Linux Distros

[Nova]

Hey, I installed Ubuntu onto my laptop last night, but it ran pants on it, totally unlike my Desktop pc. So, as i uninstalled my windows for it, I'm looking for another linux distro.


Is has to:

• Not require much time in a terminal to configure it all up
• Include some basic software for word processing, Open office would be great
• A nice, user-friendly interface
• Compatable with wireless cards

And can't be ubuntu.

Cheers.

 

[DemonStar55]

well wireless cards are a little tricky in linux and Ubuntu is described by everything else, but there are also a million other distros you could try to, such as SuSE

 

[iignotus]

Mandriva. It may be a bit clunky, and don't mind their current internal troubles, but it should run nicely.

 

[Nova]

Mandriva. It may be a bit clunky, and don't mind their current internal troubles, but it should run nicely.

That's the free version, right?

 

[kardasan]

how about Debian? Now it has a really nice and userfriendly instalation interface and if you install X with KDE or Gnome, there isn't much console configure to do. Besides, nothing can beat apt-get and packages repository

 

[Goity]

Kubuntu?

 

[Goity]

Kubuntu?

 

[nickspoon]

PCLinuxOS?

 

[iignotus]

Mandriva. It may be a bit clunky, and don't mind their current internal troubles, but it should run nicely.

That's the free version, right?

Yes of course. But if you can bootleg the priced version, all the better

 

[yaustar]

What spec is your laptop?

 

[Cyclops]

Yes of course. But if you can bootleg the priced version, all the better

Only you would suggest stealing a free OS. Shame on you.

 

[iignotus]

Yes of course. But if you can bootleg the priced version, all the better

Only you would suggest stealing a free OS. Shame on you.

Only you would try to play hero for a large company on an internet message board. Shame on you.

What an idiot... don't worry, my post is just a joke, so you can't get mad

 

[Cyclops]

Eh?

Ok. Distributions is easy. If you ask this question you will get a stack of people quoting this and that distribution, and then you will get the hardcore who claim slackware is the only real linux or Gentoo is the was to go for real useage.

Hell why don't you ask which desktop is better kde or gnome, have some real fun.

The hard truth is it doesn't matter which you choose there is only one thing you should be interested in and thats package management.

there are 4 main types
1) rpm(Red hats package mangement)
2) deb(Debiens package managent)
3) tar.gz(Slackware little to no management)
4) source based stuff

My advise is to checkout http://distrowatch.com/ which won't help, but will give you an insight into whats popular.

Now I'm guessing but I suggest the problems not you distribution, Its probably your hardware, or what your running. It could be many things, but I suggest the most likely cause is your out of memory. Have a look at whatever sytem monitor your using in the desktop. Although If I was you I would check out conky http://conky.sourceforge.net/ becuase It looks dead smart.
Use a distrobution that uses less memory(look for xfce as the desktop).

The second thing is check your using the *right* driver in X. Find out what chipset you are using etc.

In summary find out why it is slow, and then buy more memory.

 

[DemonStar55]

don't forget asking what distro you use is basically asking what your eye glass prescription is, it's a very what you like / need kind of question

I use Ubuntu because I like apt-get and it has a nice community, I could probably switch to debian but I already had an Ubuntu CD burnt

 

[iignotus]

I use Ubuntu because I like apt-get and it has a nice community, I could probably switch to debian but I already had an Ubuntu CD burnt

You are using Debian. No need to switch

 

[Javacat]

Just use LFS.

 

[epitaph]

Or better yet, just use BSD (but I s'pose that's not an option in this case).

 

[yaustar]

I would suggest something like Damn Small Linux if you want something small and fast but it isn't that newbie friendly.

 

[pkostrze]

I'd suggest Mandriva 2006... it's free download and, if you get the DVD distro, it has everything you'd need and then some. I have my laptop up and running in no time and my old Cisco 802.1b card worked like a charm with no problems.

 

[darkman]

When using Linux, I have found out that, it really depends on what distro will work with your hardware. It seems that different builds of Linux doesn't always see everything. Unless you have a nack for getting under the hood and fiddling with things. There are some distros that will not even boot up on my hardware. I went through about close to 30 different distros before settling down to three. I have two laptops and a desktop. I use SuSE on my desktop. I use Libranet 2.8.1 on an old laptop. I really like IceWN experimental as a desktop on my laptop instead of KDE or Gnome. It is really faster on old hardware. Not knowing the specs of your laptop, it is hard to make a recomendation. The newest builds of Linux require a lot of CPU power and ram just to run the GUI with all the eye candy. If what you have is much older hardware, you may have to use an older distro. That is what I am doing on my laptop. I have an old KDS valiant with a 700 mhz CPU and 256 megs of ram. Libranet 2.8.1 runs great on it. (It is a free download and an easy way to get Debian on something) Everything works but the win modem, which is understandable, I use a card for that. Libranet is right now unsupported as the site is closed after the death of its maker. It is a Debian build of Linux and it is compatible with the Debian library. I am able to run up to SuSE 9.1 on it, but after that it becomes sluggish.

It is really a matter of taste and what works for you when it comes to Linux. If you have a fairly new laptop with at least a 1ghz CPU, it should not be very hard to find what you are looking for.