Cant decide on linux distro.

[Guest]

I decided its time to download a distro of linux so I could start playing around with a new os . But I can not decide on which distro i should get.

I wanted SuSE but im on dail-up and they dont offer .iso files.

So right now im looking at slackware, and college linux. again im on dail up so I dont want to download a whole os only to hate it. So if anyone has used these distro's before please let me know how it went.

[Wayne Luke]

Find your local Linux User's Group and buy Distros off of them. Probably get them for a couple dollars per distro or even borrow them and see which one you like.

I personally prefer Suse and you can find it at your local BestBuy for a reasonable price.

[RichM]

Well i'd say RedHat Linux 9 is best for both desktops and servers.

[mcncyo]

Well i'd say RedHat Linux 9 is best for both desktops and servers.

The only problem i see with RedHat Linux 9 is redhat isn't going to be doing anything with it after apirl 30, 2004.

[Mr. X]

If downloading isnt an option, you could try http://www.cheapbytes.com/ or http://www.osdisc.com . I ordered RH and Mandrake distros plus a bunch of other application CDs before I had broadband, for a few bucks, often under $10.

[louisl]

I bought/use Suse pro. I wanted to get back into using linux and read reviews that it was a better distro for a noob. Wayne is right you can go to Bestbuy and get a copy cheap. I only used it for a couple of days, but looking forward to using it more. Im happy with it so far.

[UHN_ED]

I have used Mandrake, Turbolinux, Red Hat, Slackware, and will be using SuSE in a few days.

Slackware is not for beginners, period. College Linux is built off of Slack, just to let you know. Mandrake is better then Red Hat for a desktop IMO. Turbolinux I only used on a co-located server.

What I hear about SuSE is awesome. YaST is supposed to be great, and it has a ton of packages. I found that I did not use most of the ones that came with Mandrake I did not use, but I think I went on SuSE's site and I think I can use most of the ones that come with PRO. You can also install apt-get for SuSE (I think you may be able to do this with most distros), and apt-get is one of the great things about Debian. If you have problems with apt-get, YOU (YaST Online Updater) is supposed to be pretty good.

One thing about SuSE, you have to pay the full price. You will not find it cheap from stores that may sell Mandrake and others for under $10. The ones on Ebay are illegal, I asked SuSE about that. This is because it is illegal to distriute YaST. You can always go to a LUG and have someone install it for you, that is fine, but they can't make you CDs.

[rylin]

The only problem i see with RedHat Linux 9 is redhat isn't going to be doing anything with it after apirl 30, 2004.

Correction.
They're moving it to http://fedora.redhat.com/ (Fedora Core).
Essentially, it will be Redhat 10, but more community driven. And no support.

[Tungsten]

http://www.linuxiso.org/

They have SUSE there too. Free download.

[Radon3k]

BestBuy.com has SuSe Pro 8 but SuSe's website has SuSe 9 Pro for $79.95. If you purchase a distro of Linux, such as SuSe, how does one go about upgrading to the newest version? Is it similar to Windows where you have to buy the newest version (Which if the price is $79.95 then I'm not complaining since Windows costs well over that)?

[Floris]

Find your local Linux User's Group and buy Distros off of them. Probably get them for a couple dollars per distro or even borrow them and see which one you like.

I personally prefer Suse and you can find it at your local BestBuy for a reasonable price.

I second that, as a consumers desktop, SuSe 9.0 is quite nice. I am very happy with it. They are affordable os distro's and come with manual etc. The biggest cost is probably the shipping Most linux sites allow cc & paypal, so it should be done pretty quickly. Enjoy.

[Wayne Luke]

http://www.linuxiso.org/

They have SUSE there too. Free download.

Suse offers a free LiveCD version of the distribution which is what you are getting at Linuxiso.org. It is similar to Knoppix or other Live-CD distributions.

Another place to get Linux CD's would be in magazines and books.

[tgillespie]

I went through an episode of trying and testing linux distros. The only one to still remain on my secondary hard drive is Gentoo. This does not mean that I would recommend Gentoo over any other, but I found Gentoo gave me more control. If I was starting out again, I would definately pick SuSE or Slackware. Then after you have a grasp on things and want to move on a little, try Gentoo.