# Which One To Opt For ?



## BBThumbHealer (Apr 22, 2007)

i wanna switch over to Linux .........

there are three options available for me : uBuntu 7.04 , Fedora Core 6 n the Open SuSE 10.2 !! But i wudn't like to opt for FD 6 coz FD 7 is goin to be launched on 24/5/07..

i wud like to take advice from all members here that which 1 the best in terms of features n graphical interface .....

Plz suggest me fast...

Thnx

BlackBerry7100g...


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## gauravakaasid (Apr 22, 2007)

u cud have posted this in open source, anywayz from what i have heard, opensuse wud be a gr8 choice


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 22, 2007)

sry guys...mods u can move it in open source.....but keep the replies coming ! 

and one more thing....can i triple boot linux wid my Windows XP Prof. & Windows Vista Ultimate ?....also suggest me some good apps for linux...


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## Third Eye (Apr 22, 2007)

BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> and one more thing....can i triple boot linux wid my Windows XP Prof. & Windows Vista Ultimate ?....also suggest me some good apps for linux...



Yeah



			
				BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> i wanna switch over to Linux .........
> 
> there are three options available for me : uBuntu 7.04 , Fedora Core 6 n the Open SuSE 10.2 !! But i wudn't like to opt for FD 6 coz FD 7 is goin to be launched on 24/5/07..



Ubuntu is the best


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 22, 2007)

thnx tech...u again came to my rescue 

but wat abt my ques for the apps of linux ? huh..


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## Zeeshan Quireshi (Apr 22, 2007)

i think U Should try Ubuntu 7.04 or PCLinuxOS 2007 

while ubuntu has a GUI for easily installing Codecs , etc propreitary soft ,
PCLinuxOS 2007 version comes bundled with all propreitary drivers.

also the interface os PCLinuxOs is much more polished n beautiful than the default ubuntu .
*www.tuxmachines.org/gallery/d/519-2/boot13.jpg
*debianadmin.com/copper/albums/ubuntu7/1.png


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## gxsaurav (Apr 22, 2007)

PC Linux login screen looks juicy. Nice work zeeshan, but next time, resize the images to 640X480 or link them


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## gauravakaasid (Apr 22, 2007)

the PCLinuxOs login screen looks fab.....this distro is from wich mag?


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## Desmond (Apr 22, 2007)

If you are a n00b, I'd suggest using Ubuntu and get a hang of what Linux is all about. You can then graduate to FC or SuSE.


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## mehulved (Apr 22, 2007)

DeSmOnD dAvId said:
			
		

> If you are a n00b, I'd suggest using Ubuntu and get a hang of what Linux is all about. You can then graduate to FC or SuSE.


 What do you mean by graduate to FC or SUSE? What can ubuntu not do that they can?


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## Desmond (Apr 22, 2007)

Sorry, I didnt mean that Ubuntu is an incapable OS. Ubuntu is quite capable by itself. I meant that once he gets used to the basic terminologies and concepts of Linux, he can try experimenting with other distros.

Sorry for the offence.


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## mehulved (Apr 22, 2007)

DeSmOnD dAvId said:
			
		

> Sorry, I didnt mean that Ubuntu is an incapable OS. Ubuntu is quite capable by itself. I meant that once he gets used to the basic terminologies and concepts of Linux, he can try experimenting with other distros.
> 
> Sorry for the offence.


 I didn't take any offence but I wanted to know what made you think so, specially since you used the word graduated. 
If you'd mentioned graduate to debian/slackware/gentoo/freebsd, that would be understandable as these are considered distros that are difficult to begin with. But, nonetheless they offer so much more ease for power users who're used to it.


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 22, 2007)

hey guys ...thnx for ur replies...

i m more interested in that version of Linux which has advanced features ! ....n wats abt the apps for linux ??? plz suggest sum apps......

also, can i run the games in Linux like NFS , CS etc... ? n temme one more thing ...wats the procedure to install Linux ? is it the same way as we install windows ?

Thnx 

BlackBerry7100g.


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## Zeeshan Quireshi (Apr 22, 2007)

well most apps come bundled with your distro so you won't need to install any extra apps for em , n even if u do there r very good gui's(like tho software manager in ubuntu , or the ubiquitous Synaptic) that will help u find apps for the task u wanna do.

if u specifically tell me what u wanna do then i'll be able to suggest you apps or you can browse the app lists posted by digitian in this thread 
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6478


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## mehulved (Apr 22, 2007)

BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> i m more interested in that version of Linux which has advanced features ! ....


Linux from scratch


			
				BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> n wats abt the apps for linux ??? plz suggest sum apps......


Like what? There are just too many and they all serve varied purpose


			
				BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> also, can i run the games in Linux like NFS , CS etc... ?


Well there are linux ports for a few games but well gaming on linux hasn't exactly taken off. There's wine and it's commercial counterpart cedega but neither can match what windows can do natively. The problematic part is DirectX


			
				BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> n temme one more thing ...wats the procedure to install Linux ? is it the same way as we install windows ?


 More or less similar but again depends a bit on which distro you are gonna isntall.


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## Pathik (Apr 22, 2007)

Well go ubuntu only if u have a fast broadband connection... else go for Fedora Core 6 or Open suse 10.2...


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## mediator (Apr 22, 2007)

^Or u can get FC6 from some PC magazine.



			
				gx_saurav said:
			
		

> PC Linux login screen looks juicy. Nice work zeeshan, but next time, resize the images to 640X480 or link them


 Then, U shud take a look here and u'll discover new meanings of the word "juicy"!


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## praka123 (Apr 22, 2007)

U can customise the gdm menu to look even cool with many themes available.


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## aditya.shevade (Apr 22, 2007)

Having tried OpenSuSE 10.2 and Ubuntu Feisty Fawn, I would suggest that you start with Ubuntu. It really is better for first time users. 

As far as my choice goes, I like SuSE more than I like Ubuntu.

For triple boot, it has already been answered, yes you can. I have currently SuSE, Win, Ubuntu triple boot.

As suggested by pathiks, you need broadband for Ubuntu, as the CD does not come with many apps. SuSE is much better in apps selection (source, various reviews I have read).

And if you are looking for an easy to use distro, then Ubuntu is the one for you, it suggests codec installations. You don't have to worry about administration tasks. The update manager is very good. But with suse you can have some trouble in enabling the mp3 support for Amarok, plus you need to D/L vlc, add repos and all.

Now it's upto you to decide.

Aditya


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## freebird (Apr 22, 2007)

Choice of Ubuntu also includes the reason of apt and dpkg package managers included.


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## Zeeshan Quireshi (Apr 22, 2007)

mediator said:
			
		

> ^Or u can get FC6 from some PC magazine.
> 
> Then, U shud take a look here and u'll discover new meanings of the word "juicy"!



well mate i was talking bout *default* look of distro , otherwise u can endlessly customize ur installation n be happy .

a polished interface distro looks much appealing , like when u install SLED it installs grub but it's GRUB is a customized version with a SLED background n very good looks .

nyways , my point is Ubuntu is one of the best looking distros out there , Kubuntu is another story btw


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 22, 2007)

although i m having a fats broadband connection...i wud like to ask y r u ppl recommending fast connect for ubuntu ?? n one more thing..ubuntu is the best for first time users ? does this means it is the basic of linux ?? i have mentioned earlier that i wud like to switch to the most advanced version of linux n not the basic one...

also i was chking out the ubuntu website....i stated that ubuntu 7.04 is till 2008 only ..will it expire after that ???

Thnx

BlackBerry7100g..


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## mehulved (Apr 22, 2007)

BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> although i m having a fats broadband connection...i wud like to ask y r u ppl recommending fast connect for ubuntu ??


Cos ubuntu just comes with minimal of softwares to get started with. Doesn't give too many choices which can confuse new users. So, you need good connection to download additional software and customise the system as per your needs. Also, with open source development moves a lot faster so you will get a lot more updates.


			
				BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> n one more thing..ubuntu is the best for first time users ? does this means it is the basic of linux ?? [/quoute] It means it makes things easier for new users by it's newbie friendly approach. Some of them being - small default install so new users need not be confused with plethora of softwares at their disposal, huge documentation, including some proprietory drivers, etc.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## aditya.shevade (Apr 22, 2007)

@Blackberry, you said that you have not used linux before, and that you would like to use it. 

Trust me man, Gentoo, LFS are not for first time users. You can always use them, and have no problems, but the question is, do you have enough time to learn things the hard way? Once you learn everything, then as already said by tech_your_future, the powerusers love those distros. But can you spend that time in learning.

And you first asked for advanced features. Advanced features like what? I have used about 4-5 Distros till date and the difference was in look, feel, stability, support, community. In short all distros have their existence. All are different, so please mention what advanced features you are looking for.

The best idea is to go for Ubuntu, it is not anything less than the rest of the distros. It just does not confuse the noobs and also has a very good community support, so if you have any troubles, you will always find solutions for sure.

Again, I don't know why, but I like the look and feel of SuSE. The choice is yours.

Aditya


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## ~Phenom~ (Apr 22, 2007)

Ubuntu rules for noobs and experts. It is simply the best.


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 23, 2007)

CONCLUSION :: First trying ubuntu then switching onto FC or Open SuSE ! btw ..wen is Open SuSE 10.3 gonna release ?


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## amitava82 (Apr 23, 2007)

Many windows users have this confusion that Linux is difficult to use and its only for Geeks. So I'm conducting a sort of experiment. here is the deal. I'll gift my PC to my 10 years old sister with Edubuntu installed on it. NO WINDOWS. she does not have any computer knowledge apart from running MS Paint. I'll guide for one week and after that she is on her own. Let me see how heard linux is for a new user (a kid!) according to MS boys. I'll post the report after one month.


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## Zeeshan Quireshi (Apr 23, 2007)

BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> CONCLUSION :: First trying ubuntu then switching onto FC or Open SuSE ! btw ..wen is Open SuSE 10.3 gonna release ?



well you're underestimating ubuntu mate , it can doo all that other distros can do , it's just that it's easier to do that in ubuntu also it has a very big community support in the form of it's forums so u can get help almost instantly there.

Also , MOST of the linux EXPERT tasks r done at the COMMAND LINE so it doesn't matter what you're usin , you'll be doin all the serious stuff in the CMD .



			
				amitava82 said:
			
		

> Many windows users have this confusion that Linux is difficult to use and its only for Geeks. So I'm conducting a sort of experiment. here is the deal. I'll gift my PC to my 10 years old sister with Edubuntu installed on it. NO WINDOWS. she does not have any computer knowledge apart from running MS Paint. I'll guide for one week and after that she is on her own. Let me see how heard linux is for a new user (a kid!) according to MS boys. I'll post the report after one month.



mate , please don't use the word Fanboys or Windows Boys here , u're the one who'se starting the Win vs Linux Vs Mac topic in this thread , so u shud be called a Fanboy , eh


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## amitava82 (Apr 23, 2007)

^^ neither i used "Fanboys" nor "Windows boys". I don't have any intention of starting a war. may be u r little sensitive to those words..  be cool


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 23, 2007)

well guys...i downloaded ubuntu.... i m experiencing prbs in installing that... i m having 6 partitions [ C D E F G H ] of NTFS file system ...wen ubuntu installer asks that select the partition on which u wanna install ubuntu [ i want to install on G: ] n select for G: its gives an error wen i press he fwd button that root directory not mentioned n sumthing like swap ...wats this ?? Plz help me in installing ubuntu...


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## Possible (Apr 23, 2007)

You need to split a little of its space and make a filesystem of 'linux-swap'. Its VFS for Linux, necessary.


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 23, 2007)

how to make that "possible" ??

i know how to split but dunno how to make a filesystem of 'linux-swap !!


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## Possible (Apr 23, 2007)

Oh its easy, the list box where you choose ext3 has a linux-swap. Just select that, it needs no mount point either.


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 23, 2007)

ok thnx...will try n post in 2 mins...

*i14.tinypic.com/43y5kt4.png 


wat to do at this moment...plz explain step by step 

also ...rite now i m running ubuntu thru live cd...n haven't installed it...graphics are weird..

here's my config..P4 3.2 GHz ...2 GB RAM n 128 MB Onboard Graphics Card


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## Possible (Apr 23, 2007)

Make free space of 1.5x your RAM, double click the free space, in the Filesystem dropdown box, choose swap and hit ok. Then make that other partition of ext3 and set its mount point as /. Done, proceed.


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## amitava82 (Apr 23, 2007)

isn't 500 MB Swap is sufficient considering he has 2GB RAM? i have 1 GB ram,  I've made 500 MB swap and ubuntu hardly use any swap from that...


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## aditya.shevade (Apr 23, 2007)

^^ Yes, 500MB ram ought to be enough when you have 2 GB ram.

@Blackberry,

Go to system > Admin Tasks > Gnome Partition Editor.

Then Delete the partition sda9. Then create a new partition by right clicking on the free space and selecting new. Let the size be 8000MB. Make the filesystem ext3. Then create another partition of remaining space and select the filesystem to be swap. Then proceed.* I am not sure that you can have more than 4 primary partitions with linux. So you might have a problem, but give it a try. It looks as you have extended partitions judging by the names. Try it.*

Then go ahead with installation. At the 4th step, right click on the 8000MB and type 
	
	



```
/
```
 Where it says Mount Point. I think Ubuntu auto configures the swap. So once you select the root ie:-'/' partition, click next and go ahead.

Hope this helps.

Aditya


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## Zeeshan Quireshi (Apr 23, 2007)

amitava82 said:
			
		

> Let me see how heard linux is for a new user (a kid!) according to *MS boys*. I'll post the report after one month.


 oh yeah , then wat's this ?



			
				aditya.shevade said:
			
		

> * I am not sure that you can have more than 4 primary partitions with linux. So you might have a problem, but give it a try. It looks as you have extended partitions judging by the names. Try it.*



well it's not actually dependant on linux , *Technically, a hard disk may contain as many as four primary partitions* it's not dependant on OS .

n i suggest that a swap space of 1 gig might be optimal , although wherever i've read they say Swap must be 3-4 times your RAM , dunno wha logic is used in that ?


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## aditya.shevade (Apr 23, 2007)

^^ Well OK, technically 4. But do you have any idea why only 4? What if someone wants more than 4 OS? What should be done in that case? I have seen people go with triple boot, even I have a triple boot. You never know, people might soon go for more than 4 OSs.

Aditya


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## mediator (Apr 23, 2007)

3-4 times?  where did u read that? I used to read that its like twice the size of RAM but that too when u do memory intensive operations!
*www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/custom-guide/s1-swap-adding.html

With 2 GB RAM I dont think that a swap is even required! I have 512 MB RAM and normally xmms,10+ webpages,gimp and a few pics can be found open on my PC these days with only around 30 MB swap being used out of the 300 Mb that I have allocated!

So @BlackBerry : Even if ur planning to run Oracle Server side by side of a few applications like I do, then also I think a maximum of 500 MB swap will be more than enough for ur configuration. If ur just a desktop user, then u may add a 100 MB swap or may be no swap at all! DOn't worry, when I installed Suse 9.1 personal when I was a noobie I didn't install any swap, but still I cud play xmms, open 10+ web pages etc!


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## freebird (Apr 23, 2007)

^ use below guide for alloc swap space
*www.faqs.org/docs/linux_admin/swap-allocation.html


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## Zeeshan Quireshi (Apr 23, 2007)

aditya.shevade said:
			
		

> ^^ Well OK, technically 4. But do you have any idea why only 4? What if someone wants more than 4 OS? What should be done in that case? I have seen people go with triple boot, even I have a triple boot. You never know, people might soon go for more than 4 OSs.
> 
> Aditya



it's not necessary to install an OS on a primary partition most new OS'es have the ability to boot from Extended partitions too , so in effect you can have 3 primary partitions n one extended partition which may be subdivided into logical ,n technically the number of logical partitions is not limited to a specific value so you can very well deca-boot


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## mehulved (Apr 23, 2007)

Unless you are into graphics intensive or media editing you will hardly even need swap with 2GB of RAM. 2xRAM was applicable in older kernels, newer ones need *maximum* 1.5XRAM but with 2GB of RAM, he can even do without swap but just in case he can keep a swap of 200-300MB or even 500MB if needed.

blackberry, just go to disk partitioner in windows and delete whatever partition you want, don't format it to any filesystem. Then start installation again. This time while partitioning comes, select use free space. It will automatically create the required partitions. 
As for the graphics trouble, which onboard card do you have?


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## Zeeshan Quireshi (Apr 23, 2007)

well most of the system's i have tried installing ubuntu(line cd version) give problem so this time i've only downloaded the alternate version , it works perfectly .


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## BBThumbHealer (Apr 23, 2007)

tech_your_future said:
			
		

> As for the graphics trouble, which onboard card do you have?



hey tech... i m having the Intel 915 GL Chipset ...



			
				Possible said:
			
		

> Make free space of 1.5x your RAM, that other partition of



does this means i have to make a partition of 1.5*1024 MB ???


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## mehulved (Apr 23, 2007)

BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> hey tech... i m having the Intel 915 GL Chipset ...


I think it should work quite smooth with i810 driver. I guess the slowness is due to the fact that you're running it from CD, CD's are way than hard disks.


			
				BlackBerry7100g said:
			
		

> does this means i have to make a partition of 1.5*1024 MB ???


 No. 1.5x is the max. size. I don't think you will ever need that much. Anyways no one should have more than 1GB of swap unless they're into graphics or multimedia editing and stuff.
I myself have 768MB of RAM and my swap partition is 768MB too, but I don't recall more than 150MB ever being used. Even 150 was touched when I had beryl, openoffice.org, azureus, conky(updating every min) and opera(had some bug back then) and about half a dozen other apps running.
I doubt that you would be ever needing swap really.
Not even when running 3D desktop.


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## vignesh (Apr 24, 2007)

pathiks said:
			
		

> Well go ubuntu only if u have a fast broadband connection... else go for Fedora Core 6 or Open suse 10.2...



Why is the broadband connection speed important here ? Updates ?


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## Vivek788 (Apr 24, 2007)

i love ubuntu but the 7.04 beta and now the final is not being installed at all ...it stuck
Can u suggest the distro having gud resemblance with ubuntu?


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## aditya.shevade (Apr 24, 2007)

vignesh said:
			
		

> Why is the broadband connection speed important here ? Updates ?



Ubuntu CD comes with minimal packages. I have no idea about DVD. But if you compare SuSE's S/W list and Ubuntu's.... then you will know why you need a broadband connection. 

It is mainly for getting S/Ws which are not provided in the CD, plus updates.


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## vignesh (Apr 24, 2007)

I think ubuntu has almost everything a basic desktop needs except the restricted formats.. anyway ..


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## aditya.shevade (Apr 25, 2007)

^^ Yeah... but, just in case..... Like I had to use net to get Linux kernel image which I had deleted.... (Long story).


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## mehulved (Apr 25, 2007)

How many distros come with sources anyways? Unless you download source CD/DVD.


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## vignesh (Apr 25, 2007)

very few...


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