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General discussion

Help Which linux system would you recommed

Sep 30, 2005 11:47PM PDT

INTRO
I am a newbie at linux, though i have been using unix on sun workstation. My first contact with linux is from a VOIP course am taking from school.

OBJECTIVE
I want to get a linux system that would help me not only be familar with the OS but also that would give me a chance at practising network and client and if possibly server side programming skills.

HOPE/AIM
Call me a COmpu junkie yeah u got the pic. However, i feel i need this to be relevant in the job industry, especially in the tech part and not all are gifted with experience. Hence i want to make myown luck to an extent. Also try as much of this forums suggestion to increase my experience.

I also got a problem in Window 2000 forum if u can help.

Discussion is locked

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(NT) (NT) What I use. Suse.
Oct 1, 2005 12:04AM PDT
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Different strokes for different folks.
Oct 2, 2005 1:02AM PDT

On any Linux forum, you can get hundreds of different answers to this question.

The problem is different distros have slightly different "personalities" which means different people have different preferences. In other words, there is no ideael distro for everyone.

One common solution is to try a Live-CD for several different distros, and see which one you like.

Suse is good, and many have been happy with it. I paid $100 for Suse, forget which 9.x it was, and kppp simply would not work. Some well-meaning folks said I should be glad to use wvdial, which for portable use like mine is ridiculous. Suse support told others they needed to buy an external modem, which is totally false, kppp still would not work since the modem was notthe problem at all.

If you are fixed, then Suse should be fine.

Over the years, more newbies have been pleased with Mandrake now Mandriva than any distro, since it is easy to install.

The only way to find out is to try one. It is scary paying lots of money for something new, but if you have the money, I would suggest considering paying for a professional package with some support if you have problems. After the first time, you can go the free download route.

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Ubuntu
Oct 4, 2005 11:33AM PDT

Try Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger). It's incredible! It has support for a lot of software, it's really easy to use, ... No bugs that I have found.

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Ubuntu
Oct 17, 2005 1:59PM PDT

I agree with Ubuntu or Xandros.

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ubuntu
Oct 20, 2005 10:12PM PDT

Ubuntu is the way to go for the home user. Works great and has great community support. Check out ubuntuguide.org; I probably plug this distro and this website more than i should, but they are just great for newbies.

Although if you are looking for an experience that you are going to find in the professional world, you cannot forget to look at Debian (both Sarge and Sid... maybe the best place for you to is Debian Sid), Fedora (or a similar Redhat based distro like Mandriva), SuSe (which has just released its first open source edition), and Slackware (not for beginners!). For live CDs the benchmarks are still Knoppix and DSL (Damn Small Linux), although there are many, many, many good ones out there.

note: i am just a home user; the recommendation for a professional system is pure conjecture

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a few choices
Oct 6, 2005 10:37PM PDT

you have 2 routes, one being you have an extra hard drive to play with and the other is using live disks.

if you have another hard drive i would suggest Ubuntu, Suse or Mandriva (i have never used Mandriva, but i have heard good things about it.)as another member mentioned Ubuntu is awesome and stuff "just works." suse is perhaps the easiest distro i have ever used initially.

as for live disks: you can test most of the big distros. my personal 2 favorites are beatrIX (very light distro based on ubuntu, it will run on 486 machines...very impressive.) another i really enjoy is called FreeBSie, based on...you guessed it freeBSD (not linux, but still a great choice.) both of these are very impressive and you can test them without touching your hard-drive.

have fun!