Linux Distros to play with ?

[gletob]

I don't exactly know where to put this but I'll just put it in my favorite hangout The Cafe.

First off I'm not ubuntu bashing in fact I have every intent to keep using ubuntu but I've gotten bored with it and am looking for some distros to play with I'm downloading Open SUSE now but recommendations will be much appreciated

[jimi_hendrix]

my friend likes pc linux

[cardinals_fan]

* SliTaz (if nothing else, try this!)
* Slackware
* Arch

Also consider NetBSD and OpenSolaris. Not Linux, but definitely cool.

[jimi_hendrix]

just curios...any way i can try these without partitioning if they dont have liveCD's (arch)

[cardinals_fan]

just curios...any way i can try these without partitioning if they dont have liveCD's (arch)
Arch does have a live CD - it's just CLI only.

SliTaz is a great distro to try because it's

a) small
b) fast
c) live
d) complete

[Yannick Le Saint kyncani]

I've gotten bored with it and am looking for some distros to play with I'm downloading Open SUSE now but recommendations will be much appreciated

Hi gletob, check out distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

[mellowd]

SuSe, Mandriva, Fedora, plenty more

And as cardinals_fan mentioned, play with a bsd distro and test it out

[gletob]

Hi gletob, check out distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

DOH!! I never thought of that

[hessiess]

just curios...any way i can try these without partitioning if they dont have liveCD's (arch)

install on a VM. Arch rilly isnt that hard to install, just folow the biginners guide.

[Naiki Muliaina]

OzOs, Ubuntu based E17 distro. Very good, its ubuntu we all know and love. Its got a fantastic look and feel to it. Very refreshing in a not to far from home kinda way :)

[Lord Xeb]

You really want something that requires some work, use Gentoo :D Or Arch, one of the too. Try Linpus, or PCLinux if you want as well. Or maybe an old version of Red Hat or Debian <_<

[jimi_hendrix]

install on a VM. Arch rilly isnt that hard to install, just folow the biginners guide.

question: how do you get a VM

[hessiess]

question: how do you get a VM

theres a tutorial on this podcast
http://www.thesourceshow.org/node/11

[billgoldberg]

I don't exactly know where to put this but I'll just put it in my favorite hangout The Cafe.

First off I'm not ubuntu bashing in fact I have every intent to keep using ubuntu but I've gotten bored with it and am looking for some distros to play with I'm downloading Open SUSE now but recommendations will be much appreciated

OSs you must try:

- Arch linux

Try this one first. You can select just about every package you want to install before Arch install itself including the DE or WM.

This makes for a super fast OS from which you can learn a lot.

Comes with a great package manager called pacman.

Unlike Ubuntu this one has a rolling release, so you get the new stuff through pacman all the time.

That's also the reason there never are any new versions, you are always using the latest of the latest.

If I ever would feel the need to dump Ubuntu, it would be for Arch.

- FreeBSD

Not linux, but still, worth it.

BSD is also a free, open source OS and unlike Linux, this one is based on Unix.

It's even more stable and secure than linux, but comes with less hardware support and applications and has a smaller user base. It also tends to be not bleeding edge as linux.


- Solaris (OpenSolaris)

Also not linux, but a Unix like OS. Again, this one is great.

- Some others to try

- CentOS (based on RedHat)
- Pclos 2008 MineMe
- Gentoo
- Linux From Scratch
- slackware (just kidding :p )

Why don't you build your own distro?

Edit: It goes without saying you try out these OSs in a VM (think Virtualbox).

[AndyCooll]

And you can always look in the Other OS Talk (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=147) section of these forums. Most of it is actually about other distros rather than just other "operating systems".

:cool:

[armageddon08]

Try PC-BSD. I'm sure it'll be real fun as it will be not only a departure from Ubuntu but Linux itself. It is based off FreeBSD.
PC-BSD - Home (http://www.pcbsd.org/)

And oh, yes....PCLinuxOS 2008 MiniMe is there. Right now I'm playing with it. You can also try Linux Mint.

Keep Playing!!!!!!!!!!

[snowpine]

SliTaz is really fun, and since it is a Live CD, you don't need to make any changes to experiment with it. It has a neat Live CD tool--if you add any packages, you can burn a new Live CD with your changes. No need to ever install it to your hard drive.

[Mr.Crowley]

+1 for Arch

I too wanted to try out something new a few weeks ago. Installed arch and I'm loving it.

[Raffles10]

+1 for Linux Mint (http://www.linuxmint.com/)

I tried the Linux Mint live cd and installed it over Ubuntu after just a few hours. It's faster than basic Ubuntu and looks a whole lot better and has some unique tools of it's own.

Its less problematic as well, I used to have to reboot fairly often with Ubuntu, with Mint things seem to work better.

[cardinals_fan]

OSs you must try:

- Arch linux

Try this one first. You can select just about every package you want to install before Arch install itself including the DE or WM.
You install every package AFTER the actual Arch install. The Arch CD is minimal - it includes only the base system. Or did I misunderstand you...?


- slackware (just kidding :p )

What's wrong with Slack?

[swoll1980]

If you want to have fun try freebsd, that should keep you busy for a while

[jimi_hendrix]

BSD is also a free, open source OS and unlike Linux, this one is based on Unix.


i thought Linux is based on Unix

also...who ever showed me the podcast link...what do i do download it? ive never used podcasts before

[cardinals_fan]

i thought Linux is based on Unix

Linux is UNIX-like, but uses no UNIX code. It is based on MINIX.

[david_lynch]

Linux is UNIX-like, but uses no UNIX code. It is based on MINIX.
No, it's not based on minix at all, in fact there was a famous flamewar between Linus and Andrew Tannenbaum, the creator of Minix, precisely because liunx was so fundamentally different from minix. Tannenbaum was all about microkernels, and that was the basis of minix. Linus wanted speed, and wrote linux as a monolithic kernel. IIRC Tannenbaum essentially said he would flunk Linus on his design. It's funny because linux is now a player in the enterprise, while minix is still an obscure academic OS.
:lolflag:

The main connection with minix is that it gave Linus Torvalds the idea of writing a unix clone to run on his computer. Linus used "The design of the Unix operating system" by Maurice J Bach as a reference when writing linux. Initially, before he had filesystem written, he used the minix filesystem. That was discarded pretty early on, however.

[cardinals_fan]

No, it's not based on minix at all, in fact there was a famous flamewar between Linus and Andrew Tannenbaum, the creator of Minix, precisely because liunx was so fundamentally different from minix. Tannenbaum was all about microkernels, and that was the basis of minix. Linus wanted speed, and wrote linux as a monolithic kernel. IIRC Tannenbaum essentially said he would flunk Linus on his design. It's funny because linux is now a player in the enterprise, while minix is still an obscure academic OS.
:lolflag:

The main connection with minix is that it gave Linus Torvalds the idea of writing a unix clone to run on his computer. Linus used "The design of the Unix operating system" by Maurice J Bach as a reference when writing linux. Initially, before he had filesystem written, he used the minix filesystem. That was discarded pretty early on, however.
I should never post when I'm tired. You're right :)

[johnnyxxxcakes]

I love to try out all different distros of Linux, ever since I got sucked into the whole Linux world.

I've tried the following:
- DCL (stands for Damn Cool Linux if I'm not mistakened?)
- DSL (Damn Small Linux)
- Puppy Linux
- SliTaz
- Fedora
- Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc. (all those other types of Ubuntu)

I've also tried others, but they aren't Linux, such as ReactOS, FreeBSD, etc..

[Sorivenul]

v7-x86 (http://www.nordier.com/v7x86/) - A fun little project if you're looking for something to install in a VM.
BLAG (http://www.blagblagblag.org/) - A fun Fedora-based distribution.
Foresight (http://www.foresightlinux.org/) - Nice distribution featuring Conary package management.
Igelle (http://www.igelle.org/) - Just ran some tests on this, and it seems promising. My advice: Try it!
Pardus (http://www.pardus.org.tr/eng/index.html) - Highly underrated distribution that more need to try.

Of course none of my suggestions would be complete without including FreeBSD and OpenSolaris.

Also, I may have missed it, but Slackware (http://www.slackware.com/) should be mentioned.

[clanky]

If you want to play safe and try something which is similar to Ubuntu the Fedora is a nice alternative, but to be honest, if you are bored with Ubuntu then you might get bored with Fedora just as quickly.

[binbash]

Pardus is based on gentoo.Fedora ubuntu kubuntu etc, those distros are not for playing with.You set them up, maybe a couple of edits etc.The box is ready.That is the aim of those distros.If you are going to play with something try archlinux gentoo or freebsd.You can play with them forever.

[Sorivenul]

Pardus is based on gentoo.
Incorrect as of Lynx lynx (2007). Per the DistroWatch release announcement (http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20070115#review):

Pardus Linux 2007 is no longer based on Gentoo.
2008.1 is very easy, as was 2008 and the 2007 release before. However, there are things to learn that make it a worthwhile system to explore (PiSi, Kaptan, etc).

[jonabyte]

-Slackware

-Centos

Depends what you want to do with it...:)

[perlluver]

Slackware
Debian Lenny
Arch
Zenwalk
OpenSuse
Fedora
PC-Bsd

Them are the ones I can think of, off the top of my head. Although I have tried quite a few more, I might think of them later. All of them are good, and Slackware is a nice learning experience as well as Arch.

[binbash]

Incorrect as of Lynx lynx (2007). Per the DistroWatch release announcement (http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20070115#review):

2008.1 is very easy, as was 2008 and the 2007 release before. However, there are things to learn that make it a worthwhile system to explore (PiSi, Kaptan, etc).

THanks for correcting this, i did not use 2008.1 , i used 2007, it was gentoo based when i was using it.