which version is better?

[ming]

If I were to use a linux OS, which would you guys recommend?

I've just come across the xubuntu/ubuntu version - xubuntu being slightly lighter on resources since my old laptop only has 256mb ram.

Not sure whether the others out there will be easy to use. Been a Windows user since.... Win 3.11

 

[LordOfLA]

What do you want to use linux for?

I find the desktop side of things lacking in linux/bsd.

You could invest in a Mac for a decent Unix experiance, or stick with windows and move up to vista 64bit

 

[ming]

What do you want to use linux for?

I find the desktop side of things lacking in linux/bsd.

You could invest in a Mac for a decent Unix experiance, or stick with windows and move up to vista 64bit

I have no idea about linux, never really used one before. Most probably just surfing/downloading.

 

[Johnny]

When it comes to linux; they are all the same thing. Just diff names. That is how I gathered it anyhow. unix is unix. any of them will do ... some say the best ones to start out with are suse, feedora, or ubuntu.

 

[Dark Atheist]

the term best is subjective - what is best for one isnt best for someone else, if its just surfing and downloading most distros out there will do what you need - apart from gentoo - thats deff not a beginners distro.

If i were you i would stick with ubuntu for now untill you feel you know enough to start choosing another distro

suse forked from slackware many years ago and suck bawbags now, go with ubuntu for ease of use

 

[X-Istence]

When it comes to linux; they are all the same thing. Just diff names. That is how I gathered it anyhow. unix is unix. any of them will do ... some say the best ones to start out with are suse, feedora, or ubuntu.

Unix is Unix indeed, Unix is not Linux and Linux is not Unix. Linux is Linux.

That being said, they are not all the same thing. They are all entirely different in their own way shape or form. Ubuntu for instance uses apt for its package management system, just like Debian from which it forked. Fedora uses RPM, just like Red Hat from which it forked. SuSe uses YasT and RPM.

The other thing is that they are different in what kind of features they offer the end user in terms of an install that is done on disk.

Fedora for instance uses KDE, whereas Ubuntu use Gnome, and Xubuntu uses XFCE.

So, that what you have gathered is wrong, and I hereby invite you to do more research and gather more information.

 

[Johnny]

Unix is Unix indeed, Unix is not Linux and Linux is not Unix. Linux is Linux.

That being said, they are not all the same thing. They are all entirely different in their own way shape or form. Ubuntu for instance uses apt for its package management system, just like Debian from which it forked. Fedora uses RPM, just like Red Hat from which it forked. SuSe uses YasT and RPM.

The other thing is that they are different in what kind of features they offer the end user in terms of an install that is done on disk.

Fedora for instance uses KDE, whereas Ubuntu use Gnome, and Xubuntu uses XFCE.

So, that what you have gathered is wrong, and I hereby invite you to do more research and gather more information.

It's all the same thing, just each flavor has a different name for it ... lol

 

[X-Istence]

Eh, no.

 

[fitz]

agree with X - Unix is not Linux.. Linux is not Unix. While Linux may be Unix-like, they are not the same with different flavors. They are different and separate.

Various distro's of linux are simliar in a lot of ways - and your statement of different flavors applies more to the various distro's of linux.

But please don't call linux unix or unix, linux.

 

[falconguard]

My Suse 11.0 did a complete install in ten minutes, and you have the option of using either gnome or KDE, or both if you want. It works on old hardware and is easy enough with yast to do everything a windows box does.

That being said, you have to try 'em out, if you like one, than stick with it, they all offer a stable environment. the live cd are pretty good now that you can install it if you like it.

 

[LeeJend]

Since you are a Linux noob with a limited Laptop I would recommend trying gOS. It is a stripped down version of Ubuntu. It is normally bundled with hardware so you may have driver issues installing it on your own machine. Give gOS a try, if it does not work try the full Ubuntu. Be aware with unusual enough hardware finding drivers may be an issue for any Linux distro. The latest gOS supports the Wine 1.0 release that allow you to run many Windows applicaitons under Linux.

When you ask Linux users which is the best release it gets translated as "which is the most powerful". What you really want to ask is Which is the easiest to install and use for a new Linux user. Then when you fall in love with it start asking which is "the best".

Enjoy. Living in a world of free software is very fun!

One heads up. A hardcore linux release will nag about trying to install drivers and prorgams that are not Open Source. You will get warnings about "not portable and maynot be supported". Ignore them.

 

[Heeter]

gOS is a good idea, LeeJend, for that slightly older laptop.

I am pretty sure a full Ubuntu or Opensuse install would work just fine that too.

Heeter

 

[Mainframeguy]

distrowatch.com end of. Period.

 

[Arniestan1]

I have been trying alot of different flavours for a few years. It's taken time but lately most of them run well on modern machines and older ones alike. Many of them are live builds so you can try them first. Word of caution before installing in dualboot. I like to partition my drive with an unallocated 10gigs space. Here's why, When things go bad I can begin an XP setup on that space and as soon as it starts to copy files after a quick format I restart the computer. What it did was rewrite the boot record. Back to XP go to disk manager delete that space so it's free. Go to the above mentioned distrowatch, give Mint a look. It's bebian based like ubuntu works fine for me.