Linux Flavors

Post Reply New Topic

If you use Linux, what distro do you love/use?

I spent a lot of time using lab computers with some ancient version of Red Hat linux with Gnome on them for Computer Science Class which, apart from having to use $&*#$@! RCS, was a pretty good experience. I've messed around with Ubuntu 6.06, Fedora Core 3, 4, 5, and 6, and Suse 10.

I'm trying to install Fedora Core 6 on my laptop right now but three of the five CDs have errors (my good CD burner is broken ). Of course the install of Grub completely screwed up my MBR and Grub itself refuses to work so until I can burn new CDs, I can't boot windows or linux on my laptop. (Yes, I tried using a Windows CD to run "fixmbr" but the partitions are different and it didn't work).

Another peeve I have with FC6 is that it doesn't let you resize an NTFS partition (well, if it can, it's not clear at ALL) so I had to download other software to do that.

In general, I feel like getting Linux to do anything is about 10 times harder than doing the same thing in Windows or OS-X. Of course, if you are a computer genius you can do pretty much anything with Linux. If the open source community wants Linux to be more common, it needs to be easy enough for a brain dead zombie to use.

I've used Linux on and off for about 10 years now. Started with slackware, then SuSE and Mandrake about 7 years ago. A few months ago I started on a Linux kick again and experimented with about 10 different distributions. Ended up using Kubuntu (Ubuntu with KDE), and have stuck with it. I no longer have Windows on any of my computers. By far, Ubuntu is the easiest to use and the most likely to "just work". They also have great support forums.

NTFS partitions are hard to resize no matter what operating system you're using. When I did run Windows, I never used NTFS because I had way too many problems with it. If your Windows install breaks, it becomes very difficult to recover your data when you use NTFS.

Any system you pick up and try to use is going to be different than whatever you're used to, and is going to seem harder. I'm sure once I've been using Linux for a couple more years, Windows will be much harder for me to fix and diagnose. I've heard a few stories of people who were raised on Linux and then had problems when they had to use Windows in school. It's all about what is "normal" to you.

I voted for debian, as MEPIS is based on it. I find it has the best hardware detection out there. Updating is easy as well. DSL is great for older machines. I would only use Gentoo if I was going to build a very specific type of computer, say a file server, and wanted to optimize it for that task.

I've been a dual booter of Windows/Linux for about 9 years now,ever since I bought my first machine. I love Linux, but I also like to play newly released games, and require windows specific software packages for some of the work I do. After Installing Windows, booting Mepis off the LiveCD will give you the option to install, which will offer to repartition your drive, if needed, including resizing NTFS partitions. It also adds Windows to the boot loader so you can toggle between the two.

Mepislovers.org is a great resource as well, the people are great.

I have my laptop running again with Windows but Fedora 6 still won't boot. I'll be switching to an older and more stable distro when my DVD burner arrives. Probably Ubuntu 6.06.

Ever since I saw Ubuntu, I've stayed on it. I started with Slackware and later used Debian. At my last job (Unix administrator) I used Red Hat. Some of the scientists used SuSE - actually it may have been my fault because one time SuSE was really advanced for configuring X and such. But I never used SuSE myself, and I started to hate it because of the non-standard things. Another large group there used Debian - it had evolved a lot since I had used it.
I think that Debian packages are superior, and Ubuntu is based on them, so I guess I'll stick to it, although I like the general idea of Gentoo.

Well, I had Ubuntu up and running for about a day before it died again. I tried to use Ubuntu's suspend function and it corrupted the hard drive. I'll have to wipe it and repartition it. This laptop has been running XP home for well over a year now without crashing ONCE. I thought Linux was supposed to be really stable.

Also, ATI's Linux drivers don't really work with Ubuntu and the terminal is lacking many commands like "make" and "g++" and I don't think it has C/C++ libraries on it. Linux desperately needs better hardware support which is rough with most companies releasing only proprietary drivers.

Linux is rapidly improving. I think the Ubuntu GUI is gorgeous and, for the most part, installing and updating software is very easy. However, it still has a ways to go and I just don't have the time to be constantly reinstalling it when it dies. Someday, if I am able to get it to do everything I can do in Windows, I will switch but that time is not yet. I'll probably try Linux again when Edgy Eft is officially released.

[quote="NeoPlatonist"]Well, I had Ubuntu up and running for about a day before it died again. I tried to use Ubuntu's suspend function and it corrupted the hard drive. I'll have to wipe it and repartition it. This laptop has been running XP home for well over a year now without crashing ONCE. I thought Linux was supposed to be really stable.

Also, ATI's Linux drivers don't really work with Ubuntu and the terminal is lacking many commands like "make" and "g++" and I don't think it has C/C++ libraries on it. Linux desperately needs better hardware support which is rough with most companies releasing only proprietary drivers./quote]

The ATI drivers are at fault for your crash on suspend. One of the known bugs. I don't remember if that's been fixed in the newer driver versions or not.

Ubuntu does not come with compilation binaries installed by default, but one package in apt-get will grab all the right packages for you. Can't remember the name off-hand, but you'd find it if you search the Ubuntu forums. You also might try Automatix (http://www.getautomatix.com) to grab your proprietary drivers for you.

I was put off by Ubuntu the first time I tried it, too, but I tried a few others and then came back to Ubuntu after learning more about it. It really is a spectacular distro when you learn about the little things.

You'll need the build-essentials package if you want to compile stuff in Ubuntu.

I'm currently using a dual-boot machine. (XP and Ubuntu Edgy). I'm still quite new to Linux, although I've used it since 2002, when I downloaded a distro called 'Basic Linux', which could be booted from two floppy disks. I didn't have any use for it, though.

In 2004, I burned an ISO for Knoppix, which came on a coverdisc for PC Format, and gave that a try, but I had trouble getting my USB mouse to work. I had to boot with the 'nousb' option, as HotPlug switched off the power to all USB devices for some reason.

In 2005, I gave SuSe 9.2 a try. I managed to create a partition for SuSe, using its installation program. I managed to get my ADSL modem working as well. I had lots of problems compiling stuff, though.

These days, I have Edgy Eft installed on the partition created by SuSe. I can't seem to get my WiFi card working, though, even with ndiswrapper.

I'm using Ubuntu at the moment, but I voted for Debian because I really want to use that one, just having a little trouble getting it to recognise my Ethernet at the moment so I have a CLI for Debian and a very good GUI for Ubuntu. Either way I'm Debian based .

Currently, Ubuntu Edgy + Beryl (overnighters) here. I'm amazed at how well it all works, considering I'm on a 1.6GHz Pentium 4 + NVidia GeForce2!

I go all the way back to pure Unix (and kernel programming same), via a quick dabble with Minix and an early distro of Linux that no longer exists (I even forget what it was called).

I have two copies of XP multi-booted with several other distros. My laptop has only ever had Linux on it, currently Debian, but rather out-of-date, as is the laptop.

Oddly, at present, since I replaced an old CD drive with a third HDD, my boot stuff has gone pants. I was letting ntldr have the MBR and using bootpart to get to lilos and grubs on other partitions. However, that broke, and I'm lazy, so I boot up with a floppy (SBM <http://sourceforge.net/projects/btmgr/>). It works.