Can anyone recommend a good Linux distro for me?

Ubuntu is just Debian but full with non-free software and its own binary repo, and ofc the Unity interface. Most ppl seem to dislike Unity anyway and it's not hard installing non-free software on Debian if it's needed to get the work done.

Here is why I dislike Ubuntu:
Full with non-free software
Not as stable and fast(and secure) as GNU/Linux have shown to be in other distros
I dislike the touch interface strongly
I can give more if you want...

Why would you need a transitional distro? Everybody very quickly realizes that you can't be half way between windoze and Linux, so you might as well go all the way and take a normal distro that is ok with community values and is not overhyped.

Plus: Ubuntu is objectively bad, I stated why I think so in some other posts on this forum, so I won't write it all over again.

Because there's absolutely no way I would have stuck with Arch Linux if I hadn't tried Ubuntu first.

I was mainly suggesting Ubuntu for the support. To be honest, I don't know how other user-friendly distros stand in that respect, but if they offer good community support then I would recommend that instead of Ubuntu.

Yea. Because the OS itself is not fully updated to latest.

My personal experience is that Ubuntu at least *was* a good distribution to get to know the Linux world, because I used it for that a couple of years ago. Sure, I played around with SuSE when it was at version 6.3, but I only started to really shift main usage of the PC from Windows to Linux with Ubuntu, which offered hardware support out of the box for me.

I don't know how it is today, I've moved on from Ubuntu to arch and might still move on to gentoo at some point, but in any case Ubuntu was what brought me to the Linux world. It offered me the opportunity to fiddle around in nifty configuration files, but I didn't have to in the beginning (though later on I found lots of configuration files that I fiddled around with that essentially didn't do what they were suggesting to do because Ubuntu simply didn't use them).

Source Mage is always updated to latest stable release of software, it downloads the source from the software's website and compiles it. It's great if you want cutting-edge.

btw. linuX-gamers 0.9.7 includes ~30-40 games, and also Nexuiz, Warsow and Urban Terror!!

I know Nexuz I've seen it! But no Xonotic...

It's been a very long time since the last release of linux-gamers live (may 2011). I seems to come out ~once a year, but there hasn't been any 2012 version yet :-(.

My personal experience is that Ubuntu at least *was* a good distribution to get to know the Linux world, because I used it for that a couple of years ago. Sure, I played around with SuSE when it was at version 6.3, but I only started to really shift main usage of the PC from Windows to Linux with Ubuntu, which offered hardware support out of the box for me.

I don't know how it is today, I've moved on from Ubuntu to arch and might still move on to gentoo at some point, but in any case Ubuntu was what brought me to the Linux world. It offered me the opportunity to fiddle around in nifty configuration files, but I didn't have to in the beginning (though later on I found lots of configuration files that I fiddled around with that essentially didn't do what they were suggesting to do because Ubuntu simply didn't use them).

I'm in the same situation. I'm curious about Gentoo but I don't think I'll make a move any time soon.

I seems to come out ~once a year, but there hasn't been any 2012 version yet

I'd expect them to update their OS at least once every couple of months, but hey, you can't complain when it's free!

I'm in the same situation. I'm curious about Gentoo but I don't think I'll make a move any time soon.

May I suggest Source Mage GNU/Linux, it's also a source-based distribution forked off Sorcerer Linux. Some guy forked Sorcerer after his Red Hate(?) fork, and the Sorcerer lead developer got offended or something and took it offline. So the rest of the devs forked it and named it Source Mage after a vote. The lead developer rewrote the package(source) manager and released it under the name Sorcerer Linux(previously Sorcerer GNU/Linux). What makes Source Mage unique is it's package manager which downloads the source code from the software's site directly using "spell".. These spells are simply instruction for the package manager Sorcery where it should download the source code etc. It also have it's own installer and some other unique tools. The main different between Gentoo and Source Mage is that Source Mage doesn't have prefix on the packages containing the source code, Gentoo usually change some of the defaults. Source Mage have its own package manager as I mentioned before, Gentoo's Portage which is more like *BSD's ports has its pros and cons. I prefer Source Mage since I've tried both, just wanted to recommend it!

I don't think I'll make a move any time soon because it's source-based. I just don't have the (CPU _and_ human) time for this. I should have said that.

Hello I did not read anything everyone wrote b/c im going to facepalm if i read some of the posts, but here's my list.

debian minimal + dwm = rock solid, simple; stable; elitist community; shitload of oudated but functional packages. ideal distro if your a foss nut and don't want shit to break.
ubuntu minimal + dwm = up to date packages, simple, stable, modern, big community, and shitload of packages. ideal distro if you don't give 2 shits about foss and want shit done without problems.
arch = overrated; expect shit to break; not as amazing/fast as people claim it to be; elitist community; great distro in theory but severely needs more developers to maintain/fix shit. oh and there's a joke i heard: "how do you know someone uses arch? they'll tell you."

i'd start out with the above and once you wanna go hardcore give linux from scratch a try.

Arch is meant to be bleeding edge, it's not like Debian or OpenBSD which has super old packages but is also super stable.

but is also super stable.

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

but is also super stable.

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

For your sake, please stay out of this thread Loafers.

EDIT: Reminder:
What this thread is about: rocknroll237 is seeking advice for a first-time user-friendly linux experience
What this thread is NOT about: which distro/OS is the best

EDIT2: Also, please tell me which distro you use, Loafers, so that I can generalize and say its entire userbase is arrogant and elitist as well. Ah, sorry, someone tells me this isn't how it works. Oops.

i'd go for the same as most users do : Mint 12. it's very easy to use, looks good and is stable as hell

For your sake, please stay out of this thread Loafers.

will do

EDIT: Reminder:
What this thread is about: rocknroll237 is seeking advice for a first-time user-friendly linux experience

my post seems to address op's request for advice.

What this thread is NOT about: which distro/OS is the best

never said one was any better than the other — each has its purpose and use.

EDIT2: Also, please tell me which distro you use, Loafers, so that I can generalize and say its entire userbase is arrogant and elitist as well. Ah, sorry, someone tells me this isn't how it works. Oops.

here's what i've used in no particular order mandrake: porteus, ubuntu, arch, debian, and funtwo.

oh and debian being a elitist community is true. in fact if you google debian you'll find TWO debian forums — i wonder why another one was created

arch? that was the distro i used for the longest time. and i laughed when he said it was super stable b/c if arch is super stable what is debian? o and the theory that arch is super stable is laughable. best thread on arch linux is the one where some users wanted a freeze/stable snapshot LOL

Many people will say in this thread that distro X is the best, others will say that distro Y is better and even more people will complain that distro Z is shit. It really depends on YOU, what you want and what you can do.

It took me one year to find out which is the best distro for me after trying out many...

What did I say... ?

rocknroll237, try out some recommended distros and post your experience then!

arch? that was the distro i used for the longest time. and i laughed when he said it was super stable b/c if arch is super stable what is debian? o and the theory that arch is super stable is laughable. best thread on arch linux is the one where some users wanted a freeze/stable snapshot LOL

He didn't say arch was stable though, he said Debian and OpenBSD are, UNLIKE Arch. So it seems you agree on that point.

-rest of the post-

Fair enough.

Haha, I will test them sometime, but it's not a priority atm and I'm going away next week and probably the week after that...

Thanks for the help people!

Mr Bougo, I'd be happy for you to close this thread if a heated debate happens!

but is also super stable.

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

What's funny with being stable, it's great for basic webservers for example, yes some server need up-to-date packages but some don't, and OpenBSD and Debian GNU/Linux is great for that purpose. I don't see what's "LOL" in that.

---

oh and debian being a elitist community is true. in fact if you google debian you'll find TWO debian forums — i wonder why another one was created

WTF, the developers and "elitist" members of the community are using the mailing-list, god..

Let's keep to the topic! I recommend: Debian GNU/Linux and Trisquel GNU/Linux for beginners

EDIT: @Loafers i didnt say arch was super stable...

I recommend openSUSE for anybody - stable, up to date, really good integration of all components (pulseaudio actually works great here!), easily allows you to choose a desktop environment during installation (and has the best installer of all operating systems that I've seen). It's a distro that many ppl want to have - stable, reliable, fast, flexible, fresh and keeping to the standards.

note: there is a slight downside to suse - it has less packages on the repos than arch or debian, but on the other hand has more of them than redhat.

As a beginners Distro, I'd suggest Debian. It's a stable plattform, has quite a lot packages (Add-Ons) to install and its community is quite helpful.

If you have problems with Debian, I'd suggest Ubuntu. It's a successor of Debian, has quite a LOT MOAR packages, and everything is clickable so configurations on your machine arent that console-hackish. . The comunity is HUGE! But like everywhere, you have anything between the total geekish nerd (like here: chooksta ;-P ) and the wannabetroll.

If you want it really dirty, use gentoo. It's fully conf based. You get the minimalst OS ever seen, fully textbased but you can emerge everything. Do everything, configure everything ... but it's nothing for folks, new to linux.
"Try it, and be sure to get frustrated"

Mint. My experience with Mint is... formatting the HDD because it had problems with dualboot (win7/mint) :/ . Never tried again.

If you want something that most it-buisnesses run (RHEL), I would suggest you try CentOS. It's based on Red Hat, but a "free to use" distro. Some years ago rumors spread that devs of CentOS wanted to quit this project entirely. Havent seen much progress since version 6 and cant tell anything about the "up to dateness" of packages.


Hope that helps a little.

As a beginners Distro, I'd suggest Debian. It's a stable plattform, has quite a lot packages (Add-Ons) to install and its community is quite helpful.

Yes it's called packages, not Add-Ons! And it's more than 30 thousands of packages, so yeah, it's a lot.

If you have problems with Debian, I'd suggest Ubuntu. It's a successor of Debian, has quite a LOT MOAR packages, and everything is clickable so configurations on your machine arent that console-hackish. . The comunity is HUGE! But like everywhere, you have anything between the total geekish nerd (like here: chooksta ;-P ) and the wannabetroll.

No, it's not the "successor" of Debian, it's have completely different purpose and goal than Debian. It's just based on Debian since Debian is such a mature product. And yes, you don't need to use the terminal on most "newbie-friendly" distribution now days.

If you want it really dirty, use gentoo. It's fully conf based. You get the minimalst OS ever seen, fully textbased but you can emerge everything. Do everything, configure everything ... but it's nothing for folks, new to linux.
"Try it, and be sure to get frustrated"

Gentoo is source-based which means you'll compile all packages from source. It's using a *BSD ports-like package manager called "portage". It take long time to install, especially if you have a slow computer. It got good documentation, so it's nothing you should be afraid to try if you have printed out the handbook!

Mint. My experience with Mint is... formatting the HDD because it had problems with dualboot (win7/mint) :/ . Never tried again.

Mint is Ubuntu but with other pre-installed applications.

Just fine-tuned the info, thanks for sharing your experience!