linux?

[TommyM]

Hey
I got a pc I would like to try Linux on to play around with...

but there is a ton of different linux versions out there I have found out..

Andbody in here got some knowledge about linux? What I need is a version that has a graphic interface - similiar to windows maybe but in linux style ;) and preffered so it could run like a server, not serious but just to play around with it... thanks

[Elixir]

try with

REDHAT - http://www.redhat.com/

or

Ubunt - http://www.ubuntu.com/

if you wantsomething wild go with http://www.slackware.com/

[hjnet]

I'm using Fedora, on my Servers and on one Desktop

[Emil]

I like this one: http://www.linuxmint.com/

[Babaganoosh]

I like this one: http://www.linuxmint.com/

Mint is good stuff. It's basically reskinned Ubuntu but it does have better multimedia support right off the bat.

[DamianJ]

Ubuntu is widely recognized as being the easiest for noobs.

[Elixir]

Ubuntu is widely recognized as being the easiest for noobs.

Yes ubunt is very easy

[MSantore]

I vote ubuntu

[candyflip]

Here's something cool if anyone wants to build their own Linux distro:

http://www.susestudio.com

[xp-ViT]

I would suggest Debian, but if you new to Linux start with Ubuntu

[Fuckin Bill]

Ubuntu or Mandriva are probably the best for a newbie. They both set up a windows-like environment right out of the box with very little needed from you.

[Elixir]

Here's something cool if anyone wants to build their own Linux distro:

http://www.susestudio.com

suse is massive system but looks great! If you have good machine and you love nice looking op choose suse

[bbobby86]

soo windows here...

[TommyM]

I downloaded Ubuntu, and I am installing it right now, so far so good, looks really cool

[Elixir]

Welcome to the world of linux mate

Good luck !

[Atominder]

ubuntu is incredible. It's based on Debian, it has awesome support from their forum and a large, growing community that keeps contributing to it.

[Jinx]

I run Ubuntu as a Desktop OS and Redhat Enterprise as a Server OS

[sandman!]

http://www.pcbsd.org/ is another OS you can play with.

[beta-tester]

if u're beginner i'd recommend ubuntu definitely.

[Atominder]

gnome over kde3/4

[raymor]

One person recommended Red Hat, another Fedora. Both are top
choices. They are very similar, with each version of Fedora kind of
being the next version of Red Hat. Fedora is free, and has the most up
to date stuff. After some particular software version has been used
in Fedora for a while and any kinks are worked out, it then goes into
Red Hat, which is more stable and reliable because it doesn't have
the hottest new stuff.
I mentioned that Fedora is free. It's not just free in terms of price,
but free in terms of freedom. It doesn't include any proprietary software
or stuff with restrictive licenses. We Linux geeks talk use the terms
"free as in free beer" and "free as in free speech". More on that in a moment.

We use Fedora and a version of RedHat called CentOS on our servers,
desktops, and laptops, as well as other devices like my DVR.

I'm a little surprised that people say Ubuntu is easy for the newcomer.
I didn't think it was easier than Fedora, not at all. to each their own,
though. One thing that makes Ubuntu a little easier is that it includes
some non-free multimedia stuff which has to be separately installed
in Fedora,
but installing those multimedia codecs and RealPlayer only takes a few minutes.
Here's one guide, of many. This may not be the best guide, as I've
never gone through it's steps. It's just the first one I found on Google:

http://slayachronicles.blogspot.com/...in-centos.html


I should explain the relationship between CentOS and Red Hat (RHEL).
Red Hat is a commercial company and Red Hat is their trademarked brand.
When you buy Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you get not just the software,
but a brief printed user manual and most importantly some support.
RH also points out that you get a professionally pressed CD.
The software itself is free as in free speech, so if you wanted to you
could remove all of Red Hat's logos and sell it or give it away as
"TommyM Linux". That's what CentOS is - the exact same software
as RHEL, with the Red Hat logos removed. It's given away free.
That means it doesn't include support from Red hat Inc., you use free support - read HOWTOs on the web, read forums, etc.

BTW, the word "HOWTO" is magical in Linux. That's the word you put
in Google to find instructions to do just about anything -
Linux networking HOWTO, Linux video card HOWTO, etc.

If you have any questions and can't find the answers via Google,
feel free to contact us. We've been using and administering Linux
systems for over a decade. If you have trouble finding the answers
you seek, particularly if the experts don't seem to want to talk to you,
read this little gem:
http://www.bettercgi.com/gpl/smart-questions.html
It's written by a famous Linux developer. I've emailed him and he, like
most of the top experts in Linux, is more than happy to help IF you
follow the suggestions in that HOWTO.

One other tip. If you have a slower internet connection, downloading
Linux could take a while. If you have that problem, go to a large
bookstore and look at the Linux magazines. Often they will include
a free Linux install disk in the magazine. Also many books will
include a Linux disk, but you have to make sure it's current.
Fedora releases a new version about every six months, so a two
year old book won't have an up to date disk.

For any readers wondering WHY Linux is a great idea, I'm going
to make a follow up post quoting a post I made the other day in
response to a different question.

[raymor]

Here's my promised follow up post for anyone wondering "why Linux"?

Here's what I want in an operating system:

Real security. My web host can set me up with a shared account,
letting me run any scripts I want to. He's not worried that I'll
hack the system or other people's web sites on the same server,
because the server is secure - protected even from it's own users.
Why can't my desktop PC be just as secure - where even if I let
hackers run their tools it won't matter?


No forced updates. Microsoft says they are ending support for their
most popular system, XP, so you're pretty much forced to "upgrade"
to new problems.


Stop the bloat. Just a few years ago a 512Mhz CPU and 256MB of RAM
was a pretty fast machine. Why isn't a dual core 2Ghz machine with
1024GB of RAM blazingly fast? The word processor should launch in
two seconds, not two minutes! Stop the bloat with cute animated
icons and crap and I'll be be able to get shit done twice as fast.


Don't charge me $$$$ to fix your mistakes. MS tells me I should buy
Windows 7 because it fixes some of the security holes in XP. Hello!
Those security holes mean you sold me a DEFECTIVE product! Why should
I pay you hundreds of dollars to fix your own mistakes?


No more crashes. My web server hasn't crashed in the five years I've
had it. Why should my desktop ever crash?


Compatible documents. Why the FUCK can't one version of Microsoft
Word open a document written in another version of the same program,
Microsoft Word? Why can't a video recorded by Microsoft's cam software
be played back by Microsoft's player? No, you have to use just the
right version of Apple Quicktime to play back the video recorded in
MS's software. The web page I wrote in 1997 still works in every
browser 12 years later, why can't my word processor docs and spreadsheets
work?


No more bait and switch. So I go out and spend hundreds on Windows.
Then I find out that to have a usable system which does what I need,
I have to spend a few hundred more on Office, a couple hundred on
Photoshop, a couple hundred on ...
When the system install completes, a want a complete system installed!


No more license hassles. I have several PCs around the house, some
older, some newer. One is my DVR, for recording and watching TV.
Another old computer runs my phone system. Then I have my regular
desktop, and my laptop. I've lost the license keys for at least half
of them, and the all of my Windows disks have at least one scratch on
them, so they no longer work reliably. Fuck all that. When I get
software, I want to be able to make a backup copy of the install disk
and use it whenever I need it without any bullshit.


Fuck the registry and registry corruption. My PHP scripts are easily
configured using a simple text file. Why can't my desktop software be
that simple?


200 days is too long for a critical security fix, give me Firefox style
36 hour fixes. Six months after launching it's "Trustworthy Computing"
initiative, Microsoft released a patch for a security hole that allowed
crackers to compromise Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows
Server 2003. The same flaw allowed a worm to be spread around automatically
infecting systems. this fix was released exactly 200 days after the problem
became known. On the other hand, when my friend requested an improvement
in Firefox, I posted on the Firefox site and the improvement was done 36
hours later. If the Firefox team can release enhancements 36 hours after
it's requested, why should it take 200 days to fix a critical security
issue in my OS?


I want mods. The PHP and CGI scripts running on my site can be modified
by any programmer to work exactly how I need them to work. Why can't my
operating system? It's MY computer, let me make it work they way I want
it to work.


This all may sound like a rant, like a guy who's pissed off, but I'm not
pissed off. I'm happy as can be. Everything I listed that I WANT in my
operating system are all things that I HAVE in my operating system - I use
Linux, and it gives me everything I listed above and about 100 other
things that make it better than Winblows. If the list above includes
some things you want for you system, you can have it, all free of charge
and free of BS licensing requirements:
http://fedoraproject.org/

[DustinLDJ]

Go with Ubuntu for a desktop. It will make your life easy.

[irbobo]

I prefer Fedora Core