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Off Topic: Linux Options

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:26 pm
by johnstrasser
Hi Folks,

Due to a bunch of capacitors finally blowing up on my 8 year old dell MB (and they were from that bad batch of caps that came out then too - so that comp owes me nuthin...) I've decided that I'll be building everything from scratch again. So the parts are all here and I'll be installing BBM with Freedos, Win7, & WinXP later today.

And now I want to get to really learn and play with Linux. So I'll probably start playing with "puppy linux" (gotta love the name) and while that may work I don't know that I'd stay with it. Especially if I want to play with anything other than installing a few programs.

So what version would you all recommend? I'll be eventually doing programming in that environment (both native and WINE).

Also, at some point within the next few months I'll actually be setting up some linux servers (for an office network) which will also include a mail & database server. So I'd like to be able to have the same environment running at home as I will there (with the obvious hardware differences).

Thanks for the advice

Re: Off Topic: Linux Options

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:23 pm
by DrTeeth
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 08:26:57 PST, just as I was about to take a herb,
johnstrasser disturbed my reverie and wrote:

>So what version would you all recommend?
I'd go for any of the Linux Mint flavours. Way behind those in joint
second place would be OpenSuSE or Xubuntu/Kubuntu (NOT Ubuntu - hate
the interface).
--

Cheers

DrT
______________________________
We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in
our lives; but we can always choose whether or not
to dance in the puddles (Jewish proverb).

Re: Off Topic: Linux Options

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 3:52 am
by ohaya
Hi,

If you want to get some experience with closer to commercial type Linux (you mentioned setting up in an office network), I'd probably go with the Redhat family. You can start with Fedora (more consumerish flavor), then/or Centos. Both of those are free, and from Redhat.

Centos is quite close to "real" Redhat, that you'd see in commercial installations.

We run 100s of Redhat Enterprise servers, but I do my development on Centos. I also have a couple of Fedora instances for my personal use, because Centos doesn't always has drivers for newer hardware.

At least in the space in which I work, we rarely see any other Linux, except possibly Oracle's Linux, and maybe Ubuntu once in a while.

I think that pretty much any distribution has a LiveCD that allows you to boot the CD (or DVD) so that you can get a feel for the environment.

Another approach you can take is to use something like Vmware Player or VirtualBox (both free) and install whatever Linux distribution(s) you want as different "guests". That way, you can try different ones, and go back-and-forth as you please. All of the Centos and Fedora stuff that I mentioned are running like that, either under VirtualBox or under Vmware Workstation (at work, under Vmware ESXi).

Jim

P.S. Your question is not 'off-topic' here, as this is the 'off-topic' area of the forum :)!!

Re: Off Topic: Linux Options

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 11:35 am
by DrTeeth
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:52:24 PST, just as I was about to take a herb,
ohaya disturbed my reverie and wrote:

>You can start with Fedora (more consumerish flavor), then/or Centos.

I have not had good experiences with Fedora. It is too bleeding edge
and sooner or later something breaks - the last time a regular update
FUBARed the OS - on several PCs so it was not hardware related.

I'd imagine CentOS would be a much safer bet.
--

Cheers

DrT
______________________________
We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in
our lives; but we can always choose whether or not
to dance in the puddles (Jewish proverb).

Re: Off Topic: Linux Options

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:19 pm
by ohaya
Hi,

You should have imaged the Fedora before doing the updates :)!!

Sorry - I just couldn't let that one pass :)...

Jim

Re: Off Topic: Linux Options

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 3:35 pm
by George
Hi, John.
You can get as many recommendations as there are distros.
Personally, I like Ubuntu for its ease of installation and maintenance.
As a retired software engineer with over 30 years of Unix / Linux /
Solaris experience, I like Xubuntu because I don't particularly like the
Unity interface, but that's just me. I like to use the CLI in the
terminal window for bash and Perl scripting.
I suggest you find several distros that piques your interest and burn
the live CD files to bootable media. Then, boot one and play with it for
a while. I currently boot Vista, IFL, and three flavors of Linux using BIBM.
Once you decide on a distro you like, consider creating a separate
partition or volume to hold your user files. That way, you can back up
individual partitions or volumes using BIBM or IFx. If you need to do a
clean install of the OS (which I do when there's a new released
version), I can install the OS to a new partition and link (using fstab)
my /home directory to the new OS.
If you have any questions about what I've said, search for the terms
I've used. I also recommend getting a book on Linux, specifically for
the version you're interested in.

There are several of us who watch these forums and can give you hints or
point you to TB KB articles that can help you get through the rough spots.

There are 10 kinds of people in the world,
Those who understand binary,
and those who don't.

On 01/13/2013 09:26 AM, johnstrasser wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> Due to a bunch of capacitors finally blowing up on my 8 year old dell
> MB (and they were from that bad batch of caps that came out then too
> - so that comp owes me nuthin...) I've decided that I'll be building
> everything from scratch again. So the parts are all here and I'll be
> installing BBM with Freedos, Win7, & WinXP later today.
>
> And now I want to get to really learn and play with Linux. So I'll
> probably start playing with "puppy linux" (gotta love the name) and
> while that may work I don't know that I'd stay with it. Especially
> if I want to play with anything other than installing a few
> programs.
>
> So what version would you all recommend? I'll be eventually doing
> programming in that environment (both native and WINE).
>
> Also, at some point within the next few months I'll actually be
> setting up some linux servers (for an office network) which will also
> include a mail & database server. So I'd like to be able to have the
> same environment running at home as I will there (with the obvious
> hardware differences).
>
> Thanks for the advice
>
>

Re: Off Topic: Linux Options

Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:03 pm
by DrTeeth
On Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:19:55 PST, just as I was about to take a herb,
ohaya disturbed my reverie and wrote:

>You should have imaged the Fedora before doing the updates

Ahhh, but I did. I also had the same thing happen with Sabayon 10. I
tinker with my Linuxes and if one goes tits up with an update I do not
waste my time fixing it - I remove it. Too many work well for me to
waste my time on those rare ones that don't.

>Sorry - I just couldn't let that one pass

I know the feeling LOL.
--

Cheers

DrT
______________________________
We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in
our lives; but we can always choose whether or not
to dance in the puddles (Jewish proverb).

Re: Off Topic: Linux Options

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:14 pm
by johnstrasser
Thanks folks. Lots of playing ahead of me it seems (Oh DARN! ;)

---suddenly feeling like Brier Rabbit

Re: Off Topic: Linux Options

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 8:33 pm
by DrTeeth
The main thing I would say is that is one distro does not work out of
the box as you wish, don't, unless you are a masochist, waste time
trying to fix it. Just move along to another one.
--

Cheers

DrT
______________________________
We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in
our lives; but we can always choose whether or not
to dance in the puddles (Jewish proverb).