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Which version of Linux would be best for me ??

Hmm... It really will probably depend on a few things. Obviously, hardware. But also things like what you want to do and what type of UI you're into.

On my netbook, I have been using Debian for nearly a year now (same install - which is a record for me). It's worked great.

I would probably recommend something more lightweight, so maybe something like debian with LXDE? Though, you probably can manage gnome2 fine, mine did. You know, your netbook has better specs than mine, so I'd definitely say gnome2 should run great. I had no issues with lag or anything like that.

Though, I hear really good things about the latest batches from Linux Mint.

Hope that helps ya out!
 
9to5cynic said:
Hmm... It really will probably depend on a few things. Obviously, hardware. But also things like what you want to do and what type of UI you're into.

On my netbook, I have been using Debian for nearly a year now (same install - which is a record for me). It's worked great.

I would probably recommend something more lightweight, so maybe something like debian with LXDE? Though, you probably can manage gnome2 fine, mine did. You know, your netbook has better specs than mine, so I'd definitely say gnome2 should run great. I had no issues with lag or anything like that.

Though, I hear really good things about the latest batches from Linux Mint.

Hope that helps ya out!
Click to expand...

Well I'm new to Linux so simple ui for now lol and basic things listen to music watch movies/shows from iTunes(I have what I and family bought on external hard drive) surf the web
 
IPWNPACIFISTS said:
Well I'm new to Linux so simple ui for now lol and basic things listen to music watch movies/shows from iTunes(I have what I and family bought on external hard drive) surf the web
Click to expand...

That could be a problem if you want to use Linux, because of the Digital Restrictions Management(DRM). Basically you'd have to try and use iTunes on Linux with Wine.
WineHQ - Run Windows applications on Linux, BSD, Solaris and Mac OS X

However the current version of iTunes gets a "garbage" rating for Wine compatibility.
WineHQ - iTunes
 
Actually one of the reasons why I paid for the pro version of Mandrake/Mandriva was because the pay-for version came with stuff like US-licensed codecs and a 100% US-legal DVD player application. (That was before Ga
 
I can live without iTunes the netbook is just something I have laying around its not my only computer I like trying different OS on it kinda like flashing ROMs on my android
 
Give Mageia 2 a try. I installed Mga1 when it first came out and upgraded it to Mga2 without any hitches. This was on an Acer Aspire One I got in '09. It comes with KDE installed by default but I used Gnome 2 instead.

Salix OS is another one to try. It is lightweight and comes with Xfce4 desktop, similar to Gnome 2.

Alot of times it's not too hard to get restrictive media working, by adding extra install repositories.
 
saptech said:
Give Mageia 2 a try. I installed Mga1 when it first came out and upgraded it to Mga2 without any hitches. This was on an Acer Aspire One I got in '09. It comes with KDE installed by default but I used Gnome 2 instead.

Salix OS is another one to try. It is lightweight and comes with Xfce4 desktop, similar to Gnome 2.
Click to expand...

Can I dual boot them both to see which one I like more? I know all about partitions and whatnot. Also what's the best Linux software for rar zip files? In windows I used winrar. I'm new to Linux not comfy using terminal for everything lol I googled and everyone seems to swear by terminal
 
Yes you can dual boot both of those along with Windows, just make sure Win is installed first on the first partition, I don't know anything about Win8 and dual booting, haven't tried it.

I haven't dealt with rar files much but I believe if the executable files are installed all it takes if right-click on files you want to work with. Same as using Windows most of the time.

Alot of linux users like the command line because it's faster to use than point n click!
 
saptech said:
Yes you can dual boot both of those along with Windows, just make sure Win is installed first on the first partition, I don't know anything about Win8 and dual booting, haven't tried it.

I haven't dealt with rar files much but I believe if the executable files are installed all it takes if right-click on files you want to work with. Same as using Windows most of the time.

Alot of linux users like the command line because it's faster to use than point n click!
Click to expand...

I meant both os you suggested my hard drive is clean lol I'm fine with terminal just lot of new stuff to learn
 
saptech said:
Right, you can install both or as many OSes your hard drive can hold, even different versions of Windows and/or Linux.
Click to expand...

I'm done with windows for now moving on to Linux lol I have an android phone tablet and once I'm used to Linux will take windows 8 off my laptop and put Linux haha
 
My old AMD64 machine only had a 20gb hard drive when my last newer computer died, and I put Mageia & Salix on it. I didn't even bother with Windows. It was too slow for Win7 and I didn't want XP on it.

Now I have a C2D system and put Win7 and Mga3 Alpha on it. I"m testing the alpha version, which the final version is due in March. It will have KDE and Gnome 3.
 
Try Xubuntu. IIRC, it's basically Ubuntu for lower-end hardware. I have a crappy Foxconn PC I bought from Newegg that's basically a low-end laptop in a slimline PC case. Ubuntu 12.10 froze up constantly. Xubuntu 12.10 has yet to freeze up.
 
Mayhem said:
Try Xubuntu. IIRC, it's basically Ubuntu for lower-end hardware. I have a crappy Foxconn PC I bought from Newegg that's basically a low-end laptop in a slimline PC case. Ubuntu 12.10 froze up constantly. Xubuntu 12.10 has yet to freeze up.
Click to expand...

I added the others that were reccomended I'm liking it so far I will add xubuntu as a third option
 
I have a real old PC I was thinking of putting Salix 14 on it but turns out the latest version is for 686 or higher now. I may take a look at Xubuntu for it.

IPWNPACIFISTS, keep us updated on your progress.

Thnx.
 
I have also added mint 13 into the mix its my fav so far only problem is I can't set screen resolution to 1024 x 600 it shows up as option in displays but this error message pops up after I hit apply

"could not assign CRTCs to outputs:
Trying modes for CRTC 64
CRTC 64: trying mode 1024x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
none of the selected modes were compatible with the possible modes:
Trying modes for CRTC 64
CRTC 64: trying mode 1360x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 1024x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@73Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@75Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 720x400@70Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 1360x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 1024x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@73Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@75Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 720x400@70Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
Trying modes for CRTC 63
CRTC 63: trying mode 1360x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 1024x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@73Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@75Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 720x400@70Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 1360x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 1024x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@73Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@75Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 720x400@70Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)

CRTC 64: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 800x600@56Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 1024x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
none of the selected modes were compatible with the possible modes:
Trying modes for CRTC 64
CRTC 64: trying mode 1360x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 1024x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@73Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@75Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 720x400@70Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 64: trying mode 1360x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 1024x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@73Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@75Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 720x400@70Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
Trying modes for CRTC 63
CRTC 63: trying mode 1360x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 1024x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@73Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@75Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 720x400@70Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 1360x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 1024x768@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@73Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@75Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 720x400@70Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)

CRTC 64: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 800x600@56Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 64: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
Trying modes for CRTC 63
CRTC 63: trying mode 1024x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63 cannot drive output LVDS1
CRTC 63: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 800x600@56Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 0)
CRTC 63: trying mode 1024x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63 cannot drive output LVDS1
CRTC 63: trying mode 800x600@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 800x600@56Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
CRTC 63: trying mode 640x480@60Hz with output at 1024x600@60Hz (pass 1)
"
 
IPWNPACIFISTS said:
I can live without iTunes the netbook is just something I have laying around its not my only computer I like trying different OS on it kinda like flashing ROMs on my android
Click to expand...
I can relate. I have an old eeePC with only 4 GiB of onboard storage (that can't be upgraded). I've been meaning to replace the old ASUS Linux distro with something more useful for me. Just in case things don't work out I'm planning on dumping an image of the internal flash drive onto a USB drive so I can put it back if I want to.

Can I dual boot them both to see which one I like more? I know all about partitions and whatnot.
Click to expand...
If you're new to Linux and want to keep whatever is installed now, you probably back up the whole shebang first. If you're new to Linux and GRUB, setting up multiple Linux installations might be more trouble than it's worth. I'd install each distro one at a time. The experience will be good for you! :D

Also what's the best Linux software for rar (and? or?) zip files?
Click to expand...
For .rar files, that would be GNA unrar. As long as you have unrar installed, the GUI archivers like Ark will act as a front end for it. But the command line version is as easy to use as the old DOS program that you may have used to create the original archives. For PKZip-style .zip files, unzip works in a similar fashion.

I'm new to Linux not comfy using terminal for everything lol I googled and everyone seems to swear by terminal
Click to expand...
Remember that Google puts those who shout loudest first; it doesn't represent "everyone".

I'm a heavily technical UNIX and Linux user, and I'd rather use a graphical interface whenever possible. Although mastery of the command line can come in real handy at times, and may give you "133t" status with teenagers, it's not a requirement for using Linux. One of the reasons why I chose OpenSUSE (and before that, Mandrake) to use on my Linux boxes. You can do just about anything you need through the Yast utility, which works as a polished and good-looking X Window System program and in the less pretty but still graphical and menu-driven terminal mode.
 
saptech said:
I have a real old PC I was thinking of putting Salix 14 on it but turns out the latest version is for 686 or higher now.
Click to expand...
That's a shame. Salix is based on Slackware, which is famous for being one of the oldest Linux distributions still being maintained, and for providing support for really ancient hardware. It looks like Slackware has given up support for legacy hardware since 12.0.

Thankfully, Puppy Linux (another Slackware-based distro) has "Wary Puppy 5.3" for really old and/or really constrained (old or oddball CPU, low RAM, little storage) computers. Here's a list of Linux distributions that support i586. Note that while these should install in a i586 (Pentium) system, some "i686" packages may be included in many of these. It's not clear if the i686 packages don't support i586 systems at all, or if they're optimized for i686. If a i586 distro from the list doesn't work for you, sorry no refunds. :)
 
IPWNPACIFISTS said:
I have also added mint 13 into the mix its my fav so far only problem is I can't set screen resolution to 1024 x 600 it shows up as option in displays but this error message pops up after I hit apply
Click to expand...
It looks like this is a well-known problem with computers using Intel video chips and wide aspect ratio monitors. The old VESA video modes haven't been updated with wide screen support, so many X servers have problems with non-VESA screen dimensions.

The easiest thing you can do for now is to force 600x800 mode during install. You can also add "mode=0x115" to the kernel boot command line. This can't fix X for you, but will help you get a working console session. From there you can start editing the X config file.

Precisely what you need to add to the X config depends on your distribution, so I can't help with that in a general way. You can Google the distro, your chipset (Intel i950) and your native screen dimensions (1024x600) to find some forum posts with the right answer for whatever distro you're trying.
 
IPWNPACIFISTS said:
I have decided to stick with just mint 13 is there a way to upgrade to mint 14 and keep my files?
Click to expand...
I don't know about Mint, but every Linux distribution that I can remember installing has had an option to upgrade or install fresh. If you don't see a clear path to upgrade when you boot the Mint 14 disc, you can do the 3 finger salute to reboot, pull the disc and visit their website for more info.

Whenever I upgrade, I like to double-check to make sure that the installer isn't formatting any partitions. That's one thing to look out for if there is an upgrade option. "Trust but verify." :D
 
Speed Daemon said:
I don't know about Mint, but every Linux distribution that I can remember installing has had an option to upgrade or install fresh. If you don't see a clear path to upgrade when you boot the Mint 14 disc, you can do the 3 finger salute to reboot, pull the disc and visit their website for more info.

Whenever I upgrade, I like to double-check to make sure that the installer isn't formatting any partitions. That's one thing to look out for if there is an upgrade option. "Trust but verify." :D
Click to expand...

How do I go about double checking that the installer isn't formatting any partitions
 
IPWNPACIFISTS said:
How do I go about double checking that the installer isn't formatting any partitions
Click to expand...
I was afraid you'd ask me about that. :o

I don't know about Mint in particular. IME with most recent Linux distributions, there's a dialog that comes up, usually early on, that covers this.

No matter what you decide, it never hurts to have all of your critical files backed up. Before I do any upgrade, I back up the system as if I was going to lose everything on that machine. That way if I do somehow lose everything in one place, I can copy it back from the other place.

Any Mint users out there who can help?
 
No worries I looked it up im currently backing up my files to the cloud I learned that a fresh install is recommended so either way I would be doing a backup I'm going with the fresh install
 
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