Which Linux?

So, people with Linux experience (I have only a little), which type do you recommend? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the various types?

Thanks.

 

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Caldera exudes sheer power.But Redhat with their newer version i think will steal the race.Linux has grown.and i think Redhat has great future in this regard.particularly i find their Xwindow themes interesting.




the Kernel version is more stable in current terms.


bye!

 

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Redhat is my favorite for server. Mandrake for desktop.
The reason i like mandrake for a desktop system is that it comes with a lot of extras that redhat doesnt. Things like nmap, portsentry, some games and media stuff, things that if you go with redhat you have to download.
The biggest thing to think about if you run linux is making sure you have NO extra ports or services runnining, a default redhat or mandrake install can leave you wide open (depending on what services you run or install). Run nothing you dont absolutely need. Use portsentry or prelude for intrusion detection notification. This is especially imperative if you have a static ip. Mandrake includes a firewall wizard (redhat may too now). Use it

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When you get it installed post something and ill help you button it up.

 

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Yes in the recent most versions Firewall Wiz is also present




bye!

 

Well, I'm finally dead sick of Windows. I'm saving for a serious computer now, and I am considering Linux for it. So I want some serious, in-depth info about the strengths and weaknesses of various Linux types please. Or I'll send the lads over to bust ya knees.

 

Go to cheapbytes and just get one of each

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My choice would be Mandrake since I've read that in the latest redhat they tried to standardize the desktop and it seems that since this is a new standardization attempt their almost bound to have broken something. A standardized desktop isnt what Im after anyway, I want a configurable desktop with enlightenment and gnome.
Mandrake 9.0 is being released on 9/30 and despite the conventional wisdom of .0 releases tending toward the buggy side Ive found mandrake to be pretty reliable.

If you want to try out a couple of different distros you can do that without losing your home or /root partitions just dont format the partitions containing the data you want to save when you install the new distros. Also make sure the partitions containing the data you want to save use a filesystem that every kernel/distro will understand. Ext2 is probably the safest bet in that regard, though slower than for instance reiserfs.
Have fun

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What are the differences ? What I have noticed are...

The Kernel versions
Some are the latest and sometimes buggy.
Some are older and more stable.

The extras that come with it.
Some have lots and lots of extras that you can optionally install
Some have just what the supplier has approved and tested very thoroughly.

The install program.
Some are good at installing, but dont give as much choice in how and what is installed.
Some require someone to have a little knowledge to install

Popularity.
Some have a great number installed
Some dont

Target user
Some are for internet
Some are for business
Some are for desktop users
Some are for home users and game players


Of the ones I know enough to comment....

Redhat - "User Friendly" Popular, Easy install, Some extras, easy add packages. Target Internet?

Debian - "Everything" Popular, so-so install, Lots of extras, Target Home, game and geeks.

Caldera/Sco - "Lean an mean", Not popular with non biz, Good Install, Few extras, robust, Target Business users

Mandrake and Susa I dont know to much about, others may comment.

P.S. Very very few programs will not run on any version. The biggest woe is KDE Desktop or Gnome Desktop only programs. But you can install Gnome or KDE on any version...

<insert catch breath here> Bye

 

i like slack

 

i am interested in running linux off of a cd
i got the iso (demolinux), extracted it (winimage) and burnt it onto a cd
looking in the bin folder i noticed zero file sizes

what the deal here? bad extraction? bad image file? i also used getsmart d/l manager which splits and reassembles the file (no error msgs tho)

any ideas?

below are links to bootable linux cd images if anyone want to try them

ftp://ftp.proxad.net:21/pub/Distributions_Linux/DemoLinux/3.0/demolinux-3.0.iso

http://ftp.gwdg.de:80/pub/linux/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V3.1-22-09-2002-DE.iso

http://xcssa.org:80/files/lnx-bbc-1.618.iso

http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net:80/sourceforge/virtual-linux/VirtualLinux11.iso

http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net:80/sourceforge/dragonlinux/dragonlinux-v2r1-full.zip

http://www.research.att.com:80/tmp/reuse/pkgBAAa1pB7H/uwin_base.win32.i386.exe


thanks

 

At the end of the Day Adam it's totally down to what you want to run, if you want a GUI in it or not.

I ran Debian for a bit, the install can be awkward, but the packages are the easiest to install and uninstall since they install any packages that are needed along with the one you pick.

FreeBSD I've been using most recently but it's a barebones system in the sense that I keep the servers down and don't bother with GUI's.

Most of my friends run Suse, they seem to like that alot.

 

Some info on redhat:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27292.html



If your into guis you might want to look at other options.

 

Red Hat is the microsoft of the linux world.
Mandrake is the Mac of the linux world.

I recommend Mandrake for starters and slackware and debian for advanced people.

 

I use Suse linux now and sofar i have to say works nicely

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