please help me pick an OS

[us11csalyer]

Main things Id like to have:

1) ability to install linux software with no prob. ( i tried backtrack4 and it was a pain installing new software)

2) multimedia/codec support.
3) an OS with a good community behind it.
4) The smaller the OS the better as ill still be using backtrack4 for testing wifi security.

[reed9]

I would recommend Linux Mint. But ultimately it's up to what you like - if you're able I'd try a number of different distros and see which one suits you best.

But, Mint has good multimedia support out of the box, easy access to much popular software via their software portal, as well as the more usual and powerful Synaptic Package Manager, and a relatively small, but very active, community.

[us11csalyer]

Thanks for your input. I'd love to stick with backtrack4; however, it doesn't seem to control my laptop's fan and causes the usb ports to stop working due to heat.

Do you know if linux mint can run a sapphire 5750 gpu?

[reed9]

Thanks for your input. I'd love to stick with backtrack4; however, it doesn't seem to control my laptop's fan and causes the usb ports to stop working due to heat.

Do you know if linux mint can run a sapphire 5750 gpu?

Yes and no. There is an open source driver that works with this card, but doesn't fully support 3D acceleration - so if you want compiz and window compositing and all, it might not work well or at all.

The proprietary Catalyst 9.10 driver from ATI available in the repositories does not support this card. The Catalyst 10.3 driver does, and should give you full support. But it might be tricky to get it installed.

Mint is based on Ubuntu and the info here should be directly applicable.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bi...tu 9.10 Karmic

[nujinini]

I agree with reed9!

Though the ultimate choice would have to be made by the user, Linux MInt (7) in particular has been always one of my top 3 choices!

[oz]

please help me pick an OS

Hello and welcome!

If you haven't tried them already, there are a couple of distro quizzes that can often help distro hunters narrow down their search:

polishlinux.org Distro chooser

zegenie Studios Linux Distribution Chooser

Good luck with the search.