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Author Topic: Which Linux?!!!!!!  (Read 5495 times)

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Offline D@nTopic starter

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Which Linux?!!!!!!
« on: April 22, 2003, 11:52:05 AM »
I am Sick of Windows in almost every way, the way it works, looks, and most of all the stabiblity, yet I am stuck with it as it is the only OS that is widley available (for x86) with good software for it (Correct me if i'm wrong!)
Except, of course if you are talking about Linux, but then Linux isn't exactly an OS that a 14 year old can just pick up and go, it required careful tweaking and understanding before it can be of any use, let alone drivers for the hardware you may have.
Linux looks great on some screenshots I have seen(Mandrake 9.0) so good that I tried it out and tried to do something useful with it, I then found that it couldn't use my modem therefore I was stuck without the internet, so I changed back to windows.
Now what I am asking is, is there any 'User frienly' Linux Distros that are easy to pick up, and offer good stuff that is easy to configure to the average end user, and also I am thinking about Wine, does this actually do what it says it does and how hard is it to use and set up?
Also are there any 'how to use linux from A-Z' websites on the internet that show you which Distro is best for you, how to install and setup, and what to do from there etc.
Thanks for all your help
Dan :-D
Fast it good :-o  :-o
 

Offline pjhutch

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2003, 12:47:08 PM »
I found Mandrake to be easily the best one I have used.
You are right about modems, Linux is picky about which ones work. WinModems are notorious difficult to work on Linux. An External Modem via Serial Port work better like the US Robotics one. So I suggest getting something like that.

There are thousands of Websites. For Help, you need to use the HOW TO documents found on either www.linux.com or www.linux.org.
 

Offline Aragorn

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2003, 01:14:05 PM »
What kind of modem? not all are supported.
Some might require some work to get running like winmodems, ISDN modems. You can try to find out what kind of modem you have and then look at the the websites for different linux dists and see if any of the support it.
You can also search for linux and the name of your modem in www.google.com and se if you find any information.

Redhat, mandrake, suse are all graphical and "user friendly"

http://www.linuxiso.org/
http://www.linux.org/

wine runns most of the programs/games that exists for windows. But only a few programs/games runs 100% perfect.
Wine is still in development and is still alpha software.
It is not exactly for endusers
 

Offline tonyw

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2003, 01:49:14 PM »
If you're going to get an A1 (as if you wouldn't!), then I'd suggest one of the two distros that currently are supported on the PPC: Debian or Yellow Dog. There is not much between them, there is plenty of support on the A1 developers' list, and plenty of help on the web.

SuSE used to have a PPC distro, but they've abandoned the PPC for now.

tony
 

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2003, 03:07:28 PM »
If you are new to linux, I recommend Morphix.  It's a bootable CD that you can install to harddisk later if you want, but runs from CD just fine.  It's based on Knoppix which has the best hardware detection of any Linux distro, so it may find your modem if it's not a Windows only modem. (Get NTL cheapo broadband for 15 quid instead)

morphix.org

There are several different ISO's to download, I prefer GNOME to KDE myself so I recommend this ISO

ftp://dl.xs4all.nl/pub/mirror/drupal/Morphix/MorphixCombined-HeavyGUI-0.3-4.iso

but one with KDE is available, and also  one with IceWM for old hardware.

If you really want to learn about Linux (and I mean REALLY learn!!) you  should give Gentoo a try gentoo.org

It's a source based ditro so you need fast hardware unless you like waiting for stuff to compile! ;-)
 

Offline tumash

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2003, 05:12:17 PM »
Hmm..  If you're looking for an easy to setup distro I would recommend you RedHat/Mandrake.

These are really easy to setup and are IMHO good for starters. Also "plus" for them is that RedHat is supported by several big companies.

If you prefer user-friendlinies, with a bit of tuning the system I highly recommend you Debian. I use it for over 2-3 years now (Started on m68k Amiga) and I simply love it. I can't even imagine using distro without apt-get, dselect or aptitude
Tomasz \\\'tumash\\\' Staniak
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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2003, 05:14:11 PM »
Quote
If you prefer user-friendlinies, with a bit of tuning the system I highly recommend you Debian. I use it for over 2-3 years now (Started on m68k Amiga) and I simply love it. I can't even imagine using distro without apt-get, dselect or aptitude


Morphix is Debian based.

Just aptget update, then apt-get install synaptic, and you're on your way! :-)
 

Offline tumash

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2003, 05:17:36 PM »
Oh.. forgot.. here is a table of equivalents between Windows and Linux..

http://linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/win-lin-soft-en/

I think you'll find it useful. You can always install vmware under linux, and run Windows in a.. window ;)
Tomasz \\\'tumash\\\' Staniak
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tumash@ldreams.net
 

Offline D@nTopic starter

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2003, 06:01:26 PM »
Well thanks for all your advice guys, I think i'll try out morphix and go from there
Cheers Dan
Fast it good :-o  :-o
 

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2003, 06:20:06 PM »
Quote
Well thanks for all your advice guys, I think i'll try out morphix and go from there


Have fun!
 

Offline dammy

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2003, 07:51:10 PM »
If all else fails, there is always RedHat which is damn easy to use.  How easy? I use it, that should give you a clue. ;)

Dammy
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Offline GreggBz

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #11 on: April 22, 2003, 09:20:56 PM »
Ok, go here.
http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SUP2730

You might be able to find this same modem cheaper, since Diamond discontinued it. I bought mine for a easley 19.95..
Worth EVERY penny. Works fantastic and with everything, even my Amiga 1200 (after some trial and error)
Also, you can order a copy of almost any distrobution of linux from www.cheapbytes.com (Minus of course, documentation.) Generally a full release for about 6$ American.
 

Offline iamaboringperson

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2003, 11:12:54 PM »
 

Offline JetFireDX

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #13 on: April 23, 2003, 02:58:25 AM »
@ mdma
Thanks for pointing out Morphix! I just downloaded, burned, and have configured it well enough for now in no time. Best of all, I am writting this now from Konqueror on my ADSL connection, something I could never get Lycoris to work with! This is sweet! (I have heard Lycoris is good and bad from people, but I would like to start off in the kiddie pool before jumping head long into the ocean of Linux) So far so good with Morphix.
 

Offline jeffimix

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Re: Which Linux?!!!!!!
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2003, 03:11:40 AM »
Sounds good, if I'd read this earlier I'd have said Lindows. supposedly it runs 60% of windows programs. Although I'm sure it needs tweaking for about half of those. WinE is a beautiful thing.
\\"The only benchmarks that matter is my impression of the system while using the apps I use. Everything else is opinion.\\" - FooGoo