# Help me pls...



## mayneu (Apr 26, 2008)

I am going to change my windows to install linux. I am fed up with its stability. Some or the other problem i am facing these days.
So anyone tell me the easiest and the windows like interface with all features of usability comparable to windows in linux ?


----------



## ThinkFree (Apr 26, 2008)

Try Ubuntu. You can get its livecd home delievered for free( shipit.ubuntu.com ). Just boot your computer using this and see if you like it or not.


----------



## mehulved (Apr 26, 2008)

Linspire


----------



## ThinkFree (Apr 26, 2008)

^^Not able to see any option to download it at linspire.com. Is it available only on disk?


----------



## Dark Star (Apr 26, 2008)

^^Its a paid version. Better get yourself Mandriva 2008.1


----------



## praka123 (Apr 26, 2008)

you want windows in Linux?pls read:
*linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm  

BTW,if you are into Linux,try some real Linux distros like Ubuntu,Fedora etc NOT these waste distros like xandros,linspire,linux-xp,vixta etc


----------



## NucleusKore (Apr 26, 2008)

Try OpenSuSE 10.3 and read this post
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84586


----------



## FilledVoid (Apr 26, 2008)

I recommend Mint. Its easy to use and it has alot of the goodies in the disk itself so you don't have to go and download it .


----------



## mayneu (Apr 26, 2008)

Guys pls come to a conclusion... Everyone is giving their own preference of linux. I am confused. I dont mind whether its real linux or not. All i need is stability and ease of use. It should not be too complicated. This is my condition. Is there any one?


----------



## praka123 (Apr 26, 2008)

^^ Ubuntu -get it here :-
*ubuntu.com


----------



## QwertyManiac (Apr 26, 2008)

Ubuntu here too. Just get the latest 8.04 version of it.

Also, do you mind telling us what "stability" factor are you looking for?


----------



## Hitboxx (Apr 26, 2008)

I would second *Linux Mint*, it's the best ever to quickly get into the flow of Linux.

Get Mint 4.0 from www.linuxmint.com


----------



## Faun (Apr 26, 2008)

Ubuntu - if u hav decent net connection


----------



## FilledVoid (Apr 27, 2008)

> Guys pls come to a conclusion... Everyone is giving their own preference of linux. I am confused. I dont mind whether its real linux or not. All i need is stability and ease of use. It should not be too complicated. This is my condition. Is there any one?



There are 355 Distros of Linux on distrowatch.com . Out of which the small 10% (This might be a gross over/under estimation so please dont nitpick) of folks on this forum who do run Linux use about 10 different distros . Each one chooses a certain distro and will obviously recommend it cause no one is going to install an "unstable" distro. Again Ill start from the beginning.

Ubuntu - Easy to use, large community , you need a internet connection (fast one preferred) . Ill be doing a review of Ubuntu 8.04 Soon once I get my Distro copy from a friend . 
Mint - Easy to use, large community (I think Ubuntu and Debian folks wouldnt mind helping out with Mint here and there), Better Out of Box Support since it comes with stuff you need for multimedia etc. 
Sabayon - This thing contains a huge box of software  and has a ton of stuff preloaded , a bit more harder to use and upgrading applications seem to be a pita. I wouldn't mind using this if I didnt have an Internet connection. 

The others which I have heard are easy are Mandriva , Fedora and OpenSuse? 

Choose your own poison now .


----------



## ico (Apr 27, 2008)

FilledVoid said:


> The others which I have heard are easy are Mandriva , Fedora and OpenSuse?


Don't use OpenSuse, I had found it very slow when I had used it.

+1 for Ubuntu.


----------



## mehulved (Apr 27, 2008)

Anyday mandriva over ubuntu if you don't want to touch CLI.
But, very few or no Mandriva users on this forum and a huge bunch of ubuntu users.


----------



## NucleusKore (Apr 27, 2008)

Let me add Open SuSE 10.3 again if you do not want to fiddle around with commands.


----------



## praka123 (Apr 27, 2008)

no,offense but...suse literally crawls on average systems


----------



## NucleusKore (Apr 27, 2008)

praka123 said:


> no,offense but...suse literally crawls on average systems



Yes, and other Linux OSes are catching up. Tried Ubuntu Hardy? Definitely slower than Gutsy. As for SuSE, yes a 512 MB RAM minimum is required to be comfortable, and one has to reduce the KDE eye candy a little.


----------



## praka123 (Apr 27, 2008)

^well,we whined about vi$ta's huge sys requirements and it seems linux distros are competing with vi$ta 

I am a sane guy,I use Debian,which rockets on 384MB of RAM 8)
edit:add archlinux also.
@Doc:I recommend you archlinux as you seems to love kde 
there is a modular kde(KDE -bloat) called kdemod which is faster.try it!


----------



## mayneu (Apr 27, 2008)

Stability means, i shouldnt have to install OS again and again because of some error, as i am doing it with xp now like once in 3-4 days. I have a 2GB RAM dual core laptop and 256MB RAM. So config is not an issue.I need fast linux also. So which one guys?


----------



## Faun (Apr 27, 2008)

wat abt decent net connection ?


----------



## mehulved (Apr 27, 2008)

praka123 said:


> there is a modular kde(KDE -bloat) called kdemod which is faster.try it!


Is there anything for gnome-bloat?


----------



## praka123 (Apr 27, 2008)

Gnome is already modular!  I install packages which I need only


----------



## mehulved (Apr 27, 2008)

Go for Mandriva.



praka123 said:


> Gnome is already modular!  I install packages which I need only


Still it conumes lot of resources. More than KDE atleast.


----------



## praka123 (Apr 27, 2008)

^well,I dont think so  .kde thing boasts qt?right.but whatever "theoretical" superiority told,kde sure is more resource hogging atleast in my experience.
kde3 or kde4 no difference in consuming memory 

dont think I am against kde,I too uses kde,but it is like a once in a month affair


----------



## SunnyChahal (Apr 27, 2008)

Download ubuntu 8.04 from ubuntu.com .I'm sure you'll love it.Customize it and it will look better than any other OS
once you install it ,you wont ned to install it till the next release of ubuntu(ibex).
its damn stable,cool Ui (once u configure it,u can get all themes and eye candy stuff from gnome-look.org),user-friendly(writing command aint so difficult,so dont do ohhs and aahs),NEVER gets bloated and 8.04 is even better with many new cooool apps like transmission ,world clock etc.
I too am waiting to install it,most probably tmrw
OR use Xp with dozens of AVs and  Firewalls.


----------



## QwertyManiac (Apr 27, 2008)

mayneu said:


> Stability means, i shouldnt have to install OS again and again because of some error, as i am doing it with xp now like once in 3-4 days. I have a 2GB RAM dual core laptop and 256MB RAM. So config is not an issue.I need fast linux also. So which one guys?


You should know that unlike Windows, reformatting a Linux distro is never the idea. 95% of problems you get caught into on Linux mostly only need a command or two to fix them back up, and needs no reboot either. 

So if that's your major concern, just forget about it when you use Linux, you will never format. 

And about the distros, there are several because not many persons think alike, they all want different stuff, ranging from the way a distro manages its packages to what themes it provides. But essentially, after you get to know a couple of distros, they all are the same underneath the cosmetic layer of customization that's built into them.

I suggest you try out a minimum of 3 distros to help you find what suits you the best, afterall Freedom is all about choice isn't it?

Agreed, its confusing for the new to this world but its their fault looking for the "best" among the distros while there are none "best" but only variety of the same thing packed into different boxes. Much like Mangoes in India.

Do try 3 eventually. And do not waste time looking for the best, there is none best, think of it this way: _There's no best, there's only what you have right now and what you don't_. So do start with what you have available with you right now and we can guide you in case you still feel that what you use has something amiss.

Personally, I 'started' with Fedora Core 3, but only 'started using' when I got my first Ubuntu 5.10 CD via ShipIt service of Ubuntu. I've been on Ubuntu since 5.10 to 7.10, yes two years of only Ubuntu with some F-Core 4, 5 and Simply-Mepis thrown in for trying's sake. But of course, this never means Ubuntu is the best, its just what I liked getting accustomed to.

Hope you read this post in the whole, might clear up your mind a bit.


----------



## FilledVoid (Apr 27, 2008)

I was searching for an alternative for Microsoft Visio and found one. SO I took the time of testing it out with a sample FlowChart. This should help you. 

*img175.imageshack.us/img175/601/diagram2td5.th.jpg


----------



## mayneu (Apr 28, 2008)

I dont have an internet connection at all.I'm posting this from airtel live.Once i get it i am sure u people will be there to guide me.I am going to download Ubuntu 8.04 and try it.I really hate issuing
commands.Why cant the commands run under simple gui ?

I'm sorry, 260 is max words at a time.What i meant is, why cant those commands/codes run discretely and show simple english sentences of whats happening and what do u wanna do just like in windows? Is that so difficult to do it? Isnt that a good option?

Why no techie has done any research in that aspect and found a solution ? I agree its a cake walk for techie,but what about a noob like me?When we dont know what is abcd of comp language, how can u expect me to use it?We all know english,thats only way no?

I am sorry, i am not complaining it on anybody,but its a fact.Its what i am feeling at the moment. Its 2 bad on those developers for not making it so simple so that noobs like me can also use it.If u dont agree,then its freedom for techies only...Not all !


----------



## mehulved (Apr 28, 2008)

mayneu said:


> I dont have an internet connection at all.I'm posting this from airtel live.Once i get it i am sure u people will be there to guide me.I am going to download Ubuntu 8.04 and try it.


 Ubuntu won't be a good idea without internet connection. Try sabayon DVD.


mayneu said:


> I really hate issuing
> commands.Why cant the commands run under simple gui ?


sh or bash or for that matter any unix shell isn't as dumb as a DOS prompt.


mayneu said:


> What i meant is, why cant those commands/codes run discretely and show simple english sentences of whats happening and what do u wanna do just like in windows? Is that so difficult to do it? Isnt that a good option?


It is very bad to use english. It's a pathetic language for expression. Conversations in english are too open ended and usually have more than one meaning for each word. That makes it way too complicated for a computer to handle it.


mayneu said:


> Why no techie has done any research in that aspect and found a solution ? I agree its a cake walk for techie,but what about a noob like me?When we dont know what is abcd of comp language, how can u expect me to use it?


I don't even know a let alone abcd of programming but I can easily get my way around on linux and FreeBSD. I have never ever needed programming skills. Let alone programming, I can't even write bash scripts or javascript.


mayneu said:


> We all know english,thats only way no?


Is it? I thought there were so many people around the world who didn't know english, thus such a massive work on localisation.


mayneu said:


> I am sorry, i am not complaining it on anybody,but its a fact.Its what i am feeling at the moment. Its 2 bad on those developers for not making it so simple so that noobs like me can also use it.If u dont agree,then its freedom for techies only...Not all !


It is a rant, nothing else.
If you want windows stick to windows and install something like deep freeze to avoid you reinstalling everytime.
Linux isn't an alternative OS that you use when you're frustrated with windows. Each OS is different and has their own strong points and weak points. So, does linux and so does windows.
Linux doesn't aim to be idiot friendly like windows, thus it requires you ro learn some basics about computing so that you don't harm yourself or others. Just as you are required to learn to drive a car before you take it out on the road.
And you haven't even started using it but already started with your rant.
If you're interested in linux then great but give it a fair try. It will require you to know some basics of computing but they are in no way computer science, hell, if it was I wouldn't have been ever able to use it.
I have been suggesting you mandriva since so long since it hardly if ever requires use of CLI. But, if you still feel like ranting I am not going to reply anymore.


----------



## FilledVoid (Apr 28, 2008)

> I'm sorry, 260 is max words at a time.What i meant is, why cant those commands/codes run discretely and show simple english sentences of whats happening and what do u wanna do just like in windows? Is that so difficult to do it? Isnt that a good option?



What in the world are you talking about? What makes you think that there is not a GUI for most common commands. Have you had to use any of the CLI commands yet? If so which distro are you talking about. 



> Why no techie has done any research in that aspect and found a solution ? I agree its a cake walk for techie,but what about a noob like me?When we dont know what is abcd of comp language, how can u expect me to use it?We all know english,thats only way no?



I know quite a few people who are running Ubuntu or some other distro of Linux on their computers who are definitely not "techies."  



> I am sorry, i am not complaining it on anybody,but its a fact.Its what i am feeling at the moment. Its 2 bad on those developers for not making it so simple so that noobs like me can also use it.If u dont agree,then its freedom for techies only...Not all !



From what I see, the only fact here is that you want Windows with some of the features of Linux. If this is the case all you need is to read one of gx_saurav's thread about how to configure it correctly. I have been using  Windows XP as a secondary OS for a long time now (probably a year since last reinstall).

If you look over my threads in this forum you will see that I started using Ubuntu around December I believe. As a matter of fact I even started with Ubuntu 64 bit although I was advised otherwise since people said it would be hard to configure blah blah blah. But nonetheless it was more easier than I thought. Don't just base your experience off of someone elses review. Why don't you try it out yourself? 

Coming back to the topic. You want a distro which has to be easy to use, you don't have an Internet Connection and you don't want to have to use Command Line. 

I would recommend *Mint* and *Sabayon *
You don't need to download alot for basic stuff you need on your comptuer.
You don't have to use the CLI alot if you manage to get it installed.
Theres a pretty large community who could help you out with your problems.
Looks better too.
(I recommended Sabayon because it has proprietary stuff and tonnes of apps. ALso SInce you don't have an Internet Connection you won't have to use Emerge so I doubt there will be alot for you to do in CLI anyway. Mehulved pointed this out of course  ). 

What else is it that you want? The only thing you asked for was stable. You *have yet* to post your system specification or your intended use etc. 
Nonetheless I'm sure that pretty much everyone would say the same that Mint is a good choice. Mandriva is as easy as it gets btu I think you have to download stuff for it to work perfectly to a point which you are happy with it. 

As far as stability is concerned , just don't try beta or unstable stuff like beta versions and you should be fine.


----------



## QwertyManiac (Apr 28, 2008)

mayneu said:


> I dont have an internet connection at all.I'm posting this from airtel live.Once i get it i am sure u people will be there to guide me.I am going to download Ubuntu 8.04 and try it.I really hate issuing
> commands.Why cant the commands run under simple gui ?


All things have GUI now, don't worry. You won't have to start your Terminal much in the learning time. But eventually you sure will discover something much faster than the GUI.

But until then, no worries, you have GUIs to all stuff important and needed for fixing etc, sure. Just go ahead and give it a spin, am sure you won't have to issue even a single command unless its a Graphic Card issue we face. In that case even Windows would need to be booted via the CD and repaired, so CLI is inevitable there.


----------



## praka123 (Apr 28, 2008)

^well,I dont think so  ,configuring internet in distros like Ubuntu needs usage of terminal for bridge mode (pppoeconf).

For me,I too dont know any programming,neither am a geek BUT,using terminal is the fastest and easiest way for me.

DOS is not at all comparable with a modern shell like bash etc.
First of All,if you are thinking of a alternate windows,you could have tried reactos  ,google for that!

if you are totally frustrated with windows,you HAVE to learn and stick to GNU/Linux.  once doomed by windows,it is a little tough to recover.take your time


----------



## FilledVoid (Apr 28, 2008)

> ^well,I dont think so  ,configuring internet in distros like Ubuntu needs usage of terminal for bridge mode (pppoeconf).


If you install Xdialog I believe it becomes a GUI However I havent installed it to confirm since I don't use bridged mode. My connection is on when my system is on. I believe there are plans to launch one written in Gtk as well.


----------



## anarchist (Apr 28, 2008)

i am having net over gprs (BSNL) with speed ~40kbps at home still i am using ubuntu. it takes ~20MB of initial downloading for installing all codecs. internet is required for ubuntu initially to install codecs, otherwise most of the media files would not be played

regarding  commands, now ubuntu is now very user friendly, you dont have to use any commands for installing commands. say you click a mp3 file it will search and install required codecs (you have to only click for "search" and "install")


----------



## praka123 (Apr 28, 2008)

@filled-void:yes,I forgot that!but xdialog needs gtk1.2 
@anarchist:This is now a Gnome feature.(searching for codecs),I think.


----------



## mehulved (Apr 28, 2008)

praka123 said:


> ^well,I dont think so  ,configuring internet in distros like Ubuntu needs usage of terminal for bridge mode (pppoeconf).


Mandriva, Suse, Fedora all have GUI for it too. Or you can configure bridged mode.


praka123 said:


> First of All,if you are thinking of a alternate windows,you could have tried reactos  ,google for that!


It wasn't even usable for a 2 year old kid when I last saw.


----------



## FilledVoid (Apr 28, 2008)

> @filled-void:yes,I forgot that!but xdialog needs gtk1.2


That is beyond my knowledge .


----------



## praka123 (Apr 28, 2008)

one word:gtk1.2 =cruft on your system!many apps are there in gtk1.2 although it is phased out.


----------



## ray|raven (Apr 28, 2008)

Xdialog works with gtk+ , gtk-1.2 not needed.


----------



## praka123 (Apr 28, 2008)

^LOL!everything uses GTK+,but GTK2+ is the current version and xdialog uses older gtk1.2 that's what I said 

u can find a gtk1.2 app easily by seeing its interface,it will look like 1998's inteface!


----------



## ray|raven (Apr 28, 2008)

^yeah, i guess the 2 got missed while typing. 
I meant to say Xdialog works in gtk+2.


----------



## mayneu (Apr 28, 2008)

Guys i'm kid just born in linux world.Things look totally new for me. If i express my doubts here, few of u r saying that trying linux is a mistake. Pls dont discourage me. I really like linux.2yrs back i tried it.It was so difficult.Thats why i said so !


----------



## praka123 (Apr 28, 2008)

^so what are you waiting for?get urself Ubuntu Hardy install it .refer
 *ubuntuguide.org
:eace::


----------



## FilledVoid (Apr 28, 2008)

> Guys i'm kid just born in linux world.Things look totally new for me. If i express my doubts here, few of u r saying that trying linux is a mistake. Pls dont discourage me. I really like linux.2yrs back i tried it.It was so difficult.Thats why i said so !



Everyone starts somewhere. No one is discouraging you in trying Linux. What everyone is trying to get through is don't assume Linux to be a Windows Clone. Theres hardly any difficulty using any one of the distros already mentioned here. Why don't you try out a certain distro and then ask the certain problems you have .


----------



## mayneu (Apr 29, 2008)

done.... sorry to bother u all like this.... i will install ubuntu and come up with questions if i encounter any difficulty in installing as well as post installation....
thanks for ur quick and wonderful responses guys.... i hope i would become a part of this community soon..... take care... gtg.


----------



## Rahim (Apr 29, 2008)

thanks God you made up your mind on a distro finally. Now  just install the brown freind and start your queries. Best of Luck.


----------

