Choosing a Distro

[Monolyth]

Hey guys,
I'm looking to setup my older box with a Linux distro and need some help choosing one. I've worked with the following Distro's before:
SuSe 9.1
RedHat 9.0
Fedora Core 2 & 3

I didn't do anything too awfully advanced with them, just installs, some configs, a few app compiles and attempts to get video card driver working, heh:

Here's my older system specs:
P4 3.0Ghz (HT)
Asus P4C800-Deluxe (Intel 875P)
1GB DDR
ATI x800 Pro
Plenty of HD space.

Primarily just looking for something to mess around with. Not sure I'm up for the level of Slackware or anything heh. Anyways thanks for your input! :)

[whig]

A nvidia video card is reccomended to run linux with. The distros you mentioned along with Mandrake, Ubuntu... http://lwn.net/Distributions/ are all decent choices. Getting it is a choice too - download, mail order, at a store, or copy from a friend.

[wnd]

If you know someone who's familiar with Linux (or any *nix), the best thing you can do is to pick the distribution he uses (or in case on non-Linux *nix) or knows the best. If not, I'd recommend you go with FC as you are not completely new to it.

Personally I prefer Debian (which I have on all my boxes, workstations and servers, at home and at work), so I could also suggest trying Ubuntu if you're into Gnome. Basically if you pick any of the big players (as mentioned before) you cannot go wrong too bad.

[nutball]

I find SuSE 'yast' to be far superior to the GUI config tools that come with any of the RedHat-based distros (ie. Fedora). So long as you're not trying to do anything too complex yast is worth it's weight in gold. So I tend to go with SuSE-based distros at the moment.

[nukem]

I would suggest Fedora but there is one thing that your going to have a problem with it(although this is going to be the issue with any distros) closed source software such as the nvidia driver, flash, realplayer, acroread, and many games are not in the distros software library. You will have to add different servers to get them or just download them from the website(meaning there not going to be updated automatically). Personally I use gentoo which does not have this problem but that distro requires alot of Linux knowlege.

[a12ctic]

Check out Zenwalk

[dirk5673]

I use Debian on all my computers,I like it alot.Tons of packages come with debian,just apt-get install whatever.I have used ubuntu,but didnt like it,its probably one of the easiest to install and set up though.I would suggest getting a debian based distro(debian,ubuntu,etc),or gentoo of coarse,but thats just what I like.Just keep trying different ones until you find one you want to stick with.

[Monolyth]

Thanks for the input, this is not my main box so I'm not worried about gaming on it too much. While I am comfortable with Fedora, I will probably go to with SuSe, I have already downloaded the images and burned to CD so that's no biggie, I like having hard copies just in case I blow something up ;)

Will be nice to finally have a secondary machine to mess around with. BTW my previous experience with Fedora/Redhat was all SSH based as I was admistering a dedicated box for game/web server. SuSe I've actually used on a local box so we'll see how it goes. Thanks for the suggestions :)

[retsam]

knoppix-STD FTW!!!!1!@

[grey_1]

I've found Kanotix (debian-based) to be very easy to use and stable. Nvidia drivers were a snap as well. Good Luck

[gnutux]

I always found SuSE Linux the best because it has a near-perfect balance of ease of use and power. Plus, there's no restrictions what-so-ever. For example: Fedora Core and Ubuntu restricts you from starting a new X server as user. Ubuntu, I think is not as safe since the root commands can be accessed using the primary user's password.

gnutux

[sensovision]

I using Debian myself and don't miss times I was on Windows. It's server me well and as was mentioned before it has biggest program base which let you to use pre-packaged software so you don't have to compile everything yourself. And I should agree that Ubuntu(Debian based distro) could be good choice as it install X-Server(GUI) right away, when in Debian you have to know some basics in order to install it, hopefully I'll soon finish HOWTO on how to install Debian with GUI and the rest of things.

[gnutux]

I've always recommended SuSE Linux and have been saying this for the whole duration of my Linux usage.

gnutux

[Chalnoth]

I used to always run RedHat (and later Fedora), but now that I've switched to SuSE, I'm not ever looking back. I think the package manager is much better, and just like the overall presentation.

[Badboy_12345]

GENTOO!!!!! (nana2)

suse, red hat etc etc is full of crap.. its so much crap in them I cant understand how people are using it..
Its like windows ME + XP + Vista all in one x10 :thumbdwn:

whenever someone mentiones Suse or red hat I chringe and hide in a corner for 10 min (pb)

[wnd]

GENTOO!!!!!

suse, red hat etc etc is full of crap.. its so much crap in them I cant understand how people are using it..

Not everyone likes to spend half of his time compiling the software he uses. ;-) I know it has some benefits, but most people don't want or need that.

Personally I used to configure and compile my own kernel individually for each of my computers, but nowadays I'm using stock-kernel for all but one. After a couple of years it's not so "c00l" anymore. The same goes for tweaking services and such.

And no, this is not supposed to be a flame.

[ViN86]

im a slackware fanboy. everyone will probably trash it and say its stupid cause it doesnt have all the eyecandy and GUI's. but its fast and stable. i use to love runnin slack. i need another HDD for a dual boot :(

[wnd]

im a slackware fanboy. everyone will probably trash it and say its stupid cause it doesnt have all the eyecandy and GUI's. but its fast and stable.

No way. Not everyone puts eyecandy above funtionality/usability/stability. Debian && FVWM2 (http://iki.fi/wnd/t/fvwm2.png) here.

[Chalnoth]

GUI's aren't just about eyecandy. Recently installed SLED10, and I really like the user interface and the integrated search functionality (it's quite different from the UI of openSUSE).

[sonicx]

what strange ideas...
for a secondary-mess-around-system choose newest ubuntu. it is fast, small, but easy extendable. all packages you most probaly ever gonna need are installable with a single command. it looks very cool, has a great community, and great gaming power.did i mention it is fast? and so damn convenient.
mfg
sonicx

[Badboy_12345]

Not everyone likes to spend half of his time compiling the software he uses. ;-) I know it has some benefits, but most people don't want or need that.

Personally I used to configure and compile my own kernel individually for each of my computers, but nowadays I'm using stock-kernel for all but one. After a couple of years it's not so "c00l" anymore. The same goes for tweaking services and such.

And no, this is not supposed to be a flame.


but still the best distro for beginner which almost no one agrees with is gentoo and distros like it..
U learn so much about linux and how it functions just by installing gentoo..
instead of clicking next next next all the time ;)

[Chalnoth]

but still the best distro for beginner which almost no one agrees with is gentoo and distros like it..
U learn so much about linux and how it functions just by installing gentoo..
instead of clicking next next next all the time ;)
Well, if you really want do that, then your best bet is Linux From Scratch:
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

[wnd]

but still the best distro for beginner which almost no one agrees with is gentoo and distros like it..
U learn so much about linux and how it functions just by installing gentoo..

I beg to differ. You know, the definition of "the best distribution" depends greatly on your goals. Gentoo/LFS is hardly a choice for someone who just wants a safe and functional operating system. For those who want to spend their time tweaking the OS, sure, all sorts of do-it-yourself distros are just great.

I for one couldn't be bothered to compile my software myself without a good reason anymore. I've grown out of that stuff. ;-)

To emphasize my point: all distros have their target group. There is no "one size fits all" -distro.

[a12ctic]

DIY operating systems are not for anybody, their illogical and you dont learn anything except that software takes a long time to compile...

[wnd]

dont learn anything except that software takes a long time to compile...

That'll teach you to use Makefiles properly. :-)