can anyone help me pick a new version of linux?

[J--]

Man microsoft pisses me off. I look into my program files and find that HALF of the folders in there are ms bs that i dont want; netmeeting, xerox, msn gaming zone, messenger, online services etc

What I want out of inux is:
1) NO BS PROGRAMS LIKE THAT ABOVE, ONLY WHAT IS REQUIRED TO RUN THE OS. That means none of the goodies or crap microsoft likes to throw in, not even pinball or its own messenger. Or if it has to be there, it must be able to be removed without compromising the system. I just want it to RUN and THATS IT not even the telephony or fax crap they like to put in.
2)Speed
3)Security, if possible. I dont know if one kernel variation has fewer holes then the next

What im willing to do:
Anything, i know my computers and Ill use a CLI interface to install it or whatever if i have to.

What i want on it:
This is really simple cause im like a minimilist:
Netgear Wireless (till i can get a landline)
Deepburner (CD/DVD burner)
Santa Cruz turtle beach (sound card)
MESS (multiplatform emulator)
Gimp (pic editor)
VLC (media player)
Opera (browser)
Pidgin (multclient im protocol)
Eraser (tool to actually delete stuff)
Softperfect (lil firewall)

Computer is:
1.0 GHz Pentium 3 (i386)
256mb RIMM
40GB hd (no need for more)
Nvidia GeForce 2 card

So is there a version like what I want? And where can i find it? All i can find are goodie loaded ones, and they dont even burn right or something

[coopstah13]

with only 256 ram I'd recommend trying Xubuntu livecd and see how you like it, I personally like doing debian with a net install because its a very minimal system and then just add what I want after like xfce for the gui etc, a debian net install is < 500M disk space.

[techieMoe]

What I want out of inux is:
1) ...I just want it to RUN and THATS IT not even the telephony or fax crap they like to put in.
2)Speed
3)Security, if possible. I dont know if one kernel variation has fewer holes then the next

Most Linux distributions designed for older machines are, by definition, speedy and small, which is what I gather you want here. I would suggest Vector, Damn Small, or Puppy to start out with.

.
Netgear Wireless (till i can get a landline)

This could work, depending on your chipset. Some are supported by madwifi, others require a go-between like ndiswrapper which basically translates your MS Windows driver for Linux.

Deepburner (CD/DVD burner)
Santa Cruz turtle beach (sound card)
MESS (multiplatform emulator)
Gimp (pic editor)
VLC (media player)
Opera (browser)
Pidgin (multclient im protocol)

Most Linux distributions have some sort of CD/DVD burning app installed by default. Your sound card may work just fine out of the box, but I can't say for that specific brand. All the rest of the programs you've mentioned have native Linux versions available.

Eraser (tool to actually delete stuff)

I'm not sure what this is. I use rm to delete things in Linux, or just drag it to the Trash.

Softperfect (lil firewall)

I don't use firewalls myself (other than what comes by default), but there are several available for Linux.

Computer is:
1.0 GHz Pentium 3 (i386)
256mb RIMM
40GB hd (no need for more)
Nvidia GeForce 2 card

So is there a version like what I want? And where can i find it? All i can find are goodie loaded ones, and they dont even burn right or something

Your main limiting factor on that PC is RAM. If you could double or triple your RAM your options for distributions would go up significantly. As it is however you should have no issues running any of the distributions I've suggested. For more general Linux questions (and suggestions on which distribution to use) see this thread:
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...ead-first.html

Most distributions are available on DistroWatch, and it's a handy site to see what the latest versions are.

[Zmyrgel]

I'd say you should give Gentoo a go.

It's hard to install for the first time but there's no better alternative if you want minimalistic and customized system.

[Jonathan183]

I'd say you should give Gentoo a go.

It's hard to install for the first time but there's no better alternative if you want minimalistic and customized system.

If your installing Gentoo its probably best to use the handbook, the automated installer does not seem to work very well.

[pcxman]

I don't if Suse 10.3 will work with 256 megs of ram but I love it. It's very stable and easy to use.

[waterhead]

I too love Suse, I have 10.2 installed on my Dell laptop, but it is not even close to being minimalistic.

[jmadero]

My understanding is that SUSE is not specifically designed to be really small....I am also unaware of any linux distro that you can't strip down to almost nothing....(this is true with windows as well but I won't promote that )

As for what distro I think the best bet is to burn 3-5 distros that are live versions and try each out for a few days. Once you know for sure one works then keep with it unless some other one catches your eye. I did this with Fedora Core and didn't switch to another linux distro until Feisty came out.

Hope this helps

[oz]

A debian netinstall might be what you are looking for. You install only the base system from a minimal CD, then load only what you want/need on top of it via the internet.