2.2 Linux Kernel. Too lazy to do any maintenance on them since they are doing what I ask them to do for now. Plan to phase-out them anyway. The 2.2 Linux Kernel running server is a more than 10 years old 486 with 16MB RAM running 24/7 since many years except for power outages too long for the UPS and a CPU fan that broke several years ago.

Anyway, to go back to the original poster, not sure he really wants to learn Linux. Most peoples just want to use a computer with a reasonable OS which is not clogging all the ressources for nothing. Linux is then a obvious choice.:D

Something woodworking guys must know, Sketchup is not running on Linux.

[Skip Weiser]

I basically just wanted to try a Linux distro just to see what it was like. I'd heard about it for years, and the thoughts of running a pc without any help from Bill Gates was worth a closer look.

Unfortunately this Gateway with XP Media Center Edition doesn't seem to be the machine to install it on. The Live CD's work fine, but I can't partition the SATA HD to do a real install. Also, the Windows Installer that I used to load Linux inside of the C: partition has a bug in it and it won't let you mount C:\ without some re-coding, which is over my head.

So, for the time being my Linux experiment has came to an end. It was fun while it lasted, and I did learn from the experience so it was worth it.

Thanks,
Skip

[Richard Venturelli]

I basically just wanted to try a Linux distro just to see what it was like. I'd heard about it for years, and the thoughts of running a pc without any help from Bill Gates was worth a closer look.

Unfortunately this Gateway with XP Media Center Edition doesn't seem to be the machine to install it on. The Live CD's work fine, but I can't partition the SATA HD to do a real install. Also, the Windows Installer that I used to load Linux inside of the C: partition has a bug in it and it won't let you mount C:\ without some re-coding, which is over my head.

So, for the time being my Linux experiment has came to an end. It was fun while it lasted, and I did learn from the experience so it was worth it.

Thanks,
Skip

Well that's to bad! I would have wished you had a better experience with it. But I can understand.

Take care,
Rich

[Peter Stahl]

I basically just wanted to try a Linux distro just to see what it was like. I'd heard about it for years, and the thoughts of running a pc without any help from Bill Gates was worth a closer look.

Unfortunately this Gateway with XP Media Center Edition doesn't seem to be the machine to install it on. The Live CD's work fine, but I can't partition the SATA HD to do a real install. Also, the Windows Installer that I used to load Linux inside of the C: partition has a bug in it and it won't let you mount C:\ without some re-coding, which is over my head.

So, for the time being my Linux experiment has came to an end. It was fun while it lasted, and I did learn from the experience so it was worth it.

Thanks,
Skip
Buy another hard drive for that PC. Even if you decide Linux isn't right for you then you can still reformat it and use it for Windows. I did that but learning the little bit of command line stuff you need was over my head. I used the Ubuntu version and did have dual boot drives, C was for windows and the other for Ubuntu. You need to be a little bit of a computer geek to set it but once you get the software loaded it runs well.

[Curt Harms]

.....
Unfortunately this Gateway with XP Media Center Edition doesn't seem to be the machine to install it on. The Live CD's work fine, but I can't partition the SATA HD to do a real install. Also, the Windows Installer that I used to load Linux inside of the C: partition has a bug in it and it won't let you mount C:\ without some re-coding, which is over my head.

So, for the time being my Linux experiment has came to an end. It was fun while it lasted, and I did learn from the experience so it was worth it.

Thanks,
Skip

If you're adventurous, you can try this: Bootit NG (http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootit-next-generation.htm). It includes partitioning software and a backup utility to backup your existing partitions before you start mucking about;). It's shareware but will start nagging after 30 or 60 days, I don't remember which. I bought it. I use it to run a couple different installs of the same O.S., one that needs to work and one to screw around with and use on public WiFi networks where if something gets infected or messed up I just delete the partition, recreate it and reinstall the backup image. Has worked so far:cool:.

HTH

Curt