Linux distro?

[dagibbs]

I'm sure somebody out there has an opinion... a couple of you said I should install Linux on my new machine. So, I'm going to do so. (Dual boot, though, with Windows -- I may even reserve some room and throw QNX on there as well. Or, maybe not.)

So, which Linux distro should I install? I'm looking for ease of install and ease of use. I can wield vi, though, if I need to.

Comments

[northbard.livejournal.com]

Ubuntu...seriously.

I went back to Windows years ago because I didn't have time to play with my OS so much.

Try it, I can pretty much guarantee you won't be disappointed

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

If nobody had an opinion, Ubuntu was going to be my choice.

[also-huey.livejournal.com]

+1, useful

I'd been using Debian since 1999ish, because it's stable and pretty power-dork. Couple years back, I switched to Ubuntu, which has Debian inside, wrapped up in a pretty GUI buttoney drool-proof drop-the-CD-in-and-it-just-works coating of candy goodness.

In a couple years, I've only seen it flake out once, and that was on some pretty bleeding-edge hardware. And the ISO is bootable and doesn't touch the hard drive unless you tell it to, so you can boot the CD on your machine and see how it looks before you install and potentially fuck a lot of stuff up.

[foms.livejournal.com]

I have used Ubuntu and Knoppix. Ubuntu is probably just marginally more drool-friendly.

[kallisti.livejournal.com]

If you want lots of eye candy...try Geubuntu, It uses the Enlightenment Desktop, and it is very, very pretty.

ttyl

[kallisti.livejournal.com]

Ya, but Debian is a relative newcommer on the block. For personal servers, and my personal system at home, I run Slackware (currently v12). It is easy to customize, and rock solid. That's why I used it as a basis for a Desktop distro that I built for a company down in the US.

But Debian is cool, as long as you use apt-get!

ttyl

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Ubuntu for me. I have experience with other distros, and Ubuntu is just really good at making the headaches those cause go away. I do run Debian on my server thoguh, as those packages seem a bit more reliable (although they're also more out of date, and a bit harder to configure).

[iclysdale.livejournal.com]

I'll join the chorus for Ubuntu, which installed with absolutely no problems on my laptop. The only thing to keep in mind is after the (easier than Windows) install, you need to jump through some (fairly simple) hoops to install support for patent-restricted codecs that you're likely to want, like, say, MP3 or Flash. Instructions are at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats -- but you have to know to look for them, unless they've improved that in the newest installer.

[green-ogre.livejournal.com]

I use Fedora. But that is mainly since I use it at work and generally know it idiosyncrasies.

I have heard many good things about Ubuntu.

[kallisti.livejournal.com]

As someone who has been using Linux since kernel v0.12...I would recommend Ubuntu...although if you want a more "Windoze" looking interface, you can use a variant called Kubutu, which uses the KDE desktop rather than the Gnome Desktop. KDE is very much like the standard Windows interface.

If you really want a pretty interface, another Ubuntu variant called Geubuntu uses the Enlightenment Desktop, which has the stated aim of bringing the look and feel of Bladerunner to the Linux desktop....but Geubuntu is in the early stages, so it has a few glitches. :-(

If you need any Linux help, just ask.

ttyl

[arndis.livejournal.com]

Another vote for Ubuntu. I recently set up a computer for a couple who had used computers occasionally but never owned one. They knew nothing about computer care, feeding, or vaccination. I put Ubuntu on it and was seriously impressed at how painless to set up and easy to use it was. Half an hour of basic tutorial later they were up and running and I have not had a single question or complaint about it for the past few months.

[mikepictor.livejournal.com]

Ubuntu seems to be *the* thing these days. It's received pretty impressive press. I don't know it personally, though I have toyed with the idea of putting it on a partition, so I can learn what the fuss is about.

[arndis.livejournal.com]

oh yes! and in case you still need to visit the Evil Empire occasionally, you can install the free VMware Server program to run Windows like an application. Directions at the bottom of this article: http://lunapark6.com/ubuntu-710-gutsy-desktop-edition-review.html

[xiphia.livejournal.com]

Ah, but the important question is, when running World of Warcraft on Linux, should one go the VMWare or Transgaming route? :p

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I don't, actually, expect to be running WOW.

[xiphia.livejournal.com]

Join the dark side, you know you want to!

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Note: dual boot.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Hm... I'd need to install windows on the vm supplied by VMWare, but I'm getting OEM windows, so probably am not licensed to do that.

Of course, I could run Ubuntu under VMWare under Windows, and just visit Linux occasionally. ;)

(I use VMWare a fair bit for work, actually. I run QNX in VMWare a lot.)

[eviljohn.livejournal.com]

Ubuntu here too. After recently building a new desktop out of spare parts (It's a 2.8ghz and beats the pants off my 3.4 xp box.) I'm considering totally giving up on Windows - relegating to to dual-boot and only using it when I need to run a windows-only app -- that can't be run through Wine, which is not much, most of the windows apps I run are also on Linux (thunderbird, firefox, pidgin, openoffice).

At work I use Fedora, and it's good too. But I think Ubuntu is more user-friendly.

[redscorp.livejournal.com]

Kubuntu is nice...

But for me, I made this decision long time ago, is better to run all non-host OS'es in virtual boxes.
So I have Windows host right now and I run vmWare virtual SW because of it's portability (I can switch to linux host without any problems for my VM's). I run in VM boxes few QNX'es, few different Windows'es and at least one Linux (today it's Kubuntu).
Running VM's at dual/quad-core CPU is pretty nice today. I choose this way.