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What Linux should I download?


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#1
Matt T

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Hey,

I've just come back from the library and I got a great book out on Linux. It includes a bootable trial disc that I'm going to try now.

I think I might install Linux on a seperate partion to Windows and I was just wondering what Linux you would recommend. The author recommends Mandrake but the book got published in 2004.

Thanks in advance,

~Matt :whistling:

Edited by Matt T, 16 December 2007 - 09:45 PM.

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#2
warriorscot

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Ubuntu is probably the best at the moment for people new to linux its designed more for people new to linux who want a desktop use distro. I dont even think mandrake is called mandrake anymore.
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#3
Kemasa

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What version is much like what brand of vehicle should you buy. Each person has their own preference, sometimes with good reasons and sometimes just because that is what they happen to know.

I personally like Mandrake, now Mandriva. Others I know like Ubuntu. I would strongly suggest having a copy of Knoppix around, since it is a very good utility disk to have when you have problems, even if you only were to run Windoze.

I have seen install problems with RedHat, but many companies go with that for some reason, so it is good to know that for work reasons.

I would suggest that you try different versions and see which you like.
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#4
Matt T

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Okay I'm going to try some different versions and just see. Thanks for your help.

~Matt :whistling:

Edited by Matt T, 16 December 2007 - 09:47 PM.

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#5
silverbeard

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Try various Live CD's. Knoppix is the first and one of the best for the the newbie to cut teeth on. SimplyMepis 6.0 is Ubuntu based and what I use daily. With partitions already established it's one of the easiest distros I've ever installed (15 minutes up and running). Live distros are the best way to find what works for you.

Some distros to try:
Knoppix 5.x
Slax 5.x very nice pocket distro (fits on a mini-CD)
DSL ([bleep] Small Linux) this is one of the best small distros (50MB) and you can carry it in your wallet on a business card sized CD. Easy to install to disk and depending on you hard ware it will run completely loaded to RAM and is lighting fast. *It does have things about it Windows users may find strange (copy and paste is handled differently)

Check out distrowatch.com for the top distributions in development.

Silverbeard
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#6
Matt T

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Okay, I've downloaded Mandriva and then I put the file onto a cd. I booted up the computer and then it puts up this console thing and I just want to know how do I get to like the main interface - desktop.

Thanks for your help.

~Matt :whistling:

Edited by Matt T, 16 December 2007 - 09:47 PM.

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#7
silverbeard

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Try log in=root | Password=root type the command "startx" (no quotes). generally there is a guide to get the Xsession started . It may be that the Xserver is not able to start on your system. you can try the command "xconf" (no quotes). I haven't tried Mandriva since Mandrake 9.0. Again try Knoppix. It has the the best autoconfig of the Live distros (it's used by a lot of Live CDs) and it's a great tool to have around.
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#8
Kemasa

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It does not sound like you installed the OS yet. If you created the install disk, you need to follow the instructions for installing the operating system. Once that is done you will get a windowing environment.
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#9
Avohir

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I'd reccomend Unbuntu or Suse
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#10
warriorscot

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Yeah Ubuntu and suse are pretty idiot proof at the moment those would be my choice(actually ubuntu is my choice for the moment the live CD is pretty good, slax has a good easy to use live cd as well and has the plus its tiny and can run in ram).
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#11
Matt T

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Is Mandriva not a live cd?

Edited by Matt T, 16 December 2007 - 09:47 PM.

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#12
silverbeard

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Why bother with Live CDs? Run linux inside Window with VMware Player. There are quite a few appliances that are full OSs. including serveral varities of Ubuntu. I've have an appliance that you can use to mount Live CDs in VM. Very cool stuff.

Oh, watch your hard drive space. Virtual Machines can take 4 to 8+ gigs of space each.

Edited by silverbeard, 17 August 2006 - 02:26 AM.

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#13
Kemasa

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Mandriva is not a Live CD. There are other Live CDs, if that is what you want.

You need to have enough free space to create a partition, which can be done, but you should first backup your system, then defrag it. Mandrake used to come with a tool to resize a NTFS paritition, so I would assume that it still does. It is a bit more work to do all this.

In my personal opinion, when you install Linux, you should have a /boot partition of around 100Mb, then a root partition of around 4-6Gb (depending on what all you want), a swap partition of around 512Mb-2Gb, a home partition of at least 4Gb and perhaps an additional data space of around 4Gb. I also like to have a secondary root partition for loading a new version of the operating system and/or to backup the current OS.
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#14
Pi rules

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I also recommend using VMWare player for Linux. That way you can easily switch between that and Windows whenever you like and you don't have to mess around with partitions. You can make it so the virtual hard drive file expands as needed, so you only use the storage you need. Right now I have 4 virtual Linux distros: PCLinuxOS, Freespire (which I don't like much), Ubuntu, and SUSE, but I'm adding more later. I would probably recommend Ubuntu first.
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