I Want To Get Linux, Which One Is Best?

[BCD 1]

Thanks akashi. I think now I will make a complete switch to ubuntu now. I am now familiar with many basic things like browsing, using apps, and setting things up. I also tried wine, Its useful to run occasional 'windows only' programs.

[yordan 10]

Thanks akashi. I think now I will make a complete switch to ubuntu now. I am now familiar with many basic things like browsing, using apps, and setting things up. I also tried wine, Its useful to run occasional 'windows only' programs.

Of course, don't forget to clone your hard disk with CloneZilla before doing that, who knows, an accident is always possible ...

[akashi 0]

#yordan : yep, anything is possible..#spencer : Wine? Hm, i did install wine once, but now i don't need it anymore.. i used wine to run my old winblows game, but i don't do such game anymore.. Btw, just for in case.. If you're using non-english winblows software, you won't be able to read the text, except you set ubuntu to use the same language as used inside the software. Once I installed a software which is in japanese, and i can read the character only if i set the system language in my ubuntu into japanese.. BTW, i'm still using winblows because some of my school software need to be run under winblows environment.. I suggest you not to delete your winblows first

[BCD 1]

@yordan: Oops I didn't, but anyway I backed up all my data on portable HDD, so even if something goes wrong later I can go for complete format. Also, I have an old P3 with win 98 just in case, if I have some important work to do. With Ubuntu installed, now I am going to install AMP on it. Just hoping everything goes fine. I didn't knew about the opensource Clonezilla, thanks for telling that, would be useful in future.And another thing in Ubuntu is that all the drivers like blutooth drivers comes pre installed, I just switched on bluetooth on my smart phone and there it got connected.@akashi: I think language won't be a problem, as I only use English on computers. Winblows.. Are you supporting to remove the word 'windows' from internet once and for all?

[yordan 10]

Winblows.. Are you supporting to remove the word 'windows' from internet once and for all?

OK, let's try to speak the new language.For the moment, I am sitting in my office, the weather is nice and shiny outside. Through the winblows I see two rabbits running on the grass.

[ndowens 0]

I would say Arch Linux, I have tried many distros: redhat(before fedora), mandrake, suse, slackware, gentoo, debian and of course Arch. I use to hop from distro to distro, but now I don't. The benefits of Arch is 1. You can make it as minimal or as fat as you want. 2. Compiled for i686, so if you are running a fairly new processor then you may notice some speed difference, some will argue it don't, but I believe it does help. 3. Pacman is great, Like I said i've used Debian and Gentoo, I would compare pacman as being somewhat closer to apt then portage. It does a nice job, it will check to see if other packages needs what you are wanting to uninstall before you uninstall a program. 4. Arch has AUR. Which you can create packages and upload them to share with others. I currently do it, not as active as i was, I have over 100 something packages in AUR. If you like bash scripting then you'll like AUR, because it is kinda like bash scripting in a way. Though Arch isnt as ppl say, "n00b friendly" but it certainly is a nice distro.

[ysNoi 0]

I would like to suggest also using Linux Mint. I've been using it until now and all I can say is it's so cool. It's also based on Ubuntu and now there are many editions for alternative desktops such as KDE, Xfce, Fluxbox and LXDE.

Check Linux Mint for more info.

[manuleka 0]

I would like to suggest also using Linux Mint. I've been using it until now and all I can say is it's so cool. It's also based on Ubuntu and now there are many editions for alternative desktops such as KDE, Xfce, Fluxbox and LXDE.
Check Linux Mint for more info.

Mint is awesome... i highly recommend it too for new Linux converts or try-outs comes with all necessary codecs included... so out of the box you will be able to play most audio/video file formats

if you're after speed try the xfce version, but gnome seems to run fine on my limited resource netbook 1.6Ghz, 1G RAM 120GHD

[yordan 10]

my limited resource netbook 1.6Ghz, 1G RAM 120GHD

My laptop has only 200 megs memory, I feel very poor on that point.

[manuleka 0]

I'm on LinuxMint 13 KDE now... awesome is all i can say :)The Cinnamon version is really good too...

[Ahsaniqbalkmc 0]

Hey, linux is not a walk on a park OS like Windows.

There is a learning curve involved in almost everything. And personally, I feel that windows is also not "a walk on a park OS". There are a few things that make people think that windows has an easier learning curve.

Most important factor is that people start learning it from childhood. It is very hard to find a child who is exposed to the Linux ecosystem before having some sort of experience with a Windows machine. Children do have the liberty of making terrible mistakes, spending huge amounts of time trying to figure out what is correct and incorrect and getting proper guidance and the time spent is not considered as a waste.

Most people are introduced to the Linux ecosystem at a mature age where they already have experience with the windows environment. In this situation, time spent on learning something whose alternative is already easily available, is often very hard to digest. For instance before going to the advanced stuff in any Linux OS, you first need to learn the basics like navigation, configuration of settings, customization of the look and feel, basic stuff like browsing and editing etc. But you can do all of this already in the windows environment so why spend time on learning it again..... And the time consumed for this sort fo stuff feels like a long long interval which eventually makes us feel that Linux OS has a harder learning curve.

One other major factor is the amount of information available for the specific type of OS. Like for windows you have tons of information available for any kind of issue you face. There are well organized solutions as well as easily aplicable tutorials, that can help you easily solve your problem. Linux community is not that vast and though most basic stuff is easy to find, you still have to dig deeper to find the exact solution of problems that are not very common..

But overall, I don't think learning Linux is anything more difficult that learning windows. In fact if someone is already familiar with windows, the time spent on getting used to with the linux os will be much less than the time spent in the past on getting used to with the windows os.

As for the best linux distro, I think it depends on your taste and the machine you are using. I have been trying to somehow "make love" with Ubuntu, as every second person would tell you that ubuntu is the best linux distro and it has a huge reputation, but I have lately found that Linux Mint 13 suits my taste and my Computer better. So it is upto you..
Edited August 28, 2012 by Ahsaniqbal111 (see edit history)

[manuleka 0]

I agree Ahsaniqbal111Windows is the norm (and Mac) in todays generations... but Linux is growing in popularity as well (but stronger growth amongst techies)

[Ahsaniqbalkmc 0]

In my country, windows is so common that about 70% of computer using population doesn't even know that there are alternatives to it. I remember a friend of mine, who is quite familiar with computer usage, saying to me "what kind of WINDOWS is this" when he saw ubuntu on my computer. For Linux that might be understandable because it is used more by techies than commonplace people, but they don't know about MAC OS either.When you go shopping for a computer, it would be be uncommmon to find a mac lying around (mainly because of the high price) but you would easily find all types and ranges of windows machines....

[manuleka 0]

In my country, windows is so common that about 70% of computer using population doesn't even know that there are alternatives to it. I remember a friend of mine, who is quite familiar with computer usage, saying to me "what kind of WINDOWS is this" when he saw ubuntu on my computer. For Linux that might be understandable because it is used more by techies than commonplace people, but they don't know about MAC OS either.
When you go shopping for a computer, it would be be uncommmon to find a mac lying around (mainly because of the high price) but you would easily find all types and ranges of windows machines....

then i suppose we are fortunate to have the privilege of knowing a bit more about Linux and Other OS... most people don't know because they aren't interested in knowing about other OSs or Techie stuff

[manuleka 0]

have a look at this review... i love the elegance of ElementaryOS but the work on the project seems quite slow... http://www.techdrivein.com/2012/12/elementary-os-luna-review-full.html