Question Which Linux distribution should I try out?

[Cosmic Penguin]

It all started out on Monday night - my laptop running Windows 8.1 crashed again after consistent BSOD problems from drivers. But this time something was different - I can't even enter safe mode due to the auto repair tool looping over and over again!

In the next few hours all attempts to repair the corrupted install - including refreshing the install (a feature added in Windows 8), start-up repair, entering safe mode, even re-setting back to system defaults - failed. By early next day I finally determined the current install to be a total loss and decided to wipe the hard disk for a clean re-install.

The problem is how to rescue all my files. It was then that I suddenly remembered that there is such a thing called Linux (specifically something called Ubuntu), so I took my USB drive and use Ubuntu to collect away all my files before doing the clean install.

Well - that has hooked me up in evaluating various Linux distributions for daily life usage, however I am stuck with choosing which one to try out, since there are so many to choose from: Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Kubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE.....it is difficult to think of which to start out first, let alone down-choosing one to put on my USB drive to haul along in case Windows went down/installing on one of my home's old spare computers!

So any comments on which of them should I try out first as a Linux rookie? :tiphat:

P.S. Comments about the Windows vs OSX vs Linux battle should go to the OS War thread. :idea:

 

[Artlav]

For a LiveUSB i use Slax - it's nice and modular, easily boots from anything and anywhere.

For everything else... Linux is akin to industrial equipment - you tailor it to your requirements. I haven't seen a generic desktop "Linux for dummies" yet.

 

[Face]

Trying to give an advice from experience here, so please bear with me...

I think for a Linux rookie, Ubuntu is a good choice for using as OS. To evaluate various Linux distros, though, I think it is a bad choice for a first look. Under the hood, Ubuntu (and variants) do many things different to the majority of Linux distros out there. If you start with Ubuntu, you could be puzzled by all other distros, and perhaps come to the conclusion that everything else is just weird.

I personally started with Slackware, but I wouldn't recommend that approach. Instead I'd suggest starting with Debian, and perhaps with a very bare-bones variant of it. Add packages as you learn, and once you've got to the window-managers and perhaps some high-level apps like eclipse, compare the experience with other distros. But really, openSuse, Fedora and variants would be just as good as a start. Choose one and don't stop before you have seen at least all "big" ones.

Of course, this is not the easy route, mind you. Especially for a Linux rookie, starting with a bare-bones OS can be intimidating. But you want to evaluate, right? Then you should IMHO better know about the dark corners down there, before you choose something based on that evaluation.

Regarding your P.S.: I'd also like to add that discussing various Linux distros down to the last bit would qualify as OS war posts, too, so please refrain from that here.

 

[Ripley]

I'm not a Linux power user at all, but as far as your actual concern goes (how to rescue your files), I think any LiveCD (or LiveUSB) distro can help you in that.

Boot, browse, copy, done.

After rescueing your precious files, dig in evaluating, which can easily be a long task.

Good luck.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

I'm not a Linux power user at all, but as far as your actual concern goes (how to rescue your files), I think any LiveCD (or LiveUSB) distro can help you in that.

Boot, browse, copy, done.

After rescueing your precious files, dig in evaluating, which can easily be a long task.

Good luck.

Actually this was done already two days ago - now I'm intrigued in trying various Linux distributions for future daily use (maybe on my retired spare laptop). :tiphat:

 

[orb]

People have been telling me since around 2005 that Ubuntu is nice and easy, very noob friendly Linux. I've even installed it once on my laptop (version 5.something) to check it out, but I didn't like it. It was unintuitive, IMO, very different from what I used so far, but easy to install. It only lasted a week, being replaced with OpenSuSE (10) which was there a little longer (a half of year, maybe), before I've gone back to Gentoo.

I personally started with Mandrake and Red Hat. Today they would be called Mageia and Fedora. If they are like their counterparts from 1999-2004 I used, then simply choosing which packages to install may take 3-4 hours, but they are very easy to use after the install process is complete. :lol:

As for LiveDVD/USB Linux I usually use Knoppix.

I haven't seen a generic desktop "Linux for dummies" yet.

I think about all *buntu distros this way, but well, I've been hooked to Gentoo since 2005 as both server and desktop Linux.

 

[Lucy]

For something to use every day, I recommend Gnome 3. No, that isn't a distro, but, it might as well be one.

It's something emergent that I'm quite happy about - combined with the linux kernel, systemd, and a bootloader, you almost have an entire distro just with that. I've used this combination on a bunch of flavours including Gentoo, Debian and Fedora, and I'm currently using Arch. This is my work box (yes, work are awesome enough to let me tinker with it as long as it doesn't cost too much time), so I use it daily for web development and server administration.

Often I've thought, seeing how popular systemd is becoming, that this may act as a great leveller - Debian is slowly (in as much as Debian ever does anything quickly, I suppose it is moving apace) discussing with its governing council on whether to adopt systemd as their default init system (and good, because sysVinit is aging fast, and badly), and several distros, Arch, Gentoo and Fedora included already have. With Gnome 3 as a firm placing in the default Window Managers (others like KDE are available, but I don't know them as well), you get a nice, consistent experience from one distro to the other. And what, beyond the init system and the window manager, is different between distributions on a daily-use basis?

Well. In terms of plugging things in and having them just work, Ubuntu is very good. But so is d-bus, and if you followed the above paragraph, you'll have it already as a dependency for Gnome 3. The system does a pretty good job of managing hotplugged devices and even a particularly esoteric bluetooth radio (at least, one that caused trouble in a few other OSes). I would rate the Debian-based distros, which includes Ubuntu, as the easier to set up, but looking at the communities for both Arch and Gentoo, there isn't much a quick Google search can't reveal to you.

tl;dr I currently use Arch on the desktop, with its default systemd init system, and the GNOME 3 suite. And I would recommend all but Arch itself for the beginner.

 

[Cairan]

Slackware. The one and only.

 

[Ripley]

...so I took my USB drive and use Ubuntu to collect away all my files before doing the clean install...

bla...bla...bla...

Actually this was done already two days ago...

That's why I shouldn't be posting before my first morning coffee fix!
:tiphat:

 

[Spacethingy]

My :2cents: :lol:...
For the "bringing an old laptop out of retirement" job, I'd recommend Lubuntu. Pretty it ain't, but it's light on resources and gets stuff done. That extra few 100s of MB RAM it gives you makes a rather incredible effect on speed if you're low on RAM. Cold-booting Lubuntu takes about a third of the time it takes to get my WinXP out of hibernation on my aged laptop...
Edit: not that I'm saying that's a bad thing, by the way, just in case this starts an OS war... :lol:

Don't forget stuff like Puppy Linux for the emergency USB job.

 

[Fizyk]

I, like Xyon, am using Arch. It is awesome, but I would only recommend it for a beginner who is ready to spend some time on learning what is happening under the hood and probably reinstalling the system a few times. I started using it having little experience with Linux, but with the help of its Wiki the installation went smoothly and it was usable - but throughout most of the process I had no idea what I was doing, so not everything was as good as it could be. It takes some time before you get to know the system and what parts of it you need, but I think it's worth it.

If you want a distro that just works, I'd go with Ubuntu. It was the standard system at my previous workplace and I found it quite nice, it looks to me like something for people used to the Windows way of doing things.

For something to use every day, I recommend Gnome 3. No, that isn't a distro, but, it might as well be one.

I tried Gnome 3, but found it very unintuitive and pretty much unusable. I also tried KDE 4 (it's ok, but not quite what I was looking for), and Cinnamon (fell in love with it, it is now the desktop environment I'm using).

 

[paddy2]

I have liked most of the distro's I have played with and have rarely seen comments that this or that distro is rubbish. Most folk go with one of the ones they started with, me I am a mandrake guy.

Some are designed to replace a workplace server, others to save a disk in trouble, I do not think there is a one size fits all answer.

Get one and have a little play, get a 2nd and have a bigger play..... what was better/worse about the 2nd one.... leads you to your 3rd choice.... soon you settle for one. Could even be your 1st pick is your 1st choice.

What distro should be my first choice.... first you get your hands on friend

 

[Pablo49]

Cinnamon (fell in love with it, it is now the desktop environment I'm using).

I like cinnamon a lot. Cinnamon is nice since it isn't much of a jump for a former windows user. I don't like Ubuntu's Unity, especially how it handles the menu bar. (A problem I have with mac aswell). KDE out of the box looks like a cartoon. My use of Gnome 3 is limited, but I didn't really catch onto it well, and as a super casual Linux user, I just want something I don't feel weird using right off the bat.

I don't currently have any linux distros up and running, but I did use Mint in the past, since I didn't really use linux much besides making sure my code runs on there alright. Has the out of the box easiness of Ubuntu but without being a member of the worst userbase in the history of everything. So that has my Pablo recommendation.

 

[insanity]

I'm a Ubuntu dual-booter and the servers I manage as a part of my day job all are VMS with Ubuntu installed on them. It's a bit different in its behavior than other distros, but I feel like it is easy to manage and easy to expand (plus it is very well documented).

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I've got a few different Linux distros on a a few different machines. My netbook (an old Asus) had a goofy version of Linux on it when I got it new. I installed Netbook Remix (Ubuntu's since changed the name I think) but I've used it ever since (about 6 years now?).

I've got a desktop running Mint13 Cinnamon, and I couldn't tell any particular difference between Cinnamon and Mate.

I've got another box with Ubuntu 12 something (pangolin maybe I dunno).

My daughter had a computer with Slax on it (very nice as well) but I think she donated that one to a local pre-school.

The point is, they all worked 4.0 right out of the box and I didn't have to pull any hair off my scalp getting them to work like I wanted. I'm not an power user or anything. Each one of these runs like a champ. I think picking a distro is like picking out a pair of pants to wear, essentially "how do I want to look today?"

Another bonus is that you can run them off a USB stick and test drive them. If you are a "Joe-Normal" user then any of them will work for you.

 

[RisingFury]

You'd think that a Galactic "Penguin" would know how to choose a Linux distro :lol:

If you're only after a casual Linux experience (cleaning the mess Windows sometimes makes), I'd go with Ubuntu. It'll probably be the best overall package for a newbie, even if it doesn't give you the best entry into the Linux world.

 

[n122vu]

I'll chime in and agree with Face. IMHO, Ubuntu is good for someone who just wants to get a Win replacement in a hurry, but if you're going to test drive many distros, I'd save it for last.

'Back in the day,' my first distro was Mandrake, followed by SuSE Linux (before it was called OpenSuSE). Also tried Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux back then on an older Packard Bell desktop I was working on for a friend, with surprising success.

For LiveCD/USB recovery operations, I've also had great success with Knoppix.

Window/Session managers, in my opinion, are a completely separate topic, worthy of their own thread (Linux Window Managers Megawars, perhaps ). I'll add though that Ubuntu's Unity is starting to grow on me, as it's my primary interface on my dual-boot Win8 laptop now. Cinnamon, although I loved the look and feel, just didn't play nice on my machine with the other session managers. I couldn't switch back to Unity or Gnome3 at all until I uninstalled it.

Good luck with your search for the best fit.

 

[AlfalfaQc]

I personally use Ubuntu. I wanted to try Linux and a friend told me to try Ubuntu since it's really simple to set up. I mainly use it for the free CFD that OpenFOAM provide on linux (although I think it works also on windows).

I really like the environment, it's simple to use. I used it when my windows crashed to get back my files before reinstalling everything. There's a nice Office suit directly installed and the software center let you install stuff without having to work too much. I guess it's a good noob-friendly distro.

But now I'm investigating other distro, mainly Arch. I would like to get more in depth with Linux, but sadly I don't have much time to think about that right now

 

[Linguofreak]

For a distro, I'd recommend Ubuntu.

For a DE, I personally would recommend MATE (which is a fork/continuation of GNOME 2 by people unhappy with the direction that GNOME 3 and Unity were taking), but your mileage may vary. If Unity (the default interface for Ubuntu) doesn't completely turn you off or unduly slow you down, you may as well stick with it. Otherwise, MATE is a more traditional DE that you may find preferable.

If you do use Unity, one thing to be aware of is that its desktop search (the "Dash") does a product search on Amazon for any words you type into the search box as well as searching your computer. This is a potential privacy issue, and while it can be turned off, it is on by default. Some of the more ideologically inclined Linux users recommend completely staying away from Ubuntu on account of this. I think that's going a bit overboard, as Ubuntu is open source, so we can verify that turning that particular feature off does indeed turn it off. My recommendation is to be aware of the issue, turn it off if it bothers you, and inform anybody you recommend Ubuntu to of the issue. (In my own case I don't use Unity because I don't like the interface, so the issue is moot).

I'm a Ubuntu dual-booter and the servers I manage as a part of my day job all are VMS with Ubuntu installed on them. It's a bit different in its behavior than other distros, but I feel like it is easy to manage and easy to expand (plus it is very well documented).

I think it's pretty clear from context that you mean "VMs" (Vee Ems) and not "VMS" (Vee Em Ess), but I want to make sure. Because if you *do* work with [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVMS"]VMS[/ame], you've definitely piqued my retrocomputing interest.

 

[AlfalfaQc]

This is not exactly about this topic, but I have some problems with my Ubuntu especially on my laptop. Since there are many linux users here (it seems), maybe one of you can give me a hand.

The thing is, when I run Ubuntu (12.04 LTS), my laptop tend to overheat a lot and the fan is always running full speed. I have a fairly recent HP Pavillion dv6, core i7, 8Gb ram. When I check the system monitor, the CPUs and the memory seem normal, nothing is running. I really have no idea what is wrong here. I know HP laptop tend to build up heat fairly fast, like when I play games on windows for an extended period of time, but when I do absolutely nothing, I don't get why it should overheat.