DingleBerries Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Linux('lɪnəks):Is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL and other free licenses. Note: No one should be able to tell you what you can and cannot do with your computer. Linux always you a freedom that other OS's can not match, however just like Linux, all OS's can/are made for a specific purposes so don't start slandering Microsoft and becoming an elitist. Distro's worth looking taking a look at. Home Use Debian GNU/Linux Screenshot Many distributions are based on Debian, including Ubuntu, MEPIS, Dreamlinux, Damn Small Linux, Xandros, Knoppix, Linspire, sidux, Kanotix, and LinEx, among others. Debian is also known for an abundance of options. The current release, Debian etch, includes over eighteen thousand software packages for eleven computer architectures. The Debian standard install makes use of the GNOME desktop environment.Debian was ranked second only to Ubuntu for Most Used Linux Distribution for both Personal and Organizational use in a 2007 survey by SurveyMonkey.com. Download Ubuntu Screenshot Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. Ubuntu is sponsored by the UK based company Canonical Ltd., owned by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth. Canonical releases new versions of Ubuntu every six months and supports Ubuntu for eighteen months by submitting security fixes, patches to critical bugs and including minor updates to programs. LTS (Long Term Support) releases, which occur every two years, are supported for three years on the desktop and five years for servers. Download Linux Mint Screenshot Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based distribution whose goal is to provide a more complete out-of-the-box experience by including browser plugins, media codecs, support for DVD playback, Java and other components. It also adds a custom desktop and menus, several unique configuration tools, and a web-based package installation interface. Linux Mint is compatible with Ubuntu software repositories. Download Gentoo Screenshot Gentoo is a free operating system based on either Linux or FreeBSD that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need. Extreme configurability, performance and a top-notch user and developer community are all hallmarks of the Gentoo experience. Download Fedora Screenshot The Fedora Project is an openly-developed project designed by Red Hat, open for general participation, led by a meritocracy, following a set of project objectives. The goal of The Fedora Project is to work with the Linux community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from open source software. Development will be done in a public forum. The project will produce time-based releases of Fedora about 2-3 times a year, with a public release schedule. Download Server Use Most of the distro's listed above can easily be converted to run as some sort of server. For more information on that check out samba. CentOS Screenshot CentOS is a freely-available operating system that is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This rebuild project strives to be 100% binary compatible with the upstream product and, within its mainline and updates, not to vary from that goal. Additional software archives hold later versions of such packages, along with other Free and Open Source Software RPM-based packages. CentOS stands for Community ENTerprise Operating System. Download Security and "Pentesting" BackTrack Screenshot BackTrack is a Slackware and SLAX-based live CD with a collection of security and forensics tools. It was created by merging Auditor Security Linux with WHAX (formerly Whoppix). Download Other Links: distrowatch.com linux.org More to come later. Check out Wikipedia for more inforamtion. Now I hope that most of the "what distro should i use" threads will disapear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhollyMindless Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Here's a hint. If you're asking what distro to use - Use XP. It's like swimming, you can't learn unless you're in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Gentoo Screenshot Gentoo is a free operating system based on either Linux or FreeBSD that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need. Extreme configurability, performance and a top-notch user and developer community are all hallmarks of the Gentoo experience. Download I'd like to add Arch linux - http://www.archlinux.org/ - The best way to describe it is as a pre-compiled gentoo. It goes for optimization, it is built for i686 (not i386 like most) and is very much do it yourself rather than adding loads of things you don't need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 May I also Add Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux (DSL) If your looking for a super lightweight yet capable distro (especially to be used on really old hardware) Though your not going to find the type of compatibility or sudo-names added with other distros (i.e. unlike ubuntu which has a modified sudo name for ls, that is called dir to match with the dos command for ease of use for microsoft origionators, puppy and damn small only use ls, though you could map a sudo-name for it.) Weighing in at usually around 50 to 100mb, If you have say an old dell inspiron w/ 64mb of memory, 700mhz pentium I, and a 7gig hdd, this would be good for you. Also I dont know about dsl, but puppy also supports popular wifi cards (wireless nics, dunno anything about wireless anywhere cards) Screenshots: DSL Screen Shots Puppy Linux Screen Shots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italiano40 Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I would recommend Gentoo for a desktop OS and for a server OS i would recommend centOS those are two very good and powerful linux distros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr0p Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I'd like to add Arch linux - http://www.archlinux.org/ - The best way to describe it is as a pre-compiled gentoo. It goes for optimization, it is built for i686 (not i386 like most) and is very much do it yourself rather than adding loads of things you don't need. Also has a huge x86_64 support base (that's what I use :3) My favorite distro ever, because it comes with very little installed, you install only what you need for the highest amount of optimization possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5ive Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Opensuse deserves to be on the list - It has one of the largest user bases and its proprietary cousins (sled and sles) are very popular in the corporate world. It is very well supported, you will be able to find pre-compiled binaries for just about everything you need. http://www.opensuse.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBP Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 i dont want to be pedantic but gnome and kde arnt the only gui's. I use fluxbox on most of my pc's and xfce4 on my Eeepc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymouse Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I am sick of windos. I want to run a server. No static. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I am sick of windos. I want to run a server. No static. :-( I assume you mean no static ip. You don't need one you can use dyndns to keep an external dns server up-to-date. Also check how unstatic your IP is. I've been on a dynamic IP for over 2 years now and is hasn't actually changed in those 2 years. Nothing to say that it won't change tomorrow but it seems fairly stable. Also, you don't actually need an internet connection to run a server only to access it from the outside world, set yourself one up anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopez1364 Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I'll have to get Arch Linux a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I'll have to get Arch Linux a try. Arch is well worth a go. It is as configurable and lightweight as gentoo but without all the compilation. The package management system is like FreeBSD, you get most things through the main system as binaries but if you want to compile things yourself you can and if you want any of the community builds you just grab the package makefile and build it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I still think FreeBSD is far more simple than any linux distro i've tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digininja Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I still think FreeBSD is far more simple than any linux distro i've tried. The only thing that is stopping me from moving is that I need a good VM system. I currently use VirtualBox and as far as I can tell that isn't ported Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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