[LHH]

I've used most of the major distros at some point or other, but I've been using Ubuntu solidly for the last two years. It's great, does everything I want, is simple to use, works without a hitch. When I started off using Linux I preferred KDE but Gnome has grown on me a lot and is now my preferred option.

 

[fjf]

I also use ubuntu, but when kde4 matures I may give kubuntu a try.

 

[vegaman]

My favourite is gentoo, but compiling takes so long on older computers. On a C2D I find it completely bearable though.

 

[SonicArmada]

I've been running Debian for a long time. The thing I like most about Debian is it's package management, and huge repositories of software.

I've tried Ubuntu (Plus many others, of course), but for someone who was using Linux before Ubuntu became popular, Ubuntu almost seems too user friendly. I like to set everything up and maintain everything myself. Ubuntu is far too "automatic" for me.

Debian is probably not too friendly for beginners, but choosing a more difficult distro can be advantageous in the long-run.

 

[Ech0]

I usually suggest Ubuntu for beginners. It has a friendly forum and good documentation which is important. OpenSuse is usually mentioned too as a good beginner choice and I started w/Suse.

ArchLinux is a good choice once a user gets a feel for the basics and learns to use command line a bit. I personally at some point limited my choice to rolling release distros. You can install an OS once and be done with it.

 

[Arainach]

Back when I was in HS and had an ungodly amount of time on my hands, I might agree with the 'like to set everything up and maintain everything myself' comment - in fact, I used Gentoo. But as time went on, my amount of free time fell and my time in general became much more valuable and I realized the importance of having a system that just works. That's why I initially switched to Ubuntu, which took a big amount of overhead off, and finally switched back to Windows once I realized that it was secure and fast enough for everything I need and that stuff really just does work - I can plug in a second monitor while my computer's running and it's up and going in 2 seconds; I can put a Vista DVD in a computer and have a fully working machine with all drivers, network access, and the works within half an hour.

In the end, that's why I fell away from Linux - I respect it and still like it as a development platform, but once I realized my time was actually worth something I fell away. Heck, just assume that my time is worth only my college-job salary of $12/hr. If you assume that I spend as few as 20 hours less time configuring and tweaking my Windows install (which if anything is a dramatic underestimate compared to my Linux usage), suddenly the cost of purchasing Windows is worth it.

 

[insyte]

I started off my linux adventures with Slackware and I really had a lot of time then. I even tried linux from scratch (LFS), and got it to boot at least. Then... I got a job which really took most of my free time and now Im also using Ubuntu

 

[japc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insyte /img/forum/go_quote.gif I started off my linux adventures with Slackware and I really had a lot of time then. I even tried linux from scratch (LFS), and got it to boot at least. Then... I got a job which really took most of my free time and now Im also using Ubuntu

Yeah. Same here

I have my programming, configuring, compiling, installing time much used on servers so on the laptop I want something that just works.

 

[Calexico]

Ubuntu/Linux variations are lighter on system resources than Windows XP right?

I have a really crappy laptop and I'm considering setting it up if so.

 

[japc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calexico /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ubuntu/Linux variations are lighter on system resources than Windows XP right? I have a really crappy laptop and I'm considering setting it up if so.

Sure. Install Ubuntu and then stick to using a lightweight window manager, for instance Fluxbox/Openbox or FVWM. Next on resource hogging scale is KDE3 and heavy weights are KDE4 and Gnome. Stay away from these.

Still have a toshiba satellite PII 300Mhz with 256MB ram running with KDE3. Ok, it is not fast

 

[syg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insyte /img/forum/go_quote.gif I started off my linux adventures with Slackware and I really had a lot of time then. I even tried linux from scratch (LFS), and got it to boot at least. Then... I got a job which really took most of my free time and now Im also using Ubuntu

Same here, actually; that was my introduction to UNIX in general way back when. Eventually I switched to FreeBSD for the desktop, then my urge to game on my PC got the better of me and I switched back to Windows with Linux and FreeBSD running VMWare (which, with hypervisor, is quite fast. The real bottleneck is the harddrive speed).

Linux for the desktop really has come quite a long way since the early Slackware releases. Nowadays I just use Ubuntu for Linux because I have gotten lazier and lazier over the years and would prefer more time working and less time getting your installation the way you like it. Though I have heard that Fedora actually has better hardware support for a lot of things.

 

[Ub3rMario]

anyone here good with xandros? I've got an eeepc with linux and i believe it's a type of xandros. Anyway, I need to install Jgrasp on it for some programming I do at school, however I suck with linux and can't figure out how to go about it. (yes i already searched on linux forums etc)

 

[cosmotron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omega /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lots of people talking about their Ubuntu experiences, not many recommendations for the OP. I use Fedora. It is amongst the most cutting-edge distros, has a robust development base, and a nice feature set. Ubuntu is alright too, just not my personal preference. If you're really into checking out other distros for the sake of experience, you should try Debian too...or Slackware Can't recommend Suse anymore. Really, choice of a Linux desktop distro comes down to aesthetics, stability, package manager and hardware detection scripts, IMO.

Several years ago when I was trying out Linux, I decided to start with Slackware... and boy did I learn a lot! Barebones package manager, curses-based installer, partitioning, command line, etc...

Also, it's cool that people still mention Slackware in today's world of Ubuntu

 

[xnothingpoetic]

I just converted from vista to ubuntu for good yesterday.

I don't miss vista as much as I thought I would- but there is so much to love about ubuntu.

I really miss foobar the most (I tried wine and it isn't the same- plus the sound is choppy/crackling).

I also miss office 2007. Openoffice is OK, but no where near as good in fixing grammar mistakes compared to Word.

There is only a small learning curve and there is lots of information online if I do need help.

Now I need to get decent fonts on this thing...

 

[japc]

Welcome