Hello All! I'm new here!

Is because the *buntus are financed by a philanthropist and is true that pays to advertise.

Mandriva let you grow too.

No to start a flame war here but I can say that is very misleading that any of the *buntus is easier. Mandriva (former Mandrakesoft) started the easy to use GUI tools about 10 years ago. All you need to do as far maintenance is a click and apply. I do not use the command console at all. The choices of desktops are in the install disk at your fingertips. It has much better multimedia support for DVD back ups and CODECs. There is some called the MCC (Mandriva Control Center) that all the required admin can be performed by just clicks of a mouse. It uses URPMI or SMART is your choice to decide what packet manager. There are tons of support for Mandriva too.

Even a well known Linux distro called PCLOS is a spin off from Mandriva; like the *buntus are spin off from Debian Linux.

I tried the *buntus before and I founded harder to use, got tired of that SUDO command and I have been using Linux since 1999.

Again, is not about a flame war, just stating some facts.


On the Spin Offs story...

There are 2 types of Linux, one are Red Hat and Debian.

Red Hat based Distros:
Mandriva, SuSE, Fedora, etc are RPM based

Debian based Distros:
*buntus, Knoppix, Slackware are APT based

Hope this helps. Either way, have fun and good luck with any Linux distro that you choose. The best of Open Source is the freedom of choice

it doesn't cost anything but a little time.

Personal opinion......
I used to run Ubuntu 9.04 but got a little frustrated with
trying to make Adobe flash and Java install right....then
saw "super-OS" as a distro....made me a lot more happy.
Just download the ISO and burn it, install it, and go.
Everything worked "out-of-the-box" for me. And has been
for 9 months now. Maybe I'm in the dark, but so far it's
looking good. Nice thing about Linux is you can switch boats
any time you want....it's a free ride....

Frustrations comes when the use any Linux Distro and try to manipulate it like a MS OS. They are 2 different animals. People are used to see MS Systems and they think that is the only thing in the market when in reality is just one of them.

The advantage in Linux is the is much easier to install a program. If you do not know much about it, you go to an "Application Store". That concept is been in the Linux world years before Apple made it popular.

For example, Mandriva Linux uses the Software Manager to pick and choose what you want. They are supposed to be made for the user to install a program that has been edited and modified to work with the Mandriva Linux Distribution. You can also install it and modify it but that requires more knowledge, on the Windows world, there is no such thing, is you like it or, Oh well..!

Some Linux Distro are more for the Experienced Users like Gentoo is. Madriva, Fedora, SuSE the *buntus are made more for people that wants some to work with the least amount of hassle.


If you are novice use the GUI instead of the Console and load what the Software Manager has to offer.

The first thing I did to my laptops and PCs was to junk Bilk ya for all I can Gates and do a fresh install of mint 9. Man I wish I had done this earlier but I did do some playing with other distributions before settling down with Mint.I am not saying that mint is the best ,for you may find Mandriva or Ubuntu better.I just like the freedom from open source programs that allow me to personalize my laptop for my own uses,not for everyone else!!!

try some of the forums as well as Linux for beginners and the Linux for Dummies books. Google books on Ubuntu and Mandriva for more information

Took the survey and Mandriva, Fedora and SuSE came up
I can say that I favor RPMs