*nix for ...us

Hey guys, For months i've been bouncing around using diffrent kinds of linux just to get a feel for whats out there. I've found ubuntu fedora and backtrack to be fairly stable easy to use and practical. But im still dissatisfied and im looking for something that I can use 100% of the time know inside and out and have everything i need. I know some of you have years of experience with all sorts of systems so im looking for some opinions. ubuntu and fedora are both fairly slow and i just dont feel like im getting anywhere with them. backtrack is great if you're to lazy to collect and configure hacking tools. but i find it to be nothing more than a live boot. im looking for a primary OS.

Im reading some of the old threads similar to this richo have previously reccommended "slack" and gentoo is slack slackware or slax? is there a diffrence?

I'm looking for something thats updated and supported consistently. Something i can do work on so open office and possibly some windows software compatibility. And something that is compatible or comes with hacking tools and development environment(s).

Thanks. -Tonz

openSuse looks nice - hacking and developement-wise. And its been a long time since i've used it. im currently downloading the lastest opensuse and backtrack 4 beta (which claims to be more like a real distro)

I personally would recommend arch distro, allows you to install really slim base, and then just go on playing around and developing yourself. Slackware is very stable and well supported distro, slax is it's live version (at least that's what I alway thought :)) and it's never wrong choice to go for slack. Never used gentoo, but from what I've seen it's pretty damn good distro as well. As for support and development, I'd say that slackware & gentoo will come out little better, because arch isn't that popular… Well that's my 'always' trio,lucky choosing:)

thanks. Looks like im going slackware.

Learn about Window Managers.

Slack is all well and good, but ive got another vote for arch linux, its a really nice distro for customising it entirely to your requirements. Its kinda gay to install over FTP as it seems to have a problem with network connectivity, but openly encourages you to switch to a virtual console and configure it yourself, which i managed at home and got a nice system up and running (very fast!).

At uni FTP is blocked by the firewall, and even after forcing an HTTP mirror, exporting the proxy address as an environmental variable, and trying both DHCP and static network addresses, I still was unable to get the net install to play ball. After that little hurdle though, its well worth the work.

A distro is more what you make of it, after all they are mostly just different arrangements of packages included with the linux kernel, starting with something small (gentoo/arch/debian) then adding what you need as you go is an excellent way to feel proud of your system, and only have installed what you will utilised (in comparison to something like ubuntu, which is fantastically simple to use but filled with packages you wont need).

Just my 2c :happy:

I'll give arch another look. I've never tried it and it sounds interesting. but it also sounds like a project in itself.

Im looking at windows managers i believe i've had a few before. It just furthers the custom-ness of the gui as far as i can see. I'll try a few once i get a distro running

jjbutler88 wrote: Slack is all well and good, but ive got another vote for arch linux, its a really nice distro for customising it entirely to your requirements. Its kinda gay to install over FTP as it seems to have a problem with network connectivity, but openly encourages you to switch to a virtual console and configure it yourself, which i managed at home and got a nice system up and running (very fast!).

Very true, but be warned that without solid knowledge of linux file system and partitioning, there is very small chance you finish the installation of arch at all. I went from Mandriva2008(I know :D) to installing arch, and man that was a struggle. But don't want to discourage you, I learned by installing it more in couple of hours, then after using Mandriva for several month, arch is absolutely brilliant, and as jjbutler said, if you get the set up right, man it's fast

I've been using Debian both for Server usage and wokstation usage and i have nothing to complain about there!

You say you want a Distro wich you can do anything with, thing with Linux though is that you get to configure, compile and install everything by yourself, thus the distros are very flexible and can be modified and configured in anyway you want.

Although if you're looking for a easy-to-use distro i suggest kUbuntu or Fedora Core.

If you'r looking for something versible with loads of features then Slackware (Why not BackTrack 3 while you're at it).

Or if your looking to build your system exactly the way you want it to be, then Debian is for you!

OpenSUSE is a nice distro, but i certainly prefer gentoo…

However if you want something done well, you should do it by yourself (obviously understanding what you just did)… For this reason i have chosen the Linux From Scratch project!

From linuxfromscratch.org: Linux From Scratch (LFS) is a project that provides you with step-by-step instructions for building your own custom Linux system, entirely from source code.

I strongly recommend it, check out this link: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

Cyph3rHell.

DEBIAN!!

root_op wrote: Although if you're looking for a easy-to-use distro i suggest kUbuntu or Fedora Core.

If you want an easy distro, I like Mandriva, but only as a live cd. It reads all my desktop's hardware perfectly and can access the internet, so it's handy for trouble shooting.

maug wrote: If you want an easy distro, I like Mandriva, but only as a live cd. It reads all my desktop's hardware perfectly and can access the internet, so it's handy for trouble shooting.

Well, i prefer ubuntu for that aswell, since the drivers for my video adapter (SiS M672 S3+) is only available for Ubuntu :(

yeah, ubuntu is definitely one of the easiest distributions.

Just wanted to add one more thing to this thread. It seems very backwards to me but several of the iso's that i've downloaded are not actually bootable but they have a setup program that runs inside windows. I cant get it to run from a linux box… :angry:

Howdy, did someone say my name??

Ubuntu is quite easy.. but.. urgh just don't go there. It's more pain than it's worth.

Debian is what ubuntu is based on, it's pretty simple to learn (especially since lenny's release the installer is a bit friendlier) and there's a great support community behind it. The debian-users list is great place to ask a few questions.

Slackware is not for the feint of heart, but if you stick with it and pay attention you'll learn pretty fast. It is a bit more purist in mentality and a few of the devs are a bit blunt.. unless you're confident fixing compile errors it might not be the best place to start.

Gentoo is extraordinarily hands on, you'll learn a lot and the time i've spent with the lead devs i've found them and the community quite easy to work with. Getting ebuilds out of the ~ tree can be a right pain in the arse though, although i run gentoo on my PPC mac and it goes like hell.

I'd personally recommend debian but as all things it's a personal preference. Spend a few days installing things and see what you like.

Has anyone had a go at the Linux From Scratch project?

link: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

Thanks richo. I actually did end up with debian after a bit of playing around with slack i realized i wasnt quite ready/able for it.

cyph i did look at linux from scratch when you posted it earlier. It seems like a great idea but Im not gonna have the kind of time I'd need during this semester. I've only looked into it a little mind you but from where I am right now I'd think it would take a great deal of reading before I actually understood how to do it/do it well. I have it bookmarked and I'll def give it a try when i have more free time this summer.

tonzofgunz25 wrote: cyph i did look at linux from scratch when you posted it earlier. It seems like a great idea but Im not gonna have the kind of time I'd need during this semester. I've only looked into it a little mind you but from where I am right now I'd think it would take a great deal of reading before I actually understood how to do it/do it well. I have it bookmarked and I'll def give it a try when i have more free time this summer.

Ok, man. ;)