Recommend me a distro!

G'day,
I know I started a thread a few weeks back asking about distro's, but now I'm in a different position. I'm after a Distro to replace Ubuntu. Has to be easy to install along side Windows. I've had a look at a couple, like CentOS, Fedora, etc, but none real appeal to me right at this point in time. Is there any you recommend to me?

Cheers,
-Joel

 

Well...bud..you could always go check out distrowatch.com...and look through there
You could check out opensuse..fedora..linux mint..sabayon..just for ideas..
which ones did u get around to trying out of your list btw?

 

Already checked out DistroWatch
Haven't, actually gotten around to trying out any on my list Been a little busy, haha. I WILL get around to it though, over my holidays, which is now.

I actually checked out, OpenSUSE, that look's alright. Or should I just go Ubuntu, and keep other distro's to another computer? Gah, idno.

 

haha..i'm just more or less waiting on ubuntu 10.04LTS..might try out the new opensuse, fedora..idk.. ..
well..if you have another computer try out other distros first before messing with your ubuntu installation on your main computer..that could be an idea? :/

 

Oh yeah! Never thought of that, haha. Thank's for your help!

 

You should give Linux Mint a try too, love the interface on it.

 

Yes. Try Mint, upcoming Ubuntu and Fedora.

 

Why do you want to switch from Ubuntu?

 

^^ Well, I'm not sure if I want to anymore I don't know, but I'm looking for alternatives to Ubuntu anyway.

 

I think he is starting to feel the fever known as distrohopperitis.

 

If you're fine with Ubuntu, then switching just for the sake of switching isn't a good idea. Unless you're just trying out other distributions for fun you'll most likely not find anything that works as well as Ubuntu. A good distribution, more on the technical side that combines a lot of nifty things from other distributions is Arch Linux. Not as complicated as FreeBSD or Gentoo but has all the perks. Maintaining that might sooth your hunger for knowledge at least for the time being.

 

I stopped hopping once I moved to Arch. It's simply amazing. Complete freedom with binary ease.

 

Awesome, I've had a look at Ubuntu Studio, and I quite like the look of it. I may end up using that, of course, I'll put Ubuntu on once 10.04 comes out officially.

 

If you like ubuntu studio there is a much easier way to get it than reinstalling the distro. Terminal this


sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-desktop ubuntustudio-gdm-theme ubuntustudio-audio ubuntustudio-audio-plugins ubuntustudio-default-settings ubuntustudio-icon-theme ubuntustudiolauncher ubuntustudio-graphics ubuntustudio-look ubuntustudio-menu ubuntustudio-screensaver ubuntustudio-sounds ubuntustudio-wallpapers ubuntustudio-video usplash-theme-ubuntustudio ubuntustudio-theme


then just install the programs.

 

I use Crunchbang Linux. Love it. Once a upon a time I wanted to try Arch but then life caught up with me.

 

Nearly any distro can coexist beside Windows. Just make sure you install Windows (preferably Win7) first, and then install Linux. Set up the GRUB bootloader on the master boot record, which will then replace the windows bootloader and do what it can't - boot both Windows and as many Linux operating systems as you choose!

I'll give another vote to Arch if you're looking for a more "advanced" customizable distro. It doesn't require as much work as Slackware and Gentoo, but is still source based. It has a great package management system, pacman, that resolves dependencies - similar to Debian's APT. Its rolling release schedule means you will always be up to date. It also has the best documentation of any "advanced" distro out there, making it easy for even someone new to follow the ArchWiki and build their system. The "downsides" are that you start from a command line only and have to install everything else by hand, and that you need to check the forums and homepage every so often, as every so often the leading edge becomes the bleeding edge. Arch is a fantastic distro to make what YOU want of it, and is one of the few that is desktop-agnostic - All the DEs and WM are available in the repos, at the latest versions, and all work equally as well.

If you're looking for something to get up and running, usable, fast - others have suggeste many of the built on Debian/Ubuntu derivatives. For instance, Mint is one of the premiere desktop Linux systems that takes Ubuntu and makes it easier and more powerful (ie. including proprietary codecs, flash, and more) from the start. Crunchbang is customized Ubuntu wielding a light weight desktop environment, Openbox

Debian is the "heart" of many distros, with its .deb packaging and apt install system, and that's always an option. The Stable version is VERY old though.

Fedora is the most "pure" and up to date of the RedHat lineage, being the testbed for CentOS (what Red Hat Enterprise Linux evolved into). I've not used RPM distros for years. They used to have dependency hells, but many say that has changed. I believe Fedora is "KDE" focused, much the same way that Ubuntu is Gnome focused - though you can use the other DE, everything is really customized, more up to date, and integrated with the native one.

 

And what about the real time kernel?

 

Just to clear up some errors, the version of Windows DOES NOT matter in any way, Debian Stable is actually not that old, though it is behind most others distros a bit, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux still exists, but CentOS is a free rebuild of the sources, fedora being the test bed for RHEL, and it's actually not really focused on KDE, Gnome and KDE both get a lot of love and both are very great. And generally with Ubuntu, due to KDE having a major release more often than Gnome, Gnome is more up to date but really not.

Otherwise, good post and I approve of it.