Which Linux?

whotook316

In the spirit of money saving (and having lost my rag with microsoft after having to call them to re-activate xp for the third time in 2 months) I'm thinking of giving Linux a go. I'm leaning towards Debian, but I wondered if anyone here could suggest a better alternative?

I'm a fairly mainstream computer user - net, word processing, music, video and a few games. My understanding of tech is basic so nothing too complex. I'm running an intel celeron 1.7ghz with 512mb RAM.

Thanks

gorilla

Well I've just switched and am using Ubuntu. Seems to get good feedback on the web, and I have to say that it has been a fairly seemless transition.

For support I've found the Ubuntu forums to be very helpful.

whotook316

I have been considering ubuntu as well, and a lot of people have recommended it on various forums.

I thought debian might have better support as it has been going for longer though - still not sure which one to choose.

How was the installation process with Ubuntu? I am not much of a techie and I want to start with a version that is simple to get up and running.

frestuffwooo

Go for ubuntu, they ship you the install disc/ live cd bundle for free. i have used in my virtual pc on Xp and looks good and is easy to navigate.

If you are still undecided why not try both in a virtual machine program before you use for real on your pc. Then you can test them out.

gorilla

Well as far as installation went, I downloaded the cd from ubuntu, burnt it to a cdr, made sure I had everything backed up, popped it in the cd drive and restarted. I was then given a few options, and I initially opted for a dual boot, but this didn't work, so the next time I just went for a 'single' boot (if that's what it's called?) and it took about 30 mins to fully install. The only problem I had was that I had to manually configure my wi-fi card. There are plenty of threads on that subject on the ubuntu forums. After about a week of using it I now have a comparable setup to my former windows setup.

wolfman

Ubuntu is very easy to install. You only need to enter a few basic settings.

Things worth noting with it though:

It makes itself the default boot option. So if you still want to use Windows via dual boot, it'll boot Ubuntu by default. There's no option to change this (slightly annoying given Fedora has such functionality), so I usually just change it once everything is installed using Terminal (there are plenty of great tutorials)

Also, setting up wireless, namely WPA on Linux is still a real pain, and something that can be tricky.

Apart from that everything works out of the box. It doesn't take long to pickup either.

http://ubuntuguide.org/ - great site

twist3d

Ubuntu or Fedora are always good and a great slow introduction into linux.

Good friendly start

Best of luck

whotook316

I do have a wireless internet set-up, but will brave it and give ubuntu a go tonight.

Thanks for your help.

bat999

Hi
I hadn't used Linux before until I installed Ubuntu ten days ago.

As somebody has already suggested, download the file and burn a cd. Then you can run the 'live cd' from your cd drive first. If it doesn't clash with any of your hardware and you like the look of it then install it.

I opted for dual-boot so that I can revert to Windows till I get my head round Ubuntu Linux.

When you do the install there's a routine that runs a hard drive partitioning program. It didn't work first time for me, I had to try it a couple of times with some care, but it worked eventually.

I've spent the last week just figuring out how to install programs and things like that. It works differently to Windows but after a while you hardly notice the difference when using it, in my opinion.

Also as already pointed out, there's loads of info on the web. Use Google to find forums and 'how to' websites.

There's also another version called 'Kubuntu'. When I tried this one it seemed just the same but with a more lively desktop.

So I'd say yes, go ahead with Ubuntu, at least run the live cd.

Good luck

Bob63

Another Ubuntu fan here, but I prefer Kubuntu because it runs KDE instead of Gnome. Kubuntu + Firefox/Thunderbird + OpenOffice is a fantastic combination for most of what people need from a PC.

Worth checking out is VMware Server which is a free virtual PC package. The best bit is that you can also download from their site lots of different ready-to-run pre-installed operating systems known as virtual appliances that can be started up under VMware Server. Very cool.

http://www.vmware.com/products/free_virtualization.html - software
http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances/ - virtual appliances

Mike

garcia

Has anyone got any cool/funky screenshots of their linux desktop to entice me and others over??