[Recommendation] What OS would you recommend me?

[Zdravko]

I know that this is my 2nd similar thread, but I really need some feedback from professional users...

Recommend me an OS, that is:

Free to use
Relatively simple to install and configure
Minimalistic and lightweight
Fast and rock-stable
Easily extensible with new packagesMy hardware is Acer Aspire 5715z, an Intel based laptop.

My main software applications are:

g++
Boost libraries
Some kind of a terminal
Good text editor for source coding
A decent browser for surfing
Good typesetting environment (LaTeX, Acrobat Reader etc.)Do not recommend me an OS that is:

Incapable of controlling my hardware
Bloated with software I never use
Resource hog with lots of unneeded services
Larger than 700 MB on the install media.
Full of eye-candy.That's from me. Now it is your turn!

[LaRoza]

I know that this is my 2nd similar thread, but I really need some feedback from professional users...

Recommend me an OS, that is:

Free to use
Relatively simple to install and configure
Minimalistic and lightweight
Fast and rock-stable
Easily extensible with new packagesMy hardware is Acer Aspire 5715z, an Intel based laptop.

To fulfill all of those requirements is a little tricky. You can do a base install of Ubuntu, and install a DE like IceWM (which is much lighter than GNOME or KDE). "rock-stable" is the hard part. You want a reasonably up to date distro that is "rock-stable". I would recommend Debian stable, or even Debian Lenny (testing), but they are not known to be "easy" although I find them to be simple to use.

It seems like you should get the latest Ubuntu (if you are comfortable with Ubuntu) and install a light DE on it.


My main software applications are:

g++
Boost libraries
Some kind of a terminal
Good text editor for source coding
A decent browser for surfing
Good typesetting environment (LaTeX, Acrobat Reader etc.)

Ubuntu (and others) have all those requirements.

Do not recommend me an OS that is:

Incapable of controlling my hardware
Bloated with software I never use
Resource hog with lots of unneeded services
Larger than 700 MB on the install media.
Full of eye-candy.That's from me. Now it is your turn!

Do a base install of Ubuntu, and build up. Or use Arch and build your own. See the arch subforum.

[Zdravko]

Thanks LaRoza (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=266234). I have never done a base install with Ubuntu. How is this done?
Arch is a little bit too tricky for me. It requires too much hardware configuration.
What about FreeBSD?

[mips]

It's hard to recommend something based on another individuals hardware.

Maybe have a look at Arch, can be as light and simplistic as you would like it to be without being too complicated to install.

[LaRoza]

Thanks LaRoza (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=266234). I have never done a base install with Ubuntu. How is this done?
Arch is a little bit too tricky for me. It requires too much hardware configuration.
What about FreeBSD?

Use the alternative disk and install from there. The base install is the "Install a command line system" or something.

The installer is easy to use, just less pretty (and much lighter) than the installer on the live cd. When you install, you will get a command line system. Assuming your internet works (use a wired connection) you can install anything you want the normal way (assuming you use the terminal to install things already)

An Ubuntu derivative like OzOS might be more to your liking. It isn't the most stable distro, but it isn't unstable. It is pretty, but lighter than Ubuntu.

[MONODA]

arch may seem intimidating and difficult, but it is worth it to learn how to use it. Anyway, if you dont choose to use arch then try what LaRoza said. I recommend the wmii window manager. FreeBSD, from what I have heard, is harder than arch (i will get back to you by next week on this since I plan on trying FreeBSD 7 out this weekend.

[mips]

Thanks LaRoza (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=266234). I have never done a base install with Ubuntu. How is this done?
Arch is a little bit too tricky for me. It requires too much hardware configuration.
What about FreeBSD?

You will need the Alternate CD for an Ubuntu base install.
Arch does not have that much hardware config to do. I'm busy with an Arch install as I type this.
FreeBSD will be rock solid but is probably harder than Arch and slightly different to Linux being a Unix. Once my Arch install is done on my desktop I'm doing a FreeBSD7 on the other partition.

[LaRoza]

arch may seem intimidating and difficult, but it is worth it to learn how to use it. Anyway, if you dont choose to use arch then try what LaRoza said. I recommend the wmii window manager. FreeBSD, from what I have heard, is harder than arch (i will get back to you by next week on this since I plan on trying FreeBSD 7 out this weekend.

I use wmii now. I am installing it (on another computer) with Debian Lenny as I type.

[mips]

Some people type faster than I do :frown:

[LaRoza]

Some people type faster than I do :frown:

No, we are in different time zones.

[piousp]

What about something like Fluxbuntu ??

[Rumor]

I know that this is my 2nd similar thread, but I really need some feedback from professional users...

Recommend me an OS, that is:

Free to use
Relatively simple to install and configure
Minimalistic and lightweight
Fast and rock-stable
Easily extensible with new packagesMy hardware is Acer Aspire 5715z, an Intel based laptop.


I know it has already been recommended by Mips, but I'll add my voice to the Arch recommendation. There are several users active in the Arch forums who use Acer laptops.

Arch is quite minimal and you will get no packages on it, beyond the base install, that you do not install yourself so it should meets your requirements nicely.

[Zdravko]

Thanks! I downloaded Arch, burned it on a CD and even managed to install it. I successfully got internet working and did a system upgrade via the pacman. Wow! I'm impressed to see how Linux is working. Now I am going to set up X and sound...

Btw, what happened to the forums? They look... amazing? Ah, vbulletin3.7 :)

[mivo]

Arch is a little bit too tricky for me. It requires too much hardware configuration.

Actually, it pretty much configures the hardware by itself. You may have to decide on a few settings, but following the Beginner's Guide (http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide) gives you a running high-performance system very quickly.

Edit: Oh, I'm behind the current events ... you already installed it. :p

[Zdravko]

Yes, and I got sound working! I even managed to have sudo! So far - looking amazing!

[mips]

Yes, and I got sound working! I even managed to have sudo! So far - looking amazing!

So, do you still think it is that hard to install? Your opinion on this would be welcomed as it would probably put others at ease that would like to try Arch and think it is hard.

[Zdravko]

So, do you still think it is that hard to install? Your opinion on this would be welcomed as it would probably put others at ease that would like to try Arch and think it is hard.

It is harder than Ubuntu, because one must read the Arch wiki for a few options. But it is made very transparent and you learn the structure of Linux in the same time. Now I feel much better when I know how to, say add a user and assign it to a group via the console.

[kazuya]

double post.

[kazuya]

arch is not that hard, and going through installing and using it would make user very picky about other OS especially after using it for a week. It was very educational and simplistic to manage once installed. Still one of my most loved distros.

I think Vectorlinux may fit the bill better though.
It is slack-based, has a package manager. Problem here is they took out the upgrade all functionality, but it does dependency checking. They tend to follow the one app per task apprach, but they give you option to add other things. It is fast, pretty to work in, feauture-rich, and yet very light. It comes in xfce, but you can add kde, fluxbox, icewm, etc.

This is one of my favorite OSes. It has great hardware detection and also comes with all multimedia capability and flash ready.

Give it a try. The forums are nice like this one, but fewer members.

[cardinals_fan]

Zenwalk. It fits all of your requirements perfectly.

[Zdravko]

Zenwalk. It fits all of your requirements perfectly.
Okay. I will give it a try. Yesterday I tried installing xfce on Arch but failed. It installed fine, but upon starting it the GUI appears with no labels. I did follow the Arch wiki step by step. None in the IRC channel could help me. How pity...

Maybe Zenwalk is better? Today I will buy some CDs and give it a try... :KS

[kadath]

Okay. I will give it a try. Yesterday I tried installing xfce on Arch but failed. It installed fine, but upon starting it the GUI appears with no labels. I did follow the Arch wiki step by step. None in the IRC channel could help me. How pity...

Maybe Zenwalk is better? Today I will buy some CDs and give it a try... :KS

I've switched from running Xubuntu to Zenwalk. It's light, fast and easy. The repos have many of the most popular packages, and if there's anything you want that's not there yet, one of the community packagers will package it for you if you ask nicely. All around, it's a great distro.

[Canis familiaris]

Perhaps you can try Debian!

[Zdravko]

I've switched from running Xubuntu to Zenwalk. It's light, fast and easy. The repos have many of the most popular packages, and if there's anything you want that's not there yet, one of the community packagers will package it for you if you ask nicely. All around, it's a great distro.
Hmmm. I noticed it uses LILO. I have no experience with LILO. There is already GRUB dual-booting Vista and Arch. If I erase Arch and place Zenwalk instead, then LILO - I am unsure whether I will be able to dual boot properly.
One more thing. Zenwalk pretends to be the programming distro. Why has it a gcc 4.1 then? I expected at least 4.2.3. The latest gcc release is 4.3. Btw, what gcc version has Hardy heron?

I have CDs now. But I am unsure what to do. Maybe I can try Ubuntu and give it a last chance? I don't know when it will be available for download though...

Perhaps you can try Debian!
Hmm... nope.

[MONODA]

Quote:
Originally Posted by kadath View Post
I've switched from running Xubuntu to Zenwalk. It's light, fast and easy. The repos have many of the most popular packages, and if there's anything you want that's not there yet, one of the community packagers will package it for you if you ask nicely. All around, it's a great distro.
Hmmm. I noticed it uses LILO. I have no experience with LILO. There is already GRUB dual-booting Vista and Arch. If I erase Arch and place Zenwalk instead, then LILO - I am unsure whether I will be able to dual boot properly.
One more thing. Zenwalk pretends to be the programming distro. Why has it a gcc 4.1 then? I expected at least 4.2.3. The latest gcc release is 4.3. Btw, what gcc version has Hardy heron?

I have CDs now. But I am unsure what to do. Maybe I can try Ubuntu and give it a last chance? I don't know when it will be available for download though...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anurag_panda View Post
Perhaps you can try Debian!
Hmm... nope.
you could install zenwalk on a partition and choose not to install a boot loader. you could then edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst file to include
title Zenwalk
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2
initrd /boot/initrd.splash
savedefault
boot
after your ubuntu entry. Be sure to edit root (hd0,1) and root=/dev/sda2 to fit your hardware.

[Zdravko]

I'd definitely give Ubuntu a last chance. Btw, I have 20 GB for Arch. Repartitioning this is ... impossible?

[kadath]

Hmmm. I noticed it uses LILO. I have no experience with LILO. There is already GRUB dual-booting Vista and Arch. If I erase Arch and place Zenwalk instead, then LILO - I am unsure whether I will be able to dual boot properly.
One more thing. Zenwalk pretends to be the programming distro. Why has it a gcc 4.1 then? I expected at least 4.2.3. The latest gcc release is 4.3. Btw, what gcc version has Hardy heron?

I have CDs now. But I am unsure what to do. Maybe I can try Ubuntu and give it a last chance? I don't know when it will be available for download though...
If you look on the Zenwalk wiki, there are instructions for using GRUB instead of LILO.

Also, when you install Zenwalk, there are 2 repos for Zenwalk: Current and Snapshot. If you use the current repo, you'll get only security and bugfix updates. If you use the Snapshot repo, you'll also get the latest packages for everything in addition to the bugfixes and security updates.

Essentially, when Snapshot is considered stable, a new version of Zenwalk is released, and the old Snapshot repo then becomes Current.

This makes Zenwalk very easy to update compared to Ubuntu, which has so many packages, breakage ends up being very common.

EDIT: The latest package for gcc in the Snapshot repo is 4.2.3.

[kpkeerthi]

Living on bleeding edge (like zenwalk's snapshot) is never easy as it sounds. You have to compromise stability and breakages do happen as packages get updated too often causing broken dependencies.

[Junglizer]

tl;dr

Debian.

[Zdravko]

Gosh - I couldn't resist the power of Ubuntu. I reached the torrent link and downloaded the alternate CD in less than 10 minutes :) Now I am burning it on a CD on 4x...
Wish me luck! I don't want to be disappointed by Ubuntu once again...

[tbrminsanity]

Xubuntu