New LINUX user looking for advice.

[Skip Weiser]

I downloaded the Ubuntu distro of LINUX and burned it to a CD. I just booted with that CD and I'm taking it for a test drive before I install it to the HDD. I'm thinking of making my pc dual boot so I can choose either Windows or LINUX at startup.

So far I like what I see. It found my DSL connection without any input from me, and the Firefox browser is an old favorite that I've used for years with XP.

I guess my question is what distro would be the best to start with for a LINUX newbie, this one or some other flavor? What has been your experience with it? What problems will I likely encounter?

Thanks for any comments.

Skip

[Curt Harms]

I downloaded the Ubuntu distro of LINUX and burned it to a CD. I just booted with that CD and I'm taking it for a test drive before I install it to the HDD. I'm thinking of making my pc dual boot so I can choose either Windows or LINUX at startup.

So far I like what I see. It found my DSL connection without any input from me, and the Firefox browser is an old favorite that I've used for years with XP.

I guess my question is what distro would be the best to start with for a LINUX newbie, this one or some other flavor? What has been your experience with it? What problems will I likely encounter?

Thanks for any comments.

Skip

I've messed with Linux a little bit. The biggest weakness I see is with wireless networking support. I just haven't had much luck with wireless adapters. Other than that it seems fine as long as applications are available. Linux doesn't have MS's infamous registry which may contribute to better stability and fewer "surprises". If there were better hardware support, I think Linux would be more popular. I guess hardware support could be a potential problem with so many distros out there. I don't know enough about this stuff to form an intelligent opinion. I have heard of "dependency hell" not having proper library versions or whatever for a program or device to work. I wish I was more knowledgeable.

Curt

[Richard Venturelli]

I downloaded the Ubuntu distro of LINUX and burned it to a CD. I just booted with that CD and I'm taking it for a test drive before I install it to the HDD. I'm thinking of making my pc dual boot so I can choose either Windows or LINUX at startup.

So far I like what I see. It found my DSL connection without any input from me, and the Firefox browser is an old favorite that I've used for years with XP.

I guess my question is what distro would be the best to start with for a LINUX newbie, this one or some other flavor? What has been your experience with it? What problems will I likely encounter?

Thanks for any comments.

Skip

I would not recomend Ubuntu but then its your choice. I like Mandriva. There is a learning curve coming from Micro$oft. It's got more user friendly though. And most Linux distro's have a live CD including Mandriva.

I would suggest you go to this website to learn more and ask any question you have. Its not hard to Dual Boot but it's probably best to have 2 hard drives to make it easier for a newbee. It's WinBlows that makes it difficult not Linux. WinBlows does not like to play fair in the neighborhood.

A few nice things about Linux, you don't get ADWARE, Virii, and Trojans. Been using Linux since 1999 and have never had any.
Good Luck,

http://www.linuxquestions.org/

[Skip Weiser]

Thanks Curt and Richard for your info. I'm downloading the Mandriva distro to give that a try. The screenshots of the desktop looked pretty cool.

I've been curious about Linux for a long time and I've finally decided to give it a shot. Bill Gates has gotten enough of my money over the years.

I do have two HD's on this pc so maybe I'll wipe the spare and install Mandriva on that like you suggested Rich.

Thanks again,
Skip

[Richard Venturelli]

Thanks Curt and Richard for your info. I'm downloading the Mandriva distro to give that a try. The screenshots of the desktop looked pretty cool.

I've been curious about Linux for a long time and I've finally decided to give it a shot. Bill Gates has gotten enough of my money over the years.

I do have two HD's on this pc so maybe I'll wipe the spare and install Mandriva on that like you suggested Rich.

Thanks again,
Skip

Be sure to go to the website I linked to. In a previous post, poster was concerned about dependancy hell. With Mandriva you use the (urpmi) to get your software. It installs all dependancies for you. You can learn more about it in the linked site. Also the console terminal is widly used and can be use to find problems.

I love Linux, You set it up the way you want it, not the way windblows wants it. You are in the driver seat and everything is free!!!! OPen Source MAN!!!!! Its the wave of the future. Just give it a chance and try not to get frustrated because your a longtime Winblows user.

See a snap shot of my Desktop It's kinda small because of SMC requirements.

[Skip Weiser]

Rich,

OH YEA, now that's a desktop! That's awesome.

I did check out the website you noted. I'll read it more in depth tonight.

I'm running a Core 2 Duo desktop pc. Do I still want the i586 version of Mandriva?

I've had computers since the Tandy 1000 and DOS days, so I'm not afraid to experiment a little if needed. In fact, I enjoy it.

Thanks,
Skip

[Richard Venturelli]

Rich,

OH YEA, now that's a desktop! That's awesome.

I did check out the website you noted. I'll read it more in depth tonight.

I'm running a Core 2 Duo desktop pc. Do I still want the i586 version of Mandriva?

I've had computers since the Tandy 1000 and DOS days, so I'm not afraid to experiment a little if needed. In fact, I enjoy it.

Thanks,
Skip

I have a core duo too. Yes install the 32 bit version. Flash is not working yet with 64bit. And just like other OS's 64 bit programs are lagging behind, Also if youre going to Dual Boot then I would not be concerned yet about some hardware not working since you can boot back to WindBlows if you have to. Some Printers are not supported because of their deal with Micro$oft. You can check that site for supported hardware. I have not had a problem with it. I have an HP printer and they deal well with Linux.

If your use to DOS then you will love the console or{ command line. Also the C: prompt is no longer valid. You treat the file system like a web address / Have fun with it.

[Art Mulder]

I guess my question is what distro would be the best to start with for a LINUX newbie, this one or some other flavor? What has been your experience with it? What problems will I likely encounter?

I have to disagree with Richard -- though I'm not sure why, as he does not give any reasons for his comments about Ubuntu.

I've had Ubuntu on my home machine for about 3-4 years. When I discovered ubuntu, I was fed up with Mandrake (now gone) and redhat was also having grief with my (then-new) hardware. Ubuntu "just worked".

In the time since, I found that Ubuntu was far closer to the "it just works" aspect of the MacOS than any other Linux I had so far encountered.

Not to be sure, I stopped looking at others. I don't know anything at all about Mandriva.

Ubuntu is a very well designed and put together Linux distribution. It has a large market share among the desktop users out there. It has a very active user community (look up ubuntuforums.org or something like that) and tons and tons of online help files.

As for problems you are likely encounter. I suspect you'll encounter the same problems that anyone gets when switching OS's or Major Applications... and that problem is that some things are located in different places (or different menus) and some things just are done differently. And it'll be frustrating when you encounter situations like that.

But as for hardware issues -- I don't have any. As for OS issues... again, not many. Firefox works. OpenOffice is included and works fine. I use the word processor and spreadsheet all the time. Flash works in firefox. I plug in my canon camera, and a photo-importing tool pops up.

Photo editing might be a problem -- none(?) of the Adobe products are available on Linux as far as I know. I've been using Gimp for years for light photo editing, and it works fine for me. But some people HATE it since it does things differently than Photoshop and is missing some features.

Multimedia is also often a problem. So playing DVDs or playing Quicktime or Windows WMV files is probably a problem or at least a challenge. There are various howto's and other instructions out there on the web, but that can still be tricky. Copyright and other legal issues prevent the distributions from supporting Quicktime right out of the box, for instance.

Have fun.
...art

[Richard Venturelli]

I have to disagree with Richard -- though I'm not sure why, as he does not give any reasons for his comments about Ubuntu.

I've had Ubuntu on my home machine for about 3-4 years. When I discovered ubuntu, I was fed up with Mandrake (now gone) and redhat was also having grief with my (then-new) hardware. Ubuntu "just worked".

In the time since, I found that Ubuntu was far closer to the "it just works" aspect of the MacOS than any other Linux I had so far encountered.

Not to be sure, I stopped looking at others. I don't know anything at all about Mandriva.

Ubuntu is a very well designed and put together Linux distribution. It has a large market share among the desktop users out there. It has a very active user community (look up ubuntuforums.org or something like that) and tons and tons of online help files.

As for problems you are likely encounter. I suspect you'll encounter the same problems that anyone gets when switching OS's or Major Applications... and that problem is that some things are located in different places (or different menus) and some things just are done differently. And it'll be frustrating when you encounter situations like that.

But as for hardware issues -- I don't have any. As for OS issues... again, not many. Firefox works. OpenOffice is included and works fine. I use the word processor and spreadsheet all the time. Flash works in firefox. I plug in my canon camera, and a photo-importing tool pops up.

Photo editing might be a problem -- none(?) of the Adobe products are available on Linux as far as I know. I've been using Gimp for years for light photo editing, and it works fine for me. But some people HATE it since it does things differently than Photoshop and is missing some features.

Multimedia is also often a problem. So playing DVDs or playing Quicktime or Windows WMV files is probably a problem or at least a challenge. There are various howto's and other instructions out there on the web, but that can still be tricky. Copyright and other legal issues prevent the distributions from supporting Quicktime right out of the box, for instance.

Have fun.
...art

Not sure why I have a problem with Ubuntu guess I always thought it, basically Linux for Dummies. But he could install both and boot into either. Your right it has lots of support, sometimes I think to much. It could just be that I'm bias.

I plug my camera in and a window opens and asks me where I want to download my pictures to. Getting programs or updates is easy using URPMI. All my DVD, Quicktime, window media player video and stream video works fine with Mplayer or the Xine engine. Flash works fine in Firefox and Konqueror. No problem with Java.

Never used Photoshot but Gimp does everything I need it to. OpenOffice I believe is better than Office in my judgement. Linux is 10 times faster. And guess what? It's all FREE!!!!

I also use Slackware on occasion.

[Skip Weiser]

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

[Pat Germain]

I'm a Solaris administrator. I've worked with Linux only a little. The power of Unix, whatever the flavor, is in the command line. If you take the time to learn even basic commands, it's amazing how easily you can copy and move files, write text and even program with shell scripts.

Microsoft has lost a lot of credibility with Vista. A lot of people are jumping over to Mac and some are going Linux. I'm so sick of messing with adware, spyware, nagware, malware, viruses & trojans I doubt I'll ever run windows on a computer again.

[Paul Hendrickson]

Linux Mint is Ubuntu based, but has a nicer feel IMHO. It also runs beautifully on a 600 mHz laptop.

I have also used Ubuntu, OpenSuse and Zenwalk which runs very well on old hardware. The real beauty of linux is the ability to try it out with the live cd.

I have a Vista machine at work, and the other day I realized I have stopped using Office 2003 altogether. I have been using Open Office and love it.

Have fun.

[Paul Geer]

Great for the net. My brother got me going about 8 years ago and Mandriva Linux has come a long way. The only thing though I still have to start up XP to download music from propitiatory sources. What I use KDE Amarok (see snapshot) for all my music management and CD burning. I just think it's one of the most flexible app. I've used. Much better than MediaPlayer.



The only thing I found to be a problem is grub for dual booting. If you load Mandriva on one drive with XP for example, then it's not a problem. However, if you have two drives, one for Linux and One for Windows , just make certain Windows drive is the first in the BIOS setup. If not grub will have a problem identifying the proper drive for Linux.

[Richard Venturelli]

How on earth did you get that size pic to load on SMC?

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[Paul Geer]

How on earth did you get that size pic to load on SMC?

2725.93 KB (2791351 bytes)

It's a img link from PhotoBucket. Kinda surprised me too