Linux, which to choose?

it depends on what you want.

I have Linux SuSE 7.2 because it has rich multi media oppertunities and programms. it has Sun star office as a standard package and it has a very user friendly GUI and installion version. But before you begin workingwith linux I recommend you to purchase a book about linux and it's shell.

...is one of the easiest to get up and running. I'd definately recommend spending the $30 for a boxed distribution though - the "getting started" books are almost an essential if you're new to it.

I'd recommend installing EVERYTHING on the firstattempt. There's nothing more frustrating than not having what you need installed, then having to figure out how to install it when you don't know what you're doing yet. I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty confident that 6gb will handle it.

Lastly, learn how to use 'linuxconf'. Until you've learned the ins'n'outs of the config files, it's an outstanding cheater. Linuxconf installs with the stock installation if you install EVERYTHING...

Sounds like you should have more than enough machine to do it. Good luck.

I had a chance to do the same thing you are doing. Lab testing of Linux, but which distro? First, don't buy any of them. Download the ISO files and burn your own CDs (see www.linux.org and follow link for distributions).

Second, try the most popular distros

Mandrake - easy GUI install, most popular

Red Hat - again, easy GUI install, most commercial success

SuSE - simple takes away lots of the guesswork
Caldera - simple and easy GUI, highly recommend the eDesktop version

Best Linux - surprisingly fast running version, only one I found that utilizes Windows key on keyboard.

Slackware - don't even bother, text-based install is too confusing

That's all I have done. Try Sun Solaris and let me know how that goes, I was never able to get it working.

Whatever distro you end up with, use StarOffice from Sun, that's the best productivity suite.

My personal choice right now is Mandrake 8.1

Good luck :-)

I have enjoyed the freebies from mandrake, it is based on red hat and has a customised GUI.

Check this site out, if I had the spare cash I would certainly go for the ProSuite 8.1

H

I have enjoyed the freebies from mandrake, it is based on red hat and has a customised GUI.

Check this site out, if I had the spare cash I would certainly go for the ProSuite 8.1

http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/81/comparison

H

I normally use Red Hat for my Linux boxes, but I was turned on to Mandrake 8.1 by a friend.

For the first-time Linux dabbler, Mandrake has a very nice tutorial and the installation is very nice. If you insert the Mandrake CD on a Windows system and the media autostarts, you will find a cool tutorial that is well worth the reading.

However, as with any Linux distribution, it is paramount to always read the documentation. Otherwise, you will find yourself being pelted with rude remarks directing you to "RTFM" when you post a question in a newsgroup.

Hi,

I have been using Linux for several years now.

I think that if You want to learn go with the most common distributions. If You need help it will be easier.
Then the next thing is do You want to learn the networking side or the workstationside.

Red Hat is the Network server king, Suse in my opinion is the best for Workstation. I don't perticularly like Mandrake but I am told it's ok.

Just a word of advice don't expect to find things to be smooth in Linux. Sure the OS itself is stable but some of the programs do require some tweaking.

Good luck,

david

I too was pro-microsoft, although I find XP to be great but enough about that. Since attending a technical school, I have setup and configued most Linux platforms. I've been rather impressed with them and recommend you go to linuxiso.iso site. Thereyou will find all flavors and be able to download what ever flavor you want. I am currently running Mandrake 8.1 on a laptop and loving it. Wish you the best!
Morozco

For newbies I always recommend Mandrake, it's easy to install, but if you're really serious, take a look at Debian; it's the simply de best and with lots of packages. You may say it's older than other distros, but have an eye that Debian it's not a commercial distro, it's a work of faith. And if you're really a nuts guy, Why don't build your own Linux? C'mon, try Linux From Scratch.

cu

I've been meaning to ask that question myself. I'm not totally new to this linux thing, as while an undergraduate I fiddled around with Mandrake and Yellow Dog (for MacIntosh!) It's been a over a year though and since being dragged into the working world, I've not had the chance to do much work with it.
I've decided to re-introduce myself to this 'UX' because of my current job role (systems administrator) for a small company. Frankly I'm not fond of Microsoft's 'breaking' Windows! I've tried all flavours and none of them suit my taste.
I've convinced the 'bigger heads' to let me do some 'testing and research' into this Linux phenonmenon...I think the FREE part was the hook!
So I've armed myself with both Red Hat Linux 7.1 and Mandrake 8.1 and will shortly be testing the waters at some installations. Wish me luck!
I'll let you know the outcome.

To Linux Venturer,
There's now an impressive range of Linux dist's from which to make your choice.
It's my experience,especially in regard to recent versions, that they're all good,but very similar(so they should be, as we are referring to one OS, varying a bit in presentation,added bells & whistles (+ of course the different little logo pictures - ie the lizard-type,iguana-type,armadillo-type thingie of SuSE,to TurboLinux's beaked bird's head,to the shadowed hatted man in RedHat, etc...)
Ihave installed & used SuSE, TurboLinux, Corel Linux & Red Hat OS's, + dabbled in Mandrake. All installed without problem with good support resources. If you want the Penguin's OS with heaps of additional software,then go for SuSE. The SuSE release Ipurchased in April,last year contained 6 CD's,holding 1300 extra programs, inc StarOffice, boot floppies,& user manual. Retailed Redhat has 3 CD's, boot floppy & good hardcopy user handbook/manual(s). You can download most,if not all of these from the approp. Linux websites as you may the other distributions.

To come to the point,despite my statement that they are all essentially good Linux distributions, I have a fondness &/or preference for Red Hat. Whether purchased in boxed form, or downloaded from the website, you'll 'get the goods',& the online support is excellent. So Red Hat is my personal preference.

I hope my post didn't add confusion to curiosity. Truly I believe, irrespective of the number of individual distributions, that Linux is Linux is Linux is Linux...,& whichever of these you finally select, it won't let you down.
regards,
annie

Get a copy of RedHat 7.1 from one of the "CDs at cost" merchants like http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk or http://www.cheapbytes.com. Install and play with both Gnome and KDE so you can join in the holy wars over which is the better desktop. Download Star Office 6 beta from http://www.sun.com/download/ for your "MS-Office" replacement. Download an evaluation copy of Win4Lin from http://www.netraverse.com to convince yourself you can still run legacy Windows apps you haven't found a Linux replacement for yet.

If you're looking to roll out Linux across a network, download the software from the Linux Terminal Server Project http://www.ltsp.org. Take a couple of 486's from the obsolete pile in the office and amaze your colleagues by running them as thin clients off your server.

Show the lot to your bosses / finance boys and watch them rub their eyes in disbelief. Accept with humility when they offer you promotion and a massive pay increase.

Remember: be tough on Microsoft; be tough on the causes of Microsoft.

The Mouse

hi buddy
i think for that u shld take linux 7.2
it will help you

sumit

I try with Red Hat 7,2, Corel Linux Second Edition , Suse 7.1, Solaris 8 to PC, and Mandrake 8.1.

I think Mandrake is the best option this software detect everything in my PC, USB, CDRW, AGP Video Card, NetWork Card, SCSI and more.

I so simplyto install and so easy to use.

Try with this one first.

As far as I can see in terms of my own personal experience and the opinions of peers, the Mandrake distros are good for users porting over from MS Slavery.
It supports a lot of the simple, day-to-day functions that windows users rely on and don't realise such as alt+tab to switch between open applications etc.

If you don't want to be baby-sat into Linux, try redhat... it is still user friendly and infinitley customizable and as far as trial and error goes you can have a hellofa afternoon working through it.

Cheers
Geordie Guy

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this discussion. You have convinced me that I should experiment with Linux. It appears that the choice is between Red Hat, SUSE and Mandrake.
However which one offers the most/best 'bells and whistles' like a web browser, email, web design package, word processor, spreadsheet, etc

I need to get the 'extras' on CD as I have only a 56K modem and big downloads are out of the question.

I've had really good luck with Mandrake 9.x and recently with 10.x, as have many of my friends who have been running Linux since the mid-90s.

My colleagues have had great luck with Fedora 2. I think that they ended up putting Fedora 2 on their new AMD 64-bit based laptop. They tried Red Hat white box, but I don't think that it recognized some of the drivers, being that it is based on the 2.4 kernel instead of the 2.6 kernel that Fedora 2 is based on.

I've heard nothing but good things about SuSe. I've not tried it yet though.

Once I get a solid secondary workstation set-up, I'm planning on having it set-up with Mandrake 10.x. I had my primary workstation set-up with dual boot to XP & Mandrake, but ended up putting it back on 100% XP since not everyone in the house could figure out how to get to the XP Partition and their documents and stuff.