Considering Linux

Well, I've been hearing about Linux for years now - all the accolades and brimming reviews of its stability, etc. - and I think that I'd like to try it out. I'm not really sure where to start or what distribution to use. Just a little background on my PC usage: I'm a digital artist using Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and Dreamweaver. I work primarily in XP, and occasionally in OSX. I'm very computer literate, though I have little experience with programming or system hardware.

Any help or opinions are appreciated.

#105967

SuSE

9.0 resizes NTFS partitions automatically, therefore, you can keep good ol XP.

suse.com

#105968

www.mandrakelinux.com

does all that suse does, but is easier to get hold of cause they provide links to mirrors.

Suse make you buy it or do an ftp install afaik, which isn't good for a beginner.

+ the suse chairman is an arsehole.

#106009

I definitely dont recommend Mandrake or Fedora. At least not at this time. They are more trouble than its worth.

I like MEPIS (mepis.org), and some others too.

But the best way to start is with Knoppix. It runs strait from a cd, and you dont have to mess with your current installation.

knopper.net

join gooeylinux for more.

#106042

Try Fedora Core 1 Linux. It's the easiest distribution to install and it's also the one I liked the most. It was developed by the people from Red Hat Linux, so that's a guarantee I guess.

#106107

Originally posted by Myuu.EXE@Jan 27 2004, 05:02 PM

Try Fedora Core 1 Linux. It's the easiest distribution to install and it's also the one I liked the most. It was developed by the people from Red Hat Linux, so that's a guarantee I guess.

Don't get it if you have an uberleet 9800 Pro

#106112

i think you shoudl check out Knoppix Live cd.. Excellent thing to check out Linux.. it autodetetcs harddware and your up and running in notime without the need to install.. so you can check out linux.. then try another distro to install

-bolero

#106124

You still have to add a linux partition right?

#106128

Yeah, MEPIS is a great Live CD distro... Knoppix of course as well... I really like Morphix, you can get Morphix by Desktop Environtment, so for example if you like Gnome more than KDE simple download the MorphixCombinedGnome ISO and burn. Your good to go. The install will be a tad more tedious if you ever decide to go to Hard Drive, but at lesat its not KDE centered like MEPIS. Try MEPIS and Morphix in my opinion... MEPIS first to see if you like KDE... if you hate KDE, get the Gnome Morphix Disk. Yeah that sounds about right. Dont get distro's with RPM as its only source for packaging (i.e. Mandrake). I had Mandrake and hated it, APT is too nice.

EDIT: Forgot some links!

http://www.knoppix.org Knoppix

http://www.morhpix.org Morphix

http://www.merpis.org MEPIS

#106132

Originally posted by Keith@Jan 27 2004, 10:33 PM

You still have to add a linux partition right?

if you replying to my post, no you dont need a linux partition with knoppix.. it runs entirely off the CD. but you must have linux partitions if you wish to install it to your harddrive

-bolero

#106389

This is all great info, everyone. I really appreciate your help!

#106569

I'd definately give the knoppix a go first. Depending on how new your pc is, you may have some driver issues. If some stuff doesn't work in Knoppix, I recommend doing some search's on google for "linux name-of-hardware". Lots of times there's work around's or patches that haven't been implemented into live distro's yet, but still do the job.

#106575

i am currently dual booting windows xp pro and suse 9.0, and i havent had any problems. and i installed all of the packages for suse 9.0 on less than 5 gig, and i still have lots of space left on my linux partition. i am not good enough with the command line in a unix based environment yet to switch, but i like to use linux when i get bored with windows

#106742