Linux Newbie - My take on Distros / Which Distro is Best?

[llebcire]

About a month ago, I posted the following thread/questions regarding installation and distros:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ins...ht-distro.html

Of course, I was immediately flamed for my question and the thread was locked-I was told before getting into Linux forums that some here lack the patience to deal with newbies but we are in a whole new world! This is completely different than Windoze!

As I posted in that thread, I was looking for advice / other's experience as to what they've encountered in various distros in an attempt to save me some headaches. I have learned quite a bit about Linux and have successfully installed software/updates so I guess the "go it on your own" approach does have some merit!

As posted and up to this point, here's what I learned:

Initially, I thought I should install the 64bit versions as I have an Athlon64. I later found out that most of what I needed had better availability in the 32bit variations.

Ubuntu is the top distro on distrowatch.com, but I found the interface for the drive partitioning to be very difficult for a newbie. If you weren't attempting a dual boot with M$, it might be fine! The install that I briefly ran seemed to be okay but as I wasn't able to get it to dual boot with XP I never really used it. I've been told that this is a known downfall of the OS, partly because it's on Debian, and if the graphical interface is changed in the future I may attempt it again.

The second distro I installed was Mandriva Free 2007. It installed/ran fine, no problems with the dual booting of XP, but I didn't find out until after I had it installed that it doesn't come with all of the software included in the non-free version (website's a little misleading regarding this fact). Although I was able to get many things installed/working, my main concern was that I was NEVER ABLE TO GET JAVA TO WORK! I did get Flash/RealPlayer/etc, but Java is very important (at least to me) and I need the browser to support it.

Currently, I'm running OpenSuse 10.2 i386 and things are running very smoothly! Between the initial install with the "Extras" and Yast updates, I currently have everything that I need. Java worked from day one, RealPlayer is in, I can play all of my media formats (DVD,MP3, WMV, AVI, DivX, etc.) as well as burn Cd's, DVD's, etc. I like the interface and haven't really had any problems with it. This is all very important as I'm still very new to this and like most newbies am lost if the file isn't an .exe!

I would invite other's to add their comments to this thread and I hope that it doesn't get locked because of the content!

~Eric

[netstrider]

That's where opinions differ. I find Ubuntu twice as fast as SuSE and much easier to install as well, but we all have our opinions. Java's website has instructions on installing the software from various file formats.

[llebcire]

That's where opinions differ. I find Ubuntu twice as fast as SuSE and much easier to install as well, but we all have our opinions. Java's website has instructions on installing the software from various file formats.

Thanks for the response!

I agree! I'm sure you'd agree that forums are part opinion and part fact!

It looks like you've been a member for many years and have a quantum leap on me regarding knowledge of Linux. I really looked forward to using Ubuntu but unfortunately the learning curve was too much for me as I need my home machine for work and can't have it down for very long.

If I had another box that I didn't rely on, I would certainly attempt Ubuntu again - and I don't think I could convince my wife to let me experiment on her XP box

~Eric

[ilanesh]

If you want a distro for a complete newbee, so best distro for you is pclinuxOs. It is easy to install, no problem with dualbooting with windows etc, has everything you need.
This was the distro who helped me to get over to linux, all the others were too much difficult for me.
pclinuxos they have a very easy to use synaptic from where you can download and install your software when something still is missing. its all automatic, partitionin is also very easy from there. You can watch your dvd movies and everything from there, it isactually anstead windows already.
Very good, I need windows only for very few things from time to time.
I have installed windows and linux on two seperate harddrives, so I do not need to dual boot.
althought i am using right now ubuntu, cause its the only disro i can install to an external usb hdd and also all works out of the box, so i do not need any partitioning, i just use the whole harddrive. This is aso the easiest way for newbees.
Good luck.

[carlosponti]

Newbie distribution shouldn't be based on any one distribution so much as certain criteria.

1. overall ease of use more Gui less command line.

2. Community Support being big enough to give newbies a good place to go.

3. A good all around package manager.

4. Large selection of applications from the package manager to install from.

5. Easy to use update system to keep your system up to date.

[minthaka]

If you're English, I would recommand you to use Mepis. I've started with SuSe, that was a nightmare. I've tried Mepis, that was the fastest distro I met, but narrow-sighted in internationalized support. Both Ubuntu and Kubuntu are fine, but it's harder to install than Mepis. It has newbie-specific tools for easy Grub and Xorg recovery, and it's vital for a person who knows not what to do.

[Redman]

I was told before getting into Linux forums that some here lack the patience to deal with newbies but we are in a whole new world! This is completely different than Windoze!

First of all, I don't know who told you that "we" here don't try to be patient to newbies, but they are very wrong. Try to see it from our perspective. Many new members sign up every day and they all ask the one question: "which Linux distro do I need"? Since there are plenty of them, many having specific characteristics, it is a question hard to answer. What I use might be usefull to you, but on the other hand, it might not.

That is why we advise (!) people to take a look at sites like distrowatch.com where you can find detailed info and statistics on the most used distributions. With that, you can be on your way pretty easy (don't hesitate to post questions here). And when you are more comfortable you can try one of the others.

[Roxoff]

If you want a distro for a complete newbee, so best distro for you is pclinuxOs.

How can you say one distribution is better for someone else than another? I could utterly disagree with you; I could argue that PCLinuxOS is a 'dumbed down' version of Linux... But what i think or feel about it is not important; it's how that distribution meets the needs of another individual, and everyone has different needs. You cant take your favourite Linux distribution and fit it to someone else - it might not be right, and it's unfair to try and do this.

The best distribution for a newbie is most certainly not PCLinuxOS. But it is on the list of ones to try if someone is looking to move away from Windows.

[carlosponti]

Not to mention that PC Linux doesn't address one of my requirements for recommendation. Its community support is rather small for now. once it has been around for a year or so more its user base will have grown enough to be included. I should add another requirement that the distro have had a couple of releases before a new user should be recommended to try it so that the distro is polished enough for new users to not have issues.