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How to choose a linux distro


Bruno

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Nice link Bruno.This has given me impetus to try out the FTP install of SuSE 8.2. I've been playing around with Mandrake 9.1 for a couple of days now. I'm still impressed by the plethora of packages it installs. And KDE 3.1 has improved vastly since I last used it 4 years ago. Sound works (after un-muting it and bumping up the levels), CD ripping works but is kinda slow at encoding from .wav to .ogg. I have to say that KDE does feel slow on a Pentium III 700MHz compared to a Pentium 4 2.0GHz Radeon 7000 setup though. I mean I have the NVIDIA drivers installed, but it makes you yearn for the quickness of Blackbox or Window Maker. Mind you, I was getting 90 fps in Quake III Arena demo001 at 640x480 :) From a desktop perspective, Mandrake with KDE is quite close to being a good Windows replacement. However, I still think any Red Hat distro makes a better server. The more I think about it, the more I believe Linux is right now a good replacement for Windows 98 for anyone who doesn't want to go to Windows XP. Besides, how many Windows home users would actually miss Microsoft Works? ;)

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The more I think about it, the more I believe Linux is right now a good replacement for Windows 98 for anyone who doesn't want to go to Windows XP. Besides, how many Windows home users would actually miss Microsoft Works?  ;)
That´s exactly how I think about it, only if we could crack all those modem-problems. . . . . .¨conexant¨ is a regular nightmare . . . the sound bit is under control now . . . but those modems !Nice to see you happy with Mandrake, yes the new KDE is slow on P3, the wish to look like XP is mainly to blame for this. I hope SuSE will suit you, ftp install looks like a nice adventure to tell us about as you´re done.:) BrunoPS: Anyone wishing to try Linux: - Check Your Modem and Here too - :)
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The install was fairly easy for ftp'ing SuSE. I am currently installing packages via FTP as we speak from a mirror at the University of Southern California. I would have had it installed overnight, but I couldn't get the package information from the mirror at the National Research Council in Ottawa. Yes, I will definitely give everyone a report when I am done.

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The price is right compared to switching to XP that is what drives me more and more to linux. The prices are not gonna get any better either with MS so I use it as my main desktop and love it. BTW did you guys see this article.MS looses deal to linuxGot to love it ;)

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havnblast

BTW did you guys see this article.
Yes we did, Europe is switching ¨en masse¨ to Linux, the UK, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, France, the European Commission it self . . . . . .more Linux every day ! BTW: Japan too ! And China is promoting Red Dragon a Chinese version of RedHat.<_< Bruno
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Hey BrunoDo they teach linux in the public schools there?
In Belgiium they do, governement policy. That´s all I know, don´t know if the other counties teach it in school. In ¨Technical¨ schools they all teach Linux, thats for sure, on university level Linux is HOT.:) Bruno
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That's is really smart of them....So EU( Belgium at least) will have a generation of kids that understand Linux as "The OS " I Think that is part of the issue here in the US...Windows is the "Cultural OS" (schools..Marketing etc.) Maybe one day we will do that with Linux too!Apple is trying..and some schools are starting

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We teach Linux at the college I work at in Peterborough, Ontario. I maintain the multiboot image for the main Computer/Engineering Science lab which currently has Red Hat 8.0. I will be switching to Red Hat 9 for the fall. Since I have enough room, I may add Mandrake 9.1 to the mix. :)

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havnblast
BTW did you guys see this article.
Yes we did, Europe is switching ¨en masse¨ to Linux, the UK, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, France, the European Commission it self . . . . . .more Linux every day ! BTW: Japan too ! And China is promoting Red Dragon a Chinese version of RedHat.:) Bruno
so true. being a Czech-Canadian, i've found many czech-language website for help with SuSE questions. :) it gives me 2 languages to force me to understand sometimes :)
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Czech´s are big in Linux, Prelude ! They have great mirrors for ISO download too.:) Bruno

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The tech college I went to for computers was sad with the fact that it did not cover linux - Windows 2000, WinNT 4.0, and Novell 5. Novell is a dsylexious windows program. I hated that class.

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Glad you´re learning some real stuff now Kelly ! Goes to show how narrow minded some tech classes can be.But then, Linux is something you can learn on your own too.;) Bruno

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We teach Linux at the college I work at in Peterborough, Ontario.
Off TopicHi Peachy:Peterborough's a wonderful place. On two separate visits I stood and watched the lift-locks with amazement! State-of-the-art technology 150 years ago, but still fascinating today. Last visit was about 5 years ago, are they still in operation?
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SonicDragon

Thanks for the link! Ohh! So many disto's, so little time B) I would have liked to see a review of FreeBSD included with those though.This summer, i'm going to go dual boot. Or! Maybe i can scrounge up enough money to get one of those $500 dells! *Drools*

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Sonic, about the Dell:

Maybe i can scrounge up enough money to get one of those $500 dells!
There was someone complaining about the soundcard of Dell:
The drivers still are not compatible with SB Live for DELL!
This comes out of This thread, from onederer. Have a look so you´ll be prepared.<_< Bruno
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SonicDragon

Good to know. Thanks for the heads up:)PS, I'm still trying to decide which distro to use. But this link definatly helped :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

SonicDragon, if you're not really familiar with Linux, and you want to start sensibly, I would suggest you install one of these three:Mandrake 9.1Suse 8.2Redhat 9.0I had 5 distros on one hard drive, and the things you notice rather quickly are ease of install, flexibility of install, orderly arrangement of administration tools, ease of updating, newness of programs, stability of system, and variety of software. You would feel comfortable with any of the above three - whichever you can get easily. I tend to prefer Mandrake. Less to do after the install.When you get comfortable with one of these, then wander around and install any linux os your heart desires.But these are three classy distros.

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(As per Bruno's request, review of distro´s by Quint ):Hi Julia,Slackware: Guess it all comes down to personal preferences, as with everything; the main reason I like Slack better is that it is "polished to a fault", "a place for everything, and everything in it's place", it takes a greater amount of user input - which, I believe, will eventually lead to a greater understanding, it's so clean and stable, it appears impenetrable to clicks and actions that would do it harm. I'm sure it's not perfect, but with my limited knowledge, it comes very close.Mandrake is a favorite, also, for quite different reasons: one of the easiest distros I have ever installed, innumerable packages, takes little effort to install programs (depending), wonderful graphics, and fool-proof updates. But, it can easily be "obliterated" by ill-advised keystrokes, or wife and kids who "wonder what this will do?". All in all, it's no wonder that Mandrake is the most popular Linux flavor - it's just great.SuSE has not received very much of my attention lately; my view of this distro is "it's like pouring to much coffee into a cup" - just barely move it, and it will spill. So chock-full of packages, that an inexperienced SuSE user (me), will cause collisions. It also has some programs that work, but not nearly as well as they work in Mandrake - prime example: K3b, a fantastic CD-burning application (and I used to think Nero was good).RedHat is the least stable of my keepers, even though it was very easy to install and configure (for the most part). It's interface is very pleasing, has loads of nice packages, so maybe it was something(s) that I did / do that makes it "quirky".Libranet I am currently investigating thoroughly; very stable, lots of programs, most everything works well, much easier than even Mandrake, to update. But it's KDE 2.2, not very eye-appealing, like Mandrake or SuSE.Sorry to be so verbose, but I am completely enthralled by Linux, and so much do I look forward to using / learning it each day. Just a side note: out of all the distros I have installed / tried for however long, by the farthest margin easiest of all to install is "ELX Linux". It is so easy that you would think me a liar, if I told you just how simple it is.

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You may be able to update libranet to kde 3.1.2, assuming the version of libranet you have is based on woody (stable), not sarge (testing) or sid (unstable)Add the following to your apt sources.list file...deb http://download.kde.org/stable/3.1.2/Debian stable mainHowever, I have only tried this with woody, and have no experience with libranet. :Dtranquilo

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You may be able to update libranet to kde 3.1.2, assuming the version of libranet you have is based on woody (stable), not sarge (testing) or sid (unstable)Add the following to your apt sources.list file...deb http://download.kde.org/stable/3.1.2/Debian stable mainHowever, I have only tried this with woody, and have no experience with libranet.  :Dtranquilo
Welcome, tranquilo...and thanks, will try that. Started out /w Libranet 2.0, but with Jason's link, it seems to upgrade it to: "woody". Will check this out later. :lol:
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Hi all,Came upon this "rescue CD / stand-alone OS":Bonzai 2.0Says that it can be used as a total rescue CD, or installed as a Debian-based Linux distro; at only 184 MB, and including KDE 3.1.2, just couldn't resist. B) And - for now - it is free. :)

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Another one for Quint! How many now?No, don't tell. It will only make me dizzy trying to imagine that many installs!

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Another one for Quint!  How many now?No, don't tell.  It will only make me dizzy trying to imagine that many installs!
Hi Julia,Haven't installed it yet, have been very busy; but will get around to it in a few days...the interesting part, from what I've read, is that it can repair other distros. It is based on Debian, so it's probably stable...time will tell. Maybe Bruno knows more about it?
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Hi QuintI saw it announced on Distrowatch and really liked the logo of it :( 184 MB makes it interesting ! As for the rescue part of it; Knoppix does that too and has more tools, but that does not mean that a more modern one ( KDE 3.1.2 makes you think it would be ) could make it favorable.We will be hearing more from you and Bonzai I hope.:D Bruno

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Hi QuintI saw it announced on Distrowatch and really liked the logo of it :) 184 MB makes it interesting ! As for the rescue part of it; Knoppix does that too and has more tools, but that does not mean that a more modern one ( KDE 3.1.2 makes you think it would be ) could make it favorable.We will be hearing more from you and Bonzai I hope.B) Bruno
Hi Bruno,Just got done burning another CD for Bonzai, the first had some "corrupt" files. The checksums come in handy, thanks for always suggesting the importance of this. Hopefully, can try this out soon...the kernel is 2.4.21 - think that's the version Mandrake uses. :D Was surprised that the Knoppix "live" CD is so versatile - that's great. :( Will post whenever I get the chance to install Bonzai; they don't fool around, they've already got a version 2.1, after only a week or so of version 2.0! :(
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