Too many choices

[ace-mint]

Ok, I'm Re-New to linux. I played with it somewhat about 4 years ago.

I just built "Franken-Zilla" and installed 1) Debian, 2) Kubuntu, 3) Fedora, 4) Ubuntu and MINT (where I had Mandriva originally) in a multi-boot scenerio. (2 hd's with multiple partitions)
I can't decide which distro to concentrate my time on. They all seem to have there own pro's and con's.
It would be stupid, on here(Mint)) to ask who likes which distro . . . but . . .

Who uses other distros and what did they find as for pro's and con's ?
Do yo run more than One Distro , and why.
What is your Fav. ?

I already made a couple Wallpapers and edited Grub (on my Debian partition) to get a likable appearance.
Anyhow, give me you opinions on the various Distros !

Thanks in advance!
Ace

[zulfikar]

It all comes down to what do you want from a distro do you want it as a Desktop or a server. For me it is for daily work like email / browsing / watching HD vids and movies and music. Some may want it for audio / video recording/editing and many other things.

For a server system than I would say Debian/ Suse/ Fedora.

The current distros which I am trying are Mepis (It is nice and quick using KDE , you may need to install codecs , still trying MEPIS), Mint 12 (everything you need) , LMDE (fantastic and everything you need).

Tried Ubuntu 11.10 did not like the interface and I had to install the codecs.

[vrkalak]

[MOVED] here, as this is not actually a Newbie Question.

Seems to be more a Chat about LinuxMint Topic.

[vrkalak]

I use and play with several OS-distros ... all Debian-based though.

LMDE - Crunchbang - antiX - Zenix-OS - Debian-6-OS . . . all with either Fluxbox or Openbox - of course.

I just re-set my original LMDE, from Testing to Sid (Debian's unstable branch)
I have had this install of LMDE since 12 of 2010.

[lmintnewb]

lol ... no such thing as too many choices imo. How do ya eat an elephant ? A bite at a time. Agree with the person above in that much of gnu/Linux is choice, preference, application ... blahblahblah. What I like, you might hate and vice versa.

If you've tried a bunch firsthand and can't figure out what works best for you, needless to say I have no way of knowing. You also already mentioned you have options like multiboot or etc. Can only suggest you keep a couple/few you really like and concentrate on those. Much of gnu/nix imo has much common ground, so whatever you learn on x ... is very likely to translate to others too.

Yep ... I multiboot this old dinosaur PC. Have a 3 Linux install rule. Found 3 I really liked for one reason or another and kept them onboard + windows XP. My favorite I use vast majority of the time anyway. Didn't make sense to me having 323 OS's on 1 PC. I quit doing the distro hop a good while ago, was taking up too much time and taking away from actually using my comp for something productive, shrugs.

[ace-mint]

This is Mint LMDE.
What is Xfce ?
This is not for a Server or for "work", it's just one of my pass-times. (i'd say for pleasure but sometimes it's not so fun)
I'd like to be able to do everything that I can do with XP but not be tied to XP (and Bill Gates) or making the rich, richer !

I think Gnome LOOKs too toy-like. The graphic interface looks less refined to me. 4 years ago when I played with Ubuntu I trued Mandiva as well. Mandriva seemed to have a more refined and cleaner look.
I had Mandriva loaded again this go-round and found it's not as "free" as some others so I ditched it.
I installed Kubuntu because it's KDE. Debian just because it's Debian, Fedora because it's RPM and different.

I still run XP on my main computer, The Linux distros are on this is one that I just built mainly for this purpose and to have
msdos 6.22, and win 98 as well.
I have 120GB of music on my main computer and download, record and edit music too. I can play DVD movies on it but haven't done a lot of that. It's attached to my 32 flat panel tv via. DVI/HDMI.
Besides Music (and a few vids) I mainly browse the web, play with Photo/img editing.
Thanks for the input, keep it coming
Ace

[Lazy and Stupid]

This discussion is best done at Linuxquestions.org. Having said that, I will tell you my experience, after trying all the major distributions, that if you value your life (i.e., want to live an actual life and not a virtual one) then Mint (up until Gnome 3) has been the most trouble-free for me and allows me to do anything anyone could want to do with a computer (except easily write checks but that's a LINUX problem generally). I can come home, login, do what ever work I need to do and log off without having to fiddle with the computer. It is not possible to do that with any other distribution I have tried. And believe me, I have tried them all searching for automatic function and ease of use. I have been using Mint since 2009. Occassionally I have tried Fedora or SUSE or Debian just to see if they have improved and immediately went back to Mint.

However I should warn you that the Gnome 3 interface is horrible and will set you back 10 years in terms of ease of use and getting things done quickly (can you believe that you can't put icons on your desktop and there is no right click!). Mint has done the best job of minimizing the impact and is still my number one choice. Mint 9 Gloria was the best and most trouble free distribnution. I have tried 10 and 11and found increasing levels of problems (using the same hardware!). Mint 12 was the first version since version 9 that installed (on the exact same hardware!) without fiddling around but it has that HORRIBLE time-wasting life-sucking interface.

So if you don't want to spend a lot of time doing nonproductive things on your computer, I believe Mint is still you best bet.

P.S. Belkin wireless does not work out of the box in any version of Mint I have tried except Gloria. If you, like me value your time more than anything else, then just buy a TP-LINK TL-WN722N wireless and put the Belkin in the trash where it belongs. Otherwise you can kiss many hours goodbye as you try to get the Belkin to work. The TP-Link is recognized as soon as it is plugged in and your off and running in less than a minute.

[craig10x]

apparently you haven't tried cinnamon session, "lazy and stupid"...if you had you would know you can right click and application in the menu and add it to the menu favorites, the panel or to the desktop...while Cinnamon doesn't have all the features or configuring flexibility yet, each new version will have more of that...and although it's in alpha it is already very stable and very enjoyable to use...it brings in (and will bring in more) a lot of the things gnome 2 had except on top of the new gnome 3...

Also i think you confuse gnome 3 with the gnome 3's shell...two different things entirely...gnome 3 itself is a vast improvement over gnome 2...and mint's Cinnamon (for those who prefer a more conventional desktop) will be an OUTSTANDING CHOICE as it matures

[Lazy and Stupid]

You are 100% right Craig10x. I never heard of cinnamon. I figured out how to download and install it and am now using it. Your right it is way better. The only complaints now are that moving the cursor to the upper left still causes you to lose the focus (VERY annoying) and right clicking on an application in the menu doesn't provide the option of uninstalling. Other than that I am a very happy camper. Mint still rocks! If there was a way to contribue without using Paypal I would pay for Mint. I can't say that about any other distribution.

[craig10x]

Various improvements and new features will come along for it in the form of updated versions which will appear in you update manager when they are ready, so most issues should be resolved as it goes along

Hope you enjoy it as much as i am...it's the only session i use now on my mint 12 installation

[podagee]

opensuse 12.1 kde is what i am currently on and i am loving it.the pros are 1)stability 2)stability and 3)stability.at first it was rough as with learning any new distro since i only know debian/ubuntu based distros.after a day or 2 you get the hang of it.give it a spin

[MALsPa]

Who uses other distros and what did they find as for pro's and con's ?
Do yo run more than One Distro , and why.

I run multiple distros for a few different reasons. Among them:

- I'm interested in following different projects.
- I don't want to feel tied down to any one distro.
- I think it helps me learn more about Linux in general (the old "contrast and compare" method). Seeing how one distro does things often helps me to do something in another distro.
- Some distros focus more on stability, some focus more on the "cutting edge."
- I like having a change of scenery sometimes.
- I like being able to get a feel for different distros after running each one for months or years, not for days or weeks.
- I like to think of myself as "a Linux user," not just "a Mint user" or "a Debian user" or " an Ubuntu user" or "a Fedora user" or whatever. I simply love Linux.
- There is no perfect distro; they all have pros and cons.
- I enjoy participating at the different forums and being able to discuss each distro as someone who regularly uses each one.
- There are always reasons why different people prefer this or that distro; I like to take the time to find out for myself what it is about a certain distro that is so appealing to its users.
- If I update to a new version of any particular distro and things don't go well, I've always got another distro that's up and running that I can turn to.
- I get a kick when someone says that this distro or that distro is "crap" and it's one I've been running here for a long time with no (or few) problems.
- Because I can.

What is your Fav. ?

Don't have a favorite.

[Hawkeye_52]

opensuse 12.1 kde is what i am currently on and i am loving it.the pros are 1)stability 2)stability and 3)stability.at first it was rough as with learning any new distro since i only know debian/ubuntu based distros.after a day or 2 you get the hang of it.give it a spin

Podagee,

I am glad you are enjoying openSUSE 12.1 kde, as you've mentioned on at least one other thread. SUSE was my first distro, back in 2004 or 2005; I was experimenting with Linux due to having my Windows based computer being trashed by a virus, even with McAfee 'protecting' it. I chose SUSE because it was the only boxed copy of Linux I could find (printed manual was mandatory for me at that time). Sooo, I am glad you are enjoying the newest version

It's just that I believe your post is misplaced. The section of this forum is titled 'Chat about Linux Mint'. Maybe you can cheerlead over in the section titled 'Chat about Linux and Other Distributions'?

If a person didn't know better, singing the praises of distro B, across multiple sections of distro A could interpreted as proselytizing Just saying...

Hawkeye

[podagee]

oh boy.i can post wherever i want guy.
ALSO....if u pay attention to the threaders post you'd realize the focus of the question.

[zerozero]

oh boy.i can post wherever i want guy.

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=83314

[MALsPa]

OK, I see that podagee loves openSUSE and has posted a few times about it, but...

Looking at the first post in this thread, seems to me that the thread belongs in the "Chat About Linux & Other Distributions" section, and that podagee's reply was appropriate given the questions asked in the original post. Is that not so?

[xenopeek]

Moved here by moderator

[MALsPa]

However I should warn you that the Gnome 3 interface is horrible and will set you back 10 years in terms of ease of use and getting things done quickly (can you believe that you can't put icons on your desktop and there is no right click!).

I don't feel that way about GNOME Shell at all. I think it's a great interface, and very easy to use, very enjoyable. From what I've read, some love it and some hate it, but I'm certainly not the only one who loves it. The above "warning" might have been made with the best intentions, but opinions vary. I'd say, "Try it yourself; don't go only by what other people say."

Desktop icons? Don't use 'em with any DE or WM, myself. And as for there being no right-click on the desktop, it would be nice to have that in GNOME Shell, but I really haven't missed it being there.

Oh, well, you can have two people looking at the same thing and they'll see it in a totally different light, so often...

[podagee]

thank you malapa its nice to see that some people on this forums can read.they call it trolling or whatever,but,if the staff were to read thoroughly they would see the relevance of my statement.thanks again

[Zukaro Travon]

I used to use Ubuntu 11.10 for awhile, I put gnome3 on and messed around with it until I got it working. Then I wanted to try out ArchLinux, so I deleted Ubuntu and put that on my netbook. I played around with that a bit to learn about the terminal and then tried out JoliOS. After setting up JoliOS (as it's all on the cloud) I deleted that and installed Linux Mint 12.

The reason I switched from Ubuntu 11.10 to Linux Mint 12 is because they're very similar, I loved Ubuntu, but Ubuntu has gone towards tablet computers with the Unity interface. Gnome 3 I find is more of nice looking desktop interface which would also work on a tablet. Unity is just too tablet like and I can't find anything.

Currently I have Linux Mint 12 and JoliOS on my netbook; the reason I like JoliOS is it's all on the cloud. Although I'm likely to not use JoliOS (and I can also use it from within a web browser anyways) I decided it'd be nice to have as a secondary OS just for the heck of it.



I still use Windows 7 most of the time, but I much prefer Linux. The reason I use Windows 7 mostly is cuz I like to play games on Steam. However, it's time for a fresh install of Windows (as it's gotten incredibly slow and terrible) so when I get around to that I'll be installing Linux Mint 12 alongside it along with using a GUID partitioning table. I'd like to set up a RAID driver or something also (not really sure what it's called, I just know it's RAID something). But I have no experience with RAID so I need to figure that out before I attempt it (I have two 500GB HDD's, originally I bought two so I could do this but never figured it out at the time).




As for all the "you can't right click or put icons on the desktop in gnome3" I can. Just install gnome-tweak-tool or something like that, it's got all those options (and I think Linux Mint 12 comes with that already, as I was able to do all that stuff upon installing LM12).