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Thread ID: 112307	2010-08-31 12:53:00	Linux	memphis (2869)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1133504	2010-08-31 12:53:00	1. What is the best looking Linux Distro graphic wise. 2. Can you install programs or apps or whatever to make your Linux distro to look real nice/cool etc.-if so what are they? 3. Which Linux distro is best for watching movies,playing music/internet/and will work nice and easy/easy to do updates/easy to install new programs/unstall programs. (no command line stuff). Or is it just a matter of getting the right program etc for which ever distro you use and you will be sweet.	memphis (2869)
1133505	2010-08-31 13:28:00	It depends. A number of people install a distro of Linux and spend a lot of time trying to make it look like a version of Windows. If you don't want CLI with Linux you are not serious.	Snorkbox (15764)
1133506	2010-08-31 13:35:00	1- No such thing as the best looking linux distro. If you want look, you'd probably prefer KDE, in which case you're best off going for OpenSuSE or Fedora (I'd say try Opensuse, people hate it because of Novell's "unholy union" with M$ - people are full of ****) Kubuntu is also an option. Personally, I prefer GNOME, but even I don't think it looks as nice as KDE, it just seems more functional for me, I use Ubuntu. You can install GNOME/KDE on whichever distro you want, it makes no difference really. This debate (GNOME vs KDE) has been raging for over a decade, and will probably never end. 2- Pretty much, there are a lot of things you can install to make it look cool. Compiaz is included by default in all Gnome centric spins. 3- I use VLC player to watch movies, (I use it under windows too, best thing in both worlds, IMO). For music, I used to use Banshee but recently I have switched to "guayadeque", I like it. Amarok is apparently the best player in KDE. (Banshee plays videos too, but I still prefer VLC for vids - Amarok does not play vids AFAIK). Again depends on whether you want KDE or gnome. Every distro will come with a video/audio player (or three), you'll likely need to download codecs, but it's a one click install, so a non-issue. Personally, commandline makes life much easier, and once you spend a few days in linux you'll like it too. Installing programs is easy as pie, most of the time. Every major distro has one click installs, and you'll find most things in their repositories. Although every now and then you will need to compile from source, and that's not as daunting as most people thing either: ./configure -> make -> make install. 3 commands, that's it. All done. Not very hard is it? IMHO, DEB based distros (Debian/*buntu) have better repositories than RPM based distros (OpenSuse, Fedora, etc). But again, that's my opinion. (I expect someone will come here and shoot me down, as soon as I post all of this). But in the end that's it, it's all opinion. I am sure we'll have someone from the KDE corner come and shoot me (and banshee/ubuntu/gnome/kde/xyz) down. And that's their opinion. Linux is notorious for opinion. You can install both KDE and Gnome on the same distro, I personally think it ends up messy but it's really a non issue. (Oh and PS: gnome-shell really is a piece of doggy doodoo.) Fedora and Ubuntu have relatively quick release cycles, while OpenSuse aims to be more stable and has slower release cycles. All distros have good community support (forums and IRC) and pretty much everything that goes wrong can be fixed without a reinstall (although sometimes a reinstall will save you time and a headache). Some games have issues under WINE. But from experience, running the latest "unstable" version of WINE (1.3.x), and I can say things are getting better every day. Things are far from perfect, but things run fine. But looking at your system, you could easily run virtualbox and play the latest and greatest games in an emulator. I am not sure if this makes any sense, but meh, my 2c. You won't go wrong with whatever you chose.	Cato (6936)
1133507	2010-08-31 14:07:00	I dual boot Win 7 Pro 64 and Debian now. I only use Linux for programming for the free compiler.	Snorkbox (15764)
1133508	2010-08-31 14:12:00	I'd suggest Ubuntu for a starter.	SoniKalien (792)
1133509	2010-08-31 14:28:00	Thank you Cato:thumbs: for sharing your knowledge and honest opinion after all that's what Linux is all about and thats way there are so many Linux distro's and thats why the Linux community is so good . :) :thumbs::) I am going to get one of my spare hard drives and install a Linux distro on it and dual boot with Win 7 Pro 64bit to play games on and a Linux distro to do everything else . I have a question which file system to use when installing a Linux distro: ext4,ext3,JFS,ReiserFS,Reiser4FS,XFS . :)	memphis (2869)
1133510	2010-08-31 15:02:00	Well, I would say EXT4 for /, and EXT2/3 for your boot partition, if you end up making one. If you do make a boot partition on your spare HD which you install Linux on, you can leave you windows HDD alone and just change the boot sequence, just makes things less complicated, IMO. I prefer to keep my boot partition as simple as possible, but it doesn't matter. Again, creating a seperate /home partition is optional too and it's debateable. I prefer to have one so if I do ever format or reinstall I can leave everything intact (rather than having to back everything up, although I have everything backed out anyway). But it seems to be out of fashion these days. Most people just have one big partition. I'd stick with ext4 for the moment. Again, nothing wrong with just having one partition. In that case go ext4.	Cato (6936)
1133511	2010-08-31 15:05:00	I dual boot Win 7 Pro 64 and Debian now. I only use Linux for programming for the free compiler. I see. Surely there is a free compiler for windows too?	Cato (6936)
1133512	2010-08-31 15:44:00	Thanks Cato ext4 it is then,just did not know which one to use. I have a spare 1 gig hard drive and I was just going to use all of it. The reason I am using a separate hard drive is because I have windows/programs on a ssd drive and I don't want anything to go wrong/stuff up and I want to keep windows and linux on two different hard drives just in case the worst happens plus it means they can use all of the hard drive for stuff and not have to worry about space. Oh another question if I am in Linux can I still watch/listen to movies/music on a separate hard drive that is formatted in windows ntfs or do I have to get them copied onto a hard drive that is using the same file system as the Linux OS? Thanks again for the help.	memphis (2869)
1133513	2010-08-31 15:54:00	I reallyhope you mean 1TB and not one GB. If you do mean 1gb, you are best off using a tiny distro like... Puppy? I can't really suggest anything there. [Assuming 1tb] Make a 200mb ext3 /boot partition and set the boot sequence to start with your linux HDD. That way everything will be well. After that... Partition it how you like, it doesn't really matter. Oh and you will need to create a swap partition, I am not sure what to suggest there. Usual rule of thumb is 2x RAM, but with 8gb I think that's excessive and will probably hinder you more than help you... So I ain't sure. Yes, you can read/write to NTFS partitions, no problems. They can stay where they are.	Cato (6936)
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