Linux Recommendation

[SpaClient]

I'm interested in learning about Linux and was hoping that someone here could provide a suggestion regarding a place (web site) to start. I've got enough spare parts to build system but no idea about which version/distribution to use, how to install, etc.

TIA for any suggestions

 

[Armagettin]

Send Woodpecker a note. He will probably help you out with some good advice.

 

[Cassini]

Try Ubuntu to get started. The website has a LiveCD version, that is easy to play with. I installed Ubuntu onto a USB key initially, but I would recommend finding a computer and installing it directly onto the computer. SATA Hard Drives are much faster than USB keys.

Ubuntu also works well if installed onto a SSD.

 

[AdmiralG]

For online lessons, this is a pretty good place to start: http://www.linux.org/lessons/

As for version/distro I have been using Ubuntu for many years with no complaints. Here's the how to on installation.

Hope that helps.

 

[Kyra.Graves]

About two years ago I decided to start researching Linux/Unix myself, it's been quite a learning process but I've found a lot of information online that will help to get you started.

The first real question is 'what is it you want to do'? Once you answer that you'll know which programs will be good to start with.

Ubuntu is a very popular system that is easy to install and use, and still very robust. There are Desktop and Server versions depending on what you want to do (http://www.ubuntu.com/GetUbuntu/download). Both come with a full suite of applications, like Open Office (like Microsoft Office), media players, Web browsers and everything else you would expect.

Like most Unix operating systems Ubuntu also has a application download feature that will allow you to install other applications you might want right from the Internet and install the automatically.

If you are looking at doing more serious serving, for a Web site or database serving, you might want to look at Debian (http://www.debian.org/distrib/). Debian has support for higher end processors and hard drives and supports more enterprise class services. It also has all the same features as Ubuntu Server, but more native administrative abilities.

Finally, if you just want to fool around a bit first and get used to the Unix world then Knoppix is a great Operating System that will run from a CD (http://www.knoppix.org/). You can simply insert the bootable cd in any machine and it will load a completely functioning operating system independant of what is on your hard drive. It has Open Office and the other applications and is a good training ground for Unix. You can also install it permanently on any machine if you wish.

Good luck!

 

[WoodPeckr]

I'm interested in learning about Linux and was hoping that someone here could provide a suggestion regarding a place (web site) to start.

Lots of great advice so far and you can't go wrong with Ubuntu.

There are over 100 flavors of Linux right now and most can be run off a Live CD you can burn yourself to give it a test drive, without disturbing a thing on your PC's present system. Then if you like what you see, install that distro and experience it at full speed.

www.distrowatch.com is a great site for overall general info on all the current Linux distros and ranks them by their popularity. Distrowatch gives plenty of links to other Linux help sites.

Been using Linux for about 3 years now, picking it up at my own pace, all self taught. At this point I can claim to be both M$ and Mac FREE. Don't need either of them to pick my pocket anymore. It's good to be FREE!....

 

[The Options Menu]

Lots of great advice so far and you can't go wrong with Ubuntu.

I'm an old Debian / KDE guy and this is where I'd go first (Ubuntu). If you keep your '/home' on a separate partition changing distros becomes easy (though you might have to nuke some configuration files in your '/home'), and don't be afraid to try new thing and kick the tires on KDE if you use GNOME or kick the tires on GNOME if you use KDE.

The big things to figure out are:
-Package management for your distro. This alone should be enough to get you off the Windows. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_management_system
-The rough topography of the linux filesystem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard
- If you plan on experimenting figure out one simple command line text editor, and the basic commands. I'd suggest nano for the editor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nano_(text_editor) , and a command quick reference: http://www.pixelbeat.org/cmdline.html

 

[WoodPeckr]

The Options Menu, thanks for the links.

I'm an old Debian / KDE guy and this is where I'd go first (Ubuntu).

I used openSUSE 11.0 for a couple months and liked it.
Heard so many good things about it and wanted to see what KDE was all about.

It had KDE 4.0, I think, and it was about the time YAST was introduced, which made adding & removing apps much easier than before. The openSUSE help forums were very helpful and the big debate then was staying with KDE 3.5 because KDE 4.0 was considered buggy. As I got more into openSUSE I saw what they meant and ended up downgrading to KDE 3.5 which did run better. I assume this is all taken care of by now. Then when Jaunty was released I went back to Ubuntu. KDE is only a little bit more complex than Gnome which I still prefer for it's utter simplicity.

 

[The Options Menu]

I've used KDE since it was pre-1.0, generally speaking the KDE 4 of today has pretty much covered all of the gaps that 4.0.0 had. The worst thing about KDE 4.0.0 was that the distros packaged it.

For me, I tend to hit the GNOME wall. Where there's some bit of functionality I think should be there and it isn't, so I end up hunting down another app with that functionality. KDE 4 (and even the 3.4 and 3.5 series) made some big strides to fixing helping with KDE's usability. KDE 3.2 hit the peak of massive, cluttered, and packed with every person and their goat features-- KDE has gotten rid of a lot of that, while maintaining room for features that have a reasonable level of demand. To each their own.

The big thing about KDE and GNOME is that for 9 out of 10 apps they are close enough you just use whatever app is associated with a given desktop. But both have their best of breed apps. I love my Amarok music player and Digikam for digital cameras, but I use the GIMP for image editing and Synaptic for package management on the rare occasions I use a gui for that. Most of the slush goes to the KDE apps, but I make a point of forcing myself to use GNOME for a couple of weeks every 6 months to a year.

The only real boneheads left in KDEland are the inability to remove the cashew in the default KDE 4, and the fact that K3B, the best burning app I've ever used, still isn't fully ported to KDE 4. But KDE's tight integration is great-- Lot's of downloadable content via 'Get Hot New Stuff', Phonon with the Xine backend is great (Gstreamer has always been nasty to me), KIO on anything that will take a path, Plasma has actually gotten decent, Kwin's tight integration with the desktop and 3d bling, feature rich dialogues and a solid file manager in Dolphin, and a tabbed console in Konsole... Oh, and spell check in every text box (for 7 years)! I'm turning into an advertisement, but I honestly Like GNOME as well, and I'd suggest Ubuntu + Gnome for learning the ropes because of the simplicity and strong English language community.

You're not going to learn about package management, the command line and text editors, the layout of the linux filesystem and the possibilities there, and how to set up an enterprise level network in your basement if you're fighting the interface and can't get quick help in your language... KDE 4 is simple enough, but the Ubuntu community is enough to make me say start with the defaults.

 

[canucklehead]

I have a bunch of Nix guys on my team at work .... and we all pretty much believe in Ubuntu for everything... pretty simple for the average home user.

 

[WoodPeckr]

I love my Amarok music player
...... and the fact that K3B, the best burning app I've ever used, ....

These are two of my fav apps also, that run great on Ubuntu.
Use Amarok mainly to listen to online radio, then if I hear a good song, Nicotine + will get it in a minute or two.

K3B is awesome, quite a switch from using bloated Nero 9.

 

[The Options Menu]

I have a bunch of Nix guys on my team at work .... and we all pretty much believe in Ubuntu for everything... pretty simple for the average home user.

It depends though, if you're keen on stable and up to date use Debian Testing, if you're keen on a bit less stable and very up to date use Debian Unstable, if you have a server that really needs to be stable use Debian Stable.

The one advantage Debian has is that the packages are more vanilla, and rolling nature of Testing / Unstable / Experimental make staying on the bleeding edge easier unless you're keen on fishing from PPAs(?). Unlike other distro's test versions Debian testing is really damn safe, and even unstable won't usually bite you...

Mind you that's not taking anything away from Ubuntu. They have a fast release cycle, it's just that on my desktop if the updates aren't rolling I start building my own (How many .debs and .rpms have I rolled? How many Kernels built? How much software built in my $HOME?)... or fishing from experimental repositories... But you really can't beat Ubuntu because of the fast(ish) release cycle, and the reasonably friendly community. Especially as you shake off those nasty Windowsisms.

At this point I fear no *NIX I'm a long time Linux, Solaris, and BSD guy in roughly that order for work and for play.

 

[mumford]

I'm with Kyra_to on this one. For the desktop Ubuntu is fantastic. I've used both Ubuntu and Kubuntu for desktops and notebooks, and have found them to be amazing client side OSes. For the server, I'm biased to Debian as well. I use it for our cluster as well as our everyday servers. Once you use apt-get, all other package managers just seem complicated.

About two years ago I decided to start researching Linux/Unix myself, it's been quite a learning process but I've found a lot of information online that will help to get you started.

The first real question is 'what is it you want to do'? Once you answer that you'll know which programs will be good to start with.

Ubuntu is a very popular system that is easy to install and use, and still very robust. There are Desktop and Server versions depending on what you want to do (http://www.ubuntu.com/GetUbuntu/download). Both come with a full suite of applications, like Open Office (like Microsoft Office), media players, Web browsers and everything else you would expect.

Like most Unix operating systems Ubuntu also has a application download feature that will allow you to install other applications you might want right from the Internet and install the automatically.

If you are looking at doing more serious serving, for a Web site or database serving, you might want to look at Debian (http://www.debian.org/distrib/). Debian has support for higher end processors and hard drives and supports more enterprise class services. It also has all the same features as Ubuntu Server, but more native administrative abilities.

Finally, if you just want to fool around a bit first and get used to the Unix world then Knoppix is a great Operating System that will run from a CD (http://www.knoppix.org/). You can simply insert the bootable cd in any machine and it will load a completely functioning operating system independant of what is on your hard drive. It has Open Office and the other applications and is a good training ground for Unix. You can also install it permanently on any machine if you wish.

Good luck!

 

[WoodPeckr]

Once you use apt-get, all other package managers just seem complicated.

Agreed!
I use apt-get in Ubuntu whenever possible, it's amazing.

All you need is the correct code.

 

[Horny B]

PC Linux OS

Tried different flavor over the years, as a lot of Linux fan have had Ubuntu for awhile, but since a year I use PC Linux OS. It is a Mandriva Based distro on Gnome desktop. I prefer Gnome to KDE as I find it less bloated with package that I don't use anyway. Should you want to do the comparison between those 2 (Gnome or KDE) after you have installed PC Linux OS, you can alway's install the KDE package. ( same apply for Ubuntu)
For using Gnorme or KDE you choose at the login screen
This distro is North American based, and the look is very different than other Linux Distro.
I also appreciate the Forum when I have any kind of problem, there is a good base of specialists and usually the answer come pretty fast. Still is a personal taste and like womans, different persons, different tastes.

 

[enyaw]

I also use pc linux, latest distro/vers. I've tried opensuse, kubuntu. I'm a kde guy. The reason why pc linux won out. My wireless card works right out of the box. Game over, wireless config without going through hoops is very diff in linux. It all depends if the chipset for the wireless card is written in the kernel. It is a debian based distro. Play around with linux, esp the live ones. Run right off the disk, and when your finished reboot right back into windows

good luck,

 

[WoodPeckr]

Fedora is coming on strong again. Started out with Fedora about 3 years ago before moving to Ubuntu and liked it. I'd say it was as easy to pick up as Ubuntu. It was laid out well.

Linux distros have come a long way in just the last 3 yrs.
Much more user friendly than in the past. The biggest problem today is deciding on which flavor to try out.

 

[blackram]

I'm with others regarding Ubuntu. If you have a relatively modern system (let's say within the last 5 years), then Ubuntu will fly on your system.

If you have a slightly older system let's say from the late 90's, then you might want to check out Elive Linux. It's a smaller distro, geared toward small memory and disk space.

 

[SpaClient]

Thanks!

You guys have given me a lot to think about. The reason I want to try this is threefold: 1 - learn a little about linux (but a gui is not necessary) 2 - set up a twonky based (UPnP) media server for my home and 3 - since I'm in the process of learning about web development, operate a development/testing server using linux, apache, some form of SQL and PHP. Seems like I have a little exploring to do. Thanks again.

 

[JohnHenry]

You guys have given me a lot to think about. The reason I want to try this is threefold: 1 - learn a little about linux (but a gui is not necessary) 2 - set up a twonky based (UPnP) media server for my home and 3 - since I'm in the process of learning about web development, operate a development/testing server using linux, apache, some form of SQL and PHP. Seems like I have a little exploring to do. Thanks again.

Go with one of the server distros instead of desktop, and don't install KDE or GNOME,
If you are only going to use a character based environment then even a P3 will give good performance