selecting a second distro question.

[phantommaggot]

so ive been using ubuntu for around 6 months and since ive done a fresh install of windows i tried swithcing to linux mint .. but to be completely honest i think im gonna go back to ubuntu.

when i do i want to install a 2nd copy of linux. i want something i can learn with. since i am in school for IT, i think id like to learn linux to the point i can completely eleminate windows from my life. then help everyone else do the same

i was thinking i could get something like slackware, maybe DSL

what other distros would be good to learn a little more on.
im looking for something that i can get up and online pretty fast, as i get all my information online. id also like something that may start out small but is fully capable of running any linux app. including games (ut2k4 and so on),Wine, and Beryl/aiglx.

we are using fedora in operating systems class next week, but the teacher is a windows nazi and wont even use core 6 (so were stuck with core 4 on a crappy MS virtual desktop) plus were only gonna do basic stuff. just enough so most of the class can decide that linux is poop. which sucks. i offered to bring everyone in the class copies of ubuntu, mint, sabayon, and a few other easy distros. but i was shot down.

anyways
thanks for any suggestions, advice, ETC.

-j

[techieMoe]

so ive been using ubuntu for around 6 months and since ive done a fresh install of windows i tried swithcing to linux mint .. but to be completely honest i think im gonna go back to ubuntu.

Well, if you want to broaden your Linux experience I'd stay away from Linux Mint, GNewSense, and Ichthux; they're all just modified versions of Ubuntu. Try a distribution based on something completely different, like Slackware or one of the Redhat derivatives. If you want something drastically different, you might look at Gentoo. Be warned though: it's not for the faint of heart.

im looking for something that i can get up and online pretty fast, as i get all my information online. id also like something that may start out small but is fully capable of running any linux app. including games (ut2k4 and so on),Wine, and Beryl/aiglx.

Pretty much all the major distributions (those in the top 20 on Distrowatch) will handle all of the above. You're not going to find a lot of differences in the capabilities of different distributions, just their style.

[phantommaggot]

ya i know mint is a ubuntu biuld, thats why i tried it before ubuntu.
i want to keep a ubuntu style setup on my system becaue i can always fall back on it if i get lost in something else, and my girlfriend likes it lol.

i think ill probably endup downloading slackware tonight.

i wouldnt mind getting something that dosent use gnome, or kde.

i was looking at Vector, then i read it was built off of slackware.
whats the difference there...

i will say that i dont like the xfce distros ive used so far, because i get the same thing clicking the menu that i get when i right click. but i do like it otherwise.
IceWm looks interesting as well, im gonna do some reading on it when i get the chance.

the most important thing i need is for my wireless card to work.
i have a netgear card. i think its a 311t but im not shure.
ubuntu picks it up fine, as do most of my live cds, and mint does but after i update mint the first time it dosent work anymore.

anyways.
please dont close this thread. im not trying to make a "pick me a flavor thread" its more like a "pros and cons of good distros to learn thread" or a "heres what i need/want, make some suggestions and ill choose thread."


thanks a whole lot
-j

[techieMoe]

i was looking at Vector, then i read it was built off of slackware.
whats the difference there...

Well, for me personally, the main difference is that I like Vector and hate Slackware. The reason behind that is Vector automates a lot of things that I personally like to have automated, such as the configuration of my X Windows environment. I also get the impression that contributors to Vector get to determine (in some capacity) what direction the distribution as a whole goes, unlike Slackware. However these are all just my personal gripes. You might like Slackware more than Vector.

the most important thing i need is for my wireless card to work.
i have a netgear card. i think its a 311t but im not shure.
ubuntu picks it up fine, as do most of my live cds, and mint does but after i update mint the first time it dosent work anymore.

Wireless cards are spotty. Generally speaking it depends more on the card itself than the Linux distribution you use; well-supported chipsets work on most all distros, not-so-well suppported ones don't work on anything without significant tweaking. I don't know what to tell you there.

anyways.
please dont close this thread. im not trying to make a "pick me a flavor thread" its more like a "pros and cons of good distros to learn thread" or a "heres what i need/want, make some suggestions and ill choose thread."

As long as it stays a "suggest some new distros to learn" thread, I'll keep it open. I'm actually moving this to the Coffee Lounge for that purpose.

[phantommaggot]

lol, thanks for keeping it open, and moving it, i didnt really know where to put it.

to be honest if i had more computers, or more hard drive space id just load up every distro that interested me. but since i only really have enough space for one more distro, i need to figure out which one to go with

heres a question i should have asked first.. but just thought about..

between distros, does the command line setup change. id imagine that they are all pretty close, but ubuntu uses sudo and im kinda shure that is different than other distros (unless theyre based on ubuntu).

i guess another important question, since i am planning on an it career, which distros are popular in the business world? what would i see the most?

i think i may go with vector/xfce
since it is built off of slackware id imagine its pretty close.

how customizable is xfce?
i saw something a while back about setting up the dock to work like apple. wbar or something. i think it comes with sam linux.

but ive never really used it, just a couple of live disks
xubuntu
dsl

anyways
thanks!!
-j

[Vergil83]

the most important thing i need is for my wireless card to work.
i have a netgear card. i think its a 311t but im not shure.
ubuntu picks it up fine, as do most of my live cds, and mint does but after i update mint the first time it dosent work anymore.

That card is supported by madwifi. For slackware, vector, gentoo, it *shouldn't* be hard to get it working, but you will most likely need internet acess so you can download the drivers.

Other than that, I agree with techiemoe (except about slackware sucking )

[tuxv]

You may want to try out KDE too, in my opinion KDE is better than xfce.

As you said ubuntu uses a different kind of sudo thingy, but I don't like it. In slackware you can have sudo too, but when using sudo you'll have to enter the root password (sudo has access to all the things root has access to), in ubuntu a normal user can do anything like root with his/her own password (that's not much securty, is it?).

And I must tell you this don't be afraid to try slackware as your first distro because it was my first distro, I got a good first hand experience with slack. But now I'm using Debian you might want to try out Debian too. It's as stable as Slackware and it has the best package management (apt-get) Ubuntu is a variant of Debian (But debian don't use that stupid sudo thingy).

If you are interested in Debian visit www.debian.org

[devils casper]

in ubuntu a normal user can do anything like root with his/her own password (that's not much securty, is it?).

Not *any* user. the user that you have created during installation share root password. all other users created after installation can not execute sudo command unless they know first user's password. you can change 'sudo' password too.





Casper

[carlosponti]

Zenwalk is another Slackware derivative that i seem to like going to switch my wifes notebook to it from Slackware soon.


ps you might try burning copies of SimplyMepis for your class to tryout on their own time. its a full live CD. there are so many Live Distros now for people to try you can find a myriad of them to give to your class. Mepis is Ubuntu based.

[phantommaggot]

i personally dont like kde all that much. at least not in kubuntu, sabayon, or suse 10.1. i keep trying it, im starting to like it in sabayon alot more, but gnome is still my all around favorite.

and i think i made a mistake in my last post, i think DSL uses fluxbox, correct?
either way it seemed exatly like xfce in xubuntu. i did however like the system monitor in DSL.
how customizable is fluxbox, ill search on it. but im shure someone here has links and some knowhow that it may take me time to find.

to be clear, not looking for a first distro, im looking for one that will make me learn, and will give me some solid linux skills. ive been using ubuntu, and will continue to use ubuntu as my main operating system untill brianna (my g/f) decides she wants to learn about computers. ive also installed and tried a few other distros. but so far im stuck on ubuntu. and thats what i hand out to people i hear complaining about windows. ill have another pc together soon and ill definatly have to run a smaller OS on it, so learning something now would be good.

as of now im considering
-slackware
-DSL

ill probably get the vector live disk and see how i like that.

id also like to learn to do usb drive installs, im about do get a couple of nice, tiny new flash drives. so i have a 256, and a 512 that would be cool for dsl and if at all possible zenwalk. but i havent looked much into what it would take to get that to work . but that way i could use slackware and dsl.

i figure lite distros would make me do stuff as well, since they dont have as much installed on them

anyways, im kinda rambling on, im between classes and bored.

thanks!
im glad im not getting flamed for asking questions like this. but it really is saving me some homework time. and thats all the time i have lol
-j

**
Carlosponti:
you posted while i was typing, i definatly want to try zenwalk! i came across it earlier this week, and will probably burn a live cd tonight!