Which Distro Is Right For Me? (Redux)

czarboom, you're quite 

CentOS may be my next journey in Linux again, this time will be far more likely to stick with it.

Cat

 

CentOS may be my next journey in Linux again, this time will be far more likely to stick with it.

 

Don't bother cat, not all that great of an OS honestly. I mean it is stable, but the disadvantage of that is it's software is pretty far behind.

CentOS is far behind? 

That's kind of surprising, being it's basically a beta Red Hat (as I understand it), and some of the software, though still good, doesn't make the final cut for the next Red Hat release. What I don't know is how long it takes this to take place, if a year or longer, of course it'll be behind. 

Well in that case, then it's time to give Linux Mint Cinnamon another shot. I now have a nice GPU that was actually my first upgrade in my main desktop installed into another PC (MSI branded 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon 7770 OC edition), has HDMI, DP 1.2 & DVI-D ports. Though am going to upgrade the MB to have AHCI, SATA-3 & USB 3.0 ports, some of these microATX MB's are heavily discounted at less than $75 (AM3/AM3+). Have a AM3 socket CPU installed (Athlon ll x4 630 Propus), with AM3+ as an option will allow future upgrades. Hopefully there's a standard for these, like the screw (or standoff) holes being in the same place. 

Thanks for letting me know this before I buried my extra time into a dated OS.

Will likely have to create a post in the Hardware section pertaining to the MB upgrade, the info provided is my plan. The PC as is will make a good Linux box, just want to make it as future proof & modern as possible at a low cost, sticking with the same line of CPU's (AM3/AM3+) as future upgrades when pricing allows on eBay, one with a L3 cache. 

Kodibuntu is also in future plans, to have a Media Center OS in my PC room (believe Plex can be added to it), so there will likely be 3-4 OS's on the PC when all is said & done.

Cat

CentOS is far behind? 

 

That's kind of surprising, being it's basically a beta Red Hat (as I understand it), and some of the software, though still good, doesn't make the final cut for the next Red Hat release. What I don't know is how long it takes this to take place, if a year or longer, of course it'll be behind. 

All of RedHat (with the exception of Fedora, that is more cutting edge) is usually a couple kernel versions back. CentOS is supposed to be a stable OS. So they use the older stable versions of things.

The newest version of CentOS is running kernel 3.10 it looks like. So not that old, but since the kernel has been evolving fairly rapidly lately, it will get rather outdated quickly. For home use I rather have an OS that upgrades to the newer versions on a steady basis since they add newer features, especially when it comes to GPU support.

DC, that last part sums thing up nicely.

 

 

especially when it comes to GPU support.

GPU support for Linux is critical, especially for those of us who loves nVidia cards. I've found AMD to be basically plug & play, if one gets a good screen with the Live media, all will normally be OK. Not so with nVidia, unless one has a card released 5+ years ago. In the time that's transpired since then, users are missing out on features, and some are critical to a 'good' & 'great' viewing experience. While there are workarounds to this, like adding a PPA for proprietary drivers, one must research the issue, usually a lead to come to this site, Nick has a Topic on this that I feel should be in the Tutorial section. 

And the fact is, graphics plays a part in choosing a Linux distro, or a total newbie with zero Linux experience, read an article to how to test drive the latest Linux Mint, Ubuntu, whatever, and with that newer nVidia card, there's going to be issues as soon a Live Mode is booted into. The bottom line, is that that newbie often won't think to remove the card to see if that's the troubles, as normally the onboard Intel or AMD graphics, as well as audio, will be fine. And really, one with a $300+ card should even have to consider that. 

Yet I appeal to all who are reading this, to do just that, boot into Live mode with onboard graphics, if all is OK, we can get you going, just create a Topic & we'll be more than happy to assist.

Give us the chance to assist, and we'll do our best in giving you the experience to be a Linux user, and it's not that hard. Once you've done what's needed to get your nice GPU going, you'll then be free to learn the Linux distro of your choice.

Cat

I think it's broken .. It seems to be under the impression that Debian is 'right' for me

<tongue in cheek>

<sorry, couldn't resist>

Edited by PCNetSpec, 04 March 2016 - 12:45 PM.

I'm pretty sure that you prefer Peppermint... 

Strange, I also got Debian?

BTW: PCNetSpec, welcome to BC !

Just a little bit, and thanks GNULINUX, appreciate it mate

Edited by PCNetSpec, 04 March 2016 - 05:29 PM.

Really Good Question.

It's really hard to choose a perfect Linux distro for using all purpose.I always suggest using Ubuntu for its easy to use features.And also, Arch is also my favorite distro.

And, if anyone want to choose a perfect Linux distro for his/her Laptop, this post is really helpful.

"7 Best Linux Distro For Laptop"

howtouselinux,   to the Linux Community of Bleeping Computer Forums!

Hope to see you around & participate in our discussions, and of course, should you have an issue to address, always feel free to create a Topic, we'll do our best to address your needs.

Yes, I agree that with all of the choices, it can be hard for some, though a quick Google search will land many good leads. While many points towards Linux MInt, which I run, there are others well worth considering, depending on what one's usage is & their needs/tastes. No 'one size fits all' with Linux. 

One of the overlooked distros that may be right for most anyone (regardless of what OS one runs on their computer) who is a true Media Center enthusiast is Kodibuntu (formerly XBMC). Packed with features, and with some work, the sky is the limit. Plus one doesn't need a powerhouse PC to run it, though a mid class CPU & the newer the GPU, the better. Especially for those whom wants to view in 4K UHD, though I don't really know how much free content there is in that format at the moment, as those with smart TV's that's 4K has limited access to this type of programming. Yet the growth is certainly there, with both 4K TV's & PC monitors (some are as small as 28") on the rise & price is dropping.

Market share will dictate 4K adoption & future programming choices, it's rather difficult, if not impossible to convert old reruns from the 70's through the first decade of the 2000's into 4K format (the older, the less likely). It could be that it's not possible at all, rather the programming be native 4K from the go. 

http://www.linuxveda.com/2015/05/25/turn-old-pc-modern-media-center-kodibuntu/

That link in regards to best Linux notebooks certainly caught my eye, and if Peppermint doesn't work out on my ancient IBM T42, then MacPup may. Only thing is that the Opera version that ships with the distro cannot be updated, they were the first to drop Linux 32 bit long ago, and am not certain they're shipping 32 bit for any OS. 64 bit is the norm & has been for years, there are stat counters for downloads of all OS's, as well as those online at a given moment, with each passing month, 32 bit is dropping faster than ever. And why not? For less than the cost of a soda or cup of coffee ($1 to $1.50) every day, one can take that cash after a year & purchase a brand new notebook. At $1.50 per day for a year, that's $547.50, enough for a nice lower mid range model & at $1 per day ($365), that's a notch or two up from the lowest cost budget notebooks from Walmart & other sites easily, both of which will run rings around 'performance' models of 10+ years ago. I don't recommend refurbished notebooks, it's been published in more than one article that it's one of the worst purchases one can make, and as a former owner of three, I totally agree. 

Glad to have you abroad, look forward to your future participation!

Cat

I recently put down a Linux distro (Debian) onto an old laptop I have to breathe a little more life into it.

One thought regarding the quiz, as Linux is still rather new to me, is that it isn't very "newbie-to-Linux" friendly.

For example, a total newbie might not be aware of what a "package manager" is or what it does ... this is important.  Thus names such as APT won't mean anything.  Come to think of it, I notice that Synaptic is missing from that list as well .. unless it's subsumed by one of the others now.  I think Synaptic is simply a front-end for APT, perhaps someone could confirm or deny that one for me!

And also the ins and outs of the desktop environment - again, quite important especially if wanting to run on old hardware (choose LXDE, the "L" stands for "Lightweight") but once again, a total newbie might wonder what the question even means.

But as I say ... I've not had much experience with Linux to date, want to build some up as time allows ...

Edited by Angoid, 10 March 2016 - 06:32 AM.

Well other OS's (especially windows) has adopted a app store model and maybe the next phase of linux is to label package managers as app stores

 

Well other OS's (especially windows) has adopted a app store model and maybe the next phase of linux is to label package managers as app stores

God I hope not LOL

 

 

Well other OS's (especially windows) has adopted a app store model and maybe the next phase of linux is to label package managers as app stores

God I hope not LOL

 

+1!

That's the last thing we need. We already have our own version of an App Store, otherwise knows as the Software Manager. 64 bit users of many distros will find that there's over 70,000 choices available, the shrinking group of 32 bit users still has over 40,000. Much of what the Windows Store offers are garbage, maybe a few useful apps, and while am not familiar with the Apple Store, highly doubt they offer as many choices for their users. 

The cool thing about the Software Manager is that most of the extras doesn't cost a cent, though there's a few that does. Only a few has a EULA, such as the Microsoft optional Fonts that some of us has. 

Plus the Software Manager is easy to find on most Ubuntu based distros, often there'll be a page that loads after boot with various links, one is direct to it.

So no, we don't need a 'store'. 

Cat

Tried several a few years ago (Fedora, RedHat, Suse and Ubuntu). Now, still use heavily with Linux and Mac at home