linux

Lee H

Hi

I am very interested in using a linux os instead of XP on my home pc

If all i wanted to do was internet, word and play music and video (avi) which one would be best for me, there are so many different linux os's out there its hard to choose the one for me

i would like it to be as aesthetically pleasing as Vista with all the functionality of XP, or am i asking for far too much

Lee

tibul

I personally would go with Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/ or kubuntu http://www.kubuntu.org/ the exact same distro just with the nicer looking KDE GUI, Its the most easy to use and to install things out of the other distro's i've used, i personally use the KDE GUI with it as i think it looks nicer than the gnome one and the next release of KDE looks like it might be as nice looking as vista.

Its also been voted the most user friendly linux and will do all the things you have asked for in your post aslong as you install the right apps which is nice and easy.

Slowhand

There are a lot of flavors of Linux out there, but if you're looking for something that's easy to use and easy to configure, you're really looking for something rpm-based. Red Hat's Fedora is the easy choice, but I think you'll find that SuSE will be a good fit. Novell's acquired the company recently, and they've done a lot to improve the user interface, they've put a lot of effort into the graphical tools, and there's a lot of support for SuSE out there.

A lot of companies, like Red Hat and SuSE/Novell, have made a move to try to involve home users with their products. In essence, there is an enterprise version of each of their products, and a free version. The difference really is only that the enterprise version comes with customer support from the company, and everything is branded with the company logo. (There's also the issue about the enterprise releases not being true open-source, since the desktop environments and the included tools are copyrighted by their parent company, but that's a whole other story.)

Give openSuSE a try, and check out Fedora too, either one will give you a good introduction to Linux without overwhelming you too much with the command-line.

sthomas

I have always liked CentOS, you can download CentOS at www.centos.org Also, www.distrowatch.com has a lot of useful info about different Linux distros.

tibul

Seems like there is alot of suggestions on which is the best or easiest linux dist, i think the best thing you could probably do is try a few and see which you like the most etc.

remyforbes777

Ubuntu is probably the distro for you. It's easy to install and the interface is user friendly and it is known to work with most software right out the box, meaning you don't have to do a lot of configure a lot of stuff to get things working properly.

Stan27

My vote is for Ubuntu as well.
It's the easiest of the ones I've used, and sets itsself up right the first time. It supports all of the hardware in my house by default, no extra drivers needed. Windows doesn't even do that.

Because it's based on Debian, you can type apt-get install _______ in the terminal and it will find, download and install almost any program.

RedHat uses a similar system, and would be my second choice, but I still like Ubuntu better.


The cool thing about Ubuntu is that the download is both a live disk and an install disk, so you can try it out before you install.
If you just want to try out linux, get either the Ubuntu or Knoppix cd. Knoppix is a live cd that can be installed, but nobody does it. Both are based on debian. The reason I mention knoppix is because it seems to load a bit faster than the Ubuntu live CD, and it has a whole load of programs to try out.

By the way, in case somebody doesn't know, a live disk is an operating system that can run from a flash drive or CD and doesn't need to be installed, so if you screw up, just reboot and windows is back just as you left it.


And just to add a few more cents, I think Gnome looks nicer than KDE

I'm not sure how much you know about linux, and I'm trying to give information to everybody reading, so here's some more info: KDE and Gnome are desktop managers, they make your computer look nice, and each one is different. There are many more, and they can be installed easily.


Good luck with your linux adventures, and don't get discouraged. If you don't like something or something doesn't work, you can can try out another distribution.

EDIT:

tibul wrote:

Seems like there is alot of suggestions on which is the best or easiest linux dist, i think the best thing you could probably do is try a few and see which you like the most etc.

I absolutely agree. And no matter where you ask, there will always be people preaching about how the one they use it the best.

sprkymrk

Hi Lee:

Have you considered trying a few "live" distros first? This has 2 benefits and 1 disadvantage as far as I can tell. The disadvantage is that it can be slower to run from your CD instead of your hard drive. I think this is a fair trade off until you decide for sure you want to switch to a particular distro, at which time you can install to your hard drive.

The first advantage is it will let you see if that particular distro will recognize all your hardware.

The second advantage is that if you decide you don't like a particular distro, you're not "stuck" with it.

Good luck.

keatron

While I do have some favorite installation distos, I have to agree with Mark. These days I only use Security Auditor, Whoppix, and Backtrak.

sexion8

keatron wrote:

While I do have some favorite installation distos, I have to agree with Mark. These days I only use Security Auditor, Whoppix, and Backtrak.

On this Inspiron 6000 I have multiple drives I swap in and out. One is my main distro but its not Linux, its OpenBSD. My other drives are FreeBSD, and Windows XP (for Visio and Presentation). One of the things about Live CD's is, you get what they give you. There is little via way of modification (adding and tinkering).

If you have an extra 10gb drive, just use it as your crash drive to test what distro suits you. The question is akin to... "Hi I'm starting to learn how to ride a motorcycle. Which would you recommend a Harley or an Augusta..." Find what suits you. The only way to discover this is to actually mount on that bike and drive it. As for "security" based, CD's... Not really much on them you won't find on normal distros. Just a matter of your flavor of nix (yum install wireshark, apt-get install wireshark, pkgadd -d ./wireshark.local, pkg_add wireshark, cd /usr/ports/misc/wireshark & make all install). I stay away from them since I tend to use OpenBSD 98% of the time. FIRE was about the only one I liked when it was out. Its a shame they stopped updating it. Phlak, its alright... And just so you know keatron, Backtrack is nothing more than Whoppix and Auditor. (google WHax). Sort of like saying, I like Volkswagen and I also like VW's.

Browse over to http://distrowatch.org and see what's being commonly used, what's new as well as reviews across the board.

sprkymrk

sexion8 wrote:

keatron wrote:

While I do have some favorite installation distos, I have to agree with Mark. These days I only use Security Auditor, Whoppix, and Backtrak.

As for "security" based, CD's... Not really much on them you won't find on normal distros. Just a matter of your flavor of nix (yum install wireshark, apt-get install wireshark, pkgadd -d ./wireshark.local, pkg_add wireshark, cd /usr/ports/misc/wireshark & make all install).

You need to uderstand what keatron uses the live distros for - pen testing environments where he may not be allowed to bring his own laptop or install his favorite distro on a customers computer. Additionally he may be required to teach a class on pen testing to a number of students on a clients site. I don't think the client (or keatron) would want to install a distro on 20 computers that will be wiped in 5 days and have the clients IT guys responsible for re-imaging the computers. It's easier for him to bring 20 CD's with Auditor, reboot the computers and proceed with the class.

sexion8 wrote:

And just so you know keatron, Backtrack is nothing more than Whoppix and Auditor. (google WHax). Sort of like saying, I like Volkswagen and I also like VW's.

Auditor was simply the precursor to Backtrack, and I'm pretty sure keatron knew that...

Thanks for mentioning the link to distrowatch, it's a great site and should be useful for those interested in Linux.

Lee H

Hi Guys

Thanks for all the comments, they are much apriciated

Think i will try the live cd's before i install it for good, i never knew they did that

Thanks

Lee H

keatron

sexion8 wrote:

keatron wrote:

While I do have some favorite installation distos, I have to agree with Mark. These days I only use Security Auditor, Whoppix, and Backtrak.

On this Inspiron 6000 I have multiple drives I swap in and out. One is my main distro but its not Linux, its OpenBSD. My other drives are FreeBSD, and Windows XP (for Visio and Presentation). One of the things about Live CD's is, you get what they give you. There is little via way of modification (adding and tinkering).

If you have an extra 10gb drive, just use it as your crash drive to test what distro suits you. The question is akin to... "Hi I'm starting to learn how to ride a motorcycle. Which would you recommend a Harley or an Augusta..." Find what suits you. The only way to discover this is to actually mount on that bike and drive it. As for "security" based, CD's... Not really much on them you won't find on normal distros. Just a matter of your flavor of nix (yum install wireshark, apt-get install wireshark, pkgadd -d ./wireshark.local, pkg_add wireshark, cd /usr/ports/misc/wireshark & make all install). I stay away from them since I tend to use OpenBSD 98% of the time. FIRE was about the only one I liked when it was out. Its a shame they stopped updating it. Phlak, its alright... And just so you know keatron, Backtrack is nothing more than Whoppix and Auditor. (google WHax). Sort of like saying, I like Volkswagen and I also like VW's.

Browse over to http://distrowatch.org and see what's being commonly used, what's new as well as reviews across the board.

There are certainly specific reasons I use specifc live CD's. And as far as Backtrak and Whoppix being the combo of auditor and whoppix I am quite aware, however I wouldn't say it's like saying VW and volkswagon. Kinda like saying Windows 2000 and Windows XP or more like saying AVG and ewido (which is now a merge). As with any upgrade, improvement, or merger, some things are taken out and some things are gained. I've had some video problems with Backtrak that I didn't have with Auditor (certainly because of compatibility, but that's another story). And quite often I boot from live cd via VMware or Virtual PC and again, depending on which virtualization product you're using, you'll have different results and compatibility issues. And often times in pentests it will be outlined as far as what you can and can't use. Some facilities only allow certain distros to be run against their networks (because the newer ones like backtrak has not passed their testing and criteria evaluations yet). While it's a good idea to stay as close to latest as possible, in the real world you will likely always be forced to keep multiple versions, of multiple distros for various reasons which often times will not be under your control.

Keatron.

ally_uk

I would have to say that if you want to make a switch from Windows to Linux then I would go with the Ubuntu way

I made the switch a year ago and havent looked back

Also Debian Sarge ( Unbuntu is basically Debian)

Also UNIX wise FreeBsd is a goodun

If you want something that is small and easy to port around but contains the functionality of a computer then give Damm Small Linux a try

for 50 or so mb it's very good and you can do alot with it