Choosing a Linux Distro

[TheUnixGuy]

Hello,

I found this quiz good enough and would surely help those who're confused about which Distro to choose. Its a simple quiz which tells you all you want.
Here's the quiz.

[Computer Hope Admin]

Looks like a great method of determining your *nix distro. Ended up with OpenSuSE and Fedora. Was a little surprised that it said that a computer a couple years old couldn't run Ubuntu, which is why it only gave it a 95%

[TheUnixGuy]

Hi ComputerHope,

You might want to try Xubuntu which uses the light and modular Xfce desktop environment which runs smoothly on low end computers. GNOME on Ubuntu is a bit heavy.

[Computer Hope Admin]

Thanks for the suggestion, I've actually got Ubuntu running on two boxes, which is why I was surprised about the results.

[TheUnixGuy]

Hi there,

Maybe it estimates available hardware by the age. Forgets that you could add 4 gb memory even 2 years ago. 

[Cityscape]

Yes this is a great quiz, I've came across it before but forgot to bookmark.
I get: Fedora, Mandriva, LinuxMint, OpenSuse and Ubuntu.

I use Ubuntu 9.04 as the main OS on my computer, I think it is very good. I'm using it and Google Chrome to type this right now.

[JJ 3000]

Was a little surprised that it said that a computer a couple years old couldn't run Ubuntu, which is why it only gave it a 95%

What? I'm running the latest version of Ubuntu on an eleven year old computer right now. It has a P4 1.5 ghz, 3 sticks of PC133 256MB, and a pretty low end vid card. It runs version 9.10 pretty well. There is a small amount of lag but it isn't nearly as bad as the XP installation that I had on it before.

[soybean]

Looks like a great method of determining your *nix distro. Ended up with OpenSuSE and Fedora. Was a little surprised that it said that a computer a couple years old couldn't run Ubuntu, which is why it only gave it a 95%

I ended up with OpenSuSE and Fedora also but it listed 8 others as a 95% match.  Also, I said I would be installing on a computer over a few years old and it does not say that a computer a couple years old couldn't run Ubuntu; it says "Your computer may be too slow".  Based on my experience, that response, even for a computer over a few years old, is nonsense. Ubuntu 9.10 runs fairly well on a P4 over 5 years old, with 512MB of RAM.

Also, the 95% rating is not based on a specific processor.  None of the questions asked for details of hardware specs.  The rating is based on the questions in the quiz, which were general in nature, not on specific hardware. 

[Cityscape]

These 2 are also really good:
http://desktoplinuxathome.com/distro.html (I like this one a lot)
http://polishlinux.org/choose/quiz/

[Cityscape]

GNOME on Ubuntu is a bit heavy.

If GNOME is heavy then KDE is really heavy.

Based on my experience, that response, even for a computer over a few years old, is nonsense. Ubuntu 9.10 runs fairly well on a P4 over 5 years old, with 512MB of RAM.

I had Ubuntu 9.04 run decent on a PC with 768 MB RAM and Celeron 667 Mhz CPU.

[shinegami]

I begin to use Ubuntu 10.04 with WIndow XP by using dual boot. This is the first time for me to install operating system inside my pc. I was totally surprised with how easy it is and even try using kde too. I only need to learn about sudo and several thing. I feel just like learning a new course but I'm willing to take the risk. I'm not really that risk taker when it comes to my Window XP, because I realized that I am just a beginnier and didn't even understand about programming as an example.

[SilentAssasin64]

I was given 100% with Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Debian, and Kubuntu.

I do use the 10.10 64bit Beta, however, might throw on Fedora 13 or Arch tomorrow when my new VelociRaptor comes.  Leaning more towards Arch as it would force me to learn a thing or two in the process.  I've only installed it in virtual machines as of now, so it would definitely be a good learning experience.

Or maybe, just maybe, I could dip my feet into Gentoo.  Anyone know a good beginners tutorial for that?  Been around *nix for a while, but never really messed with a distro such as that.

EDIT:  Just took it again with a little different mindset.  Ironically enough it came up as a 95% match for both Gentoo and Slackware.  Just seconds after I originally posted this reply. 

[CBMatt]

Hmm, it says I should use Windows 95...

[Sonrise]

I prefer the Ultimate Linux 2.8 it seems to be the most stable and user friendly, not to mention it is packed with applications

[Bones92]

I think it would be better if it specifically took into account how much ram you had... it recommended two distros i wouldn't be able to use, period (already tried, they hated on me and wouldn't work). I'm actually dual booting Puppy Linux and SliTaz (which is better, i think, but slightly less stable), and it didn't recommend or even mention either.. but then again, not sure when they last updated this quiz either.

[reborn]

well for the matter of general discussion whether the problem is solved ,i prefer GNOME , because i feel its light weight then the other environments .

and beauty of linux variants is that , they come with a live CD you can try it out with some options and select the best one whichever suits you :]

currently , my machine is running on ubuntu lucid .

fedora , linux mint , open SUSE are also good

[Geek-9pm]

I have Linux mint on my dell 1705 laptop with Windows XP pro.
It was so easy to install. I like it. Performance is not an issue for me. Ease of use is what I need. No trouble finding my wireless home LAN. Works great. Some others I tried did do not play well with lmy laptop.

[BC_Programmer]

well for the matter of general discussion whether the problem is solved ,i prefer GNOME , because i feel its light weight then the other environments .

Two things:

-GNOME isn't a distro, it's a desktop environment (which you somewhat alluded too

-It's not the lightest: the lightest is probably LXDE or XFCE. GNOME and KDE are the two heaviest desktop environments in common use.

and beauty of linux variants is that , they come with a live CD you can try it out with some options and select the best one whichever suits you :]

Yeah, it's great for maintenance as well

I have Linux mint on my dell 1705 laptop with Windows XP pro.
It was so easy to install. I like it. Performance is not an issue for me. Ease of use is what I need. No trouble finding my wireless home LAN. Works great. Some others I tried did do not play well with lmy laptop.

Mint 7 hardly found anything on my laptop, and it's network connection kept dropping off when I finally got it working. Mint 10 however had absolutely no issues at all, and it has become my main OS on my laptop.

[soniaholly1]

This is my problem about this activities:

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Develop a utility that will enhance the current file management and
organization functions of Linux.

You may use existing file management commands to create the utility.
Look for options that were not explored by the command yet, then
enhance the command by reinventing its name and adding this option
to its current options.

You may combine related commands into one script also.
Example:
copyormovefile (-c -m) filename/s
where:
copyormovefile is the name of the utility
(-c -m) are options that will do the following:
-c for copying filename/s
-m for moving filename/s


Thanks for helping me, how can i do these,? T_T

[Geek-9pm]

soniaholly1, all comm nets are welcome. However, this topic is almost a year old. New versions of Linux have been released that address some issues mentioned here.

[LinuxHelp123]

Surprisingly, I got Gentoo and Slackware!

[Geek-9pm]

People who are new to Linux are often confused by the large number of..   ... currently there are 367 distro released on the earth, errrgh.. that's sound confusing.

Awhile back one fast food firm offered 256 ways to make your hamburger. Then there is the choice of soft drinks... ice cream...fried veggies... Yet they still are in business.
You can always a search on whatever you want. And my analogy is by no means original... Look at this:
Linux and french fries -- a real happy meal

French fries and Linux. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but it is a tasty combination for agribusiness J.R. Simplot Co.

[ccamol]

It depends how you will use the computer. if you want a stable distro go for debian or ubuntu, but does because the updates is less than others like fedora that update more often. Or if you want you can go with arch linux, a very good light system, but have to deal with it a little more for get a good final system, but you decide what you want. i'll recommend you go with fedora, with it you good a very good distro, have the ultimates update and its stable and have the necessary to work with it.

[Geek-9pm]

Ccamol,
This thread is near here years old. But that doesn't matter. Even Linux distors ten years old are still good.

You may enjoy this:
A Short History of Linux Distributions

Back in late 1991, when Linux first hit the 'Net, there were no distributions per se. The closest thing was HJ Lu's Boot/Root floppies. They were 5.25" diskettes that could be used to get a Linux system running. You booted from the boot disk and then, when prompted, inserted the root disk. After a while you got a command prompt.

[nuco]

Ccamol,
This thread is near here years old. But that doesn't matter. Even Linux distors ten years old are still good.

You may enjoy this:
A Short History of Linux Distributions

Might want to factor in the kernel version though - lots of exploits if you use an older kernel.

[Geek-9pm]

This thread will never die...... 
One could argue taht the bad guys have little interest in going after old versions. There aer some reasons to include older versions. They have stood the test of time.
https://www.lifewire.com/top-linux-distributions-of-all-time-4084559
The Top 10 Linux Distributions Of All Time

28 distributions have appeared in the top 10 in the past 14 years proving that whilst it may be easy to rise to success it is just as easy to fall out of favor.

Pyppy is included. So is Red Hat. And Ubuntu. And Mint.
BTW, I find the older Puppy to be more stable. I like version 4.2 distro. 

[camerongray]

One could argue taht the bad guys have little interest in going after old versions. There aer some reasons to include older versions. They have stood the test of time.

That's not how security works though, look at a list of CVEs for Linux along with various included utilities), there have been loads of security bugs that have been fixed.  For example, if you ran a distro from 2012 you would still be vulnerable to well published attacks such as Heartbleed and Shellshock.

[Geek-9pm]

camerongray, good answer. 
So if I want to update my Linux, how can I wiouth losing my personal stuff?
I see this, butI have not read it over. Does that work?
How to Switch Between Linux Distros Without Losing your Data

In this guide we’ll go over how to break out a home directory from an existing installation and protect it from future installations. It’s a tedious but simple process that is rewarding.

[alexd0100]

Maybe you guys could post some newer quizzes. I'm getting a lot "404 Not Found" messages when I click on the links. Lol

I am pretty much decided on which Linux distro I will be getting, but since there are so many of them, it would not hurt to get familiar with a few more which might prove useful later on.