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The Best Linux Distro for a New User?
GhostCypher asks: "I've been a Mac user for nigh on 12 years, and recently made the reverse-switch (yes, Mac to PC) due to an unfortunate accident to my PowerBook. Now that I have this spiffy new HP laptop, I want to run Linux or Unix of some flavor on it, but I don't know the best one to run. I've been considering FreeBSD and OpenBSD, as well as SuSE Linux, Fedora, and Mandrake. Could the wisened Linux gurus here offer some insight as to the best package for a former Mac user to introduce him to the greater world of Linux without major headaches in setting it all up?"
Fedora, but adding apt-rpm and a sources.list pointing to where the mp3 and flash suport is.
Knoppix is your friend.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
... If they just want to play around with it, get a feel for how it acts, looks, etc. without changing the contents of the hard drive, Knoppix.
If they are comfortable with using space on their hard drive, even free space on a fat32 partition, I would recomend Mandrake.
But that's just me. They could use the Mandrake Move CD for non-harddrive breaking as well.
-Rusty
You never know...
Could the wisened Linux gurus here offer some insight as to the best package for a former Mac user to introduce him to the greater world of Linux without major headaches in setting it all up?
Well, I love and advocate Linux use all I can, but know more than a few Linux desktop users that lean hard on their MacOS X Powerbooks. They're "UNIX", they have Word, Powerpoint and the usual Mac "it just works" stuff.
But if you have some influence with Apple, mebbe you could suggest an x86 port of OS X...:)
Realistically, any modern Linux distro is reasonable, but will lack a lot of the multimedia niceties that come out of the box with your Mac.
Maybe if you get CrossOver Office or Lindows it would help ease the pain of your loss.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
It's a legitimate question but definately flamebait starting distro religious wars.
To answer though, I'd say fedora is the best choice. You'll definately want to go to the dag site and install the apt rpm and then use that from now on. Also use Fedora Core 1, Fedora Core 2 is very new and was released extremely buggy.
Next up would be Mandrake, which is a little more user friendly but you'll have alot of trouble installing software. The reason is simple, 90% of rpms out there are made for redhat/fedora and expect the core libraries and such to match up with the names redhat has given them. All the core rpms for mandrake have different entries in the rpm database (even if the rpm is otherwise identical they've changed this for some odd reason).
As for Linux, well, you did ask for ease of use. I've tried several Linux distros, and they all failed in one way or another. RedHat was the worst -- the installer got into a nice graphics mode just fine, but somehow couldn't tell XFree86 what settings it used, and subsequently XWindows was a pain in the ass. Perhaps Fedora is better, but somehow I doubt it. Mandrake couldn't recognize my network card to save it's ass (but RedHat could, so a driver is available). SuSE wouldn't let me try without buy (no ISO), so forget them. I wouldn't touch Debian with a 20 foot pole because 1) they're so damn political, and I don't need that crap I just need an OS; 2) they're way behind on the kernel releases; and 3) they're so damn political.
Basically, I'd stay away from any distro that calls itself "GNU/Linux" because their political statement is their #1 priority, and you want the distro to be their #1 priority.
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
I can't compare any of the BSDs with each other or with Linux, but I would personally recommend Debian or one of it's derivatives (Libranet, Xandros, Knoppix, etc.), but there are bigger issues than that, IMO.
If you have a friend that's a Linux/BSD guru, pick the same distro as him so that it's easier for him to help you when you have a problem. If not, then start looking at the advice presented here.
Disclaimer: I recommended some distros, but my recommendations are not necessarily right nor wrong. Don't flame me for my own opinions.
Why do you want to switch to Linux?
It really depends on your needs. Though I personally recommend Gentoo to all (yep, I'm a zealot :), because of it's great documentation, strong system control, and ease with which it teaches you Unix systems in general
My advice, start out with Mandrake, and after you screw it up or it screws you up, switch over to debian - with a little patience you will never want to use anything else.
There are so many variables involving your needs and preferences that there is no really good answer to this question. One solution would be to visit http://www.linuxiso.org/ , burn a couple of distros and install them to see what you like.
Personally, I have used three different distros: SuSe, Debian and RedHat. I like the Debian ethos and, if you're setting up a server, it is hands-down my preference.
RedHat used to be the leader but has stopped supporting desktop version and has been replaced with Fedora. When RedHat went public, they replaced their loyalty to customers with loyalty to shareholders - much to the detriment of their product. They had made several Microsoft-style moves to lock users into their product. I don't know if any of these maneuvers currently affect Fedora. If they do, you should avoid it.
SuSe is my most recent experience. I take my own advice and try different distros occasionally and I must say I am extremely happy with the usability and look-and-feel of Suse 9.0. You could certainly do worse.
It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
When I first started with linux I used whichever Red Hat was out 6 years ago. After a year I switched up to Mandrake. Mandrake had newer packages and supported my hardware better. As I used linux more and more I learned more and more about it. About 6 months ago I switched up to Gentoo. I wouldn't reccomend going to Gentoo or Debian right away unless you are particularly adventurous. But if you are the kind of user who really wont settle for less they are the only distros that give you "real unadulterated linux".
So what you want to do is use Knoppix Mandrake Suse, etc. And learn as much as you can from those. Eventually you will reach a point where you aren't learning anything new. You'll also start getting frustrated because things wont work, and you wont be able to change certain things. RPMs are easy, but overall fickle and confining. When you reach this point, set aside a weekend and print the gentoo installation handbook and get a livecd. Or go the debian way, either is good. Anything harder core than those two distros is more difficulty with little reward for it. Lunar Linux is about as far as you want to go.
Anyway the point is if you want to be a real linux guy and get the full experience and whatnot, start small and work your way up.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
In the past few weeks I've installed SuSE 9.0 on a number of systems (PI 166 - Athlon 600) using the FTP install option. Assuming the system has at least 96 MB of RAM it's a breeze to install (using a temporary swap file gave many problems when I tried it).
Other than that, all hardware in those systems (ranging from proprietary OEM to self-build systems) was detected without issues. YAST is the best admin tool I've used with any distro (including Mandrake and RedHat (now Fedora)).
YMMV.
Site & blog: http://www.mayaposch.com
As people have already told you, it depends on the user. If they want to learn Unix, learn the OS and environment inside and out, how it works, etc., then stay away from the newbie distros. The hard systems are the way to go.
Slackware, FreeBSD, or Debian. Without the handholding, they'll actually learn the system. They'll be forced to drop into the command line to configure some stuff. They'll come to understand how it all fits together. This is a Good Thing(tm).
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
I get a kick out of many Linux zealots, how they think if something has a GUI and you can actually install it without dropping to the CLI to run some obscure command, that its too Windows like, and thus garbage.
Nearly every mainstream distro runs the same kernel, the same XFree, the same Samba, the same Mozilla, the same Evolution. Some may be older, or newer versions, but in general its ALL THE SAME SOFTWARE!
The bottom line, especially for someone new to Linux is to get them familiar with it, without frustrating the hell out of them, or making them dependant on the local Linux guru to do even the simplist of tasks. This will greatly increase the chances of them actually liking it, and wanting to learn more ON THEIR OWN.
People who recommend Debian to someone who has never install Linux before is simply throwing them to the wolves. Oh, but Debian only uses open source software? If this person has never installed Linux before, chances are they don't care! Oh, but you only ever install it once, then use apt-get after that. This is mostly true, but if they get frustrated before they even install it, what good is apt-get?
Apt-get used to be Debians one "killer feature", but that is no longer so. Every major distro has something similar, and in some cases something much better, especially for newbies. (read: Mandrakes URPMI, which is anything but new)
If your new to Linux, and your looking for the easiest route to get up and running with it, install Mandrake. Its as simple as that. Mandrake has some of the best hardware detection, and by far the easiest install process. Not to mention, once its installed, your not left out to dry.
It has nice GUI utilities to setup almost anything you want, all in ONE SIMPLE CONTROL PANEL. Printers? No problem, its easier then Windows if your printer is supported. Want to change screen resolutions? This is just as simple as windows too. What about a scanner? Yup, that too, simple. Even remote desktop applications like VNC/rdesktop Mandrake has simple little utilities to help you out.
I can hear people screaming right now. "Oh, but they wont learn how to actually use Linux then." You know what, MOST people don't care. They just want something that WORKS! If the Mandrake utilities work, thats great. If they don't, they can still dig in to the configuration files and get it to work. Just because the GUI utilities exist, doesn't mean the distro is evil, it simply means there are more options.
I've been using Linux since Slackware 3, and as the only OS on my home and work machine for the last 4 years. Mandrake is my distro of choice simply because I value my time, and when I want something to work, I don't want to have to spend hours reading man pages and forums to learn some obscure configuration file settings to just get my printer to work. I fire up Mandrakes printer utility, pick my printer, it downloads the drivers, installs them, and I print a test page. For things I care more about, like the Kernel I'm running, I simply download the latest MM patches and install them like normal.
Simply put, it just works. For newbies though, please don't try to push your ideals on them, simply help them get up and running as fast as possible and feel comfortable. Once they've done that, they can explore at will.
If you don't recommend Mandrake for this task, you either haven't tried it yourself, or you haven't given it a real chance. Because if you had, you would realize that NO other distro has put as much time and effort in to making Linux accessible to newbies then Mandrake has.
Open Source Time and Attendance, Job Costing a
Echoing some of the other posts here: It depends what you want to get out of Linux.
If you "just want to use it" (i.e. you just want a nice desktop system that isn't proprietary, or just want to try out some Linux programs) I'd recommend (roughly in order of preference):
If, on the other hand, you actually want to learn Linux:
Those would be my suggestions, anyway.
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Everyone has their opinion on the best distro. However, if your main goals are easy, stable, cheap, complete, MadrakeLinux is your choice. Ohter people will say other distros. Often I think their reasons are that everyone's goals should be speed, congiruablitiy, community-led, 1 CD install, etc. instead of easy, stable, cheap, complete. Pick the distro for your goals.
- Gentoo: fast, configurable, community-based
- Debian: stable, community-based
- Knoppix: 1 CD install.
- Fedora: cutting (bleeding) edge
- etc.
Madrake 10.0 official will be available free at the end of this month.How I installed KDE 3.2 on SuSE 9:
)
:) For people who ask me what to run, I say SuSE because that's what's on my desktop right now. The servers are a different story, but no one asked about them...
download all packages in "SuSE9.0" dir on ftp.kde.org (ftp.us.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/3.2/SuSE/ix86/9.0/
change to directory containing all packages
type "rpm -Uvh *.rpm"
enjoy KDE 3.2
It wasn't hard at all. What gave you problems?
BTW, I recommend SuSE to newbies because the installer's pretty easy, the KDE's pretty well integrated (K3.2 comes with SuSE 9.1), and pretty much everything they'll want to run is already compiled and available for SuSE. I've used Xandros (yeah, I've *also* used all of the distributions as of a couple years ago when a bunch started showing up, been Linuxing for more than a decade, etc, and prefer SuSE) and wasn't all that impressed. I think SuSE's better.
Good advice for a newbie? Figure out who you're gonna ask questions of, and run what they run. The same stuff runs on all of them, but not everyone can provide support for all distros.
I tends to be more secure out of the box than other distros. It has a superior package system that doesn't break your system or install lots of unnecessary crap. It has superior BSD style init scripts that are easier to manage (no need to wrestle with multiple levels of scripts and symbolic links). It puts files where software developers intend them to be instead of second-guessing them. It doesn't try to tie you in to nonstandard admin tools. These last two points make finding answers on the internet a lot more productive, since you have to spend less effort trying to adjust the information to your machine.
-- $SIGNATURE
Oh, well heck. I didn't realizing you were flamebaiting on purpose.
Carry on, then!
With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter. -- William Lloyd
Personally I went with Fedora Core 1 and installed from the CD in Red Hat and Fedora Core Unleashed. (Amazon. ) I got mine at the library.
The book walks you through some trouble spots you might encounter and nudges you towards some options that may not be obvious from the Fedora literature, like having yum look at freshrpms.net instead of Red Hat (for packages that Red Hat might regard with disdain.) It even walks through installs of the UT2004 Demo and Enemy Territory.
blarg.