Alright, I have sitting in front of me 5 versions of Linux and hope someone on FW can offer advice. I'm very good w/computers & programming in several languages. Never been much of a systems guy or into networking, but I like to learn. Linux will be a true learning experience; but I'm stumped. Googling didn't find me much in the neighborhood of legacy drivers for my scanner, video card or WiFi 802.11g router/USB adapter. As far as install guides go, I think i'll need a few of those . So far, I have available: #1) Featherweight Live v1.3 #2) OpenSUSE 10.0 #3) VIDAlinux v1.2 #4) Slackware 10.1 #5) Gentoo 2005.1
Anyone have a preference on which distro is the best out of the five? Which Linux forums are the best for finding lots of general help? Where can I look up legacy and WiFi drivers? Is one OS considered more WiFi/Bluetooth friendly than others?
Thanks for any help other penguin heads can offer. Once I've learned enough of the OS, I am dumping M$oft and their crash prone, security hole filled, overpriced & underpowered software....
Temporarily and for learning until you decide on your final configuration, you might want to get a live Linux system that does not mess up with your current system. I use Knoppix. The download is free, you burn image on CDR, and boot from CD/DVD drive.
I spent some time playing around with several Linux distributions on a spare system.
My favorite was Kabuntu followed by Simply Mempis. (both KDE based) The Kabuntu/Ubuntu distributions have excellent FAQ's and Forums.
SUSE is also a very good distribution with great support.
I did not like Knoppix.
My conclusion is that Linux has come a long way but it's still not ready for "prime time" for a general home PC. Most hardware is detected on setup but if it isn't, the resulting H/W setup can drive you nuts. (ex: some printers, modems, scanners, etc). Kabuntu detected my network flawlessly but I tried for days getting a plain old dialup modem to work but was unsuccessful.
Linux reminds me of old Windows NT. (very fussy about H/W and you had to do lots of setup manually). Manual setups are much more involved that simply installing a driver. They can involve pages and pages of procedure all done thru a terminal window in "machine language".
Some say that's the fun of Linux and I agree to an extent. It's certainly worth playing around with. However I'd do it all on a spare hard drive until your satisfied you have the configuration the way you like it.
legzakimbo
Senior Member - 3K
posted: Oct. 23, 2005 @ 9:47a
if you have time on your hands, I would do a stage 1 gentoo install. You will learn an incredible amount of stuff that will help you immensely if you ever make the switch permanent. The forums at forums.gentoo.org are also quick and helpful (even for non-gentoo related questions)
But, be warned, you will have to do absolutely everything from scratch.
A couple of things that kept me from switching my main machine a few months back:
1) No program on the lines with DVD Shrink 2) No program to print on my CD/DVD's 3) No support for some of my wireless cards
(Yes, I could accomplish the first 2 using VMWARE, but if I'm going to do that why switch at all, I still need to own a legal copy of Windows)
A know that there were a couple of other issues, but I just don't remember them. Although, I may try and put a flavor of Linux on my extra laptop.
legzakimbo
Senior Member - 3K
posted: Oct. 23, 2005 @ 12:17p
sivartk said: 1) No program on the lines with DVD Shrink
DVD Shrink works in wine... it's on the supported apps list anyway There's also an app in portage called dvd9to5 which may do what you want
SeriusBlack
Senior Member - 4K
posted: Oct. 24, 2005 @ 8:37a
Don't forget that you can dual boot and save your Windows on the same hard drive. If you're brave, you can even tri/quad boot (meaning more than one Linux distro + Windows on same HDD). If anything 'goes wrong', you can go back to Windows in less than 5 minutes. I've found quite a bit of help, but even with all the tech experience I have (minus the networking...but thanks to ellory & RebateMonger...) I have to say that Linux is still too much to learn. Good to invest time in something that works, but there is still much to do if Linux is to ever replace Windows. Some ppl like to say that Linux should be an *alternative to it, but I'd rather see Windows just go away. Along with the spyware/malware/viruses. I guess I can do away with those once I install Linux ~ Great Linux forums
Would anyone mind sharing their Linux resource sites? I know there are thousands, but finding decent help on tech problems can be very difficult.
Ubuntu. (Kubuntu has less help info and the KDE was kinda less intuitive for me) Also use EasyUbuntu to install codecs, firefox plugins, display drivers and much more to make life easy.
I just installed it on my VAIO laptop this weekend. Everything works, it runs for hours mildly warm and without the toaster smell XP gave out due to overheating.
Another vote for MEPIS Linux. A bootable CD for recovery and testing, as well as a fully Debian compatible distribution. Perfect.
legzakimbo
Senior Member - 3K
posted: Oct. 24, 2005 @ 8:44p
SeriusBlack said: Would anyone mind sharing their Linux resource sites? I know there are thousands, but finding decent help on tech problems can be very difficult.
forums.gentoo.org while it's obviously gentoo-centric, a lot of the stuff is relevent to all distros. The tips/tricks forum is especially good
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