Recommend Me A Distro

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Pillz

n00b
Joined
Dec 27, 2005
Messages
13
So basically I'm interested in using Linux on my 2nd machine and have tried Ubuntu and Kubuntu so far as they're recommended to n00bs - I'm a huge n00b when it comes to Linux, I've used it for about a month.
Anyways, I've decided I like Gnome a lot more than KDE, so I'd like a Gnome based Linux but don't know of too many distros outside of the big name ones like gentoo, red hat, ubuntu etc. I'd like a n00b friendly distro, but not anything quite as dumbed down as Ubuntu is, or so I'm lead to believe.
After that overly long request for a Gnome based distro thats not impossible for a windows user to use, any suggestions?
 
When I saw the title, I was going to jump in a recommend ubuntu and kubuntu, because I like them, but since you tried them already, how about SuSE? They will let you pick between Gnome and KDE during install. They really go out of their way to make the desktop reminiscent of Windows, which can be both a good or bad thing.
http://opensuse.org/

A distro that I like a lot would be Debian. If you can use ubuntu, you can figure out Debian; It just comes with more stuff, and has a regular root account by default like most distros.
http://debian.org/

The thing about pretty much all the Linux distros is that even when they come with friendliness, there really isn't anything stopping you from dissecting it.
 
umm hard to give an answer with such a broad question as "something not as dumbed down as ubuntu"

what specific area is too dumbed down for you?
 
just pick one and stick with it. i dont understand what the problem with ubuntu was. if you wanted gnome all you really had to do was `apt-get install gnome`

i've used debian for ages and it is quite similar.

try not to pick a distro based on it's default configuration. pick one, figure it out, and configure it to suit your needs. package management and updates/support are really the only 2 factors that are specific to particular distributions, these should be your main considerations when selecting one
 
Ubuntu is hardly "dumbed down". Its basically debian with a faster release cycle and some additional software.
 
I agree with the people here ubuntu is hardly dumbed down, its just as 'advanced' as other distros, and I have used other distros. Don't call a linux distro dumbed down because it works out of the box, :p
 
cooltron said:
if you really want something to learn on use slackware
Click to expand...

No, this will cause him to become frustrated and just give up. I recommend you try something simple but allows you to customize as you get better with Linux.

Fedora Core - This will get you comfortable with Redhat commands and will help if you see a RHEL machine.

Debian - Debian is great and allows you to do many things. You also get APT-GET.
 
i learned on slackware. but i can understand why you might be hesitant to recommend it for a new user
 
Im a fedora fan myself, it has both Gnome and KDE. Yum makes package management easy and there is a large community of users.
 
Flak Pyro said:
Im a fedora fan myself, it has both Gnome and KDE. Yum makes package management easy and there is a large community of users.
Click to expand...

I find Fedora as a great stepping stone. I dont think YUM is what is should be simply because I was spoiled with APT but its a step on the right direction.
 
I don't get the 'dumbed down' thing either...

What do you want? Painful manual configuration of things that should Just Work (X11, printing, being a DHCP client on a network), a broken package system (that's missing half the packages you want anyways), configuration tools that require you to make half your changes manually to config files (and like to lose the changes randomly)?

Ten years ago, shit like this was the standard. These days, the common problems that basic users constantly run into have been solved - the number of things that can be done easily has grown considerably. There are still tricky things, but you're probably not going to need them unless you're running a fairly serious system - complex networking/routing/firewall setups, weird RAID/LVM setups, clustering, running dozens of VMs for virtual dedicated hosting, handling security with large numbers of actual users, etc... There's nothing all that complex about running Linux on a basic, (primarily) single-user desktop (or making a basic web/mail/file server) anymore.

You don't have much in the way of options when it comes down to making a system "not dumbed down" - you can avoid configuration tools, going with manual file config - you can scrap the Gnome/KDE thing and go with a more complex window manager/simpler desktop environment (start using .Xresources to configure xterm). If you'd really rather waste your time making your computer work than getting work done on it, there's always LFS.

...or you can get over it, enjoy that the system isn't all that hard to use if you stay in point & drool land but capable of some wizardry if/when needed. Learn shell scripting. Learn emacs & vi (and how to scrip them). Pick up one of the simple yet powerful scripting languages that are 'standard' on any linux box - Python, Perl, Ruby, PHP, TCL... (IMHO, any computer user that doesn't know the basics of programming is missing the point).

A computer is a tool. Windows was written by programmers for office monkeys; Unix was written by programmers for programmers. Once you get below the surface glitter of GNOME, you'll see the difference.
 
Just stick with (Ku|Xu|U)buntu, it's just Debian with a friendly up-front appearance. You can learn as much as you want about Linux with it, and any other distribution that is billed as 'newbie-friendly.' You'll eventually pick up as much as you will need to know. And if you really want to learn more, buy a book rather than worry about whether your distro is giving you all the power you need, because frankly, all distros should offer you the same level of control underneath it all.

I've been using Linux for years and for any environment where I have to do actual work (like at work) I pick an environment that doesn't take ages to install and configure - I generally use SuSE or one of the Debian-based (or plain old Debian) distributions for programming. At home I use a Zenwalk installation, as well as a Debian installation.

And even though I use these friendlier distributions, I rely heavily on the command prompt/terminal for roughly 95% of my work since that's what I'm used to.
 
I agree with what most are saying.

Stick with Ubuntu. It can do anything you need it to.

If you'd like to try something else, download Fedora Core or SuSe.

FreeBSD is something new to learn, too, but I wouldn't recommend trying that until you're comfortable with FC and Ubuntu.
 
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