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distros...

post #1 of 51
8/15/07 at 12:58am
Thread Starter 
i know this gets old, but after lurking for a few weeks and talking for a few days... im looking for the best distro for me.

im running kubuntu (i like it lots) now on my old C610 (on a smalled 20gig hd) and am planning on having it replace my other (larger - 60gig) hard drive OS, windows. i want to make sure, as i plan on diving into this for the long haul, that kubuntu would be the right distro for me.

im thinking about trying gentoo, but i am a beginner at best, and can pull myself through the basic issues at best. so im not sure if its right for me... i like the ideas of optimization, but i hear the can be minimal at best.

my laptop is a PIII 733/1000mhz step with i think 16mb radeon graphics with a 1024x768 screen. has 512 ram and internal wireless.

im looking for something that will run smoothly (kubuntu is doing great) looks pretty (superficial i know - but im a sucker for pretty desktops and - mainly - gauges/monitors/sensors for everything.) and be a general cocmputer. surf/email (firefox/thunderbird), chat, torrents, and a decent audio/video machine all together.

that being said, im going to go look into sabayon. it sounds like it might just be up my alley.
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post #2 of 51
8/15/07 at 1:57am
Gentoo wouldn't be a bad experience for you as you will likely learn a bit from it.

ELive might be worth checking out for you as well, not sure how it does with gauges etc as I don't use em, but the rest should be pretty well handled.

Seablade
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post #3 of 51
8/15/07 at 2:24am
I like Sabayon... but it's a resource hog. I get about 800MB of memory used at idle. Gentoo or Slackware would teach you quite a bit if you'll roll up your sleeves and stick with it.
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post #4 of 51
8/15/07 at 3:25am
Thread Starter 
what are the differences between distros? more specifically debian/slackware/gentoo? small tastes in code?
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post #5 of 51
8/15/07 at 9:58pm
package managers, window enviornments are different in almost every distro, some are based on the major ones (eg ubuntu on debian) but they are all built on the linux kernel, so they can be customized any way you want.

my suggestion is to try gentoo, i tried it, failed twice and got it on the third try and found out i really didnt like it.

but at least i learned lots about linux and im able to have more control on my ubuntu partition.

so yeah go for it. mess up a few times, you'll get aggrivated but at least its a good start
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post #6 of 51
8/15/07 at 9:59pm
print the user guide as well, you'll need it or at least have an extra laptop where you can access the internet and read it.

really focus on the USE part of the guide, the first time i really messed up with it
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post #7 of 51
8/16/07 at 12:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zaphod911 View Post
what are the differences between distros? more specifically debian/slackware/gentoo? small tastes in code?
not nearly as much as you might think from reading people defend their favorite one with religious fervor. The differences are basically what comes on the CD, the package manager and how things are organized.
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post #8 of 51
8/16/07 at 2:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by drlouis View Post
not nearly as much as you might think from reading people defend their favorite one with religious fervor. The differences are basically what comes on the CD, the package manager and how things are organized.

And whether or not you can ever get the proper damn screen resolution to work!

@Louis: Guess what I can't get to work properly on my second stab at Ubuntu!!
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post #9 of 51
8/16/07 at 2:44am
Thread Starter 
so basically, KDE and gnome are the 2 major guis out there, and ill be installing one on top of my (should i chose) gentoo install? really im only looking for the gui that works the smoothest and looks the best (and runs on me lappy), as it appears all distros really suit my taste. i guess i have countless nights ahead trying different ones out. screw the 20 gig XP install, here comes linux trials!
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post #10 of 51
8/16/07 at 8:09am
well kde and gnome aren't the only window enviornments, fluxbox, xcfe, enlightenment are some of the other popular lightweight window managers. the good thing about linux is that you can install multiple window environments and then choose which one to boot into during login.

it also depends on the apps you are going to run. most programs that are coded for gnome will be able to run on kde and vice versa. but it takes extra time to load the necessary components because they won't already be loaded through the desktop environment. i think kde is a good first choice for you considering you are already enjoying kubuntu (kde enviornment)
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post #11 of 51
8/16/07 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zaphod911 View Post
so basically, KDE and gnome are the 2 major guis out there, and ill be installing one on top of my (should i chose) gentoo install? really im only looking for the gui that works the smoothest and looks the best (and runs on me lappy), as it appears all distros really suit my taste. i guess i have countless nights ahead trying different ones out. screw the 20 gig XP install, here comes linux trials!
pretty much. Any of them should run fine, although one of the lighter ones (like those mentioned by BIGEE1212) would be less taxing on your hardware. I'd suggest starting with KDE then add the others and play around with them to see which one(s) you like the best.
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post #12 of 51
8/16/07 at 1:23pm
BMWRob, your screen resolution is independant for the most part from Window Managers, start up a new thread and I can give you a hand sorting that out.

Seablade
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post #13 of 51
8/18/07 at 2:59am
Thread Starter 
using an intel P3 cpu, would i need 686 architechture? i thought it was 386...?
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post #14 of 51
8/18/07 at 10:00am
Pentiums were technically 586. I believe with Pentium 2s 686 started, but can't remember. So yes you SHOULD be fine. However if you prefer to be on the safe side you can stick with 386.

Seablade
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post #15 of 51
8/22/07 at 8:29pm
one thing you got to remember is with gentoo everything compiles, it isnt a binary based distro like the rest. with an aging proc like the P3 it will probably take a few days just to get up and running, as itll be compiling xorg, kde/gnome (whichever you chose), and other packages in the initial install from scratch

you can learn a lot about linux setting up a gentoo installation, moreso than with others IMO because of all the stuff you have to do manually, but it does require patience its my distro of choice, i love it
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post #16 of 51
8/22/07 at 10:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by seablade View Post
BMWRob, your screen resolution is independant for the most part from Window Managers, start up a new thread and I can give you a hand sorting that out. Seablade
Am a little late responding, but thanks for the offer, seablade. Managed to get Ubuntu working properly in two computers - one with an ATI card, the other with nVidia. The instructions were posted in my own thread from the last time I had the same problem.
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post #17 of 51
8/23/07 at 12:38pm
Have you put Linux on the Vooddoo yet Rob?
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post #18 of 51
8/23/07 at 10:51pm
No, Darq, but have Ubuntu on eMachines and Velocity Micro desktops. The Voodoo's cooling system blew up a few weeks ago, and I just can't convince myself to bother having it fixed - again. Am thinking of buying a new machine from Maingear; I think they'll install whatever is asked of them . . . saving me the trouble of once again trying to figure out the damn secret to a correct screen resolution.
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post #19 of 51
8/24/07 at 1:32am
Thread Starter 
uhhhh i got a problem guys...

i downloaded a bunch of torrents using my kubuntu install. slackware, fedora, gentoo... eitherway, i cant seem to log in. i dont get an error message, just a loop that puts me back to the bootup login. any ideas?
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post #20 of 51
8/24/07 at 2:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zaphod911 View Post
uhhhh i got a problem guys... i downloaded a bunch of torrents using my kubuntu install. slackware, fedora, gentoo... eitherway, i cant seem to log in. i dont get an error message, just a loop that puts me back to the bootup login. any ideas?
do you still have kubuntu installed? or are you trying to install one of the iso's you downloaded? does it do anything when you type your username and password? can you get a log-in if you press and hold ctrl-alt-F2?
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