Discussion: Which OTHER distro would you reccomend..?

[olieviya]

I am NOT leaving Ubuntu... but I would be interested (& curious) to know which OTHER Linux distribution you guys would recommend if you were asked to give your opinion to:

A. A complete noob (full-time windows use, never heard of Linux etc)?
B. A well-matured geek who knows about stuff/can understand easily etc (full-time windows user as well, though)?

Just would like a discussion, I can obviously understand a lot of people would recommend Ubuntu to both/one so feel free to say that you would but state your second runner up in that case. Please also give a reason for your choice for both.

[LaRoza]

A. A complete noob (full-time windows use, never heard of Linux etc)?
B. A well-matured geek who knows about stuff/can understand easily etc (full-time windows user as well, though)?


A. Pardus, PCLinuxOS, *buntu, DreamLinux (maybe), LinuxMint, SimplyMEPIS, OpenSUSE, Mandriva.
B. Slackware and derivatives, Arch, and the above, depending on needs.

For the A's, each one has their own strengths, but, all are easy to use and setup (I believe, but they are easy to use at least). Depending on the users skills and time/willingness to learn, I would recommend one of those

For the B's, these are others, are quite useful and very good distros, but require more knowledge.

I personally have Ubuntu as my main OS, but nothing is set at the defaults. I use Fluxbox, Thunar, some KDE apps, some GNOME apps and others. I have a personal theme I use, and my own menu (obviously!)

[plb]

Debian :)

[LaRoza]

Debian :)

Not big on discussion, eh?

Would this be for A or B? (or both)

[rsambuca]

A. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Linux Mint are all easy to use.
B. Gentoo. Actually a lot easier to install than you might think. The Handbook is step-by-step and very easy to follow along.

[Kingsley]

I would recommend the same distributions as LaRoza. For B., Gentoo and Fedora could be thrown in too.

[LaRoza]

For B., Gentoo and Fedora could be thrown in too.

Haven't used either of them to make a recommendation, but I almost did put them in, but wouldn't be able to justify them.

[dasunst3r]

openSUSE comes in at a close second for me.

[karellen]

A. opensuse
B. arch/slackware

[olieviya]

A. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Linux Mint are all easy to use.
B. Gentoo. Actually a lot easier to install than you might think. The Handbook is step-by-step and very easy to follow along.

Is LinuxMint really noob friendly? I have never used it.. just checking it now...

[FuturePilot]

Linux Mint is basically Ubuntu with a spiffy theme and all of the restricted stuff installed by default.

[Dr Small]

Is LinuxMint really noob friendly? I have never used it.. just checking it now...
I have LinuxMint on livecd, and it reminds me of the windows vista start menu, and has some elagance about the look, but it is basically the same as Ubuntu.

Dr Small

[kazuya]

linux Mint is essentially Ubuntu with most multimedia reqd stuff already included. - my first recommendation

Others are Mepis, PClinuxos, Zenwalk, Vector, Elive Gem, Sabayon

For experts, archlinux, gentoo, LFS

[pain of salvation]

A. openSUSE
B. Arch, Slackware, Gentoo

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Debain.

[DJ_Peng]

I actually went through some of this last fall when it was time to switch to Linux. I had heard about it years ago and remembered it was all command line, which luckily didn't scare me that much, but I had also heard Linux had gotten some nice GUIs. After some research I first tried Freespire, which was pretty nice. I didn't have graphics card issues with my Nvidia card, and the CNR repo made adding things pretty easy. I'd definitely recommend it for a complete noobie.

I, however, wasn't that computer illiterate, and after being a beta tester for Mozilla under WinXP (both Firefox and Thunderbird) I quickly decided I needed more ability to do things like running nightlies and tweaking settings. I went with Ubuntu after seeing the recommendations online, and I'd recommend something like the Ubuntu Ultimate Edition, or in my current case Ubuntu Studio (I needed more multimedia creation programs). The price tag is what put me off some of the other B level distros, so I've never tried any distros that aren't free downloads and can't speak to what would be a great B level alternative.

[Erunno]

openSUSE 10.3 RC1 has been just released. Apart from some proprietary codecs its the most user friendly distribution out there. Check out the screenshots (http://en.opensuse.org/Screenshots/openSUSE_10.3). The new native GNOME frontend to Yast looks amazing, way better than its Qt counterpart. Hopefully KDE users will get a new one as well once openSUSE switches to KDE4 as default.

[doog519]

Open Suse as well.
As mentioned 10.3 is a lot faster and has better package management...Than previous versions.
Plus Novell has teamed with ATI to make drivers for Linux.

PClinuxOS It's simple and just works.

[Onyros]

For a newbie, I'd recommend Mepis. Even though I don't like it one bit myself, I can't think of a better thing to help the transition.

For intermediate/advanced users, I'd have to go with Arch. It's one heckuva distro.

[Lord Illidan]

Ubuntu to newbies, and Zenwalk to more advanced users..It is a really good and fast distro.

[kelvin spratt]

Elive gem, very stable and slackware, not hard really once you take the plunge

[Bothered]

A. I quite like Fedora.
B. I recommend Linux From Scratch as a learning exercise, but not for serious use.

[Foxmike]

A: Ubuntu. Good place to start discovering. Plenty of applications available, easy to configure and manage. As well, it is so easy (and fast) to install that when you break something, a re-install is generally not a big deal.

B: Gentoo, definately! The (command line) install is quite straight forward, and the learning experiance is great!. The install process is quite long, tho. I would recommend doing a command line install from an already existing linux distribution (see alternate installation methods under the docs page), so then while your PC is stuck into compilation, you still can use it for web browsing etc...

[Lord Illidan]

B: Gentoo, definately! The (command line) install is quite straight forward, and the learning experiance is great!. The install process is quite long, tho. I would recommend doing a command line install from an already existing linux distribution (see alternate installation methods under the docs page), so then while your PC is stuck into compilation, you still can use it for web browsing etc...

Yes, I did the same thing..installing Gentoo from Ubuntu :P

[raul_]

B- Arch

[ThinkBuntu]

I would give a complete "Noob" either Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, or most likely, MEPIS now that they've shifted to the Debian base.

For a technical user, I'd recommend Arch or Debian. Arch for its learning potential, and Debian simply because it's an amazing piece of software.

[jrusso2]

For the complete noob I would recommend PCLinuxOS first, then Linux Mint, and maybe Freespire if they can get it all working.

For the well seasoned veteran, Slackware is still da bomb, and I am hearing a lot of great things about arch linux.

[Foxmike]

Yes, I did the same thing..installing Gentoo from Ubuntu :P
My dream would be to see the both into one... I guess this can be called "utopia":)

[SuperDuck]

I would definitely recommend Mint - it's very good for new users or people making the transition. It's what I'm using right now as my "main & reliable" distro.

For B, as someone said before, Linux From Scratch is a great experience that teaches the user quite a bit.

[misfitpierce]

Mandriva which I used for a long time. Years ago came to ubuntu... went to mandriva.... came back to ubuntu and I may install Mandriva on another PC again soon.

[LaRoza]

For the well seasoned veteran, Slackware is still da bomb, and I am hearing a lot of great things about arch linux.
Arch is great, buy you have to know what you are doing!

[Happy_Man]

For A, I would recommend Ubuntu or perhaps Fedora. Both are really very nice, but Fedora may throw some people off due to the fact that it has no codecs in by default in its repos....

B: Gentoo, Sabayon, (insert distro with E here), Zenwalk, Slackware, Linux from Scratch. In order of difficulty and 1337ness.

[avantgardaclue]

I love demoing the Slax live cd, people are blown away by it and maybe it's always because they have slightly older machines, the speed is sensational. If i had to do a hard disk install to an older machine then that would be vector SOHO. Both slackware based, something must be good there.

[init1]

I would recommend the same distributions as LaRoza. For B., Gentoo and Fedora could be thrown in too.
Fedora could be for both IMHO. Fedora Core 1 one was my first distro.

[RAV TUX]

A. Elive Gem 1.0 (http://www.elivecd.org/); Wolvix Hunter 1.1.0 (http://www.wolvix.org/); PC-BSD 1.3.4 (http://www.pcbsd.org/)

B. dyne:bolic (http://www.dynebolic.org/); Gentoo (http://www.gentoo.org/)

[Happy_Man]

Is eLive any good? I'm downloading it right now to test, but would still like an opinion that wasn't from their website ;)

[igknighted]

For (a) I pretty much agree with everyone, but for (b) I tend to disagree. The OP stated its a distro for a geek with a WINDOWS background. I think these are the types of users who struggle the most with linux because they aren't as willing to get help when they need it. Therefor, an easier distro (pretty much the same as (a) would probably be the way to go. Unless you want to have them jump into something like Gentoo or a Solaris/BSD to make them really realize that they are in a new world. I guess in that case it would depend on the individual.

[DoktorSeven]

A) Mepis
B) LFS

[dptxp]

Puppy, the day it can really be installed.

[fistfullofroses]

For a total n00b I would recommend any of the "popular" linux distributions. These would go to include Debian, Ubuntu, Mandriva, SuSE, Fedora etc... For those who are not quite as n00bish I would recommend something like....... Linux From Scratch. Just go ahead and build your own.

[igknighted]

For a total n00b I would recommend any of the "popular" linux distributions. These would go to include Debian, Ubuntu, Mandriva, SuSE, Fedora etc... For those who are not quite as n00bish I would recommend something like....... Linux From Scratch. Just go ahead and build your own.

Fedora is not a n00bish distro, it aims for users in between the Arch/Gentoo/Slack 1337 crowd and the new-to-linux Ubuntu/PCLOS/Mepis crowd. Probably around the same as Sabayon, Sidux or Zenwalk. Many do (because of its popularity) throw Fedora against Ubuntu, especially when it comes to making it "easy for new users" and walk away very disappointed, but they fail to judge the distro on its own goals.

I have seen many threads from new users in the Fedora forums were they are having issues adjusting, and they are very politely recommended to try another distro like Ubuntu (not because Ubuntu isn't as good, but because it is catered towards this user while Fedora is not).

[MissionImpossible]

Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Mint, Debian, Mepis 7.0, Fedora 7 and 8, SLED SP1, openSUSE 10.2/10.3, Mandriva 2008 and Puppy.

[RAV TUX]

Is eLive any good? I'm downloading it right now to test, but would still like an opinion that wasn't from their website ;)

I use Elive Gem 1.0 as my primary OS and yes it is good, in fact I would call it the best OS to date.

[LookTJ]

Arch Linux. This wiki will help you out: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide

[jamathis]

A. Linux Mint, PCLinuxOS, or Freespire
B. Slackware or Gentoo

[Rumor]

A) Absolute Beginners
1. Ubuntu for the community and the very strong focus on making things as easy for new users as possible.
2. PCLinuxOS for the very complete distro you get from a base install

B) Advanced Users
1. Arch Linux for the experience of making it your own right from the start. The Arch community is very friendly and helpful and nowhere near so overwhelming as the Ubuntu community. The beginner's guide in the wiki is very well written. The configuration files rc.conf, pacman.conf and the rest are easy to understand and use AND they give you complete control over your system, loading only what you want loaded in the order you specify.