Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

Yeah... I was thinking about downloading Ubuntu on Tuesday night while I have access to the T1 connection at the robotics meeting. The OpenOffice program appealled to me a lot. And the fact that you can keep Windows XP on their for the others that use the computer.

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

I think that Xubuntu didn't recognize my sound card, because I have no sound or sound control anywhere. Any suggestions?

EDIT: It's a Yamaha OPL3-SAx

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

Try following the instructions given in post #2 in this thread on the Ubuntu Forums.

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

The suggestion posted in that thread would be a good thing to try, but be careful when playing with the terminal so you don't really mess something up!

Also, think about becoming a member of UbuntuForums.org. It can be a great resource for beginners (myself included)!

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

Didn't work. Blah.

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

I'd suggest just joining the forums and posting your own question and/or revive that thread to see if anyone knows an alternative way to get it to work. I'm sure there will be someone who can help you on there.

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

Hm... as I explore my Linux options more, I have found that Kubuntu looks like it would be the easiest for me. I don't know much about computers, especially Linux so I've pretty much decided on a version of Ubuntu, just not sure if it should be Ubuntu or Kubuntu.

BTW, has anyone heard of Wolvix? I saw some screenshots of it and it looked pretty nice. I didn't ready anything into it yet though.

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

I just installed PCLinuxOS 0.93 Big Daddy. It is just a beautiful OS that runs quite well even on a Celeron 700Mhz with only 448mb PC100 RAM. It has some of the nice eye candy to kind of look like Vista such as transparency and glowing buttons. Anyway, it appears to be very well put together and thought out. Other distros failed to load or install, but PCLinuxOS 0.93 loaded the LiveCD and installed from it just perfectly. I think it's a keeper. :)

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

Well I have used Red Hat 9, Fedora Core 1 and Core 4, Debian, and Suse 10.1. I found Red Hat 9 to be the easiest for beginners. Since Red Hat no longer has it's own distros I would use Fedora since it's based off Red Hat.

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

I've said this and I'm going to say it again: Ubuntu, Ubuntu, Ubuntu (or any flavor variations of it like KUbuntu for KDE or Xubuntu for XFCE for those that don't like Gnome). I've used Redhat, Fedora, and some other distros a while back but what made me stick with Ubuntu and recommend to others either as a beginner or a intermediate linux user is the support base. You can easily get support either by reading the Wiki (https://wiki.ubuntu.com), the forums (http://ubuntuforums.org) or on IRC (#ubuntu on FreeNode). It's a very active community that you will actually get help/answers most of the time and it was easy enough for my to actually seriously learn about Linux and it's internals. :rolleyes:

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

Ubuntu has a large helpfull community. So if you are knew then that is great. I just recently installed Fedora Core 6 but as always struggle to get my wireless working on FC.

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

On the note for wireless under Linux: I fought to make my 802.11B USB adapter work for years in Fedora, Mandrake, and SuSe. I eventually just bought a TrendNet PCI Card that worked fine under ndiswrapper. But I found out that it used a RealTek RTL8180 chipset in it, which has open-sourced drivers for it. When I made the move to G, after researching it, I found that cards based on the RaLink RT2500 are very well supported under linux. At first under Ubuntu and other distros, I had to compile the drivers myself, but now they are built in to the latest 2.6 Kernels, so there is really nothing beyond configuring my SSID and WEP key. Admittedly, WPA is the only thing I haven't felt like struggling with it yet.

For those looking to purchase a wireless card specifically for Linux, I would recommend this Foxconn 802.11G one, but you can always check for something else here .

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

What annoys me is i have my ipw2200 and rtl8180 and atheros chipset wireless cards all working on my laptop! Im cheap and hate buying things but ill probably buy a card for my desktop that i know will work under linux easy.

Re: Best Linux distro for a beginner
 

A few thoughts for people starting to explore Linux ...

It's awesome. Everything you will ever need, and all of the source code too!

Don't be scared of the command line. It's just another way of looking at what's happening in the computer, and will help you think in different ways and see different (and often better) solutions to problems. (Anyhow... all I see now is file ... directory ... process :o)

Linux actually has better hardware support out-of-the-box than windows does. For the most part, you won't need to find or load drivers. However there are still some trouble spots: 3d video and wireless, specifically. The trouble is that the manufacturers refuse to release the specifications. Not even code, just the hardware specs! Best thing to do is start with some research before you buy, and if you have any trouble, write to the manufacturer and tell them you are looking for the linux driver. Maybe eventually they will learn.

Finally, find a good distro-specific mailing list or forum where you can ask questions. The Linux community is generally quite good, but remember that you need to ask good questions.