[steven1350]

I am going to change from windows to linux during the summer. I have heard that the learning curve to get used to linux is steep, but I am up to the challenge and I have the summer to discover it. What distro do you recomend for somebody who is new to linux?

I have a dell latitude c600
650Mhz
128RAM
10GB HD

Any recomendations(keep in mind the specs)?


-Steven1350

[lynch]

Well, you posted this question yesterday and have been answering other peoples questions since then, so I assume you found a distribution you like?

[steven1350]

Originally Posted by lynch

Well, you posted this question yesterday and have been answering other peoples questions since then, so I assume you found a distribution you like?

Im not sure if I found one yet. I downloaded the Ubuntu live cd, but I have yet to try it out. If I dont like it, any other recomendations posted here I will give a try.

[CouchMaster]

SimplyMepis - The new version is built around Ubuntu but the Hardware detection is greater.

[ferrija1]

If I were you I would stay with Windows, but if you are going with Linux then I don't think its that hard to learn.

[steven1350]

Originally Posted by CouchMaster

SimplyMepis - The new version is built around Ubuntu but the Hardware detection is greater.

Is SimplyMepis lighter on system resources? Ubuntu didnt seem to cut it on the live cd, it didnt boot properly (worked fine another pc). Probobly becuase of low spces.

Any other suggestions?

[ferrija1]

The Live CD doesn't function nearly as good as a full installation and also I hope that is not your main PC because 128MB RAM and a 650MHz processor is hardly enough to run BIOS , let alone booting Windows XP.

[CouchMaster]

I ran SM on a 435mhz pen2 with 128ram - it was a tad slow but sure worked, and I used it for about 6 months until I built a new computer.
It's true, the live CD won't tell you much about speed because it starts and stops.
If you want fast then go with DamnSmallLinux or Puppy.

[steven1350]

Originally Posted by CouchMaster

I ran SM on a 435mhz pen2 with 128ram - it was a tad slow but sure worked, and I used it for about 6 months until I built a new computer.
It's true, the live CD won't tell you much about speed because it starts and stops.
If you want fast then go with DamnSmallLinux or Puppy.

I realize that live cds are slower then an actual install, but the Ubuntu cd didnt even load the OS. It was loading, then it eventully stopped.

Puppy linux has an appearance exactly like windows. Can I put kde or gnome on this OS? Also, is there a live cd for puppy?


Any other light OS's?

[Old Bob]

steven1350,

Xandros 3.0 OCE is probably one of the easier ones to go to from Windows. I also like SuSE 9.2.

Red Hat/Fedora is pretty straight forward and Barnes & Noble/Waldenbooks have a lot of manuals at the mall.

[steven1350]

Originally Posted by Old Bob

steven1350,

Xandros 3.0 OCE is probably one of the easier ones to go to from Windows. I also like SuSE 9.2.

Red Hat/Fedora is pretty straight forward and Barnes & Noble/Waldenbooks have a lot of manuals at the mall.

Thanks for the reply. I am going to try out Ubuntu 5.10. If I dont like that, I will try Xandros. I appreciate your help.

-Steven1350

[rob.rice]

How deep into linux do you want to go ?
to start with I have to say vector linux
the whole system is in one tar file that gets unrolled on to the parttion you just configure and go
after you have a good handle on linux go with slackware
or if you realy get good with linux try gentoo
gentoo will wring more preformance from your computer then any other distro

[lynch]

Originally Posted by rob.rice

How deep into linux do you want to go ?
to start with I have to say vector linux
the whole system is in one tar file that gets unrolled on to the parttion you just configure and go
after you have a good handle on linux go with slackware
or if you realy get good with linux try gentoo
gentoo will wring more preformance from your computer then any other distro

All 3 distros mentioned above are of the roll-up-your-sleeves variety and usually succeed only in sending a new Linux user screaming back to windows. I dont mean that I think you are that type of person, steven1350; I just am making a general point.
Start with a distro that has a simple installation procedure and is widely used and documented by other users. Mandriva, Fedora, SuseOSS, and Ubuntu all fall into this category, though Ubuntu is very easy to wreck because of it's non standard use of permissions and the sudo command.
The 3 distros rob.rice suggests are all worthy entries into the advanced category, but take lots of time to get working to the user's satisfaction.
lynch

[steven1350]

Originally Posted by lynch

All 3 distros mentioned above are of the roll-up-your-sleeves variety and usually succeed only in sending a new Linux user screaming back to windows. I dont mean that I think you are that type of person, steven1350; I just am making a general point.
Start with a distro that has a simple installation procedure and is widely used and documented by other users. Mandriva, Fedora, SuseOSS, and Ubuntu all fall into this category, though Ubuntu is very easy to wreck because of it's non standard use of permissions and the sudo command.
The 3 distros rob.rice suggests are all worthy entries into the advanced category, but take lots of time to get working to the user's satisfaction.
lynch

I agree with you. After doing my research in looking for distro's, most people know a thing or two before using these. Maybe once I become linux fluent, I might try them.


**I wanted to try gentoo (for system performace) but the installation alone scared me away.