Let's discuss Linux

[herpderp44]

Okay everyone, I want to talk to all of you about Linux. Me, I'm using Ultimate Edition 2.9. I want 3.0, but I have no experience with anything except Gnome, and after past experience, I don't think I'll leave Gnome.

I had experience with Ubuntu 11.04 for a while, but the entire thing got screwed up. Don't even ask, I have no clue. I then switched to Fedora (don't remember which version), and it was either LXDE or Xfce (I think is was LXDE actually). Fedora didn't do what I wanted, so after some research, I came across Ultimate Edition. It took quite a while to get (download + buying DVDs + burning DVD + install).

I must say, I'm very pleased with Linux so far. I also have Windows XP on a separate partition, and I haven't actually used it in about a month. I'm relatively disappointed with Wine, as it doesn't work too well out of the box. I've gotten Steam to run, but no games as of yet. Actually, I'm pretty sure Steam is the only thing I use Wine for as of now. Excluding Wine, Linux is one of the best things I've seen. It works well, it works quickly, and most important, it does what I want.

So tell me, what are your experiences with Linux and what distro do you recommend?

And also, I have a piece of crap 900 MHz - 3/4 gig ram old school computer in my room. It has no OS. I've tried Ubuntu 11.10, 11.04, and 10.10, and ALL of them froze. Any recommendations?

[TheMatrix]

I use openSuSE 11.4, which works pretty well :D
You'll probably need to get an older version if you want to use Gnome, but XFCE or LXDE are good too. Personally, I use LXDE.

It's up to you, though, I seem to be one of two SUSE users on this forum :P

[Magus]

I use Fedora, but Fedora 15(not 16, the current version) -- normal spin, btw.

It's really fast for my system. And I don't have anything bad going on with it. Yeah, there is some glitches here and here, but everything is fixable.

Ubuntu is fucking slow. Fuck it. Even Xubuntu is fucking slow. If it's slow on my system, how'd you think it would work on an ancient machine?

I also tried Mint LXDE -- it is similar to Ubunutu, but not the thing I want.

I might try Fuduntu(I hope it's lightweight)

There are distro for very old PC. Go to distrowatch.com and see what's there.

Linux is definitely better than XP. Except, the Wine thing is really bad.

[SosbanFach]

I made a huge post here... It crashed (I am using iOS, not Linux. That must be why :P)

It condensed to three options:
Damn Small Linux ~50mb
Puppy Linux ~100mb
JoliOS >500mb

I suggest that you download all three & give 'em a go; they're all live CDs. That's your best way of deciding which one both you and your hardware like.

[jzp706]

LINUX SUCKS!!! Sorry but i dont like windows but i have to use it (vista.x32) i actually prefer lion (osx). Doesnt crash and doesnt lag. Apple is usaully good with that.

[Silicate Wielder]

I'm running Ubuntu 11.10 qand i dont think i'll ever leave it.

Well i discovered Ubuntu like a year ago and really didnt put much thought to it. At first i was like "They're idiots that thing will never work!" but I was still currious and installed it anyways as a second operating system. and After experimenting for a while i realized that Ubuntu Is even better than linux.

My Cpu was free upgrade by HP from my crappy pentium 2.3 Ghz Cpu to two Pentium Dual-core Cpus running 2.3 Ghz each

[TheMatrix]

LINUX SUCKS!!! Sorry but i dont like windows but i have to use it (vista.x32) i actually prefer lion (osx). Doesnt crash and doesnt lag. Apple is usaully good with that.
Depends on your hardware and what you install on it. I'll just say "school computers", and then you know exactly what I mean ;)

Well i discovered Ubuntu like a year ago and really didnt put much thought to it. At first i was like "They're idiots that thing will never work!" but I was still currious and installed it anyways as a second operating system. and After experimenting for a while i realized that Ubuntu Is even better than linux.
Dude. Ubuntu is Linux. :rolleyes:
Ubuntu(as well as Fedora, etc) is based on Debian, which is merely a Linux distribution. Without Linux, Ubuntu would never have existed.
So unless you're trying to say that you prefer a distribution over just the basic kernel, which is what most everybody prefers, then you really need to check up on some facts.

[herpderp44]

I didn't expect this many replies. Wow....

Electric, can I at least ask what your computer specs are? It works faster than XP on my 2 x 2.53 GHz and 4 GB RAM (previously 2, still worked fine). Fedora for me was ridiculous. I think I had 15, come to think of it. Nothing wanted to respond right away, the menus looked terrible to me, and I plan on NEVER going back.

The thing that bugs me is the Ubuntu minimum requirements:

" A good "rule of thumb" is that machines that could run XP, Vista, Windows 7 or x86 OS X will almost always be a lot faster with Ubuntu even if they are lower-spec than described below.

1 GHz CPU (x86 processor (Pentium 4 or better))
1 GiB RAM (system memory)"

So I have almost a GHz, close enough to a Gig, and it ran XP flawlessly for me. I'll try out a few other choices (as well as possibly UE 2.9 since it's not very hard on the CPU/RAM usage), but I've grown used to Gnome. I don't know what I'd do without it.

[anonymous53]

I'm going to have to say my favorite Linux distro is Ubuntu just for ease of use. I'll use Backtrack 5 most of the time though. Although I'd prefer to use a UNIX Sun Solaris 10 over Ubuntu.

[Suicune]

Well my school, go figure, uses Ubuntu on a separate partition than Windows XP. I've used it and it looks pretty cool and feels pretty natural.

[JackOfClubs]

I'm a big fan of Ubuntu, prior to Ubuntu 11.10 anyway. I hate Unity and the GNome 3 interface. I actually just removed 11.10 from my hard drive, and am going to put 11.04 back on it once I get the chance.

[Magus]

Dude. Ubuntu is Linux. :rolleyes:
Ubuntu(as well as Fedora, etc) is based on Debian, which is merely a Linux distribution. Without Linux, Ubuntu would never have existed.Fedora is based on Redhat Linux.

Electric, can I at least ask what your computer specs are? It works faster than XP on my 2 x 2.53 GHz and 4 GB RAM (previously 2, still worked fine). Fedora for me was ridiculous. I think I had 15, come to think of it. Nothing wanted to respond right away, the menus looked terrible to me, and I plan on NEVER going back.

Pentium 2.5 Ghz, and 1 GB RAM 400Mhz. Fedora 15 as fast as XP for me. I am using the fallback mode, btw.

So I have almost a GHz, close enough to a Gig, and it ran XP flawlessly for me. I'll try out a few other choices (as well as possibly UE 2.9 since it's not very hard on the CPU/RAM usage), but I've grown used to Gnome. I don't know what I'd do without it.
Pick something other than Ubuntu. Ubuntu is fucking slow. Slow as fucking hell.

There are distros for low spec pcs. Damn Small Linux(though, not visually appealing), Puppy Linux, Crunchbag are good examples.

Check out this list: http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/8-of-the-best-tiny-linux-distros-683552?artc_pg=0

[Mirage]

I use Kubuntu. Not as my main machine, just dual booting with Win 7. If you haven't tried KDE I suggest you do, I love it. My friend says he doesn't like it because it reminds him too much of Windows (which he hates XD)

[TheMatrix]

Fedora is based on Redhat Linux.
I know. Putting to many parenthetical remarks would take away from the conciseness of the post, so I left it out.

[Magus]

I know. Putting to many parenthetical remarks would take away from the conciseness of the post, so I left it out.I know that you know. I put it there so that others know what it is.

[Darkness.]

Ok Ubuntu might be slow on some computers, but does any other distro have accessibility?

[TheMatrix]

antiX (http://antix.mepis.org/) is okayish if you're looking for something small and lightweight. It doesn't come with much, though, so you will find yourself getting programs off the web a lot.
ArkLinux (http://arklinux.org/) is optimal for the beginner. It uses KDE by default, but that's nothing that a simple...
yum groupinstall "X Window System" "GNOME Desktop Environment"
...can't fix ;)

[Magus]

ArkLinux (http://arklinux.org/) is optimal for the beginner. It uses KDE by default, but that's nothing that a simple...For a moment, I thought you have posted Arch. I was like "what the fuck! Archlinux for beginners? Is he trolling or somefing?"

[herpderp44]

Okay, I have tried Puppy Linux. I don't like the looks, but for 100 MB, I can't be picky. It ran great on my old desktop as well as my laptop that's only about a year or so newer. Only issue is installing to the hard drive. I think I got it right, but GRUB won't work with my keyboard. No buttons work at all. I'd have to use a PS/2 plug keyboard, and that's the one my dad uses on his computer, so I can only use it a few hours here and there. Still haven't tried internet on it yet, but I'm getting there.

Also, it completely froze last night while installing it to my flash drive. I'll have to investigate that.

[TheMatrix]

Okay, I have tried Puppy Linux. I don't like the looks, but for 100 MB, I can't be picky. It ran great on my old desktop as well as my laptop that's only about a year or so newer. Only issue is installing to the hard drive. I think I got it right, but GRUB won't work with my keyboard. No buttons work at all. I'd have to use a PS/2 plug keyboard, and that's the one my dad uses on his computer, so I can only use it a few hours here and there. Still haven't tried internet on it yet, but I'm getting there.
You must have a very strange keyboard, then. Almost every keyboard's basic keys are supported by the drivers.

Also, it completely froze last night while installing it to my flash drive. I'll have to investigate that.
Flash drive installs have been known to not work in the Linux world. That's not uncommon. I believe it has something to do with that most BIOSes were not made for that specifically, and if it is included, it's just kind of "thrown in there", so to speak, and isn't fully supported. Booting off of a CD/DVD is much more common(and much older), so more work is put into that. You're going to have to use CDs, I'm afraid.

[Darkness.]

But using a CD would be much slower than installing it onto a flash drive.

[Magus]

But using a CD would be much slower than installing it onto a flash drive.
It is, but it's the best way to install a Linux system.

[canadaski]

I used Ubuntu for around 1 year. To me, it's a great distro and very user friendly. The thing is, I don't want to have to run a virtual system or set up a dual boot every time I want to play a game or use native windows software. I love many of the software alternatives. The only reason I switched back to windows was because I have a few online businesses and much of the software that I need proves agonizing to use in linux. The main reason I switched was for better DAW and Camtasia Studio for doing screencasts.

[Sire]

http://www.dailyfunnystuff.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Linux-Windows-Mac.jpg

Basically my views from the Linux fan point.



Also, Ubuntu master race reporting in.

[corbin052198]

I'm suing Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit on my ASUS Eee PC. It's really nice to use, but I may install Windows XP on a separate partition soon.