• What distro do you use and why?
    134 replies, posted
[QUOTE=ASmellyOgre;32280208]Yeah, my only real problem with Fedora is the boot time. It runs a ridiculous number of things at boot. I've gotten minimal systems to boot in just under 10 seconds on my netbook, though.[/QUOTE] Yeah, it doesn't boot as fast as I want it to, but to my knowledge that can be changed.
[QUOTE=T3hGamerDK;32284895]Yeah, it doesn't boot as fast as I want it to, but to my knowledge that can be changed.[/QUOTE] And how?
[QUOTE=ASmellyOgre;32280208]Yeah, my only real problem with Fedora is the boot time. It runs a ridiculous number of things at boot. I've gotten minimal systems to boot in just under 10 seconds on my netbook, though.[/QUOTE] Back in the day it would start sendmail, and that took forever on my old computer. I just looked and it stills starts sendmail. I just turned it off, and maybe that will speed it up, but i wasn't complaining about the speed anyway.
[QUOTE=Mr. Epicness;32286677]And how?[/QUOTE] Maybe by removing some boot entries, or replacing them with faster and/or more reliable programs/daemons?
[QUOTE=PvtCupcakes;32287229]Back in the day it would start sendmail, and that took forever on my old computer. I just looked and it stills starts sendmail. I just turned it off, and maybe that will speed it up, but i wasn't complaining about the speed anyway.[/QUOTE] I noticed that, too. I never really got the purpose of sendmail at boot.
[QUOTE=ASmellyOgre;32288150]I noticed that, too. I never really got the purpose of sendmail at boot.[/QUOTE] Some server stuff might need it :v:
I'm running mint 11, mostly because I love many of the new updates in ubuntu 11, but all of the new GUI elements, like the launcher and the dash are just too clunky and resource heavy for my taste. Mint does a good job of keeping all the new functionality of natty, but delivering it in a much lighter, cleaner package.
Ubuntu, I did use Arch for a while and had it working okay but I couldn't be arsed keeping it all up to scratch and just went back to the basics.
The main problem with arch is that you often have to take your time to fix random problems.
I'm using Gentoo, mainly because I love the idea of compiling everything specifically for your PC. After you get the kink's worked out, it is simple to maintain.
Linux Mint 11 is pretty nice. It doesn't come with Unity and other terrible things from Ubuntu but instead comes with things you enjoy, like codecs. It's also pretty neat for people who are just getting into Linux, like me. I've been using it for about half of a year and I have to say it is awesome. Only con is the fact that I had to figure out how to replace the search engine and theme the log-in screen and that was all kind of awkward.
[QUOTE=wauterboi;32376183]Linux Mint 11 is pretty nice. It doesn't come with Unity and other terrible things from Ubuntu but instead comes with things you enjoy, like codecs. It's also pretty neat for people who are just getting into Linux, like me. I've been using it for about half of a year and I have to say it is awesome.[/QUOTE] Exactly why I stopped liking Ubuntu and started using/suggesting Mint instead.
[QUOTE=Jetsurf;32376233]Exactly why I stopped liking Ubuntu and started using/suggesting Mint instead.[/QUOTE]I'm starting to look at Openbox and its variations though for minimalism and being able to build it from the bottom up. However, I don't necessarily see the need to. Then again, I will be building my new desktop soon as well as keeping this laptop I already use.
If you want to build up from nothing, use Arch. If you are up for a bigger challenge, use Gentoo. I'm not very familiar with other 'minimal' distros.
Debian since it's fairly simple and the package management is best. I use it for my server box to run a web server and Minecraft, in the past a Team Fortress 2 server.
Gentoo
[QUOTE=wauterboi;32376356]I'm starting to look at Openbox and its variations though for minimalism and being able to build it from the bottom up. However, I don't necessarily see the need to. Then again, I will be building my new desktop soon as well as keeping this laptop I already use.[/QUOTE] If you want to really build your WM from the ground up, go for FVWM. It's minimal, you get lots more customisability from it, but the catch is to spend a few hours in the config files and man pages to learn how it all works.
PuppyLinux. Easy to have a OS easily available on a flash drive nearby.
[QUOTE=Niteshifter;32384956]If you want to really build your WM from the ground up, go for FVWM. It's minimal, you get lots more customisability from it, but the catch is to spend a few hours in the config files and man pages to learn how it all works.[/QUOTE] [quote]dwm is customized through editing its source code, which makes it extremely fast and secure – it does not process any input data which isn’t known at compile time, except window titles and status text read from the root window’s name. You don’t have to learn Lua/sh/ruby or some weird configuration file format (like X resource files), beside C, to customize it for your needs: you only have to learn C (at least in order to edit the header file).[/quote] D: I dunno. If it's easy to learn then sure.
I use Fedora 15 on my netbook and WIndows 7 AND Fedora 15 on my desktop computer. Except when I'm at school. Then I run backtrack 5 RC1 on my netbook.
[QUOTE=wauterboi;32390470]D: I dunno. If it's easy to learn then sure.[/QUOTE] That's DWM (which is also quite a powerful WM as well). [url=http://www.fvwm.org/documentation/faq/]This is FVWM[/url].
[QUOTE=T3hGamerDK;32390946]I use Fedora 15 on my netbook and WIndows 7 AND Fedora 15 on my desktop computer. Except when I'm at school. Then I run backtrack 5 RC1 on my netbook.[/QUOTE] I also have Windows 7 and Fedora on my desktop. I only use Windows to play games, so I am almost always using Fedora.
[QUOTE=Mr. Epicness;32409397]I also have Windows 7 and Fedora on my desktop. I only use Windows to play games, so I am almost always using Fedora.[/QUOTE] Yeah, exactly. And now with Desura on Linux too, there's not much left for me in Windows, except Steam (still). I'm also considering just letting go of Fedora and going back to Gentoo again.
Linux Mint 11, because I wanted an easy-to-use distro with lots of support, and I use it as a Windows replacement. Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty just didn't do it for me. Over the years, Mint just got better and better, as Ubuntu just got more orange and brown. It wasn't until Ubuntu 8.04 that all my hardware issues went away. So I gave Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10 a chance, and they were great. But I kept coming back to Mint. I liked that Mint played my movies and music without having to download the codecs separately. I also liked that Mint had more wireless drivers included with it, and it's always kept the familiar desktop look and feel with a single panel, desktop icons, and an easy to navigate Menu similar to Windows. I'm currently utilizing Mint 11, the last one to include Gnome 2.32. I eagerly await the Gnome 3.0 release of Mint 12 this November. I know Clem and the team always put their best efforts into Mint. Let's hope Gnome 3.x is ready enough for Long-Term Support. :)
The thing that freaks me out a bit about jumping ship to an OS I have to build from the ground up is that I've never downloaded things like drivers and stuff like that. I don't want to end up just breaking the OS in some really stupid way or end up getting stuck. Would be a lovely project but I'd be bugging the hell out of some Linux channel with, "WAT DO I AM GOT TEH ARGO WTF OMG WHERE DRIVER I CANT SEE WHAT"
[QUOTE=wauterboi;32443708]The thing that freaks me out a bit about jumping ship to an OS I have to build from the ground up is that I've never downloaded things like drivers and stuff like that. I don't want to end up just breaking the OS in some really stupid way or end up getting stuck. Would be a lovely project but I'd be bugging the hell out of some Linux channel with, "WAT DO I AM GOT TEH ARGO WTF OMG WHERE DRIVER I CANT SEE WHAT"[/QUOTE] Then use your distros generic kernel image, don't attempt to compile your own.
[QUOTE=Jetsurf;32444355]Then use your distros generic kernel image, don't attempt to compile your own.[/QUOTE] He wasn't talking about kernel compilation, but about drivers. They're not always built in to the kernel, you know?
[QUOTE=T3hGamerDK;32444903]He wasn't talking about kernel compilation, but about drivers. They're not always built in to the kernel, you know?[/QUOTE] Usually kernel modules.
I am a window user to, I first went to linux mint 9 and it was fun, played around in it, then updated. Then after a month without it, it got boring so I install fedora (I am currently using) and it is much more fun.
[QUOTE=wauterboi;32443708]The thing that freaks me out a bit about jumping ship to an OS I have to build from the ground up is that I've never downloaded things like drivers and stuff like that. I don't want to end up just breaking the OS in some really stupid way or end up getting stuck. Would be a lovely project but I'd be bugging the hell out of some Linux channel with, "WAT DO I AM GOT TEH ARGO WTF OMG WHERE DRIVER I CANT SEE WHAT"[/QUOTE] I see what you mean, although the Linux channel(s) aren't there for a circle-jerk of fanboys, it's designed for people to ask for help and most of the people enjoy giving the answer, so there's no need to worry about bugging them. Also, the install documentation is pretty straightforward, so if you can read, you're pretty much good to go. Drivers are a bit different in Linux. There's the kernel drivers, which you only need to worry about if you're compiling your own kernel (most distros do this for you), and there's also X11 drivers which you only really need to ask yourself "Do I have a mouse and/or keyboard?", "Do I have a laptop touchpad?", "What is my video card?", etc and which drivers to install should be pretty obvious.
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