Which Linux?

[Jetfire]

Hi there!

I've been wanting to try Linux for a while now, but I'm kinda new to it so I don't know which distribution to go for? So if somebody would be nice enough to give me a few pointers about the defiferent distributions, its pros and cons and such so that I cant make a choice.

If it can help, I'm a real-time software develloper with excellent knowledge of PC hardware. I work mainly on the QNX Real-Time OS for my work. I hope this is enough info.

Thanks in advance...

Jetfire.

Famous Last Words : "640K of RAM ought to be enough for EVERYONE" (Bill Gates 1981)

 

[btvillarin]

If you're new to Linux, <A HREF="http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/" target="_new">Mandrake 8.1</A> is a great distro. When I tried it out, it was fairly simple to install. It helps Windows users migrate without having to know a lot about commands.

<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/btvillarin" target="_new">My Website</A>-<b>reorganized</b> & updated everyday

 

[r2k]

RedHat 7.2 is working great for me, a new-know-nothin-bout-linux guy. It dual-boots with 2K and XP like a charm... (Check out Red_Zealot's reply to my post about this, there're tons of good info there)But you're coming from a [strong?] unix background so probably the ease of use does not matter so much? I guess RedHat is very good on other fronts too...?

 

[poorboy]

<A HREF="http://www.redhat.com" target="_new">Redhat</A>, <A HREF="http://www.linux-mandrake.com" target="_new">Mandrake</A>, <A HREF="http://www.suse.com" target="_new">Suse</A> and <A HREF="http://www.debian.org" target="_new">Debian</A> are probably the biggest players. Currently, I'm running Mandrake 8.0 with <A HREF="http://www.ximian.com" target="_new">Ximian</A> Gnome Desktop, and I've got no complaints. Last night I installed a little Redhat 7.2 Server, and it's really nice too. Suse seems to be popular in Europe, but less so elsewhere. Debian is one of the original distros, but less user-friendly.

I think that either Redhat or Mandrake will do you fine, but I think Redhat might be the best supported. It seems to be the "reference" distribution used. Make sure you get the latest version (RH7.2/MD8.1).

Some other interesting distros are <A HREF="http://sorcerer.wox.org" target="_new">Sorcerer</A> (Source-code based) and <A HREF="http://www.gentoo.org" target="_new">Gentoo</A> (Bleeding edge?), but for a first cut, I'd go with Redhat.

QNX is really nice btw. I put QNX RTP 6.1 on a little laptop recently, and it flies. Easy install, and a very nice OS from a user perspective.

 

[CompSci]

SuSe 7.3 works great for me...

As an also-new-to-Linux I went SuSe 7.3 Pro and am totally satisified and impressed. After lots of distro download error attempts, I just went and bought SuSE 7.3 pro (basicly cause it was the cheapest at $69-79 and I noticed IBM is throwing a lot of support and software out for it) and its onehellofa distro - 7 CD's of all matching and almost all Linux software available, Apache Server, PostGreSql, MySql, multiple Development IDE's, C/C++,Perl, JAva, Asp for Apache, all desktops, Multimedia, CD and burn softare, Networking and sharing with Windows - and it all works on 3 different boxes... I mean everything!, good doc, all software, and really just onehellofa great Linux startup and professional distro!

Best thing about it, it ALL matches and ALL works - right outa the box!

(Hardware/driver support is the single most important issue for a successful Linux install. I always use ATI Vidio in my boxes and have no problem with SuSe and X. Perhahs the best distro for you is the Distro the explicitly states support for your current hardware... check www.suse.com (and the other distros) for specific hardware supported.)