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Posts: 470 | Thanked: 399 times | Joined on Jul 2011 @ Croatia
#61
Originally Posted by anonymous View Post
The topic is Linux for the beginner. Not Linux for the server / performance geek / hacker. Performance and filesystem differences are not even on this guy's radar.

edit: oops. just noticed it's a workstation with RAID. valid point

If you want to introduce someone to using Linux, the easiest and safest way is still the ubuntu windows installer.

I'm actually quite surprised you wouldn't bring up "loadfont not found". If you upgrade the distro you get your first Linux troubleshooting experience and need to edit a config file from a livecd to get into Ubuntu again.

Other than that the Installer is quite nice.
wubi has no advantages to running it from a live usb with persistance or simply in a virtual enviroment, in fact it has many disadvantages and is not easyest and safest way by a long shot
wubi sucks...balls...
 
Posts: 230 | Thanked: 302 times | Joined on Oct 2009 @ Helsinki, Suomi (Finland)
#62
Originally Posted by GrimyHR View Post
GENTOO!!!
just kidding, for someone just getting into linux from windows mint is probably the safest route
No, it's not a joke. It depends on noob. If he/she has enough motivation and wants to learn, rather than just get another Windows, then some distro that doesn't hide the workings of Linux is the best way to go. People tend to forget that steeper learning curve also means faster learning.

I can speak from experience since I started my Linux use by Gentoo stage 1 install. Sure I was completely lost and it took me several days to get the damn thing compiled. (it was only possible thanks to Gentoo's great documentation) But in those two days I learned much more about Linux than during a year of Ubuntu use. Distros that put much effort on automation and ease of use often put their focus only on the surface and tend to be uglier and more complex under the hood. It means that when something goes wrong it will be harder to fix.

Given that Maemo/MeeGo harmattan is debian based I would suggest debian. It's truly a community distro with lots of skilled developers and great flexibility.

It's always best to try out several different distros when you are new to linux and give each one some time. Learn their quirks and soon you'll form your own opinion that will make the decision easy.

Whenever you hit a wall remember that google is your friend (atleast in this rare case), use it and it's very likely that someone has already faced the same problem and solved it for you.

If you persist through the initial troubles you'll notice that Linux offers you new possibilities you couldn't even dream of.

Last edited by ladoga; 2012-05-12 at 14:56.
 

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#63
Originally Posted by ladoga View Post
No, it's not a joke. It depends on noob. If he/she has enough motivation and wants to learn, rather than just get another Windows, then some distro that doesn't hide the workings of Linux is the best way to go. People tend to forget that steeper learning curve also means faster learning.

I can speak from experience since I started my Linux use by Gentoo stage 1 install. Sure I was completely lost and it took me several days to get the damn thing compiled. (it was only possible thanks to Gentoo's great documentation) But in those two days I learned much more about Linux than during a year of Ubuntu use. Distros that put much effort on automation and ease of use often put their focus only on the surface and tend to be uglier and more complex under the hood. It means that when something goes wrong it will be harder to fix.

Given that Maemo/MeeGo harmattan is debian based I would suggest debian. It's truly a community distro with lots of skilled developers and great flexibility.

It's always best to try out several different distros when you are new to linux and give each one some time. Learn their quirks and soon you'll form your own opinion that will make the decision easy.

Whenever you hit a wall remember that google is your friend (atleast in this rare case), use it and it's very likely that someone has already faced the same problem and solved it for you.

If you persist through the initial troubles you'll notice that Linux offers you new possibilities you couldn't even dream of.
look i love gentoo and all, but its not for a beginner, beginning from relatively dificult instalation process and then compiling every package it is more likely to to turn some one away from linux than to draw them in, better to start small and then to play with the big guns
 
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#64
@ladoga

Well put. Also I agree strongly with the observation about the increased obfuscation under the hood of the more "user friendly" distros. Your stage 1 story created a smile of recognition. I smiled less back then, though... Memories sweeten the experience.

@OP

Simply put;
1. For the curious and eager beginner, I'd say Gentoo, Arch or LFS,

Pros: Steep learning curve, maximum reward in terms of confidence.
Cons: Time. Because there's always too little.

2. For the less curious, try Ubuntu, Debian or Mint.

Pros: Setup in 7 or 8 simple questions. Lots of users worldwide so lots and lots of (community) help online.
Cons. Hardly teaches you anything. Quick learning curve because the technical difficulty level is, well, limited. As are the possibilities.
 

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#65
Originally Posted by sifo View Post
i never wanted to change winblows but after reading you guys cheering over here i like the idea about installing a linux distro but if im thinking about installing a rude distro (for h*ck*ng) which one it should be ? backtrack ?

./sifo
It doesn't really matter. Backtrack is just a compilation of mainly cracker tools on top of Ubuntu. You can install those same tools on any distro you wish.

If you mean hacking in it's traditional context, then give a try to
LFS, Gentoo, Debian and/or Arch Linux.
 

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Posts: 1,503 | Thanked: 2,688 times | Joined on Oct 2010 @ Denmark
#66
Should have added a poll so we could all vote to help you.

Im using ubuntu 12.04 Gnome shell Remix, really awesome, no unity only gnome 3, which after i started using it i will say it is VERY fast to use actually, been using gnome 2 until now (setup like win95).

But again for a beginner linux i can only recommend Zorin OS, here you will have the SMALLEST transistion from windows.
http://zorin-os.com/

Else Ubuntu 12.04 Gnome shell Remix, unity is very smart but it is not for everybody, it has literally divided ubuntu users
http://ubuntu-gs-remix.sourceforge.net/p/home/

PS. Zorin is still the most popular linux dist, and that is down to the panel/desktop switcher system where you can set it up to look like win95, winXP, win7, gnome2, Mac OS and one more i can't remember.
 

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#67
Originally Posted by dr_frost_dk View Post
PS. Zorin is still the most popular linux dist
[Citation needed]
I could bet all my money on Ubuntu being the most popular Linux distribution (largest install base) by a very large margin. I suspect Red Hat comes in 2nd and Debian is probably pretty high up there too..

Last edited by shinogami; 2012-05-12 at 16:03.
 
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Posts: 1,503 | Thanked: 2,688 times | Joined on Oct 2010 @ Denmark
#68
Originally Posted by shinogami View Post
[Citation needed]
I could bet all my money on Ubuntu being the most popular Linux distribution (largest install base) by a very large margin. I suspect Red Hat comes in 2nd and Debian is probably pretty high up there too..
https://www.linux.com/directory/Distributions/desktop

Most popular based on ratings, you can not go by most install/downloads then let's just call it, windows 7 is the best thing you can get..............
 

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#69
I use daily both Fedora and Ubuntu.
For security reasons and for Linux defragmentation-agenda-reasons, I recommend Fedora and also use it in my home computer.

Ubuntu and Debian should transfer to rpm package format and overall should more closely follow LSB-standards and -recommendations. There is well argumented technical and political reasons why.

It would be beneficial for the whole Linux ecosystem to have more compatibility between distros, at least on the lower level. Microsoft is happy Linux ecosystem is so scattered and fragmented.
 
Posts: 5,795 | Thanked: 3,151 times | Joined on Feb 2007 @ Agoura Hills Calif
#70
I suspect that most newbies try a series of distros till they find their favorite. I hung out at DistroWatch for a long time and tested whatever seemed interesting
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