Has anyone migrated to a LINUX distribution that they really like?
I’ve played around with Ubuntu and I’m finding that I like Xandros.
Xandros runs on my circa 1997 hardware, which is my base line hardware test.
I’ll still be running XP in my moded gaming rig, it’s also Vista compatible, but I have heard about bad experinces in the XP to Vista conversion.
So, I’m curious about Knoppix, Debian and others
Cheers!
Cr
Linux distributions all have the same os kernel and software available, so if one runs acceptably on your hardware, any will.
The main difference between distributions is the method for installing, managing, and upgrading software packages. All debian-based distributions (debian, ubuntu, xandros, many others) will provide a similar experience. All redhat-based distributions (redhat, fedora, suse, mandriva) will likewise.
I personally prefer debian. It has a huge number (35225 as I’m typing this) of prepackaged applications, and it’s incredibly simple to continuously upgrade one’s system as new releases are made. I generally recommend ubuntu to newcomers - it has all the power and convenience of debian, with substantial additional effort put into easing the installation/migration experience.
I tend not to like redhat-based systems, because their various flavors of package managers tend to be more headache-inducing, and because they tend to require a complete reinstall (or at best have a failure-prone upgrade tool) with each new version.
By far, my least favorite are the source-package-based distributions: slackware, gentoo, et al. Far too much time is spent configuring, compiling, and tweaking instead of using the system.
All this having been said, everyone has his own use case, just like with unicycles, so go with what makes you happy.
I’m using Ubuntu right now (typing on my desktop), and I just switched from xandros to EEEbuntu on my EEEpc.
I like saying EEEpc with just one long “E” sound
I use DD-WRT. Thats as close as I get right now.
[QUOTE=nick;1150661]
I just switched from xandros to EEEbuntu on my EEEpc./QUOTE]
So is it now an EEEEEEpc? 
Ubuntu is my distro of choice, having gone from Redhat to Sorcerer to Gentoo first. Slackware actually isn’t source-based, but it is the longest-living distro still being maintained, and can be harder to set up.
I like slackware it’s not user-friendly but it’s faster
My sister wants to try out ubuntu.
Ubuntu’s good, they have a live-cd so you can try it without installing it.
I have a slight problem and having searched the internet the only solution so far is to reset the laptop.
I have an Advent 4211 Netboot which i upgraded to a 250GB Hard drive running windows xp. I partioned the HDD so that i could run both linux Ubuntu and xp. This ran well for a couple of weeks. Last night, as i need more space for the xp partion i decided to delete the linux partition and extend the xp one. Again this worked fine BUT whern i turned the laptop on this morning i get the following:
Advent screen loads with options for setup up and boot menu
Next the error:
GRUB Loading Stage1.5
GRUB loading, please wait…
Error 22
I cannot get the laptop to boot beyond this. I then decided to boot from an external HDD (The origional one from the laptop) and was able to boot windows and access the 20gb HDD to back up my docs.
Does anyone know any way of fixing this problem without having to reinstall windows. Im sure there must be an easy way.
I do not have an xp disk as it did not come with one but i do have a safety back up from 1-2 weeks ago and my docs backed up but i have installed new programs since then and would not like to have to go and reinstall them again unless its the only/ easiest option. I am able to acess the problematic HDD when i boot the origional HDD so can i simply change an option somewhere?
Thanks in advance and sorry if this does not make sence, my internet search only returned reset options but im sure someone on here must know a way.
Camrocl
First search result for “error 22”: http://www.jumpingbean.co.za/blogs/mark/grub_error_22
That doesn’t help you?
I do like Ubuntu, but I was very impressed by Debian (Ubuntu is based off of Debian). The reason why I am impressed is for its installation. I have several spare computers, and I was converting some into test boxes. On one box (old laptop), I could not get Ubuntu (older version, and latest) to install. I tried a few other stable flavors of Linux, too, that were recommended for older systems. Nothing worked. Finally, I decided to install Debian. It was able to detect all hardware in the laptop, and was able to install the OS. The people that do upkeep on Debian are thorough!
Thanks Gilby. The network i was on was blocking that site along with others and as i live in the 0% (yes that is meant to be a 0) of N. Ireland a search at home would have been very slow if it was actually possible (it doesnt work mon,wed or thur nights)
I have been to the network admin and got it unblocked.
So all i do is download Knoppix iso. burn iso and boot form cd and follow the steps on the linked site???
The last sentace on this site is
"After that I rebooted and booted into Linux as usual. "
I want to boot into windows. Does anyone know if this will still work?
Thanks again
Camrocl
For my “Unix” needs, I run FreeBSD now. Which distribution? The distribution (there’s only one). Things install into standard places. They have a nice system for installing packages (binary distributions) or ports (an ingenious and incredibly simple means of installing things by compiling the source). I really like it. Check it out if you are serious about using *nix. Otherwise, stick with Linux – trying out all the distributions will give you something to do. 
I could never get FreeBSD to work correctly for me. The keyboard mapping was frakked up, and I had a few other issues with peripherals. Of course, I’ve always read good things about it, and that’s why I tried it.
No linux then? Restore the master boot record: How to Repair the Master Boot Record In Windows XP
I’ve used nearly every OS I could get my hands on(steering clear of that nasty Mac crap). I’ve always been Windows power user(not to mention I have several essential pieces software that will only run on Windows), so I have at least one BIOS dedicated to it at all times, if not a whole machine. However, I love programming in shell, so I always have some UNIX based OS, to accomodate that passion. Right now, My computer has 3 seperate partitions of varying size, the largest being WindowsXP, of course, the second being RedHat linux, and a third smaller partition for running a few disc-based OS’s/Utilities like Knoppix.
I wasn’t too happy with FreeBSD7 but never expected to be. Ubuntu wasn’t a big enough step in the right direction for me either. Having Redhat and XP is really the best of both worlds. Knoppix is on a thumbdrive with some other tools I never leave home without. I also use cb.vu, since it’s just so damn portable.
Woah. Dis the Macs and you’re likely to hear from one of us. My Macs are so crappy I’ve never had to do a reinstall on any of them. OSX runs on top of FreeBSD Unix.
I also occasionally run Windows XP on a Parallels partition. It’s always a pain, because every time I start it up it has to download updates, not just to the OS but to the anti-virus and anti-malware software I have on there…
I figured a toolbag would speak up on the rotten apple’s behalf. I too have never had to reinstall, and I too can run my OS on top of my unix based OS. However, I prefer substance over style, and don’t like getting stuck with poor kernel settings. I would never buy a machine that costs twice to three times as much as it would to build with better parts, not to mention one that costs more to maintain/repair than it did to buy the damn thing. Besides, I really can’t support a company with such terrible advertising strategies. I mean, come on! If you have a product that sells itself because it’s so damn trendy, why would you go out and make yourself look like an idiot to the rest of the industry by putting out ads that compare a $3000 rig to a $250 one? Besides, I challenge any Mac user to a race; not only will my PC boot faster, but it will load programs faster, too.
Have fun with OSuX. It’s anti-shell, spotlight memory sucking, GUI/Package Management/Dev-tools lacking tenacity seems to do wonders for those of you stuck in the world of point, drool and click.
Unfortunately(but rather fortunately for Apple), some people confuse trendiness with actual merit and worth.
It’s my fault for steering the discussion away from the topic of Linux, I guess. Most of the software I use doesn’t come in a Linux version (yet). My machine runs everything that I do plenty fast except for those large graphics batch operations. The software works, the hardware works. I don’t have to be a coding geek to set it all up. Nothing against coding geeks, but that’s not for everybody.
Notice how Linux only comes on the cheapest of mainstream PCs? The cheap ones? I still don’t get why it’s not catching on better and taking more market share from Microsoft. Perhaps because there’s less money to be made in the process? I don’t know. But so far Linux is not ready for mainstream users.