Best Linux Distro

[The Conqueror]

I want to know which is the Best Linux Distro available.
I had installed ubuntu 7 in vmware , i didnt liked it much.
I want a distro which has maximum Features and applications bundled and with an acceptable Good GUI as i am new to linux world and dont know any commands yet.
So please suggest a good linux distro for me. How is fedora 9 or ubuntu 8 ?

[eGlueWeb]

Depends on you.. You are asking a question like which flavor of ice cream, you will like. With windows, you only have vanilla, though in different packaging mode. It's all the same. You never tasted other flavors, because there was only available in the shop. Linux, you have to taste every flavor before settling to a distro.

I suggest Ubuntu to start with. Ubuntu can be installed in your windows just like yet another program. And it will pickup your wireless, webcam, and almost every tool all on its own. Oh yeah, sometimes wireless requires you to download the restricted drivers (which they will automatically ask you if you have internet readily available) .You can even download vmware image directly. Not sure there is a official release of 8.04 version though.

Fedora 9 is a rock solid release. Though Fedora doesn't have a strong desktop user community as much as in Ubuntu Forums, it has got years of experience. If you ever wanted live chat , go to IRC and have chat with the fellow users. You should try that too.

If you are migrating from MacOS, I suggest you DreamLinux 3.2. It has got a similar MacOS interface.

I personally was using Fedora five years back, switched to CentOS (not recommended for you), finally now it is Ubuntu. I am happy with Ubuntu.

[praka123]

so,@OP,u need eyecandy?go straight for opensuse,though it will be slow on older systems

[FilledVoid]

I want to know which is the Best Linux Distro available.
I had installed ubuntu 7 in vmware , i didnt liked it much.
I want a distro which has maximum Features and applications bundled and with an acceptable Good GUI as i am new to linux world and dont know any commands yet.
So please suggest a good linux distro for me. How is fedora 9 or ubuntu 8 ?

Lets take this one by one.

I want to know which is the Best Linux Distro available.

Whats the best game out there? personally I like Chessmaster X , but Im sure people would stone me to death if I recommend it. Opinions are going to be subjective to the person using them.

I had installed Ubuntu 7 in vmware , i didn't liked it much.

Posting Why you disliked it might help in finding a better distro suited for you.

I want a distro which has maximum Features and applications bundled and with an acceptable Good GUI as i am new to Linux world and don't know any commands yet.
So please suggest a good Linux distro for me. How is fedora 9 or Ubuntu 8 ?

[/quote]
Ive said this before and I'll say it again. Mint/Sabayon comes with alot of stuff preinstalled so definitely I would recommend it over any of the above mentioned distros. But if you dont mind downloading all of it then definitely my call would be either Hardy or F9 .Hitboxx is an experienced Fedora user and he installed F9 . Check with him for info on it. I like Hardy Personally. So there you go. My recommendation is Mint though.

[SunnyChahal]

@conqueror-Go for Ubuntu Hardy because it 'just works'!Fedora 9 has some issues with Nvidia GPUs as they are no drivers for Nvidia cards at present.You can get 'nv' drivers but they wont run any 3D apps like games etc.Ubuntu is more user-friendly,has better community than any other GNU/Linux distribution and suits many GNU/Linux users.
Go to www.ubuntuforums.org,type anything (any problem) in hte search box and i bet you will get a solution whereas other Distributions lack such support.IMO you should start off with hardy,customize it according to your needs.get some cool themes from www.gnome-look.org and in no time you could make your ubuntu desktop look like this-











So,u cant say Ubuntu is bad at GUI.
Your bluetooth,pendrive,webcam(most probably),almost everything will work with Ubuntu Hardy.
Go Download it (32 bit version as 64 bit may cause some problems) and enjoy the power of GNU/Linux.
If you are a gamer,keep a dual boot with XP/Vista coz there ARE games for ubuntu but cant compete with those available on Windows(Truth is bitter).
Welcome to the Linux community

[kalpik]

^ +1. Go with Ubuntu Hardy if you are new to linux

[SunnyChahal]

Even experienced users use Ubuntu for it being the most pleasant,user-friendly and light OS.

[sourav123]

Originally Posted by The Conqueror

I want to know which is the Best Linux Distro available.
I had installed ubuntu 7 in vmware , i didnt liked it much.
I want a distro which has maximum Features and applications bundled and with an acceptable Good GUI as i am new to linux world and dont know any commands yet.
So please suggest a good linux distro for me. How is fedora 9 or ubuntu 8 ?

There is no such thing as the best linux distro. It is a matter of personal choice. Also keeping with the Linux culture, you are free to evaluate any of these before deciding on the one you like the most. That said, if you are a Linux newbie, then start with Ubuntu Hardy Heron. It is very easy to run and also supports a lot of softwares.

If you are in Bangalore, let me know if you need any help with your installation and others. I shall be happy to help.

[The Conqueror]

okay Thank You everyone..

What i want to know is That will it support my BSNL Wireless router?
I will download ubuntu 8 and when its complete you can help me with installation issues i occur.
I dont want to do gaming on ubuntu. What is XP for?

Regarding why i didnt liked ubuntu 7, it was the GUI and i was having some trouble installing vmware on it. This time i will straight do dual boot, or should i say triple-boot :
Win xp
Win vista
and ubuntu
is Gnome or KDE better ?

Downloading ubuntu now.

[Dark Star]

I would say get Mandriva




P.S : I saw my old desktop up there

[shady_inc]

KDE is my personal choice.But Ubuntu ships with GNOME.I suggest you keep both and make a decision after giving both a fair try.

[SunnyChahal]

^^
It is not about the routers.It is the LAN card which matters and should be supported and i guess almost all new ethernet cards are supported in GNU/Linux.You can share all your probs here
Fedora for the time being is useless coz it has no nvidia support and some minor issues are there.Wait till the new stable release of Xserver-Xorg comes out.Still i would recommend ubuntu for the reason that it 'just works'!
Don't try Gnu/Linux on VMware coz u would get the performance of the linux of 1990's.Instead install Virtualbox inside ubuntu from respositories and install vista inside it(if u dont plan to game on vista).

[FilledVoid]

If you prefer Ubuntu then go for it. But if anyone were to say that Ubuntu is light , then you seriously need to open your system monitor more.

it was the GUI and i was having some trouble installing vmware on it. This time i will straight do dual boot, or should i say triple-boot :

How did the GUI affect vmware :S ? But nonetheless enjoy your experience. Also you might want to stick with a 32 bit version. Also stick with Gnome. KDE has some weird bugs that seem to happen to me once in a while.

[SunnyChahal]

@Dark star -How is Mandriva 08 ?Im thinking of giving it a try.Is it the default theme or have u modified?

[shady_inc]

Originally Posted by Sunny1211993

@Dark star -How is Mandriva 08 ?Im thinking of giving it a try.Is it the default theme or have u modified?

He has KDE 4 in the screenie.Mandriva ships with KDE 3.5.9.But you can get KDE 4 from Contrib repos.!

[SunnyChahal]

KDE4 is uber buggy and snail slow.I better stick with hardy
Gnome is always better as compared to KDE or Xfce

[shady_inc]

Buggy.? Yes.The bugger had some serious issues with my keyboard.Slow.? no way.It was faster than 3.5.9 when I tried it.

[SunnyChahal]

^^
Try fedora 9 KDE 4,You will know!

[sourav123]

Hi,

You can easily install Ubuntu Hardy using Wubi. This is best for newbies and you don't have to worry about partitioning, boot manager etc.

[Dark Star]

Who said I had KDE 4 Thats KDE 3.5.9 @Sunny: Just one word Awesome is every respect

[NucleusKore]

This is the problem with linux^^^
Yes too much choice can be a problem, especially for those used to monoliths like Windows. Under the hood the fundamentals are the same more or less. OpenSuSE is nice to look at although a bit heavy on the system, not a problem if you have at least 512 MB RAM. Ubuntu and Xubuntu are light on your system. I find Kubuntu a little heavy too though not as much as OpenSuSE, but OpenSuSE is still my first choice, maybe I've just gotten used to it. Check out these posts for Ubuntu and OpenSuSE

Packages+Dependencies for Ubuntu (i386)
Packages+Dependencies for OpenSuSE 10.3 x86_64
Open SuSE 10.3 (GNOME) April 2008

[praka123]

well,@conqueror:get Ubuntu hardy!no more delays

[The Conqueror]

Originally Posted by FilledVoid

I
How did the GUI affect vmware :S ?

I didnt liked the GUI and i was having trouble installing VMWare in it. I had kept the download of ubuntu yesterday night , but the foolish FF 3 Beta 5 corrupted the download Now i have to install FDM and download again

[sourav123]

Originally Posted by The Conqueror

I didnt liked the GUI and i was having trouble installing VMWare in it. I had kept the download of ubuntu yesterday night , but the foolish FF 3 Beta 5 corrupted the download Now i have to install FDM and download again

Better download using Torrent. Torrents are good for downloading large files and the in-built checsum ensures no corruption at the time of downloading. Check the below link for Ubuntu Hardy torrent:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.04/ubun...86.iso.torrent (For 32 Bit)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.04/ubun...64.iso.torrent (For 64 Bit)

[The Conqueror]

ok guys I have downloaded Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy.
Now i will need help regarding the installation part, such as which file system to choose, etc.

EDIT : I am installing Ubuntu from within windows ! Its so easy to install !
Will let u guys know if i face any problem

[FilledVoid]

Offtopic : I have a document which lists the steps in the Ubuntu install procedure just in case someone needs it.
http://www.filledvoid.com/Ubuntu-install-guide.pdf
The steps are quite easy anyway.

[The Conqueror]

I dont know why but when i reboot to continue installation (Install ubuntu within windows install mode) It shows ubuntu progress bar but after a while it hangs . Any solutions on this?

[SunnyChahal]

Dont't Install via wubi coz it has some problems now.Install the ideal way making swap and ext3 partitions.If u need any help,we are here

[The Conqueror]

And it hangs even when i try to boot from CD
and can u explain how to install the ideal way ?
I currently have the following partitions :

C : for xp
D: for vista
E: for data
and F: for ubuntu (allocated space : 30 GB)

also what is verbose install ?

[SunnyChahal]

burn a new CD at low speeds and then try.