initial linux experiences

[harold gujel]

Hi,

just thought I'd share my first linux experiences, and try to see if there is a distro that might work for me.

after a year of hovering in the wings i went ahead and installed ubuntu 64 bit 7.10 on my PC (athlon64 3200+, 120GB sata, nvidia 7100 ).

Nice, but no nvidia driver and errors in open office. No matter how often I fixed broken packages or re-installed it wouldn't work. but generally impressed.

I thought I'd try the 32bit version. Tried unsuccessfully to get a clean download but managed to get a friend to do it ok. This worked better and has a nice nvidia driver, but as soon as I installed updates it refused to reboot. Re-installed but to no avail, it went wrong when kernel updates were installed.
Also, tiny ammount of software available compared to the 64 bit version.

Next thought I'd try Ubuntu Studio, couldn't get a clean download.

Now it's time for Mandriva. Had a good install (came from the linux magazine DVD) and looking really good. Liking the KDE desktop. But it wouldn't see my native monitor resolution. I manually configured it, but had to do so each reboot, it wouldn't save the setting (or I couldn't figure it out). I started to notice the display was smearing accross pixels slightly, as if it was the wrong resolution. I didn't get this with Ubuntu. Couldn't fix it. Disappointed as this looks like a really nice distro.

Now I'm playing about with smaller distros. Puppy wouldn't work. Vector wouldn't do anything. Knoppix ok but a bit simplistic.

I'm back in WinXP for the time being.
But I'm not put off, think I'll just leave it a while, see how they develop over the next year or so.
I love the idea of a community open source OS so I will be commiting to Linux in due course, unless anyone knows of a ditro that might suit me better.
Maybe SUSE....

I don't know if my problems are fairly typical or if it's just me.

Thanks for reading this and thanks in advance for any advice.

[Jonathan183]

Hi,

just thought I'd share my first linux experiences, and try to see if there is a distro that might work for me.

after a year of hovering in the wings i went ahead and installed ubuntu 64 bit 7.10 on my PC (athlon64 3200+, 120GB sata, nvidia 7100 ).

The hardware sounds as though it should be up to the job ... how much RAM do you have?

So you have tried Mandriva & Ubuntu and found issues with each.

Now I'm playing about with smaller distros. Puppy wouldn't work. Vector wouldn't do anything. Knoppix ok but a bit simplistic.

I'd tend to stick to the larger distros unless you have specific reasons such as limited hardware.

I'm back in WinXP for the time being.
But I'm not put off, think I'll just leave it a while, see how they develop over the next year or so.
I love the idea of a community open source OS so I will be commiting to Linux in due course, unless anyone knows of a ditro that might suit me better.
Maybe SUSE....

I don't know if my problems are fairly typical or if it's just me.

Thanks for reading this and thanks in advance for any advice.

I use OpenSUSE 10.3 now (with KDE), I have a mix of PCs and have stuck with the 32-bit version of SUSE for the moment. I find it easy to use, and other family members can get on with it as well. Things seem quite well behaved provided you use the package manager YAST for package install/update/removal.

I'd try a couple of the live CDs if your on the hunt for a new distro. Theres a poll for new users on the forums ... There are going to be teething troubles for any OS change but you can usually sort them out with a bit or work.

All my machines are dual boot with some version of Windows, I tend not to use Windows much at all but I'm still keeping it for the moment. The one thing I don't do is use Windows on the net at all !

[harold gujel]

OK thanks for the info, I'll check out the poll and SUSE 10.3.

I was amazed how hard it is to get a good download, and I'm not the only one. I guess there are errors introduced by downloading at high speed (they been coming down at up to 800kB /sec) and maybe the broadband hardware is to blame or the ISP.

Yeah the issues are more than just niggles, but I'll keep chugging away and maybe use a dual boot as you do.

[Jonathan183]

OK thanks for the info, I'll check out the poll and SUSE 10.3.

I was amazed how hard it is to get a good download, and I'm not the only one. I guess there are errors introduced by downloading at high speed (they been coming down at up to 800kB /sec) and maybe the broadband hardware is to blame or the ISP.

Yeah the issues are more than just niggles, but I'll keep chugging away and maybe use a dual boot as you do.

Before you burn the CD run the checksum ... the other problem people tend to have is trying to burn the CD too fast. I always burn at the lowest speed - I have an assortment of shiny coffee mats from high speed burning. Good luck with the download & don't give up !