# Which OS to go for



## s18000rpm (Jul 25, 2008)

Mandriva
OpenSuSE
Freespire
Ubuntu
Kubuntu
(if this list is not good, suggest something else)

these OS are suggested by "Linux Distribution Chooser" 

got that link from here - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
thanks @FilledVoid


i want it to be a bit easy on newbie
*Main Purpose* = Internet surfing.


------------------------------------
i'll be installing one on this PC-
m/b = Intel 965WH with integrated gfx. - gma x3000
1GB RAM, c2d e4500, 80GB HDD, NEC DVD Writer
*XP SP3 & Vista SP1 installed. *
using DataOne BB with UTStarcom WA3002-g4 modem

btw, can you guys suggest a linux os for this laptop-
Compaq m2000
intel celeron m370 1.5GHz, 256MB RAM, 
m/b = intel i855GM with igp gma extreme gfx. 2
purpose = online surfing


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## Faun (Jul 25, 2008)

Ubuntu without a hitch !


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## FilledVoid (Jul 25, 2008)

^On a 256 MB Ram Laptop???? 

Personally I'd go for Ubuntu or Mint for the desktop . For the Laptop I would use something small and easy . I think Zenwalk or DreamLinux should be fine?  I haven't used either so someone is going to have to confirm that .

Is that router a USB one or Lan port one. Configuring a USB one is going to be a pain in the rear.


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## Faun (Jul 25, 2008)

^^I was talking abt 1GB wala Lappytoppy 

for 256 MB try KDE mod on Arch (but before that you have to pass average linux IQ test)


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## infra_red_dude (Jul 25, 2008)

s18000rpm said:


> Mandriva
> OpenSuSE
> Freespire
> Ubuntu
> ...



Desktop -> Latest version of Linux Mint ( = Ubuntu + extras out of the box)

Laptop -> Xubuntu/Zenwalk


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## mehulved (Jul 25, 2008)

Recommended is to go for mandriva on the desktop and zenwalk on the lappy. But going by ubuntu on desktop and xubuntu on laptop, you can share a lot of applications between them. Thus, reducing the amount of data to be downloaded.


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## s18000rpm (Jul 25, 2008)

thanks guys.

i'll try mandriva & ubuntu.(desktop)

btw, a newbie question - do mandriva & ubuntu share same file system for partition? (or all distro do)


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## Faun (Jul 25, 2008)

ext3, xfs, jfs, reiserfs etc are some filesystem you can format where u install it.

though select *ext3* as filesystem, its stable and feature rich.

there is lot to learn while having fun !


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## FilledVoid (Jul 25, 2008)

And as a recommendation if you are going to install any I recommend creating a /home partition also. It makes distro hopping quite easier.


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## Rahim (Jul 25, 2008)

I would rather install Linux Mint than Ubuntu for the simple reason Mint is Ubuntu plus you have all the non-oss appz already installed in Mint (flash,java, audio/video codecs) and create a separate /home partition as Filledvoid suggested.

AS for the lappy, Zenwalk would be fine


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## ray|raven (Jul 25, 2008)

Zenwalk would be best for the laptop.
Nitish is using it on P-III 1GHz with 256 Megs of RAM and according to him , its flying on it.

Lowest I've personally gone with Zenwalk is a Cel-1.2Ghz with 256 Megs of RAM.
Disabling unwanted services and dri , i had enough free RAM to do most day-to-day stuff.


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## praka123 (Jul 25, 2008)

celeron pc ,you would like to use antixmepis.
*antix.mepis.org -> for the ease of package management too(debian).


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## MetalheadGautham (Jul 25, 2008)

FilledVoid said:


> ^On a 256 MB Ram Laptop????
> 
> Personally I'd go for Ubuntu or Mint for the desktop . For the Laptop I would use something small and easy . I think Zenwalk or DreamLinux should be fine?  I haven't used either so someone is going to have to confirm that .
> 
> Is that router a USB one or Lan port one. Configuring a USB one is going to be a pain in the rear.


DreamLinux ? I remember hearing about it somewhere... Isn't it something based on Sid along with Xfce ?


T159 said:


> for 256 MB try KDE mod on Arch (but before that you have to pass average linux IQ test)


Not just IQ test, you also need to read up lots and lots of theory and know the meaning of several words.


s18000rpm said:


> btw, a newbie question - do mandriva & ubuntu share same file system for partition? (or all distro do)


No. You can share a /home partition but not a / partition.


T159 said:


> ext3, xfs, jfs, reiserfs etc are some filesystem you can format where u install it.
> 
> though select *ext3* as filesystem, its stable and feature rich.
> 
> there is lot to learn while having fun !


I recommend ext3 as the best default FS if you are a newbie and don't know what to choose. By a miracle I too chose that the first time I was prompted to select an FS from ubuntu 7.04 installer. No idea why, but I have no regrets 


FilledVoid said:


> And as a recommendation if you are going to install any I recommend creating a /home partition also. It makes distro hopping quite easier.


+1
You should ask a performance seeking distro hopper like me that question. Its damn awssome to have a seperate /home partition, but for best security, its very much recommended to use only ext3 on it because its a dual journal FS.


ray|raven said:


> Zenwalk would be best for the laptop.
> Nitish is using it on P-III 1GHz with 256 Megs of RAM and according to him , its flying on it.
> 
> Lowest I've personally gone with Zenwalk is a Cel-1.2Ghz with 256 Megs of RAM.
> Disabling unwanted services and dri , i had enough free RAM to do most day-to-day stuff.


Is it because of Slackware or because of Xfce ? And should I try Xfce on arch ?


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## Dark Star (Jul 25, 2008)

+1 to Mandriva  *www.techenclave.com/reviews-and-previews/mandriva-2008-1-review-breath-fresh-111577.html


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## MetalheadGautham (Jul 25, 2008)

Dark Star said:


> +1 to Mandriva  *www.techenclave.com/reviews-and-previews/mandriva-2008-1-review-breath-fresh-111577.html


curious: how are mandriva's system requirements comapred to ubuntu ?


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## k6153r (Jul 25, 2008)

I like Xubuntu, but very few seem to even consider it.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jul 25, 2008)

k6153r said:


> I like Xubuntu, but very few seem to even consider it.


because xubuntu xfce has little advantage over arch or debian gnome


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## The_Devil_Himself (Jul 25, 2008)

Mint gets another vote,but you might wanna check if your graphics aren't blacklisted,if they are you will have use generic drivers which don't exactly suck,but no compiz-fusion or any 3dish game...


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## MetalheadGautham (Jul 25, 2008)

The_Devil_Himself said:


> you will have use generic drivers which don't exactly suck,_but no compiz-fusion or any 3dish game_...


which means they suck 
generic = VESA isn't it ?


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## Dark Star (Jul 25, 2008)

Big no to VESA>> Its just to slow and will provide slide like performance while using FF.. You can use Mandriva, DreamLinux and Ubuntu  

A big no to F9   Though SUSE 11.0 can be considered


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## Rahim (Jul 25, 2008)

If you want out of the box approach (java,flash,movies,mp3s) then go for Mint but if you dont mind downloading stuffs then Mandriva/openSUSE for sure.


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## FilledVoid (Jul 25, 2008)

After some time Compiz becomes more of a pain than a must have. I seriously fail this logic where distro creators are adapting to the Eye candy is king approach. 

Mandriva is a good choice but I've found some folks asking some weird questions about Software installation Management on it. Haven't tried SuSe as Much as I would have wanted to so can;t comment there.   

The reason I said Mint is because of its default contents and it doesn't look bad at all. It saves you quite a bit of work you would have to do on Ubuntu or any of the other distros. Another Distro you could consider is Sabayon. 

Now if you are also into the habit of experimenting and doing insane experiments then yes you could try Arch Linux on those configurations. As long as you follow the Beginner Guide Word to Word you should be absolutely fine. Although I wouldn't recommend it, its definitely one of the fastest ways to learn a bit more in Linux.


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## mehulved (Jul 26, 2008)

fastest way is to install gentoo.


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## infra_red_dude (Jul 26, 2008)

^^^ OMG.. someone ban this gentoo spammer!!!


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## hellknight (Jul 26, 2008)

If you want KDE4.. then try OpenSUSE 11.. better than Fedora 9


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## CadCrazy (Jul 26, 2008)

Get Mac Book Pro LOL .
Hac/Macintosh effect


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## mehulved (Jul 26, 2008)

CadCrazy said:


> Get Mac Book Pro LOL .
> Hac/Macintosh effect





infra_red_dude said:


> ^^^ OMG.. someone ban this gentoo spammer!!!



Rather, these 2 wanna-be macboys should be banned


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## nitish_mythology (Jul 26, 2008)

I have personally tried DreamLinux n' Zenwalk on my p3 1ghz 256MB ram n 16MB ati gfx.
Both work well........Though I wll recommend Zenwalk!


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## whackyman (Jul 26, 2008)

antix for debian style package management(which is a necessity!)


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## Faun (Jul 26, 2008)

get Ubuntu (you will understand some linux)

Mandriva is dumb, though it has good hardware compatibility. But the point of using linux is to learn it too. OpenSUSE 11 KDE4 is buggy, so dont install it unless u wish to upgrade KDE 4 after install. Fedora 9 is somewhat unusual this time.

Ubuntu IMO is best for newbie who like to learn few things too.


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## s18000rpm (Jul 26, 2008)

which OS to go for???
i'm at home & was about to d/l mandriva.


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## FilledVoid (Jul 26, 2008)

Personally I still think you should go for MInt , but thats my Opinion and I haven't used Mint alot anyway. Just install one of the recommended ones here and you could always change  .


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## s18000rpm (Jul 26, 2008)

which one? = *www.linuxmint.com/download.php

does it support gma x3000?


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## Faun (Jul 26, 2008)

any linux os supports GMA X3000. Get the xorg.conf file from me if you find it difficult 

Mine is too DG965RY 

Am using Ubuntu and Arch now. Have used Debian, Mandriva 2008, OpenSUSE 11, Fedora 9 etc.


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## Rahim (Jul 26, 2008)

s18000rpm said:


> which one? = *www.linuxmint.com/download.php
> 
> does it support gma x3000?


Linux Mint Elyssa 5.0 Main Edition (revision 1)


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## gauravsuneja (Jul 27, 2008)

hacintosh is my os


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## s18000rpm (Jul 27, 2008)

damn bsnl
dieing every 5-10 mins since yeterday

only 37% done since yesterday 8pm.
(IDM d/lin @60KBps )

logged in here at 12.45 &  dataone went dead b4 posting this.


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## s18000rpm (Jul 28, 2008)

just 40% done
damn u bsnl, burn in hell

dataone dead since sat. evening

now i'm not at home, hav com to chennai


time to d/l zenwalk


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## 4T7 (Jul 28, 2008)

My vote goes to openSUSE 11


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## arupch (Jul 28, 2008)

I'm pretty satisfied with OpenSuse 11 - not KDE 4 though - with KDE 3.5.9
Try it u'll like it. Installing and managing softwares through Yast rocks.

__________
_Arup_


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## CadCrazy (Jul 28, 2008)

gauravsuneja said:


> hacintosh is my os



WTF dude do you have any idea what you are doing


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## nach (Jul 28, 2008)

omg no one recommended fedora 
btw my recommendation Ubuntu/Debian etch or fedora/centos
offtopic {downloading slackware  }


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## FilledVoid (Jul 29, 2008)

> hacintosh is my os


Why on earth would you post that here? 



> omg no one recommended fedora
> btw my recommendation Ubuntu/Debian etch or fedora/centos
> offtopic {downloading slackware }



You can get slackware from the previous LFY issue if you have access to it. Rather than having to download all over fro the beginning.


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## The Conqueror (Aug 6, 2008)

I wanted to create a new thread but i will post here instead of creating another one..
I have now got the following linux distros :
Ubuntu 7.04 
Mandriva 08
OpenSuSE 10.3 (should get 11 within 2-3days)
Fedora 7 (I guess its outdated now)
Now which Distro should I install?


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## ray|raven (Aug 6, 2008)

Post your system config.

If you're new , go for Ubuntu/Mandriva.


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## The Conqueror (Aug 6, 2008)

My System Config :

1GB RAM (can add another GB too)
ASUS EN nVidia 8600 GT 512 MB DDR3 (Graphics Card)
Intel motherboard
Samsung 17" LCD
Creative 5.1 Speakers
Should this be enough?


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## ray|raven (Aug 6, 2008)

More than enough. What did u think Linux was? Vista? 

If you're new , Go for Ubuntu/Mandriva.
You could also go for Linux Mint , if you dont have a fast/dedicated internet connxn , as Mint comes with all codecs/stuff.


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## The Conqueror (Aug 6, 2008)

^^ I have 256kbps unlimited and will get 512k soon (maybe within this month itself)
I think i will download linuxmint and now i am installing both mandriva and ubuntu in my virtual machine (VMWare Workstation 6)


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## ray|raven (Aug 6, 2008)

^Good then , you can go with Ubuntu/Mandriva.

Ubuntu also has the new app that lets you install/uninstall linux from inside windows.
Helpful for newbies.


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## The Conqueror (Aug 6, 2008)

^^ Thank you for your help.BTW is it possible for me to create  a linux distro with my customized boot screen,logon screen,name , and my choice of applications?


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## ray|raven (Aug 6, 2008)

You can always customize linux completely after installing.No restrictions.

There is also nimblex : *custom.nimblex.net/

Which lets you create a custom iso with specific packages.
But afaik , it doesnt let u customize bootsplash/login screen


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## The Conqueror (Aug 6, 2008)

oh thats  bad..in windows we can customize bootscreen,logon screen,Setup billboards,progress bars and then create a iso ready for distribution


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## mehulved (Aug 6, 2008)

*mm.ilug-bom.org.in/pipermail/linuxers/Week-of-Mon-20080728/064229.html
And who says you can't do it with linux? You just need to know the right tools, it's way easier with linux.


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## The Conqueror (Aug 6, 2008)

thanks, reconstructor looks good.will try it


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## chandru.in (Aug 6, 2008)

The Conqueror said:


> oh thats  bad..in windows we can customize bootscreen,logon screen,Setup billboards,progress bars and then create a iso ready for distribution


When it comes to customizations, any linux distro will beat Windows hands down.


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## ray|raven (Aug 6, 2008)

Obivously , your talking about an OS that comes with three themes and doesnt let you install more without hacking system files/ installing new apps.


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## The Conqueror (Aug 6, 2008)

chandru.in said:


> When it comes to customizations, any linux distro will beat Windows hands down.


Sure but linux is little bit hard to customize .


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## Rahim (Aug 6, 2008)

Its not hard to be precise. The biggest boon for Linux is also its biggest bane. There are way too many options available to the users & for a new user it is hard to makeup his/her mind quickly.


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## chandru.in (Aug 6, 2008)

The Conqueror said:


> Sure but linux is little bit hard to customize .


As an example can you give the *exact* steps involved in changing the login screen and the boot screen of Windows after a fresh install (including any app to be installed)? 

For Ubuntu it is (applicable to other Linux distros too with little change in steps like package installation),

*Login* (doesn't need any software installation)

System -> Administration -> Login Window.

You can then pick any installed theme or install new ones pretty easily from *www.gnome-look.org/

*Boot* (needs software installation)

System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager

Search and install the package *startupmanager*.

Download any theme from *www.gnome-look.org/ install and use it.

Also, re-distributing modified ISOs of Windows is illegal.  But for Linux it is not.    And reconstrutor makes it extremely simple too.


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## yogeshm.007 (Aug 6, 2008)

Hi, if you find it interesting, I just installed openSUSE 11.0 (with KDE 4.1) on an unused/old IBM laptop at office (Its till switched off, so cant give you h/w details, but I remember it being 1.6 GHz with 256 MB ram, 855 board having onboard graphics). It boots rather quickly (as compared to my PC) and with the full KDE4.1 desktop loaded still has room for 2-3 apps to run.
Though I'm also having some issues (have still not tried to resolve): -
Power key not working
Video not working (using Xine)

Important working things (without much fuss): -
W-LAN
Power management


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## Rahim (Aug 6, 2008)

^You might try 1-click install to download all the multimedia codecs like w32codecs-all, flash, java etc..
I-Click Install


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## yogeshm.007 (Aug 6, 2008)

rahimveron said:


> ^You might try 1-click install to download all the multimedia codecs like w32codecs-all, flash, java etc..
> I-Click Install



I've installed xine from pacman; the video does start but there is actually no video (just blue screen) though the audio part is ok.


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## Rahim (Aug 6, 2008)

^That blue screen might be conflict with Compiz


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## yogeshm.007 (Aug 6, 2008)

rahimveron said:


> ^That blue screen might be conflict with Compiz


No compiz. KWin4 rocks for me [I tried disabling desktop effects but it didn't help]
On my home PC (openSUSE11.0/KDE4.1/nvidia) I can use KWin4 + desktop effects + xv without any issue; I can even make the Kaffeine window translucent.


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