Linux?

[Ghostly apparition]

ok, heres the deal. I'm thinking of giving Linux a try and want to hear
from any of you who have Linux installed as to which distro you use
/pros and cons etc. I have been checking out the information
at www.distrowatch.com but I want to hear from any of you first.
I would prefer one that would set aside a partition for me as I don't have
a partition program of my own. I really only want to hear from people
who actually have experience with linux please. Thanks in advance for
any advice you can give me.

Just in case you want to know I have a 1.6 ghz pentium 4, 512 mb DDR ram
running windows XP home.

[WildBill]

Any distribution of linux requires that you partition your drive. The tools you need to do this come with the distribution.

If you're interested in learning about linux and how it works, I'd suggest installing Gentoo. Since you compile the entire system during installation, it's optimized for your hardware, and probably the fastest distribution there is. It's also got a really cool system for updating software. The downside is that a stage 1 install can take several days.

[LeatherMan]

Mandrake is by far one of the easiest Linux distros to use, though if you really want to dive deep into Linux you should look elsewhere (SuSE, Gentoo, Debian, Slackware).

Pros: easy to install/use, urpmi, NTFS support*, basic install takes less than an hour, extensive hardware support

Cons: overly simplified install (in some respects), too many packages (mind-boggling)

* Mandrake has a very easy to use partitioning tool included which, among other things, can safely resize and read NTFS partitions (writing to NTFS is still experimental, I think). You'll need at least 2 partitions for Mandrake: one >3GB for / and one =2 x RAM for swap (I recommend a small FAT32 partition to share files between OSes if your hard drive is NTFS).

[Microwave Oven]

Just a quick tip: WinXP does not like dual-booting with another OS if ntdetect.com is not the bootloader. Infact, XP will refuse to boot at all. You'll have to use a program called "bootpart" http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm to get it to work with Linux. I spent several days just getting Linux to coexist with XP, before being able to move on to the rest of the setup.

I use SuSE 8 Pro, because not only did it come with tons and tons of apps included, but it also came with real paper manuals, invaluable when you don't have access to the man pages. For the things I need Linux for, SuSE does it all.

[LeatherMan]

Just a quick tip: WinXP does not like dual-booting with another OS if ntdetect.com is not the bootloader.

Most distros will install Lilo or Grub and will automatically setup to boot with XP without any problems.

I use SuSE 8 Pro, because not only did it come with tons and tons of apps included, but it also came with real paper manuals, invaluable when you don't have access to the man pages. For the things I need Linux for, SuSE does it all.

Purchasing a boxed set of almost any Linux distro will net you an installation manual and basic "noob" guide (I have purchased both Mandrake 8.2 and SuSE 8.1 Personal and they both had manuals). Pro versions will generally net you more detailed manuals.

[Ghostly apparition]

I am not really into several day install processes, so I think I would wait on the
gentoo option. I was checking out Mandrade and suse and both get favorable
reviews, although 1 reviewer said Mandrake can be buggy at times. I think
I will probably go with one or the other. Thanks for the advice so far guys.

Anyone else with linux feel free to post your OS flavor.

[WildBill]

I am not really into several day install processes, so I think I would wait on the
gentoo option.

It is also possible to install Gentoo precompiled, although not half as cool. ^_^

[CrouchingDork]

Wow, I just skimmed this for like 10 seconds and the only words I undestood were like "and" and "the".

[Storm Reaver]

As a person whom currently uses Gentoo, I would have to say that it is
completely awesome. I went the GRP install way, because like you, I didn't
want a 3 day install. (Although at one point I did do it that way too) One
of Gentoo's biggest advantages over other distro's is Portage/Emerge. This
(for those that don't know) is a system where you type a simple command
and it will download and install all relevant packages and dependencies.
The amount of stuff in the portage tree is simply amazing. ex. If I wanted to
install MPlayer, all I would have to do is type "emerge mplayer" and it would
download and install it. No fuss.

With a GRP install it installs binary packages so I had my Gentoo system up
and running in the time it took to do a windows install (minus kernel compile
time (which was about 12-17 mins))

In saying this Gentoo can be abit harder than mandrake or redhat, but if you
follow the install guide you do get a working system (and to boot you learn
alot more about linux), and the forums support is better than most.

/end of speech

P.S There is a Distro called "Knoppix" which runs completely from a CD so it would
give you the feel for Linux without having to do anything to your Hard Drive partition
layout. (That link should take you where you want to go)

[[E.D.G]Chief]

Mandrake as said can be buggy, but really linux is only what you make of it (in my case I make a corrupt kernel ).

But I think as you want something nice and easy, which clear installation and so on then in my own fiddling with linux I suggest either Mandrake or ELX (Everybody's LinuX). Though many people say they "Love their SuSE"

As to gentoo an easier to follow guide than what they have on their website would be nice, so if anyone want's to post one here I might get to try my gentoo distro at last :grin: emerge type things never worked for me :cry:

And with the right software you can even run TuT

Oh one thing: I install mandrake in under 10 minutes, linux is a little faster than windows :grin:

[Salvage]

Chief]Mandrake as said can be buggy, but really linux is only what you make of it (in my case I make a corrupt kernel ).

Lol, I've done that too, not only on Linux but with Windows as well.

[[E.D.G]Chief]

all i did was press the reset button 'cos pc had frozen :cry:

[LeatherMan]

One of Gentoo's biggest advantages over other distro's is Portage/Emerge. This (for those that don't know) is a system where you type a simple command and it will download and install all relevant packages and dependencies. The amount of stuff in the portage tree is simply amazing. ex. If I wanted to install MPlayer, all I would have to do is type "emerge mplayer" and it would download and install it. No fuss.

Mandrake has urpmi which is very similar to emerge. Once you have your sources setup (very simple with Easy Urpmi), you simply type (using your example) "urpmi mplayer". All dependencies are resolved and everything is installed.

P.S There is a Distro called "Knoppix" which runs completely from a CD so it would
give you the feel for Linux without having to do anything to your Hard Drive partition
layout. (That link should take you where you want to go)

Knoppix is very cool and Mandrake now has a similar "OS on a bootable CD" called Mandrake Move.

[Ghostly apparition]

Wow, I just skimmed this for like 10 seconds and the only words I undestood were like "and" and "the".

Maybe you don't understand that much about computing? just a guess.
but hey if you're happy thats what counts right?

[LeatherMan]

Chief]And with the right software you can even run TuT

I play TUT and run my TUT server on Mandrake with Wine (I recently discovered that WineX actually runs TUT better than Wine {though not the server}... ).