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best and most user friendly linux

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elec999

Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2003
I am looking for the best and most user friendly linux distro. Supporting many hardwares.
Thanks
 
Knoppix. Auto detects hardware on boot, can be run from a CD or installed to the HDD in a matter of mins. Id say it has the best hardware detection out of the box. Its pretty easy to manage, updates are easy, ect.

Some other ones to look at would be Fedora and Mandrake. Both a little more standard in terms of instalation, detects most hardware very well, and has a huge set of packages that come with it. So if you want/needs tons of software ready to go, these would be a better option.

There are tons and tons of distros out there. Do some reseach too, and see if anything catches you eye.

www.distrowatch.com
www.linuxiso.org
www.google.com
 
ookabooka said:
mandrake, redhat, suse. . . pretty standard distros that are user friendly imho.

Redhat has been replaced by Fedora as far as a desktop OS goes.
 
{PMS}fishy ... i`ve got Knoppix... but it runs from the CD...
i`m downloading the last version... and hope this one can be installed. :D

i am downloading knoppix.. wich is a gentoo version right?
also.... i`ll download gentoo whats the difference between them?

and when i download i allways get the directory structure with a zillion directorys like:
alpha/
[DIR] amd64/
[DIR] historical/
[DIR] hppa/
[DIR] mips/
[DIR] ppc/
[DIR] ppc64/
[DIR] sparc/
[DIR] x86/
i use x86.. but i was wondering what the otherones are...

also... i`m trying to set it up for use with a DSL modem...
i wonder how hard it will be :p
 
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I just want to setup a htpc and Need a distro easily detecting my tv cards. WIll Use Mythtv.
Thanks
 
SybrCLocK said:
{PMS}fishy ... i`ve got Knoppix... but it runs from the CD...
i`m downloading the last version... and hope this one can be installed. :D

i am downloading knoppix.. wich is a gentoo version right?
also.... i`ll download gentoo whats the difference between them?

and when i download i allways get the directory structure with a zillion directorys like:
alpha/
[DIR] amd64/
[DIR] historical/
[DIR] hppa/
[DIR] mips/
[DIR] ppc/
[DIR] ppc64/
[DIR] sparc/
[DIR] x86/
i use x86.. but i was wondering what the otherones are...

also... i`m trying to set it up for use with a DSL modem...
i wonder how hard it will be :p

Knoppix is based off of Debian.

As far as the FTP structure, well, amd64 is compiled for A64s, mips for mips CPUs, ect. X86 is for the majority of us computer users, and covers from pentiums to athlon-xps, and everything inbetween.

DSL modem setup should be pretty easy, there is an option in the Kmenu somewhere to configure a PPPoe DSL connection, that is the tool that you are going to want to use. Once you start looking for it, you will see it, and understand what Im talking about.

Gentoo is about 180 degrees different from Knoppix. Takes a long time to install, have to compile everything, instead of having everything compiled. Gentoo is the fastest OS, and Knoppix is probally one of the slowest, in terms of booting, loading software, ect. Knoppix is the easiest to install, Gentoo is the harderest. They are polar opposites of one another. I keep Knoppix around for when I break Gentoo, great set of tools on the knoppix CD, everyone should have a copy if you ask me.
 
I use Gentoo myself, on both Laptop and Desktop. However, it can be hard to setup (although a set of straightforward instructions are provided).

I would recommend SuSe or Mandrake for a first time Linux user, or Knoppix (or Overclockix, a modified version of Knoppix that supports Folding@Home at boot!).

All are easy to set up and use and SuSE and Mandrake are aimed at beginners in many ways.
 
damn gentoo

i understand there are 3 stages and i understand what they do...
i settked for stage 2
so... i went and started downloading the following
it has 1000 directorys.. and 1000 cd`s to download:

from
releases/x86
[DIR] 2004.1/ 22-Apr-2004 02:12 -
[DIR] 2004.2/ 23-Jul-2004 00:08 -
[DIR] 2004.3/ 13-Nov-2004 14:37 -
in each directory.. there are
[DIR] livecd/ 01-Jul-2004 21:53 -
[DIR] packagecd/ 23-Apr-2004 23:28 -
[DIR] stages/ 23-Apr-2004 23:35 -

i downloaded 2004.1, 2, 3 packaged cd's (i know i didnt need to)
ok.. no i`ve read you need... to download liveCD's in order to install it offline:
so.. on theyr online help it says:

For example the x86 variant of this CD is called install-x86-universal-2004.3.iso

so why the hell is it called 3? i didnt download any liveCD's yet.. but do i need all 3 i suppose? or just the second one if i want to do stage 2?

i hope some of you have the answer :eh?:

tx
 
SybrCLocK said:
damn gentoo

i understand there are 3 stages and i understand what they do...
i settked for stage 2
so... i went and started downloading the following
it has 1000 directorys.. and 1000 cd`s to download:

from
releases/x86
[DIR] 2004.1/ 22-Apr-2004 02:12 -
[DIR] 2004.2/ 23-Jul-2004 00:08 -
[DIR] 2004.3/ 13-Nov-2004 14:37 -
in each directory.. there are
[DIR] livecd/ 01-Jul-2004 21:53 -
[DIR] packagecd/ 23-Apr-2004 23:28 -
[DIR] stages/ 23-Apr-2004 23:35 -

i downloaded 2004.1, 2, 3 packaged cd's (i know i didnt need to)
ok.. no i`ve read you need... to download liveCD's in order to install it offline:
so.. on theyr online help it says:

For example the x86 variant of this CD is called install-x86-universal-2004.3.iso

so why the hell is it called 3? i didnt download any liveCD's yet.. but do i need all 3 i suppose? or just the second one if i want to do stage 2?

i hope some of you have the answer :eh?:

tx

2004.1, 2004.2, 2004.3 should be various versions of the install disk.
 
"2004.1, 2004.2, 2004.3 should be various versions of the install disk."

ok i got the part of different versions.. but different how? i mena i searched for what they could mean... but.. i still have no idea..
 
I cznt wait till gentoo 2005.0 cames out, it will have a gui for installation.
THanks
 
If you intend to run mythtv, you might check KnoppMyth: a knoppix version customized especially for Mythtv. Tho if you use a PVR350 (the best card for mythtv by far imho), you probably need to do some manual work for ivtv
 
SybrCLocK said:
"2004.1, 2004.2, 2004.3 should be various versions of the install disk."

ok i got the part of different versions.. but different how? i mena i searched for what they could mean... but.. i still have no idea..

It doesn't matter much why they are different. You want 2004.3 alot of the packages on the other 2 cds are no long supported, so always go with the newest, unless there are issues, which there are no on 2004.3.

You want the 2004.3 Minimal Install CD, its about 80mb. Throw that in, follow the dirrections, and download which ever stage that you want. Stage 1 only takes 1 more command and 2 more hours of compiling than Stage 2. Might as well build it from scratch if you ask me. That or use stage 3 and packages, will get going pretty quick, but won't be anywhere near as fast as a Stage 1.
 
i want the 80 MB liveCD?

i thought it was online installation...
well anyways..

I downloaded the liveCD 3, the snapshot (whatever that is) and stage 1
i guess it will ask me during installation for both snapshot and stage compiling

tx for the help btw :)
 
Debian an awsome distro also. It can be a little difficult to set up sometimes if you come across a problem, but one everything is up and running there are a couple of fantastic tools which make everything easy - apt and dpkg. With those two there's not alot you can't install VERY easily. If I could marry apt, I would.
 
SybrCLocK said:
i want the 80 MB liveCD?

i thought it was online installation...
well anyways..

It is an online installation. The 80mb CD is just enough to get you going, with a very basic CLI.
 
Why havent anyone said Yoper Linux? It works with nvidia cards out of the box. It's one of the fastest distros around that also is easy to install. Installation takes 15-20 mins.
 
klingens said:
If you intend to run mythtv, you might check KnoppMyth: a knoppix version customized especially for Mythtv. Tho if you use a PVR350 (the best card for mythtv by far imho), you probably need to do some manual work for ivtv
Thanks alot man
I never knew this existed, is this knoppix for myth, livecd also.
 
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