advice on another distro

[10ghost]

hi viewers,
i would like to install another linux distro on my system .
I need an advice on which distro to run along my ubuntu.
i would like to compare distros to compare and constrast them.

Pls i need your advice.

[hansdown]

Hi 10ghost.

Fedora 11 is now out.

http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-all

[metiosarius]

hi viewers,
i would like to install another linux distro on my system .
I need an advice on which distro to run along my ubuntu.
i would like to compare distros to compare and constrast them.

Pls i need your advice.

This depends on what you're using it for...anything specific?

[ajgreeny]

Where does anyone start with a request like this? The popular ones are all at the top of the distrowatch (http://distrowatch.com/) ranking list, so have a look at that and try the top few. I will be very surprised if you find anything that is as all-round great as Ubuntu, but it is good fun looking and trying.

I have had OpenSuse, Fedora, PCLinuxOS, Mint, Mepis, CentOS, Mandriva, and just about every different DE version of the *buntus that are available, but just keep coming back to plain Ubuntu with the gnome desktop.

One major advantage, I feel of Ubuntu is the apt package management system; nothing comes close to that in my opinion, so bear that in mind when dealing with non-Debian based distros.

[10ghost]

This depends on what you're using it for...anything specific?

Nothing really, it is just that am a student studying computer science so what i need is something that would make me feel like a computer scientist and i would allow me enjoy programming at best from web development to system programming to mobile applications.
WOuld be expecting your reply

[Mighty_Joe]

You are kind of asking which brand of screwdriver will make you feel like a carpenter.
As ajgreeny said, go to Distrowatch and start browsing. As a professional developer, I'd be surprised if there were any real difference among the more popular distros (Ubuntu, Fedora, Suse) for the purposes of web or mobile app development (unless one's preferred development environment were not supported). Developing apps for Linux in particular may differ only because different distros use different packaging systems.
BTW, use virtualbox (http://www.virtualbox.org/) or vmware to install your test distros in virtual machines. It's a lot easier when testing distros than installing on "real" hardware.

[Simian Man]

Definitely use a VM like VirtualBox to try out distros. That way you don't have to go through the work of setting up partitions for a distro you may not like.


One major advantage, I feel of Ubuntu is the apt package management system; nothing comes close to that in my opinion, so bear that in mind when dealing with non-Debian based distros.

I heartily disagree. This sentiment was true five years ago, but other package management systems have caught up to, and surpassed, Debian's. To name a few: yum, pacman, conary and smart all, in my opinion are better in many ways than apt.

[JoePublic9]

Hello 10ghost,
I am a new Ubuntu user, about 6 months now, and I like to tinker.
I was screwing up my system and reinstalling so much that I decided to partition my hd to make room for another distro to monkey with.
I installed Arch Linux on my new partitions and I am having a blast with it. Of course I have had to reinstall that a few times already but I am really leaning a bunch of new linux stuff and at no danger to my awsome Ubuntu set up. After I have Arch down reasonably well I fully intend to try even more distro's too.
I'm not sure thats exactly what your looking for but I think a second install is a great way to learn w/o much risk to your system.

Good luck,
Joe

[clw3388]

Been there done that..
I tried several distros.. I still like Debian best but they are slow on their "stable releases" which isnt necessarly a bad thing, but they are realll slow..

Second fav is ubuntu.. mostley just cause they are debian based, not slow on thier package releases/updates, and the community of course..

Why bother trying other distros if you found one that works well for what you are doing?

Oh and yum is still slow in my opinion..

[Therion]

Try any of these...

Sabayon: http://www.sabayonlinux.org/

Mepis: https://www.mepis.org/

Open Solaris: http://www.opensolaris.org/os/

[konqueror7]

Been there done that..
I tried several distros.. I still like Debian best but they are slow on their "stable releases" which isnt necessarly a bad thing, but they are realll slow..

Second fav is ubuntu.. mostley just cause they are debian based, not slow on thier package releases/updates, and the community of course..

Why bother trying other distros if you found one that works well for what you are doing?

Oh and yum is still slow in my opinion..

well, not if you have the right plug-ins loaded...=)

[markbuntu]

I have 6 distros scattered across 4 drives on my machine right now. I was going to add fedora11 but it seems the installer is somewhat borked for manual partitoning so I am giving it a pass.

I still use hardy as my main. It is now extremely stable and of course, all set up the way I want after a year or so. I would agree though about arch if you want to learn, either that or slackware or maybe gentoo.

[Zero++]

Nothing really, it is just that am a student studying computer science so what i need is something that would make me feel like a computer scientist and i would allow me enjoy programming at best from web development to system programming to mobile applications.
WOuld be expecting your reply


Download Debian (off of which Ubuntu is based) and only install the base system no GUI no server extensions and build your own OS from the packages included. You can create tons of server types and server combos as well as play with desktop environments. That should make you feel all computer scientific!

www.aboutdebian.com (http://aboutdebian.com) is a great site to get you started.

[konqueror7]

I have 6 distros scattered across 4 drives on my machine right now. I was going to add fedora11 but it seems the installer is somewhat borked for manual partitoning so I am giving it a pass.

I still use hardy as my main. It is now extremely stable and of course, all set up the way I want after a year or so. I would agree though about arch if you want to learn, either that or slackware or maybe gentoo.

yup, i tried fedora 11 on a triple-boot last week, the partitioning was the most confusing in the installation,,,all in all, its pretty solid, especially using yum-presto...

[dyess002]

I agree with ajgreeny (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=27747) I think that Ubuntu is supported more than the other distro, However if I was going to try out the others I would run Virtual Box and put every one of them on there and as you get in the mood try them all out. Some advice I would get the virtual Box from their web site I have had trouble with the one from Synaptic, the USB Device would not work under the one I got from Synaptic.

[-kg-]

Nothing really, it is just that am a student studying computer science so what i need is something that would make me feel like a computer scientist and i would allow me enjoy programming at best from web development to system programming to mobile applications.
WOuld be expecting your reply

If you want something like that, another distro to look into would be Slackware. (http://www.slackware.com/) Considering that you're studying computer science (and once you've learned Linux a bit) Slackware seems to be just the ticket for programming and experience in putting together the Linux OS.

[~sHyLoCk~]

hi viewers,
i would like to install another linux distro on my system .
I need an advice on which distro to run along my ubuntu.
i would like to compare distros to compare and constrast them.

Pls i need your advice.

See if this (http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php?select_lang=true) helps.

[Simian Man]

yup, i tried fedora 11 on a triple-boot last week, the partitioning was the most confusing in the installation,,,all in all, its pretty solid, especially using yum-presto...

The issue that bit a lot of people is that /boot can not be ext4. This isn't a big deal, but confused the hell out of many people - they really should have had an installer message explaining it.

[TURBO_TURBINA]

Been there done that..
I tried several distros.. I still like Debian best but they are slow on their "stable releases" which isnt necessarly a bad thing, but they are realll slow..

Second fav is ubuntu.. mostley just cause they are debian based, not slow on thier package releases/updates, and the community of course..

Why bother trying other distros if you found one that works well for what you are doing?

Oh and yum is still slow in my opinion..


You remind myself before I got 4 dimms of 2gb each. After I upgraded my quad system to 8gb of RAM and installed the 64 bit distro, the search is over. I tried all distros you can imagine but the solution was somewhere else.

TURBO

[markbuntu]

Well, I read that message and set up a a separate boot partition but then LVM included it and then it could not boot because it was encyrpted by LVM....this was the Fedora 11 Preview. It got really confusing and ended up using all the partitions on the drive, which was Ok at the time since I had nothing I wanted to keep there. But now I do so I am not going to try that again. LVM default was just going too far I think, how many people really need that or understand it? So, it seems I would need to run gparted and install grub to a separate boot partition before installing Fedora????? Who decided that that was easier??
I feel really sorry for anyone trying to install Fedora11 on a dual boot windows drive.

I tried the 64studio beta also and that rewrote the grub on my MBR without asking so I kicked that to the curb too.

Ubuntu is generally good to install two months after the release. Debian is very stable from release but if you have pressing new hardware needs, not the best for that.

Mandriva is very good for new or problematic hardware and installs without issues but 686 is not avialable as a cd image. I have not played too much with SUSE11.1 much but it seems very good and installs easily.

There are big problems with grub2 in Koala right now....

So many distros, so much wrong with their supposedly simplified installers....

[izizzle]

I suggest you try other DE/WM's. You can try Kubuntu or OpenSuse for KDE. Then, there is my personal favorite, E17. I would try Elive if you want to get a feel of E17.