What 5 distros would you suggest for Linux noobs?

[byen]

Hey guys
I know this question might have been asked before..but if you read my post in full..you might understand why I am asking this question again.

Ok.Im a student working as a graduate intern in a pretty big state university in Detroit, USA. After using various distros I settled with Ubuntu and have never looked back. A couple of months ago, when my professor( who i might say is a great supporter of the open source movement inspite of not being a regular user) saw my laptop and asked me more about what I was using and how my experience has been with Linux..I convinced him into installing one of our computers with Ubuntu and he seems to have loved it! Ever since, Ive been trying to talk him into using our resources to give out free cd's to other students who might be able to take advantage of this OS. He seemed reluctant at first but finally he said if can put in my own personal time and burn the cds...i could use the University's resources to burn the Cds with Linux and give em out for free at a summer semester meet we had a couple of weeks ago. So I burned Ubuntu, Ubuntu Live, Knoppix and Suse and believe it or not...it took less than an hour for us to be out of our 100 cds. In the comming days we have received many requests from our students asking us to put the ISo's on our server so that they can download them and burn em from our server. SO coming to the point... We have been granted permission to upload any 5 distros on our university server for our students to download and we are having trouble narrowing down the list. I know there are many sites listing various ditros for new users but to me... Its this community's opinion that matters the most!! So which five distros do you suggest?
Here are the conditions we have:
1.Installation should be easy
2.Most hardware should be compatable/configurable.
3.Must be free
4.Easy Usability.

So...now that you know my question...Please help me do my part for this community. Thank you.

[byen]

oh man...I forgot to enable multiple selections on the poll...can someone ( mod) PLEASE please make this poll do that... sorry.

[AllenGG]

oh man...I forgot to enable multiple selections on the poll...can someone ( mod) PLEASE please make this poll do that... sorry.

Why not just ask for comments and reasons ?
ie: Knoppix, live cd is a good safe, starting point.
Ubuntu's "Live CD" is better, but a little trickier, IBM motto : K.I.S.S.

[aysiu]

Do you realize that Ubuntu will ship you CDs free (http://shipit.ubuntulinux.org/)? You don't need to burn them yourself.

I would recommend:

Mepis - It's a live CD and installer CD in one. It's entirely point-and-click. Its hardware detection is superb.

Blag - For the Fedora/Red Hat crowd (even though it has Synaptic Package Manager, too). This comes with multimedia codecs. It's one CD.

Kubuntu - For the Ubuntu users who prefer KDE.

Damn Small Linux - For those with modest hardware.

[byen]

Do you realize that Ubuntu will ship you CDs free? You don't need to burn them yourself.
yes i know that. But we are trying to uplaod the ISo's on our University servers so that the students (about 2000) could download them off the server ...we have very fast network speeds and since all the computers in the campus are in the same network...download time can be really really small. (less than 40 mins for a 650mb download)

thank you 4 your reply.

[qalimas]

If I were you, I'd probly put up the following:

Ubuntu
Kubuntu
KNOPPIX
SuSE
Fedora Core

Then have a web page with links to all others, such as Mandriva, LAMPPIX, etc ;)

[cowlip]

I can only say Xandros and Ubuntu, and POSSIBLY Mepis, but its UI is confusing sometimes.

Fedora Core and Suse and Mandrake were recommended to me as a Linux newbie---if you are evangelizing, don't do that!! They might be good servers or for advanced users, but as an old newbie, it's not for us

[benplaut]

i'd have to say...

Ubuntu
DSL or Feather (they're so small, you might be able to put on both)
SuSE
Xandros
Knoppix

[matthew]

Ubuntu
Knoppix
Xandros
SuSE

[benplaut]

Ubuntu
Knoppix
Xandros
SuSE

one more... :P

[RastaMahata]

ubuntu
suse
fedora

maybe knoppix, mepis, xandros.

Try to have 1cd distros.

[Ubunted]

Ubuntu - the Ubuntu Guide has provided the best and (eventually) easiest way to get everything set up the way I like it.
Linspire Live - True the full isn't free, but I have never seen an easier way to install things, and the setup is very simple.
MEPIS - As above, all point-and-click, though I'm not a KDE fan and think the default layout is too cluttered.
Mandriva - My first serious distro. Install is very straightforward.

I would say Fedora in 5th if I had ever had any luck with Red Hat products.

[matthew]

one more... :P
<sheepish grin>

My original list:


Ubuntu
Knoppix
Xandros
SuSE
Umm...to add one...how about Linspire. Not free, but so easy I think my dad could do it.

[byen]

Linspire Live - True the full isn't free, but I have never seen an easier way to install things, and the setup is very simple.


Umm...to add one...how about Linspire. Not free, but so easy I think my dad could do it.

Yeah.Ive heard so much about it...but most of the students would be first time users or users who are trying other distros so we are under the idea that making free distros available is the way to go for now.

Well. This is what we are doing.. we have a small lab which belongs to our department and 6 of the 27 computers we have would be installed with Ubuntu etc (linux)..so that people can try linux out...and then....they could download and burn the ISO if they feel they like it and would use it. I really do not think making them pay during these initial stages is a good idea. thanks though.

PS- Incase someone is wondering why a school is showing all this love for open source all of a sudden...well...we have a fairly big IT student ratio and this has been on the books for a while...and this is what everyone seems to want...have a lab with various OS where students could try them out and get exposed to whats out there!! The ISo part is what we are doing out of passion....and LOVE ;-)

[BWF89]

I would upload:

-Ubuntu (duh)

-Fedora Core (it's one of the most pouplar desktop distros)

-Xandros (includes some proprietary software you can't copy onto the server)

-SuSE (also includes some proprietary software you can't legally copy. Unless your talking about OpenSuSE)

-Gentoo (from what I hear it's not easy to use but it's good for the more advanced users)

[matthew]

Well. This is what we are doing.. we have a small lab which belongs to our department and 6 of the 27 computers we have would be installed with Ubuntu etc (linux)..so that people can try linux out...and then....they could download and burn the ISO if they feel they like it and would use it. I really do not think making them pay during these initial stages is a good idea. thanks though.

That's kind of what I was thinking when I only included 4 in my original list. In a lab setting there will be someone who can be a resource during the process of installation anyway, so I don't think there would be any trouble with most of the free distros being mentioned.

[zorba64]

Knoppix - to check out linux and see if their hardware works.
Mandriva
SUSE
Xandros
Because ther partitioners resize windows partitions. Lots of software and easy to use.
Then maybe PCLOS, Mepis and such like.
I luv Ubuntu, but I wouldn't throw it at a complete newbie.

[bearbigears]

Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Ubuntu lol, just kidding :grin:


Ubuntu
Xandros
Knoppix
Mepis
Gentoo

[im_ka]

ubuntu... with a hint to the ubuntuguide. there's a lot to set-up after the initial install.
kanotix
mepis
vector
damn small linux

...keep it 1-cd.

[BWF89]

I voted for Fedora Core because it has a graphical installer and Ubuntu's text based one might turn some people off. Especially if you trying to duel boot.

[poofyhairguy]

SUSE or Linspire if they are setting it up themselves.

Ubuntu if you will set it up for them.

[npaladin2000]

Ubuntu, Xandros, Blag, Fedora, Debian

I tend to believe in LiveCDs for demoing Linux and as a learning tool, but for daily use it should be installed.

Ubuntu has (obviously) massive community support, as does Fedora and Debian (Them even more than Ubuntu, sorry). Blag is a simple 1-CD Fedora install that even gets MP3s going by default, and comes with APT/Synaptic so it's easy to add other stuff. Xandros is a commercial distro with actual commercial support, which some users may need.

[Sushi]

Not in any particular order:

- Knoppix: To give the new user a way to try out Linux without hosing his existing system. If he likes what he sees, he's ready to move on.

- SUSE: A very slick distribution with excellent documentation. Solid German engineering

- (K)Ubuntu: Poster-child of Linux on the desktop. Good community and a solid roadmap. Seems to have lots of momentum behind it.

- Gentoo: For those who really want to know how Linux works, without being as extreme as Linux From Scratch. Excellent community (propably the best among the distros) and great documentation.

- No need for fifth choice. Those four offer just about everything the user could want.

[Terracotta]

Well maybe you can make two distros of ubuntu and kubuntu? But I agree on the above: five different flavors (with a rating going from easy to very difficult).

Knoppix (no need to install)
Mepis (easiest install I've ever seen, as well as no need to install, so maybe a bit redundant with knoppix)
Kubuntu (just works, KDE)
Ubuntu (just works, Gnome)
Gentoo (hard to install)

Or instead of gentoo go all debian, and put debian as last, or you could flip knoppix or mepis out of it and put gentoo back.

Edit: what a surprice, ubuntu is the most favored one on the ubuntufora :-). I hope you've tried other fora as well? to get a broader vision.

[craigevil]

Kanotix livecd and installs a working debian unstable system
PCLinuxOS livecd plus it can be installed very easily
Ubuntu
MEPIS
SUSE

Personally I started playing around with LiveCds like Knoppix , PCLinuxOS and a couple others. Decided it wasn't that hard. Installed PCLinuxOS had a few problems. Tried Xandros had issues with Firefox extensions.Then using Kanotix I installed Debian Sid in Novenmber 2004. Took about a month to actually figure out how to do everything. In January 2005 windows went bye bye.

Finally in July 2005 received my Ubuntu disks. Installed on my Dell C600 laptop along with the unofficial Add-on cd. Not a big fan of Gnome so I installed Xfce along with Rox-filer.

[KingBahamut]

Easy.

In this order now.

Xandros
Fedora
Suse
Slackware
Ubuntu

Heres why......

Xandros is a Transitional Distro. Most Windows users that I know that have used it feel more comfortable with it than any other.

Fedora and Suse both develop an hinged knowledge on RPMs, GUI based configuration, and advanced server concepts aka VPN, Tunneling, Sendmail/PostFix/Exim, and other such things.

Slackware would go next in line. Slackware forces the user to use the CLI and understand the configuration aspect of a Linux box. Its a great start for an admin thats starting out.

Then you pick up Ubuntu, you have all the tools in front of you, youve used all the others, and now you should be able to setup and configure a system to your liking from here.

[murkin]

Xandros is super easy to get used to (coming from windows) however the free / open circulation version limits cd burning to 4x and does not include support for dvd burning. It's an extremely easy distro to start with though. I loved it when I used it. Too bad the limitation-free versions are $50 and up.

Ubuntu...for obvious reasons of stability, support via forums and ubuntuguide.org, debian repositories by way of apt-get or synaptic, etc. Ubuntu does require a good amount of tweaking to get everything going just right. Particularly as far as multimedia is concerned. It is by no means difficult of course, and probably beneficial for tech students to do.

PCLinuxOS .91 - This one's a Mandriva-based live CD with option to install. It's the latest distro I've been messing with. Everything seems to work out of the box, especially multimedia. I had an issue during installation where unless the partition was formatted in reiserfs, the newly installed OS would not boot, but I think this is a fluke. Otherwise, installation was smooth (graphical installer). I was only able to find one mention of this error on their forums. Anyway, streaming media works (no tweaking required). All the hardware on my 3 year old laptop was detected. The forums and wiki proved helpful, though not as robust as here. And it's easy on the eyes (great boot splash screen, nice icons, wallpaper, etc.)

CentOS 4 - I know this is not meant to be a newbie distro but for your use (computer science students) this one might be a great idea. It is a clone of RedHat Enterprise Linux with all RedHat references stripped out. There is a DVD iso available, or optional cd-rom iso's, with TONS of programs ready to install. I'm pretty sure you can even use it to install a clone of RedHat Application Server. This would be great for the students to gain experience with seeing as how widespread RedHat usage is in the corporate world. The guys maintaining this distro do a great job. As a slimmed down option, there's always Fedora Core!

Damn Small Linux is a great distro, particularly for older computers. It's very fast and stable and the .iso is only about 50mb.

I know this is number 6, but...Mepis was another distro I found easy to use, but it didn't feel as comfortable to me as Ubuntu so I didn't use it all that much... I guess it might be a toss-up between Mepis and PCLinuxOS.

Good luck with your search!!

[ssck]

being a newbie and ubuntu being the only distro i have tried so far .... i'll definitely recommend it :)

[KiwiNZ]

Here is what I would suggest

Suse 9.3
Mandriva
Ubuntu (depending onhardware)
Xandros
Lycoris

I hate the term "noob" why can't we use "new user" or "beginner"

[welsh_spud]

The trick is variety. I suggest the following:

Puppy Linux - Its (in my opinion) way better than DSL, its faster and has more n00b orientated programs.

Knoppix - The defacto LiveCD

Ubuntu - Perfect desktop OS for n00bs

The OpenCD - For those who don't want to try linux, but would like to try some open software

Kubuntu - Same as Ubuntu, but using the KDE desktop

[npaladin2000]

Depends on whether or not they're a computer n00b or simply a Linux n00b.

If a computer n00b in general, I'd try to get them onto a GNOME-based desktop. Ubuntu and Fedora would be two decent choices, but (sorry guys) the best choice out there is BLAG, which is a single-CD version of Fedora3. It includes MP3 support as well as APT, so it's going to be a lot easier for a n00b to do everything. No OpenOffice (needs to be installed) but at least there's AbiWord and GNUmeric so basic office tasks can be done.

For Linux n00bs who consider themselves Windows fluent, I'd probably start them on a KDE-based LiveCD like Knoppix or Mepis to let them get comfortable, since KDE is closer in function visually to Windows. Then use one of them to do some resizing and install Xandros or Linspire (if they're willing to pay money) or possibly Kubuntu as a no-cost option. SUSE 9.3 might be a consideration, but it can be a bit intimidating, which eliminates the advantage of "built in" (through update) MP3 support. I know it's an option to install the LiveCDs, but I've never gotten Mepis to install correctly...Knoppix would be a possibility, but Kubuntu is a much better INSTALLED distro, where Knoppix's main strength is as a LiveCD.

And, of course, if they feel uncomfortable without seeing a crash once in a while, I'll get them on a basic install of Mandrake/Mandriva. ;)

One option for Windows users is to, before anything else, install the following and get them to use them on Windows: Firefox, GAIM, Thunderbird, OpenOffice2, VLC, and GIMP. There's Windows versions for all of them, and they work just the same on either platform. Gives them the chance ot become comfortable with the applications they'll be using under Linux before they part with the Windows interface. I put those on all of my Windows load-outs anyway ;)