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Which Linux?

Caledon1297 said:
Last Windows that I used was 98, and like you, made the switch to Linux, and never looked back. :cool: :)
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Win 98 was a peach! But you must have been a command-line pioneer, if you switched after 98. One thing I miss a bit about Linux over the past 10 years is that you no longer tick what software you want installed. Which you still did for a while even after Linux installations became very easy with GUI. But now it does it for you very efficiently.
 
PaulMB said:
One thing I miss a bit about Linux over the past 10 years is that you no longer tick what software you want installed.
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I think Bunsenlabs https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=bunsenlabs does something similar, not a tick box but a very light Debian/Openbox based installation which then offers a script to install the bits you want. Bunsenlabs is a community continuation of the much missed CrunchBang Linux which I used for years. Very lightweight and fun to use.
 
PaulMB said:
Win 98 was a peach! But you must have been a command-line pioneer, if you switched after 98. One thing I miss a bit about Linux over the past 10 years is that you no longer tick what software you want installed. Which you still did for a while even after Linux installations became very easy with GUI. But now it does it for you very efficiently.
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Tbh, no - full disclosure, I used Win98 waaaaaay past its sell by date, largely due to the hardware I had at the time; had I known about Linux back then, and assuming they existed, a lightweight distro might have been just the ticket! My switch to Linus is far more recent. :)
 
Been reading about Bunsen/Crunchbang and it looks fun and useful if you need a really light system. But it also looks like you need to tinker a bit.
 
PaulMB said:
Been reading about Bunsen/Crunchbang and it looks fun and useful if you need a really light system. But it also looks like you need to tinker a bit.
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Agreed they definitely are like that although I "think" Bunsen may be easier with some automation but I tried it only briefly when Crunchbang packed in. Not ideal as a first go....
 
I've used Mandrake, Red Hat, Ubuntu, Debian, regular Mint, LMDE, and MX. LMDE 2 was my all time favourite. Like LMDE MX has Debian as its base and goes like a cut cat. Currently I'm settled on regular Mint 19.x for its LTS. I feel too old and slow and am busy with other things now to bother with frequent upgrades requiring installation.

I've had no problems with current Mint except for the loss of sound after an update, which was easily resolved. I've always preferred the Gnome 2/Mate desktop, with Xfce second.
 
PaulMB said:
Been reading about Bunsen/Crunchbang and it looks fun and useful if you need a really light system. But it also looks like you need to tinker a bit.
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Tinkering certainly helps. Bunsen is fine out of the box but is a great platform on which to learn and customise.
It's based on Debian stable branch and due a new release within a month. The current release (Helium) is getting a bit crusty in terms of kernel and the software repos.

For someone new to Linux I'd go with Kubuntu (Ubuntu base + KDE Plasma desktop). Easy install, stable, plenty of software in the repos and the interface isn't a shock for someone coming from windows.

For the best of the best I'd go with OpenSUSE Tumbleweed with Plasma desktop.
That's been my choice for the past 9 months. It's rolling so always bang up to date but also highly tested so very stable.
Not a beginner Linux disto IMO but worth a try once knowledge starts to build after a few months.

I have a Linux based channel which just happens to focus of OpenSUSE, BunsenLabs and Plasma :)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI-FgEdZQxBASsm3HNcWKxQ
 
PaulMB said:
But it also looks like you need to tinker a bit.
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Yes, but much of the tinkering is straightforward, editing the odd xml file etc so actually pretty useful if you are looking for something of a learning experience as Robert has said. Openbox doesn't provide any desktop icons so it is a step away from a Windows type environment, the default way of opening programs is either via right-click or keyboard shortcuts (e.g. Ctrl-F to open Firefox etc (I may have misremembered which key it is)).
 
Robert said:
Tinkering certainly helps. Bunsen is fine out of the box but is a great platform on which to learn and customise.
It's based on Debian stable branch and due a new release within a month. The current release (Helium) is getting a bit crusty in terms of kernel and the software repos.

For someone new to Linux I'd go with Kubuntu (Ubuntu base + KDE Plasma desktop). Easy install, stable, plenty of software in the repos and the interface isn't a shock for someone coming from windows.

For the best of the best I'd go with OpenSUSE Tumbleweed with Plasma desktop.
That's been my choice for the past 9 months. It's rolling so always bang up to date but also highly tested so very stable.
Not a beginner Linux disto IMO but worth a try once knowledge starts to build after a few months.

I have a Linux based channel which just happens to focus of OpenSUSE, BunsenLabs and Plasma :)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI-FgEdZQxBASsm3HNcWKxQ
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Yes, I used Suse several years ago and it was at the same level of user-friendliness and ease of installation as Red Hat and Mandrake. Then Debian-based distros like Ubunto, Kubuntu, Mepis got much more idiot-proof and easy, while from that point of view Suse stood still. I'm sure it is every bit as good as, say, Kubuntu, perhaps better, but it is definitely more "technical" that some others. I installed and configured it in maybe 2006, so I could do it again, but the Debian family seems to be much easier.
 
Well, three days with new ram and not a single crash.

I ran memtest on the two 4g chips separately and they both passed. However, the chips were mismatched in speed (1333/1600). I've run mismatched before without issues ... luck ran out.
 
Stimulated by this thread, I've been installing various Linux distros: Kubuntu, Ubuntu, Neon Linux, Manjaro. The computer I'm using has no DVD, so I'm doing it with a USB drive. It was a bit tricky at first, compared to the DVD install, but I think I've got the hang of it.
But Manjaro just won't install. It gives a mass of error signals about the kernel, then stops dead. I've followed instructions, and tried with 2 different USB drives on 3 different conputers, but no good. It seems Manjaro is picky about what programme is used to burn the iso onto the USB stick. The ones suggested by Manjaro I can't install on my own Kubuntu desktop. Seems odd, since it is such a popular distro.
Since several here have said they use Manjaro, I was just curious about their experience with USB drives.
 
I always used ImgBurn if you haven't tried that one.

Edit with hindsight not sure if I used that for USBs....
 
PaulMB said:
Stimulated by this thread, I've been installing various Linux distros: Kubuntu, Ubuntu, Neon Linux, Manjaro. The computer I'm using has no DVD, so I'm doing it with a USB drive. It was a bit tricky at first, compared to the DVD install, but I think I've got the hang of it.
But Manjaro just won't install. It gives a mass of error signals about the kernel, then stops dead. I've followed instructions, and tried with 2 different USB drives on 3 different conputers, but no good. It seems Manjaro is picky about what programme is used to burn the iso onto the USB stick. The ones suggested by Manjaro I can't install on my own Kubuntu desktop. Seems odd, since it is such a popular distro.
Since several here have said they use Manjaro, I was just curious about their experience with USB drives.
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Perhaps try a different USB installer, there are quite a few, Rufus, USB Universal Installer, etc. etc.
 
Caledon1297 said:
I haven't used DVD for a few years, finding USB 3 flash drives more reliable and much faster.
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It should be. For me it has been with Kubuntu, fast and reliable, as you say. But not with Manjaro. Do you burn the iso to the USB stick with a Linux programme? If so, which?
 
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