What distro should I get/buy?

[psychicc]

Hey, I was looking for the best distro for my laptop, I can pretty much configure it, but I want something simple with a nice controll panel, and something that automatically mounts drives. Also, I would like it to be RPM based. I have tired a whole bunch of distros allready, but I think the download version is a little bit kinky because you are downloading it from a low speed server that could be anything, including a laptop.

I'm using a dell inspiron 2650 with a dell wireless card (I have windows drivers for NDIS wrapper)

All I want to know is your favorite distro in general that would meet my needs.

[irlandes]

I am using a Dell Inspiron 2650 on high speed Internet in rural Mexico. I have mostly used Mandrake, now Mandriva. But, frankly, Mandriva 2005 has some issues. In fact, all versions of Mandrake since 9.x have had some weird problem or other, but I have been able to use it. And, it seems essentially to configure all the 2650 hardware, except the LinkSys wireless adaptor my son-in-law gave me.

At one time, I installed SuSe 9.2, which cost me $100 USD)and it also seemed to identify everything, so assume Suse would do. 9.2 had one weird problem that it would not run KPPP which I need for dialing Internet. (Wvdial fans, spare me, since it has to be reconfigured every time I change service which is often.) Thus, I assume a later version of SuSe will work fine. On 9.2, others who go portable had the same problem, and SuSe support told them they needed to install an external modem, which is totally false, so not only did they ship junk but failed to support it. No more SuSe for me, ever, unless I can get it totally free and perhaps not then. Note that if you have a fixed set up, wvdial is fine, since you don't need to change it all the time.

And, CentOs (which is essentially Redhat EL, except it is prohibited to call it R****t) v. 4 also set up okay, but also did not run KPPP. Grrr!! Grrr!!! I tried in December on an older computer v. 4.2 and it did run KPPP. So, when I return to the States later this week, I am going to try to install CentOs 4.2 on this 2650. I know Redhat did not automatically set up Hard disks, and still may have a problem with XP partitions, since they interpreted licenses differently. However, normally Mandrake sets it up as far as read, note that one has to work to get it to write to XP (my mind went blank, can't remember the name for the non-vfat system used optionally in XP, sorry, vfat will both read and write fine in Mandrake.)

I do not understand why the server will affect your downloaded iso. I don't think that is the case. The iso is the same in any case. Which reminds me of the main bug in Mandriva 2005. It has a CD burner bug which precludes gettting a valid md5sum after burn. Since I usually have little time to fix things in my short stays in the States, I simply use Puppy 1.0.6 when I want to burn an iso. It runs in RAM, but it does aggravate me since it indicates a fail to test the distro before shipping.

I think due to its roots, CentOs will be much better tested, but that is a personal opinion.

Another problem is Kwrite produces chinese looking characters, solved by setting assocations to Kate.

And, if I attempt to download a pdf file and open it in browser, it locks up. So, I need to download it via right click, then open via Acroreader.

I have no opinion on Mandriva 2006.

[irlandes]

I have read many times that Fedora is Redhat. No, it is not. Fedora is Fedora. Redhat is Redhat Enterprise LInux (RHEL) now up to v. 42. available with name change as CentOs, but no support except some free download docs. It is alleged that Redhat, which sponsors Fedora, uses Fedora for community input on Redhat development, but Redhat is different, just as Ubuntu is different.

[DarkDexter]

SuSE has done me good on alot of hardware and has really really good hardware support for all sorts of weird stuff and YaST is an awsome tool. Fedora Core isnt too bad either if your looking to using gnome more. I know both can use the other KDE or Gnome but they seem to run better on their "native" desktop. I vote SuSE.

[soulestream]

Im psychicc too. I am seeing a search of the site....Wait, its getting clearer.

Oh yes there it is.

A search of the site in which one could find about a thousand posts on which distro to use. And even more explaining that hardware is a function of the kernel and not the distro.

That will be 25 cents ;)


soule

[Piko]

OpenSuSE, you'll love it.

opensuse.org (http://opensuse.org)

It's exactly like Pro version, except you don't get tech support from Novell, but who needs that. =)

It's nearly flawless, and Yast2 makes it extremly easy to work with. You get updates, and a very clean cut look. No crappy looking boot screens, and kdm login styles. I'm Beta testing 10.1, and it's even better. Like always. You can always trust SuSE to come out with something better everytime.

Also don't be fooled by people calling it "Bloated", or things along that line. SuSE is very flexable. If you want just gnome, then just install gnome. Install sizes can range from 14MB to 8GB.

If you need mp3 support, just download, and build the latest version of xine from their website, and then go grab the win32 codecs from Mplayers page. There your set for almost any video, or audio codec you can find.

Updates are easy, and system updates aren't all that hard either. If you don't want to burn discs, you can use the online repositories to install SuSE, and even update the SuSE system with them when 10.1 is done.

I've been using SuSE since 6.3, and no other distro has been able to tempt me away. :)

[JayMan8081]

I'd say go with Ubuntu. It's free, updated quite regularly and uses apt-get for package management. So you get a ton of software available through apt and there is a GUI for it package installation as well, Synaptic. Very easy to use and keep updated.

[psychicc]

I am using a Dell Inspiron 2650 on high speed Internet in rural Mexico. I have mostly used Mandrake, now Mandriva. But, frankly, Mandriva 2005 has some issues. In fact, all versions of Mandrake since 9.x have had some weird problem or other, but I have been able to use it. And, it seems essentially to configure all the 2650 hardware, except the LinkSys wireless adaptor my son-in-law gave me.

At one time, I installed SuSe 9.2, which cost me $100 USD)and it also seemed to identify everything, so assume Suse would do. 9.2 had one weird problem that it would not run KPPP which I need for dialing Internet. (Wvdial fans, spare me, since it has to be reconfigured every time I change service which is often.) Thus, I assume a later version of SuSe will work fine. On 9.2, others who go portable had the same problem, and SuSe support told them they needed to install an external modem, which is totally false, so not only did they ship junk but failed to support it. No more SuSe for me, ever, unless I can get it totally free and perhaps not then. Note that if you have a fixed set up, wvdial is fine, since you don't need to change it all the time.

And, CentOs (which is essentially Redhat EL, except it is prohibited to call it R****t) v. 4 also set up okay, but also did not run KPPP. Grrr!! Grrr!!! I tried in December on an older computer v. 4.2 and it did run KPPP. So, when I return to the States later this week, I am going to try to install CentOs 4.2 on this 2650. I know Redhat did not automatically set up Hard disks, and still may have a problem with XP partitions, since they interpreted licenses differently. However, normally Mandrake sets it up as far as read, note that one has to work to get it to write to XP (my mind went blank, can't remember the name for the non-vfat system used optionally in XP, sorry, vfat will both read and write fine in Mandrake.)

I do not understand why the server will affect your downloaded iso. I don't think that is the case. The iso is the same in any case. Which reminds me of the main bug in Mandriva 2005. It has a CD burner bug which precludes gettting a valid md5sum after burn. Since I usually have little time to fix things in my short stays in the States, I simply use Puppy 1.0.6 when I want to burn an iso. It runs in RAM, but it does aggravate me since it indicates a fail to test the distro before shipping.

I think due to its roots, CentOs will be much better tested, but that is a personal opinion.

Another problem is Kwrite produces chinese looking characters, solved by setting assocations to Kate.

And, if I attempt to download a pdf file and open it in browser, it locks up. So, I need to download it via right click, then open via Acroreader.

I have no opinion on Mandriva 2006.

well, it's good to know that my friend's internet connection isn't bad, because I have downloaded many versions, and they have a lot of bugs. I've tried fedora, when I downloaded it the install screen was crap, so I have to get my friend to download it for me all the time. I just didn't like the feel of gnome desktop, and it was really weird and didn't let me swich to KDE as my default. Mandriva linux (what I use now) 2005 is OK, I've used 2006 but it was a currupt copy. The problem is that some of the program's sounds don't work. The dial up modem (which I never use anyway) is under the unknown section in harddrake. I just don't like it because the small bugs turn into big bugs (like it freezing and doing a hard reset) and then the gimp stopped working with PNG, JPG and TIFF, so now I'm getting ubuntu in the mail from shipit, and just waiting. Mandriva premium is probably better, but I rather go with ubuntu which seems like everyone's favorite.

I pretty much can't download the ISOs, so I'll just nag my friend to get them for me :p

But have you found mandriva 2006 to be buggy? I know I have, but It's in general good.

When it comes to SUSE and debian, debian has a lot of CDs that I want to download but can't, and then I have to spend some time in the command line when I want to start KDE, yuck. SUSE is what I'm looking at if ubuntu/kubuntu fails.

Does Ubuntu have a controll panel type thing?

Thanks for all the help guys

[EnigmaOne]

Take a look at SimplyMEPIS (mepis.org). From the sound of your requirements (outside of the RPM packaging, of course), it's worth considering.