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Unread 02-01-2004, 16:22
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Choosing a Linux distribution

I recently have decided to turn my computer into a dual boot system w/ Windows XP and Linux, but i'm not sure which distribution to install. I've had some experience with an older version of Redhat, but no longer have it installed. I was just wondering which distribution anybody would recommend.
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Unread 02-01-2004, 17:28
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Re: Choosing a Linux distribution

Er... Redhat doesn't like Windows XP. I found out the hard way when my comp wouldn't boot either OS and I had to spend a few days extracting files at a friend's house and then reformatting. I found out later on the Redhat website that there was a warning for that. Oops. I think there's some fix to work that out if you really want XP/Redhat on one system, but I would suggest just finding an older computer (PII ~233mhz-400mhz) to run a dedicated linux box. Hope that helps you on the path of what not to do.
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Unread 02-01-2004, 19:13
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Re: Choosing a Linux distribution

Be very careful, I've never gotten dual booting to work with Linux and XP.

That being said, there's a ton of "distros" out there, but each cater to a different taste.

I use Gentoo (http://www.gentoo.org), which is a source based "meta-distro." That means I can pick and choose whatever programs I want installed, compile them from scratch and hopefully optimize them for my computer, and then have an almost completely customized install. It's not really for beginners though, as there's no installer program, just a bunch of commands to type (although, they are very well documented). Another feature of Gentoo is the online community, which is the best Linux one I've seen yet (http://forums.gentoo.org).

Another good distro is Debian, which is similar to Gentoo but more stable and binary based. I believe their site is http://www.debian.org.

I think that it really depends on how much you want to learn. With Gentoo, I've taught myself much more about Linux than anything else, with other ones like Debian or Redhat, I had a working system, but no knowledge on how it works.

http://www.distrowatch.com

That website should be a good website to look at different distros, and figure out which is best for you. Narrow it down to a few, and then try them all out if you have the time. Nothing beats actually playing with a distro and learning how to use it.
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Unread 02-01-2004, 21:20
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Re: Choosing a Linux distribution

There are a few questions you need to ask yourself beforehand. What do you want to do with it? Desktop or server? Do you want ease-of-use or flexibility? Do you want it to auto-detect all your hardware on installation or do you not mind doing stuff like that by yourself? Do you like to dive right in? Do you want a simple way to install packages? Do you want something resume-worthy?

I mean, there are hundreds of distros for all different kinds of users. Most of my time spent on the internet is giving out free Linux tech-support via IRC. Doing that, I see all different kinds of users who just want Linux and didn't bother to even look into it. Probably the most popular distros I see are: Redhat, Mandrake, SuSE, Debian, Slackware, and Gentoo.

Now, those first three are some of the easiest distros to use, many think. They'll detect most of your hardware on install and set everything up all nice and pretty. That's fine. The downside is they're all RPM-based. Since you have used Redhat in the past, you probably know that RPM's are the packages for Redhat Package Manager. It's a decent package system, but I hardly recommend it. Just using rpm can send a person into RPM hell where there are packages that need to be installed but you think they're already installed and you have to fight the entire system. That's normally the biggest flaw of those RPM-based system. On the other hand, many companies have heard of Redhat and SuSE (many haven't heard of debian, slack, and gentoo). These distros will pretty much hold your hand through the installation and have GUI apps for about everything. You won't be forced to learn too much and it'll be about as easy to use as Windows.

On the other hand, Debian, Gentoo, and Slackware pretty much require you to get down and dirty. These distros won't auto-detect your hardware, they won't tell you exactly what to do during the install (but you can figure it out using the docs online), but they will usually leave less of a dent in your free space. These distros can be very customized. Gentoo has the trump on Debian and Slack; you can compile the entire thing from scratch to optimize it for your computer. These distros can pretty much run on any system where Redhat, Mandrake, and SuSE require pretty new systems just to install. These distros are great for running a server on a spare computer or really tinkering around. Also, Debian's apt and Gentoo's portage package systems are probably the best I've seen. They allow you to download and install the package along with all dependencies with one command.

In the end, any distro will work on just about any type of hardware.. Any Linux software will work on pretty much any distro. Anyways, the best way to find the distro that's best for you is to try a few. If you have broadband and a few blank CD's, you can install as many as you want.
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Unread 03-01-2004, 09:18
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Re: Choosing a Linux distribution

Quote:
Originally Posted by evulish
The downside is they're all RPM-based. Since you have used Redhat in the past, you probably know that RPM's are the packages for Redhat Package Manager. It's a decent package system, but I hardly recommend it. Just using rpm can send a person into RPM hell where there are packages that need to be installed but you think they're already installed and you have to fight the entire system. That's normally the biggest flaw of those RPM-based system.
Mandrake, SUSE, and Redhat all have tools that automatically resolve dependencies and keep you out of RPM hell. They are called urpmi, YAST, and up2date (or yum) respectively for the different distros. You only run into RPM hell when you install some random rpm you found on the web. However, you run into the same problem if you install a random .deb, ebuild, or .tgz.

Quote:
Originally Posted by evulish
Gentoo has the trump on Debian and Slack; you can compile the entire thing from scratch to optimize it for your computer.
You can do that in debian with apt-source. In that way Debian has the trump because you can install the binary when you are in a hurry, and compile from source when you aren't. The closest that Gentoo has (that I'm aware of) is a stage 3 install.[/quote]

Quote:
Originally Posted by evulish
In the end, any distro will work on just about any type of hardware.. Any Linux software will work on pretty much any distro.
Redhat and SUSE support the most hardware the easiest. Gentoo also supports a lot because you can patch your kernel as part of the install process. Generally, if your hardware is 6 months to a year old, it is very well supported. And once hardware is supported in linux, it is very rare for it to stop being supported, unlike windows.

Quote:
Originally Posted by evulish
Anyways, the best way to find the distro that's best for you is to try a few. If you have broadband and a few blank CD's, you can install as many as you want.
You can also get CDs cheaply from cheapbytes.com. It sure beats trying to download on dialup (which I've done before) and borrowing CDs from friends (thanks Jim).
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Unread 03-01-2004, 20:28
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Re: Choosing a Linux distribution

On a similar note, has anyone successfully installed Wine or something like it (ie. Bochs,...)? I'm running Slackware 9.1 and XP, but Slackware has been neglected since most of my software (MPLAB ) is XP/Windows based.
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Unread 03-01-2004, 22:20
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Re: Choosing a Linux distribution

I have installed Wine on Slackware 9.1 with good results. I was able to run Trillian, circutmaker, Microsoft Office, and others. I don't see why it wouldn't work with MPLAB (not sure about the loader program though).

Only one way to find out go download/install wine and see if you can run MPLAB (I would try and run a version installed by your XP installation.

Greg
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Unread 03-01-2004, 22:33
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Re: Choosing a Linux distribution

For those who couldnt get dual-booting with Linux and Windows working:
Sample Grub Config for my gentoo box

default 0
timeout 10
splashimage=(hd0,3)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux
root (hd0,3)
kernel (hd0,3)/boot/bzImage2.6 root=/dev/hda4 video=mtrr,vesa:1280x1024 vga=0x31a splash=silent hdd=scsi theme=Gentoo
initrd= (hd0,3)/boot/initrd-1280x1024

title=Windows 2003 Server
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

If you need any help with anything, you can always message me. I've gotten just about anything working on Linux. I've used pretty much every distro there is as well.
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Last edited by rwaliany : 03-01-2004 at 22:38.
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Unread 03-01-2004, 23:02
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Re: Choosing a Linux distribution

Thanks alot everybody I really appreciate all of your replies. I think that I am going to go with Gentoo, I've already read through all the information and installation docs and it seems to be the right distribution for me.
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