Michel Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 (edited) Hi, I'm going to install linux on a friends computer in tyhe next days. I first thought of Mandrake since I think it is quite easy to use and it's the distro I work with myself. I haven't yet worked with any other distro's .... I suppose all distro's bare simialrity since they are based on the same things and I maybe am capable of handling things on a lower level than gui, so I'll leave them open too if you suggest one. I'm not considering gentoo or other distro's from whihc you can only install from source §ok, you could install rpm or other packagemanagement systems that can install binarty programs, but that isn't what gentoo, ..was intended for), since it require too much time to install things. Anyway since I have the impression that pclinuxos has a better default setup, I was considering it. Since the site mentions beta-version, I'm doubting and searching for some comments from users with have experience with it. So, if anyone wants to comment, feel free ... Thanks. Edited February 22, 2004 by Michel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michel Posted February 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 (edited) I just read that pclinuos is at the moment (anyway the latest version) not available in Dutch. So, I probably won't use it now except if someone convinces me it is available in Dutch :). I'm also very interested in Mepis. It seems very nice. So any comments on this are also very welcome ... Does Mepis has supermount or is it easily installable? I also thought of Ark linux ..any others are also welcome. Thanks again Else it will be mandrake 9.2 I think. Edited February 22, 2004 by Michel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmack Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 I think I would stick with Mandrake for now. I'm a big fan and am beta testing PCLinuxOS, but until the final version comes out, I'd suggest newbies use Mandrake. There is a lot more documentation and community for Mdk at the moment and it is easier to get help and learn. After a few months of hands on experience, then the switch to a beta product might make more sense. I think PClinuxOS will grow very quickly, and we have some non-tech office workers using it now without major problems, but for the first experience, I'd go with the more stable option so your friend doesn't hit problems and get discouraged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 Mandrake or SuSE. PCLOS is definately beta when it comes to pkg management. Quite amazing really when you consider it's only got one source :lol: . I've reinstalled it three times because after I remove all the crap that livecd's need that is not for my sys, half the sys is borked. so goes 'beta' :D It will be great when final, but only if it gets back on track in compatability with mandrake. Otherwise it'll be another useless distro w/ a dying pkg manager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzylizard Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 Debian, Gentoo, FreeBSD, any of those should work :P Actually, I would suggest SUSE, Mandrake, or even Lycoris or Lindows. The later two are aimed squarely at people with no Linux background and people who do not want to learn linux either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjc Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 Mandrake Mandrake Mandrak We have the best Users group, right here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For noobs there is no better place to start. Our resources, our friendly help, great community...why go any where else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 (edited) Mandrake... and if they have a hp printer... Edited February 22, 2004 by iphitus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiedra Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 Mandrake! Definatly user-friendly, but with the full power of Linux. Great support group to. The best i've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 did i mention the mandrakian community.....such wonderful people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 Personally, even though pclinuxos is a great software, its beta status, fast package change, and reliance upon broadband are the three strikes against it for true newbie to use. An updated Mandrake 9.2 distro (I suggest you get the unofficial 4 cd updated 9.2 version) is a great way to introduce yourself to linux, whether it is for desktop or server. Of course, it's a lot better if you have someone close by to train you in using it (just to get away from windows mindset and get into the linux mindset). Remember to be prepare for a brand new experience and to learn a lot. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michel Posted February 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 (edited) Heya, thx, I'll suppose I'll choose Mandrake.... :). Now, I saw taht rpmfind.net has the isos for Mandrake 10.0-rc1. I'm considering of downloading those :). Ofcourse they have to be quite stable .... so, opinions on this ...? Why do I want to install them? They have the new 2.6 kernel and the new kde 3.2. Ofcourse I could update from 9.2 ot use those things, but then I have to donwload them again... And I checked tpmfind.net and ftp.belnet.be and can't seem to find 9.2 ..although with some searching I'll find them I'll suppose .... :) Update: found them already :D. Their date is 7-11-2003. Is it possible they include the updates or are those still only available to club-members or mayeb this will remain so? Edited February 22, 2004 by Michel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopDog Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 My first distro was Mandrake 9.1, and I think that was very user friendly... although no matter what distro you choose I highly recommend buying a book! I bought the "Ultimate Guide to Mandrake Linux" from MandrakeSoft and that way I both supported Mandrake and got a very good newbie-book If you don't know Linux at all, it would also be a great idea to try out MandrakeMove first, just to understand the differences from Windows and to see how it looks. Also if you try MandrakeMove you will see what hardware you got that don't work "out of the box". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 Does he want to learn Linux or have his hand held? Are you pushing him to Linux or is it something he wants to do to compare between the other os? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 (edited) I hate Lycoris but I'd recommend it to "average" computer users (why, in this world, is average=IGNORANT?) Borders has good Linux books...so I hang out there the whole day, jotting on napkins (ashamed to say I can't afford them :( ) sorry, I'd better move to the "rant" section... Edited February 23, 2004 by arthur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 (edited) I'd probably recommend a live CD for a couple of weeks and wait for MDK 10 stable! Let em get used to linux etc. before anything they can mess up. Knoppix is much more mature but PClinux OS probably has better support, especially if you count here!!! Knoppix does Dutch, PClinuxOs doesn't. IF he/she isn't happy in English it narrows it down.... If not its a toss up. Personally I wouldn't worry, let em use the Live Cd and learn through a few mistakes and by the time theyve done that they can use MDK 10 ! If they have no intention of learning then its worth considering Lycoris or Lindows. edits: arthur, average=IGNORANT because thats the way it is. As distro's get more friendly they keep you more ignorant!!! Because thats what people mean by 'friendly' No exceptions Ive ever seen. Mandrake is drifting slowly but surely to be a distro for the ignorant! OS-X is Unix for the brain dead! (not I don't think they did an exceptional job harnessing the power of linux for the braindead, just 99/100 Mac users will probably never understand how their computer works). Edited February 23, 2004 by Gowator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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