Linux distribution choosing guide

[kuzko]

Make a good guide about installing Ubuntu on SSD+HDD. On HDD I want music, downloads and etc, on SSD to be the most important (system) files.

this is what I did on my laptop :

1 st ssd split in half : 35GB/60 for windows 8.1, the rest is the / of linux, this hdd got the grub

2nd ssd : 2GB for linux /boot and 4GB for swap, rest is ntfs partition for windows games

3rd HDD : 500GB for windows storage (can be accessed through linux), rest is /home for linux.

you can choose a custom partitionning in ubuntu install.

Wow... Just wow... Looks damn good.

Is installing software as big pain in the ass as Ubuntu is (if not using Ubuntu's software center / app store / whatever that name is)?

I wish I had a laptop on which I could mess with Linux distros and use in school / while on the move. I mean, I could maybe install some distro to the Windows 8 tablet, but no Win8 key to reactivate it, and it's school property (but we can do whatever we want with them), so maybe better not...

1st : thanks, it's just a little bit custom (only conky added, the rest is stock) but yeah, zorin blue theme rocks!

2nd : in terminal, like in debian : sudo apt-get install <packetname>, software center is a gui, the most powerful tool of a linux distro is the command line, trying it is loving it's power.

3rd : use virtual machines, with virtualbox for example you can have 100+ different distros that run under windows (not at the same time but you can pause/resume them at any time.

[alpenwasser]

Arch Linux

You make everything yourself includinf drivers, UI and all app instalations. You only get a kernel and command line, and there you compile all your stuff to use.

[...]

This is extremely hard to set up and requires extreme skill to do. If you like challenges, this is for you.

Long term Arch user here. Just wanted to note that while you

can actually compile your Arch system from scratch with

the Arch Build System, usually you don't (I've never done it),

as several people have pointed out. It is indeed very modular

and doesn't come with a ton of stuff by default, but you don't

usually need to compile anything.

As for beginner friendliness... yeah, doing a command line install

is probably a bit of a daunting task if you're coming from Windows.

It might indeed be a good idea to familiarize yourself with some

concepts of Linux before delving into Arch to be able to make

sense of what you're doing (boot managers, the file system structure,

and so on), but if you really look at it, while it does look a bit

scary, it is actually not that complicated to set up a basic Arch

install (I mean, basically it's just "prepare file systems, pacstrap

base system, install bootloader, add users, install other stuff you

want", to oversimplify things a bit).

 

The trickiest bit for me is usually installing X and getting it

to run, that can be a bit of a bitch. Anyway, I'm starting to ramble,

apologies.

Bottom line for me: It's probably not the distro I'd recommend to

a newbie who's scared of the CLI, but I think it's often made out

to be more complicated than it actually is. Also, there are quite

a few install tutorials on Youtube which go through it step by

step and might make this feasible even for beginners.

[Humbug]

Good topic.

 

@silentmelodies, what do you think of Kubuntu? I installed Ubuntu a month ago but then switched to Kubuntu because I didn't like Unity. So far so good. Another one I am considering is solydk.

[Avanto]

Good topic.

 

@silentmelodies, what do you think of Kubuntu? I installed Ubuntu a month ago but then switched to Kubuntu because I didn't like Unity. So far so good. Another one I am considering is solydk.

 

If you are interested in KDE Kubuntu is solid, SolydK is rock solid. Also you could look at Netrunner. It has a slick KDE implementasion build on Kubuntu and on Manjaro/arch. On top of these OpenSuse has a great KDE implementation too, but i never cared for the distro much myself. There are others too, but Mint KDE is basically the same as Kubuntu and the other notable ones are for more experienced users. 

[Humbug]

If you are interested in KDE Kubuntu is solid, SolydK is rock solid. Also you could look at Netrunner. It has a slick KDE implementasion build on Kubuntu and on Manjaro/arch. On top of these OpenSuse has a great KDE implementation too, but i never cared for the distro much myself. There are others too, but Mint KDE is basically the same as Kubuntu and the other notable ones are for more experienced users. 

Thanks, and welcome to the forum.

 

It's only been a couple of months since I started using linux.

[ManWithBeard1990]

Thanks, and welcome to the forum.

 

It's only been a couple of months since I started using linux.

I hope you like it. I've been running Kubuntu for 4 years now and it's never let me down.

[Humbug]

I hope you like it. I've been running Kubuntu for 4 years now and it's never let me down.

It's not been that hard. A lot of my commonly used applications from windows like firefox and VLC and Steam just work great out of the box. And the KDE desktop is pretty straightforward as well.

But when you try to do something a bit more complex it's not as easy as windows (for me). e.g. trying to update my catalyst GPU driver, or even figure out which verison I am running. In windows I just download an exe and run it; it does the rest.

As I spend more time and graduate out of being a Linux noob I guess stuff like that will become easier, I hope so anyway.

[Avanto]

Thanks, and welcome to the forum.

 

It's only been a couple of months since I started using linux.

 

 

I have been using Linux as my only OS for about two years now. The first months were the difficult ones because one never seems to know for certain what desktop and distro would fit best. I went first with the first weeks with all kinds of setups and had some hardware compatibility issues too because my brand new Lenovo at the time.  But I found my way and went with Manjaro Linux. Its a stable rolling-release distribution and as the rolling release model appeals many switching from windows, I was no exception. But the KDE version of Manjaro is not the most appealing out of the box, thats why I would go with Netrunner Rolling. (its Manjaro, but better looking) 

 

Also, dont give up on KDE after some weeks or days. If you dont like how it looks or functions, google some cool KDE screenshots and try to customize from there. 

 

what comes to the distros in the first post.. I must say I would not recommend something like Zorin for a generation that has grown up with computers. It is too much like Linux and that would probably backfire and give a lame impression of the whole thing. Zorin is more targeted to lesser geeks, perhaps even elderly people who just want to surf the net and do some internet banking and stuff. Thats how i feel anyways.

 

LXDE (lubuntu) i would use only on older hardware, XFCE is for windows XP nostalgic (although you can customize the hell out of it:D) The Unity desktop, that ubuntu now uses suits best for touchscreen or Wide screen displays. I as a laptop user was never a fan of it. ElementaryOS runs on top of Ubuntu, Its very Mac like and aims for an overall wow effect. For the large part they use their own applications, some of wich are not so mind-blowing.. Elementary, I feel is very keyboard shortcut oriented so if you love your mouse its difficult to unleash it.

 

Well, those are some of my opinions, value them as you like

 

PS. I do use KDE with KaOS, but nobody should start their linux journey there, too specialized

[ManWithBeard1990]

For best results with KDE, really, you should get Qtcurve. That's a theme where litterally everything is configurable. I have it set up somewhat OSX inspired, also using the Mak-Liontaste icon set. Looks and feels just right.

[SP4C3]

You forgot gentoo ;-)