Linux distro poll

[rockytriton]

ok, I don't get the point, AIX is unix os, linux is also a unix os. If you don't agree that AIX is unix, I think you will have a lot of people to argue with, including about every IBM employee.

[alexander]

AIX is Unix based, it is however based on a very different Unix from GNU

[rockytriton]

ok?

 

sorry, sometimes I forget how prickly linux people can be.

[alexander]

well, first of all if unix people didnt file a lawsit claming that their code has been stolen by GNU, there would be less of a barrier, and second of all it's all just technicalities, I think its still unix, i was trying to give you a reason to use it at home :)

[rockytriton]

yea but the SCO was the one who filed the suit, and not a single unix vendor supported them, especially not IBM, since SCO tried to revoke IBM's license for AIX. It seems to me that SCO signed their own death warrant, I don't know what moron decided that would be a good strategy for their company.

[alexander]

"Oh no our code was stolen, lets sue everyone, who's with us? <*cricket sound*> oh, so they didnt steal our code, oops..."

[Southtown]

Old thread, oh well. Funny I should stumble on to it while downloading KUbuntu 5.1 ... Alex even recommends it for n00bs. =P Guess I'll save my vote till I'm not running Winblows... oops, crashed anyway, darnit... =|

[alexander]

Ubuntu is a really good distro for n00bs and people who just dont want to get away from windows-like operating OSes, i recommend it any day over Red hat or Suse for normal users, and am secretly planning to install it on my sister's box sometime very soon :cup:

[Southtown]

Well, it's got my vote. Hands-free install! Found and configured my dsl!!! I'm stunned. Never even dreamed it would be this easy. Now I can tinker with it, and still use it. I'm so stoked. I've tried redhat, mandriva, and maybe a few others some time ago. Was gonna try debian and arch, but I don't think I'm ready.

 

Free! FREE! AAAHHHHAHAAHAHAAh!

[Jay-qu]

I actually want to start learning linux - which distro is a good one to start with?

[alexander]

Jay, that all depends on what you want to do, if you want to learn how to use linux for real, there is not much that can beat Gentoo for the purpose, if you want to just use Linux and not really get into its inner workings and stay in the GUI, there is a distro called Ubintu, free, available for x86, AMD64 and PPC both 32 and 64 bit, took my friend 11 clicks to install on hist friend's box (any button click counted, thats with user and password, which i think is kinda short, well you could argue that this is coming from a guy who's root password is about 45 symbols long) anyways, if you have questions, i'll be happy to answer...

[Southtown]

I like Ubuntu because I can install it and use it before I learn it. I can dig and tweak at leisure, rather than the usual crash-course installation attempts that keep me from using my box for other stuff. Dual boot works of course, but it's still a rectal discomfort to flip-flop partitions, reading about tweaks and then trying them out. It also has automatix which can install some cool stuff, before I'm able to do it.

 

Haven't tried Gentoo, though. It might be useable before the user is knowledgeable, too.

[alexander]

it is usable, but user needs to learn how to use it first... it is a fully manual install, but there is a plus, you setup a PMS and it does installation for you, which is convenient as just about any program i can imagine installing, i can use one command to download it and compile it. ah, also if you dont have time, gentoo is not the distro for you, and if you want commercial, go Suse...

[Bio-Hazard]

KDE Ubuntu, but Suse seems to be doing well.

[alexander]

i never played with ubuntu enough to actually try to install kde on there... i guess for me it is not of any difference which environment i am using, since i stay mostly within command line anyways, window managers, work environments are just shiny extras...

[michael2]

i just want to ask, which version of Linux would i need for the latest technology from 1995? y'know, pentium 2 processor, i know this has nothing to do with the poll, but i need to know.

[alexander]

distros have very little to nothing to do with this choice, mike, but let me explain it a bit...

 

Linux itself is a kernel; or a piece of software providing secure access to hardware and processes that are executing (well that is in simple terms, more secure explanation can not only be obtained at wikipedia, but also discussed, but that would require a new thread). Linux kernels are released by Linis Torvalds and his team, who accept patches coming in from thousands of hackers, write their own to support new hardware and so forth and you can obtain those at http://www.kernel.org

That is what actually supports all the hardware, and since the beginning of time, there is very little to no support for any hardware taken out. Since the way you use the kernel makes it individualized for your machine aka only support that is needed is there, and the hardware that is not present on the system is not, when you make your kernel (make is one of the Linux terms, basically means compile (very basically)) you or a program would include only support needed, making your actual running kernel larger or smaller (mine runs from 1.2-1.8 Mb (darn thats a lot, they were ususally 1.5 megs... but its crazy nitro sources with a bunch of super experimental patches like super low latency patches, adaptable kernel that adapst to tasks that are happening over decently long periods of time, say i am compiling, and start another task, kernel is more dedicated towards the compiling process and makes it execute faster then it would be with a normal vanilla kernel and so forth))

 

What actually makes a distro is, one patchsets that they use, unofficial kernel paches are used to support newer hardware (usually not very stable, but then there is madwifi(wireless), alsa(sound), nvidia and ati drivers which are not bad) or add functionality like software suspend, UML and what not (user mode linux). Since Linus only accepts patches that he marks as stable, working and most of the time needed, and some patches have the "do magic" functions or crazy uses like running linux kernels as processes, they dont get accepted into the mainstream kernel. That and the programs they choose for the kernel to come with such as package mamagement, text edditing tools and some even go as far as working environments...

 

So, i would say it does not matter what distro you choose, it is the kernel you pick, in which case, 2.6.13 kernels are the best of choice, dont go for 14, it, so far has been a crappy release, wont even mention the 15... Course i have preferences in distros, but it depends what you want to use the system for, i stick with debian-based distros for user, Suse for corporate with support and stuff...although if i were to have a corporation, rest asure it wont be running any distro with X for servers, most likely Gentoo or LSF servers and either Ubuntu or actually Gentoo with my friend's management system that he has been working on for about 2 years now on to manage the network... (its an amazing product, but topic for another discussion)

 

In any case tell me what you want to use your system for, whether it's a home server, router, first experience or learn real linux linux box, and i will tell you which distros and why...