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| Thread ID: 86067 | 2008-01-02 08:44:00 | Show me the Linux.... | Metla (12) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 626704 | 2008-01-03 05:13:00 | I have to agree here;Why Debian now,when there are heaps of debian based distros that a newbie would get to grips with and feel comfortable.Stability, better repositories and lack of the 'dumbing-down' that Ubuntu and the like suffer from. I'm not saying that Ubuntu / PCLinuxOS etc aren't good - for the most part, they are. I'm saying that they are limited - while they're brilliant for new users, most 'power-user' types (which Metla certainly is) seem to get sick of them very quickly due to lack of options. Ubuntu (and therefore also anything based on it) is a direct fork of Debian Sid (aka unstable). Every 6 months they make another fork, fix some bugs, customise it, and release a new version. Although it's only my opinion, I find they seem to place less emphasis on actually fixing the bugs and more on non-essential flashy features. With Debian, packages aren't added to the stable or testing distributions until they have no known major bugs, and most of the minor ones are squashed - which makes for a much nicer system. Debian's repositories are also far larger. Chances are if the software exists, it's in the repositories unless there are legal reasons preventing it. In contrast, the Ubuntu repositories have far fewer packages available, hence the proliferation of third-party repositories. Also, every single piece of software in the repositories is assigned a 'maintainer' - someone who looks after that particular package, makes sure the currect security patches and bugfixes are applied etc. Some of the more skilled maintainers will even directly patch the packages to fix problems that have not yet been fixed upstream (Firefox is a good example of this). In my experience Ubuntu releases the odd broken package - if you get stuck with a bad one it can be hell to clean up the resulting mess. The Debian team is also committed to long-term support, and has a track record of maintaining old versions very well, for a very long time - even to the extent taking over maintenence of other projects if they fail during the support lifetime of the Debian system it was released with. Compare that to how Ubuntu has handled the maintenence of 6.06 LTS. As I see it nothing Debian is lost by going Ubuntu or PClinuxOS or a few other distros but if a newbie is plunged in to Debian I think they could be put off.It's a trade-off. Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS are both good starting points, but they don't age well. My judgement of Metla's character is that he would rather start with something that will do a good job (even if it has a slightly steeper learning-curve), rather than change distros halfway through. I have been a Linux user for a long time,going back to Red Hat and today on looking at the debian site I was lost. It appears to be for geeks.The Debian website is utterly useless. Don't even bother going there unless you already know exactly what you are looking for. It needs a major overhaul, but I get the feeling that the site maintainers are too busy doing other useful things to put in the mammoth amount of time such an overhaul would require. I freely admit I am biased towards Debian, but (I think) with good reason. I still try out other distros in case something better comes along, but so far nothing has :rolleyes:. |
Erayd (23) | ||
| 626705 | 2008-01-03 10:17:00 | Apparently the latest Fedora awesome, but please dont use it coz nobody else here does AFAIK and we wouldnt be able to help when issues arrise GeeXboX is pretty cool if you have the likes of DVDs / Movies / Music and just wanna play them back... I used it a bit :) Was great for streaming my Music (mp3 / wma / aac) & Video files (DivX / XviD / h.264 / wmv / MPGs) from my server machine, just wasnt very extensible in terms of changing the GUI around or whatever.. XBMC was cool on my Xbox! :D TV Cards - Linux does surprisingly well, both my el-cheapo DSE Tuner Card (based on the Brooktree bt878 chipset, and the Philips saa7134) have worked fine without an issue :) No installation / configuration needed! Anyways, all thats fluff compared to what Bletch just wrote.. Go for Debian, no doubt he'll be able to assist you if you run into issues, and its quite well documented online too if needed. Good luck with your adventures! |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 626706 | 2008-01-03 11:34:00 | while they're brilliant for new users, most 'power-user' types (which Metla certainly is) seem to get sick of them very quickly due to lack of options . . Lets not get too carried away, when It comes to Linux i'm a nub . I have installed a few distro's, and poked around in a few corners but thats about it . Though I would hope to be able to surmount all but the most severe issues I may come across without to much fanfare . And, If I get stuck, Windows is only a CD away . . . . . . . :lol: . |
Metla (12) | ||
| 626707 | 2008-01-03 17:44:00 | Apparently the latest Fedora awesome, but please dont use it coz nobody else here does AFAIK and we wouldnt be able to help when issues arrise!*waves* :rolleyes: I'm using Fedora 8 and it is great (with KDE) but I wouldn't recommend it for a newbie as other distros are more user-friendly right off the bat. There are guides on how to install all the propriety software for multi-media and other extra stuff that most users want that are usually easy to follow though. Does involve quite a bit of work. Being such a popular distro, there is heaps of documentation around and some very good Fedora specific forums. I have the same TV tuner chipset that Chill does, and it was automatically detected and correct drivers installed without any input on my behalf. I can't really recommend a distro for your needs as I haven't used one for such a purposes as you are intending, so have no experience doing that. :) |
Jen (38) | ||
| 626708 | 2008-01-04 02:24:00 | Just a quick thought (based on Bletch's recommendation) . . . . If you're looking for a Debian based distro - but one which should be relatively easy to start with . . . . maybe try Mepis 7 . It's based on Debian Etch - with Xorg 7 . 1 - kernel is 2 . 6 . 22 . 14 - uses KDE 3 . 5 . 8 . It's a live CD so you can try it first . Has some pretty good tools to get you up and running . Has good forum support as well . Best thing is that it's easy to lenny-fy it - simply disable the Mepis repos, enable Debian testing, and upgrade . This will get you newer version of Xorg etc and should be pretty stable . Worth a try maybe . |
Brooko (8444) | ||
| 626709 | 2008-01-04 08:46:00 | If you're looking at chipsets, and whats supported... graphically, ATi support is very hit and miss. Some are supported, others of a similar era, aren't :2cents: |
Myth (110) | ||
| 626710 | 2008-01-08 01:47:00 | I have been looking at creating my own media centre for some time but have not got around to it. In my 'research' I have found these two candidates, MythTV and MCE. wiki.linuxmce.org www.mythtv.org I have not really looked into these distros in detail, so I am not sure if this is what you are looking for. Let us know what you decide to go for, and how it turns out. If you have bluetooth, you could use a boothtoothed phone as a remote for some linux A/V software. Not sure if this is the case with windows software. :) |
mister harbies (5607) | ||
| 626711 | 2008-01-08 02:44:00 | Those aren't distros, they're applications which run on top of any modern GNU/Linux type system. | Erayd (23) | ||
| 626712 | 2008-01-08 02:54:00 | If Metla is giving it one-shot, then Id highly suggest sticking with Bletch solutions. Dont get me wrong, Ive used GeeXboX, mini-distros' etc, but they all have their shortcomings, limitations, and specific sector of the market they target that I dont believe Metla falls under. Interesting read for anybody else who has some spare time, as is Xbox Media Centre for Linux which Ive recently got running... but again, has a shortcoming / limitation that'll probably just annoy Metla... I know, Ive been in his shoes ;) |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 626713 | 2008-01-08 02:59:00 | In the short term, I was kicking my laptop across the shed floor the other day, and it occured to me that not only was I mistreating something that cost me near $3000 (although a month ago I was ramming it out of my way with the lawnmower) But I could use it to run my home threatre. Its only a short term solution as I have lost my 5.1 audio and TV but she does most other thngs fine, and it means I can put off fixing my PC for a few months, Which is good, Spent far too much recently, Going to try and build up some funds again. |
Metla (12) | ||
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