20 replies to this topic

[rpiz]

As I mentioned to Eric a short time back, I would be back and here I am.  
I have had Mandriva (although it is an older version) and PCLinux for some time
; and have patiently awaited some meaningful movement in Mandriva?
Now I anticipate a move away from Mandriva in the near future.

Here are some initial thoughts:

1. Stability, not cutting edge.

2. Not inclined to do frequent installs, but would do an install if absolutely necessary.

3. Basically looking for a high quality, lasting Linux distro.

Could it be:  Linux Mint Debian,  Linux Mint 12 "KDE", Debian,  or  ?????

Your help is appreciated.

[ichase]

Welcome back rpiz.  Do not think we have ever comunicated so for the sake of showing that I have manners my name is Ian.

Your question will be no doubt answered with many different people giving you their opinion of what distro you should try.  Your suggestion of Mint I think is a great one.  Mint is what I recommend (and have installed on a few computers for people) when people are looking to make the transition from MS to Linux.

You can look at my avatar as well as my signature and see that I am a big supporter of Arch Linux.  Once you install and keep it updated, you should never (I know, that is a blanket statement) have to install it again.  Not to mention you can choose ANY Desktop Environment or Windows Manager you would like to run.  For that matter you could have multiple DEs or WMs installed and within mere minutes switch from one to another.

But the answer will always come down to personal choice.  Researching the many distros that are out there and seeing which one seems to meet your needs the best will be the one you eventually choose.  I wish you all the best in nailing down the Linux Distro you will be most happy with.

All the best,

Ian

[thecdn]

Are you not considering Pclinuxos? It would seem to address your requirements. Like ichase I use Arch as my regular distro but wouldn't recommend it in your case. It leans more towards cutting edge than stability - which I like and moved me away from my original distro which was pclinuxos. I find Pclos, still on kde 4.6.5 and kernel 2-6-38, to be too conservative in it's desire to be stable. I have 8 distros and win7 on my machine - if one distro breaks I boot into something else until I get the time/inclination to fix it  

You could take a look at Chakra, an easy to install fork of Arch. (I've got that installed too....)

[amenditman]

Mepis would also fit the bill.

Rolling release - install, update at least monthly, never install again
Debian based - yes it is the testing branch, but that is still pretty tame
Long lasting - Warren Woodford and crew have been at it for many years
KDE by default - but you can install others

The Mepis forums and documentation are very good sources for the occasional problem solving.

And you can always get help here at BATL.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Well, while I am a Slackware and Arch user, those distributions are not for everyone. They both have the stability and quality/pedigree that you're looking for. However, they both have some disadvantages for everyday GNU/Linux users. Power users and geeks won't have issues with them, but a regular GNU/Linux user who's more interested in using their OS for everyday ho-hum stuff might prefer a more graphically oriented, less techy distribution.

Amenditman's suggestion of Mepis is right on the money. I would also recommend Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Vector Linux (only available in 32 bit currently), Fedora, OpenSuSE, and CentOS. The last three would seem somewhat familiar to you because they are RPM-based distributions like Mandriva and PCLOS.

There are many others that might fit the bill for you, but they're not as mainline as those mentioned above. That doesn't mean they are of lesser quality or capabilities. You could try Foresight Linux, Zenwalk, Salix, Aptosid, Ultimate Edition, Absolute, Ark, and Zorin. The latter gaining popularity rapidly lately. See this LifeHacker article --> http://lifehacker.com/5888228/zorin-is-a-l...s-like-windows7

Download a few. Install 'em. Play around with 'em. They're cheap. Find the one you really like best and stick with it.

Have FUN!

[amenditman]

Download a few. Install 'em. Play around with 'em. They're cheap. Find the one you really like best and stick with it.

Have FUN!

Yup!

[Urmas]

They're cheap.

And yet priceless.  

[cybormoron]

Look what happened to me on my recent attempt to upgrade to a newer Mandriva.
http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.php?showtopic=51804

[sunrat]

Mepis or Mint would be my first suggestions, stable core with some nice user config tools included.
If you want absolute stability with very little maintenance, Debian would also fit the bill nicely, although it's very pure Linux with less hand-holding additions. Still simple to use though.

[Eggdog]

I have to put in a word for Mageia. It's the community fork that was started last year when Mandriva's future was in more doubt than it usually is. Personally speaking, I love it so much I've even been saying nice things about KDE since a week after I installed it.

All of which is not to denigrate any of the other fine suggestions offered here. I'm a big fan of Linux Mint in particular. But if you were a Mandriva fan (and I loved Mandriva), there's no particular reason not to look at Mageia (which I might love even more).

Edited by Eggdog, 05 March 2012 - 11:54 PM.

[BarryB]

I would try a few distros, as you know, almost all have live CD's, so you could not only play with look and feel, but also get an idea of how a distro performs on your system(s). Personally, I'm still a fan of Mandriva and 2011 was the best version yet, But In my mind, Mageia is what Mandriva wants to be. (which is backwards with Mageia being a fork of Mandriva... ) I am also one of those who likes KDE, I find it easy>>>but it has changed with KDE 4, and takes a bit of re-education (there are even changes between 4.X.X series).  


But IMO they are all  Great distros . Linux Mint, Mepis,opensuse, Fedora, Charka

But only you will know what your Linux shoe size is, have fun and explore!!!!

[securitybreach]

But only you will know what your Linux shoe size is, have fun and explore!!!!

Exactly

[rpiz]

Ok!  Thank you everyone for your time and effort in suggesting an appropriate Linux distro.
Now, reviewing the criteria again, lets try to narrow the search to the inner circles of the
target.  So far I have downloaded live versions of Mageia, Linux Mint Debian, and Debian 6.0;
with the expectation of studying each a little closer.
Again, thanks for all the help, you guys are great.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Have fun now! Woo-hoo!

[securitybreach]

Lifehacker posted an article the other day that relates to your question: Lifehacker How to Find the Perfect Linux Distribution for You

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Heh! I knew that article looked familiar. I commented on it --> http://lifehacker.com/5889950/how-to-find-...585263#comments

[securitybreach]

Heh! I knew that article looked familiar. I commented on it --> http://lifehacker.com/5889950/how-to-find-...585263#comments

Kewl

[rpiz]

Indeed! I'll check out the 'http://lifehacker.com.................' site.   Also, I found
an interesting listing on http://iso.linuxquestions.org/  ; specifically the listing on
"15 Most Downloaded Distribution Versions (last 30 Days)".  It shows Mandriva
with the highest downloads for the last 30 days, and yet this contradicts what
appears on Distrowatch.com???  Is this some sort of indicator that Mandriva is
coming back to life?  Perhaps someone can elaborate on this difference?
In the meantime I am continuing my efforts to download distro's that may
qualify as good candidates for an install in the future.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Those stats as LinuxQuestions.org are for their own actual .iso downloads from their site. That stats at Distrowatch are for page hit ranking only, not downloads. In other words, Distrowatch is only tracking the number of individual clicks on a distribution's Distrowatch page. They have no clue who's downloading what distro from anywhere online.

I think if you liked Mandriva, you'd like CentOS - a free distro using Redhat sources and upstream repositories.

[BarryB]

Well, it's rather difficult to tell what really is going on with Mandriva.  As a OS, they are still pretty darn good, even with the move to rpm5 and the ROSA labs designed interface (which has been tricky at times) it has still fun.  Most of the move away from Mandriva has been caused by business decisions(or lack of them) by Mandriva, using mailing list to resolve internal conflicts and clueless investors.  On the user side, once the rumours started we did what we always have ( kind of like the Mayan Calender...is 2012 the end..or did they just run out of room on the round rock...seems many thought 2012..and thus helped support the rumours.   Cooker is still cooking along, so the DEV side is still churning away...as near as I can tell, they "appear" committed to the next release...and are still looking and working to settle down the business side.  I have hope they will fully recover, but IMO they also are not the Mandriva that I "grew" up with...and that is OK, just change...it happens..and I'm looking forward to seeing where it all settles down.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I think Mandriva is just working through some growing pains. I don't think they'll be going anywhere anytime soon.