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Choosing a Linux desktop
April 30, 2005 - 7:48pm
Enterprise Linux News article
Try http://distrowatch.com/
Edited to fix link. What has gone wrong with the URL button feature? When I use it, the link doesn't work.
[ 01 May 2005: Message edited by: Cougyr ]
You can download it from here
It's three CD's or if you've got a DVD burner you can download the DVD version.
The ftp server seems quite busy (I've been having problems downloading "disk two") so you can always try it again in a day or two.
I know Cougyr you hate RPM based distros [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img] but Mandriva is relatively easy for a newbie. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
IIRC, Connectiva (from Brazil, I think) was the developer of Synaptic as a tool for downloading and installing packages. They used it with RPM's, so I expect anything they did to be easy to use. I use Synaptic with Debian as a front end to apt-get.
I suspect that this merger is an attempt by Connectiva to break out of the South American market where they have been successful.
I've got a Mandrake 10.1 box that I'm going to try to upgrade to Mandriva.
Always curious about new Linux distros...like a kid with a new toy [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img] And I've never played with Connectiva so it will be interesting to see what's been brought in from the Brazilian folks.
Me too. [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img]
Live CD'sis probably a good idea. These are Bootable CD's that are functional linux systems. They don't install anything, they're more of a try before you buy thing...
Ubuntu seems to be the most popular of these, and if you do try it and like it, it's easy to take the next step and install Ubuntu onto your hard drive.
Ubuntu - Linux for Human Beings
But Mandriva, Suse and quite a few others these days have "live" CD's making it much easier for folks to "test drive" Linux.
Ubuntu has been getting some pretty good reviews on the simplicity of installation. I did test out the earlier "Warty Warthog" version briefly...but haven't yet tested "Hoary Hedgehog" Ver 5.04 (I love these release names!)
A couple of drawbacks with it, I'm not a big fan of the Gnome desktop...prefer KDE (just a personal thing). Also not creating a "root" user during the installation.
I understand there's a KDE desktop version called "Kubuntu" but that its a little on the buggy side still.
And Cougyr will like this...its Debian-based.
Ahhhh but nice to have choices! And that its a free operating system that gives you choices...something that you don't get when paying hundreds of dollars to you know who [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
[ 04 May 2005: Message edited by: radiorahim ]
Actually, I think this is a good thing™. Anyone who really needs to have root knows how to activate the root account. For new linux users, it's probably a good idea to get used to 'sudoing' things. It is after all 'best practice'. It also makes it a lot less likely that a mistake like rm -rf / becomes a screaming nightmare. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Linspire has the same problem...otherwise a fairly "slick" Linux distro for a complete newbie.
I was just at our local LUG meet. One of the guys did an install of Kubuntu, which is a spinoff of Ubuntu that uses KDE instead of Gnome. Your comment about not forcing you to create a root user is not quite right. Ubuntu handles it differently. It is done through Sudo. I can't remember the details, but to go to root you do: sudo -s. You can only get into root if your user has root permissions in sudo. I asked about the process and was given a thorough demo including a user without root permission trying to get into root. Not only was he refused, but the attempt was logged.
The choice to disable the root account is a little misunderstood. You aren't running as root, like in windows. If you try to perform an administrative task, you'll be prompted to enter the administrator's password. The reason for this being that it's insecure and unnecessary for a home user to log into their system as root with an open internet connection (and a GUI). It's more secure to have a single process running as root for a short amount of time. People who've been using linux for a while may still want to enable the root account, which is easy enough: Open a root terminal, type "passwd", enter the root password twice, and there you go. You'll also have to specifically state that root can log in via the graphical interface. I've enabled the root account on this computer but, honestly, I never really use it. Even when I was using Gentoo, I'd only do administrative stuff from a root terminal ("su - emerge -uD world" (then wait for a month), etc).
So, while there isn't a root user, "root" still performs administrative tasks. The end effect is the same. No one can log onto the computer and mess around with stuff, and nothing can install or be deleted without my permission. The average end user is probably better off since they can't just log into root because they're lazy (root can do anything, a user is very limited, so why even use the user account?). At least, not without some effort anyway.
Guess I've gotten used to doing things a certain way on Linux.
How did he find the "KDE" version of Ubuntu? I'd read a couple of reviews that mentioned some buggy stuff happening with it. Though naturally...I have downloaded a copy of it [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
They seemed to really like it. I find both KDE & Gnome to be too cluttered and feature rich; distracting. But some people are really impressed with that eye candy stuff. Regardless, it all looked pretty good.
radiorahim, BTW, they did a teriffic demo of SSH. They used a laptop connected to the net and with SSH entered a couple of other computers and operated them remotely (both ligitimately). They both do this with their business. It saves the nuisance of downloading at the end of the day because they already did the work on the base machine. Apparently this is the direction that Xorg is taking their X controller. Remote operation of a base machine is seen as a useful goal. LUG meetings are [img]cool.gif" border="0[/img]
[ 06 May 2005: Message edited by: Cougyr ]
I got the driver I need from intel, and it's made for linux, and I've tried following the instructions they give here but I'm just having no end to the problems. For one, where am I supposed to be putting in all these commands that they give? I've tried them in Konsole, in Root Konsole, in Midnight Commander, everywhere I can find, but no such luck. I've yet to get a single command to work.
I tried manually unzipping the download, which went fine, although I'm not sure where I would put it, but I can't get the makefile to run, or anything.
Also, they say you need to download Wireless Extensions v.15, but for any of the wireless extensions versions they link to, it doesn't download anything, it just opens something that I can only assume is source code right in the browser window.
Does anybody have anything that could help me, or am I in over my head and need to retreat back to windows?
http://www.brunolinux.com/08+-WiFi/Ndiswrapper.html
Yes, this is one of the more annoying aspects. But ndiswrapper works like a charm once you've installed it. You may already have it built in depending on what Mandrake currently has. I run it manually, does anyone know an automatic way of doing it?
http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/phpwiki/index.php/Installation
Mind you having setup wireless routers for others it can be a bit flakey no matter what the O/S.
I'm still on a "wired" network myself.
But for "out of the box" wireless networking support I understand that Xandros is a good distro to use.
Xandros has a freebee version called Xandros Open Circulation Edition...Xandros OCE is on version 3 now.
I suppose I can give that Xandros distro a try, but if I have no luck with that, then I think it's back to XP for me. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
If you do decide on Ubuntu, you should also check out the Ubuntu Starter Guide. It's just a quick reference for doing common things, like installing codecs and programs, setting up a LAN, etc.
[ 11 May 2005: Message edited by: Adam ]
I've downloaded 2 more distros to try, and am almost finished downloading one more after that, to see if I can get those to work.
edited to add: I suppose I should take a look at that starter guide, though, and give ubuntu another chance with the network.
[ 11 May 2005: Message edited by: Raos ]
That's, of course, for Ubuntu (or Gnome, anyway). I haven't used Mandrake in (approximately) a thousand years, so I have no idea how to get it to work there.
Edited to add: Ubuntu lets it work, so I'm sticking with this. Although firefox won't let me edit preferences, extensions, or themes.
[ 12 May 2005: Message edited by: Raos ]
Glad you were able to get it to work.
Nice thing about Linux is that if you have problems with one distro you can always trash it and try another one. Can't beat the price tag either ... $0.00 [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
[ 12 May 2005: Message edited by: Raos ]
With free open source software I don't get all worked up if I run into a technical glitch. I just work through it till I get it working...and in the process, I've usually learned something new.
But, I have fewer problems with free open source software than I did with Microsoft's expensive alternative.