Distributions

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d3ad1ysp0rk
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Distributions

Post by d3ad1ysp0rk »

Sorry to take your time up again, but here's the new question:
What's your favorite distribution and why? Please leave the price also.

P.S. I didn't make a poll because there's way too many to choose from..
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patrikG
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Post by patrikG »

Suse 9.0.

I've tried Mandrake 9.x and it's simply too cumbersome in terms of workflow once I got accustomed to Suse 9.0. Everything works very smoothly there and does exactly what it says it does.

Installation: simple. Working with it: simple. Working with it while coming from a Windows background (like me): sweet!
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Post by Nay »

I'm on RedHat 9. I actually bought it because I wanted the stickers that came with it :lol:. Reminds me of the days when I bought a box of cereals for just a toy :P.

Anyhow, I found RedHat quite easy to use. I started out with GNOME as my GUI but I switch to KDE later on. Though, another personal perference, KDE has much more functionality than GNOME - from what I see.

The other thing was hardware. I was surprised that I didn't need to install any drivers for my system. My computer was already 2 years old by the way. Internet with a router was a breeze, I just needed to configure the DHCP stuff - after much help from here :D. Though right now I'm on Windows XP since I can't get the USB ADSL modem to work with it <_<.

I bought the red box, not the grey box :lol: for S$ 36.90. That's Singaporean dollar, S$ 1.73 = US$ 1. You do that maths :D. I've yet to try other distros out but I want to get used to RedHat - get internet working first of all before going for other distros.

-Nay
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infolock
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Post by infolock »

slackware 9.0 i supose. i've used redhat and thought it was fine, but after getting told by the hardcore linux users on dalnet all the time that it was "so unsecure" and all this , i kinda never went back to it.

before you take this the wrong way, i didn't, and still don't know why they are considering it like this. dunno. all i can say for sure is, i remember the days of slackware when you had to manually configure each and every single thing on your pc, and even then it wouldn't work unless you was using a 486 with nothing namebrand and everything generic.
d3ad1ysp0rk
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Post by d3ad1ysp0rk »

because I'm sick of windows being stupid in lots of ways and i'd like to try another OS.. just not sure which one :P
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m3mn0n
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Post by m3mn0n »

I'm using Redhat 9. So far so good. Like Nay pointed out, no setup required for things such as network cards, printers, etc, etc. oh that reminds me i have to go setup drivers on a new win xp install i did.... :x

I've heard/read some good things about Mandrake and SuSE for linux beginners too~
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Heavy
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Post by Heavy »

If you like to do it the tight (compile on install) way:
http://www.gentoo.org
Still not experienced with it, installed it less than two weeks ago.

FreeBSD http://www.freebsd.org
Good package management. But it is not linux, so this is another "new" system to learn...

Both gentoo and freebsd has "ports" and "portage" which are dependency sensitive package management systems.

debian. http://www.debian.org Good, but feels outdated...

I started out using http://www.mandrake-linux.com, but I would not recommend it to anyone, newbie or not because mandrake has been a bad experience for me. the rpm CLI utility didn't work by default, thus have to use a gui to install packages. BAD, unless you are only using it for a desktop.
Join a mailing list and do it yourself instead. You'll learn faster that way.

Right now, I'm in the mood for gentoo.
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Heavy
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Post by Heavy »

I'd like to add that you should get a system that sort of keeps itself updated.

All of those I mentioned have ways to do that, but I like the portage systems the most. Read about it, and make your own opinion.
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mchaggis
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Post by mchaggis »

Iv used alsorts over the years... The first linux I ever used was Redhat (well before 6.2), the first distro I ever install at home was SuSe, next came Slackware (constant configure + make's where time consuming, but what away to learn), then it was back to trusty Redhat (6.4 this time)... Over the past few years I have flitted back and forth between Redhat and Mandrake though....

I must admit Redhat comes out top for me, although I don't use the up2date util, I use Ximians rug util as it doesn't check if u have a demo account etc and Mandrakes up2date util didn't seem to have a CLI!?

Redhat though have some what shocked me with their decisions regarding new distro's and I am looking to move away from them (http://www.redhat.com if u wanna read about paying for stability), so I tried debian this mornig... Now bare in mind I have been installing linux for some years now, installing was hell!! Was like going back into the dark ages!
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Heavy
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Post by Heavy »

mchaggis wrote:... and Mandrakes up2date util didn't seem to have a CLI!?
Yep. My greatest reason to leave them.
mchaggis wrote:...so I tried debian this mornig... Now bare in mind I have been installing linux for some years now, installing was hell!! Was like going back into the dark ages!
Yep. That's a system not really user friendly...

Gentoo is a bit like what you said about slackware, although the only time I tried slackware, I couldn't even get a useable system, because it was my first linux attempt ever, and coming from windows and not knowing anything about what "community" means, I ran into the brick wall immediately.

So, my most system close install so far is Gentoo Linux. But I'd like to say it was nice. That is a system easy to setup. But its install procedure requires a decent amount of time though, since everything is compiled on install (but there are precompiled packages as well, called stage 3. I used stage 1.)

So if you use Gentoo. Make sure to have a prepared computer installed and configured at hand in case of thefth, fire, terrorist attacks ... whatever might destroy your critical business install, because, if you are not used to it, it may take two weeks to install gentoo :wink:. But I still recommend everyone to test it.
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m3mn0n
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Post by m3mn0n »

Here is a good site to download your favorite distro: http://www.linuxiso.org
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Pyrite
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Post by Pyrite »

Slackware

The longest running distro, that is being used and under development. Every other distro either came from Slackware or came after Slackware.

nuff said.
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Post by jason »

SuSE! Whee! I try other distro's, but I keep coming back to SuSE. It's got great driver support, and is generally a great distro. YaST has also spoiled me to no end.

My only gripe with SuSE has been it's lackluster support for Gnome. However, this is slowly turning around, and with the Novell aquisition, I believe it's Gnome support will only get better.
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