The Better LINUX Version?

Hi, just lve just been looking at LINUX OS.

theres so many, but which is the most commonly used/most developed?

i had a linux version installed before (dual boot with win xp) but got to the point were software just wasnt been made for it anymore, therefore stuck with windows xp.

but why are there so many versions of linux? why dont they just modify the same version? :confused

 

There are many distributions, and each one has his choice, but u can see this link to have more ideas : http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

 

MajorGeeks has a Linux forum... check it out here: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=50

 

I'd say that Ubuntu is likely the most mainstream Linux distribution.

This is the beauty of Linux. It is free, open source software. (FOSS) Anyone with the programming ability can take and modify the operating system as they choose. Therefore, anyone dissatisfied with the currently available distributions can go and make their own.

 

Shopping for Linux distros seems to be alot like buying clothes or shoes = you kinda have to try several on before you find what fits you best.
Choice! What a beautiful world!
Suggest dual or triple booting (see sticky by Shado_Puter_Dude near top of Linux forum) to try them = I found Virtual Machines to be a major frustration and minimally functional, at best (but maybe you'll have better luck with them?).
Blessings,
Port-O-San

 

The choice might seem endless, but most 'distros' are just varations on the same theme - or at least based on the same parent distro

The main Linux versions are

Red Hat - (the most popular in business) father to Fedora, Mandrake and dozens of offshoots

Slackware - subject to the strange quirks of it's founder, but has spawned lots of other distros - most of which I personally like

Debian - Been around a long time, and has spawned a lot of the better distros
including the relative newcomer to the block and hyped out of all proportion Ubuntu

Gentoo - Not for beginners, but worth installing for the education. This too has spawned a few others, arguably the best being Sabayon, which has fabulous looks, mountains of software by default (too much I think) but can be temperamental

Suse - Not really spawned many clones, but hugely popular despite it's marathon install and annoyingly slow 'yast' software installer.

There are others made from scratch, but that is the "big 5" IMO

 

Don't forget PCLinuxOS.

 

Of course not, Texstar is the man :cool

It's (a better) offshoot of Mandrake/Mandriva though

I like another variant called Granular (funworks 2007), because it has several
window managers installed, instead of just KDE, and it isn't afflicted by a compiz bug on ATI cards that PClinuxOS displays - or rather doesn't display!

 

If you are a newbie, then the first thing i'd look at is the interface the distribution uses. Do you prefer a windows-like interface (KDE) or Mac OS-9 like interface (Gnome). There are other interfaces out there, but those are the 2 most prevalent.

After figuring out which interface you would prefer to use, i'd look for a live-cd/dvd version of ANY distro that uses that interface and try it. It won't install it to your hard-drive, yet it will give you a good feel for how linux works.. with the caveat that it's kinda slow being as how it's loading from optical storage and not from a HD.

Beyond that, most versions of Linux today (aside from Gentoo and likely still Slackware if it's still the same as my last experience 2 years ago) are very easy to install and maintain if you want to use them. The main difference between them (other than the interface style) is the package managers (how they install programs/updates). Each style has it's own upside and downside. But that's pretty much moot nowadays as they all act very similarly now, albiet slightly different commands (dont' worry about it... most distros now have a visual interface to install programs instead of going to command line and trying to figure it out).

 

Picking a linux distro is like buying new shoes.

Function, fit and style all are key factors in your decision.

The main thing for me is "community support" for this Ubuntu is fantastic. The forums are very active and full of help for every question.
At home my network is 3 Ubuntu machines running on old PIII's from work.
It works great, my wife uses it and she is just a regular computer user.
She really doesn't notice much of a difference.

At work I run Fedora, 6 and 8. I teach a course with it so I use and push it daily. It also has an excellent community.

I haven't played with a lot of others for any extended period of time but there are some excellent alternatives.

I suggest Ubuntu for beginners. DL it and install it. Register on the forums and go to town getting it to do all the things you want it to do.

One caveat. The real power of linux operating systems is on the Command Line Interface. (CLI) I love the CLI and use it for 80% of tasks.

If you are not happy at the CLI you are not alone. Many Ubuntu users don't use it much. The community is very patient about this and quite friendly towards GUI users. Don't let it intimidate you. You can learn things slowly at your own pace. The GUI is fantastic.

Famine