linux users, which free one is best?

[Sam1]

Building a couple of computers for people that will probably not be too savvy with Linux and need to know which ones work pretty good outside of Ubuntu.

 

Tried loading Ubuntu and couldn't get online (not interested in troubleshooting it).  Anyone have recommendations for another flavor?  Last time I was into the Linux thing was back when redhat was free, so it's been years and years ago.

[KaNaPaPi]

linux-mint

 

http://www.linuxmint.com/

[KaNaPaPi]

I personally use Xubuntu on 3 different machines.  However, would not solve the connection issue you have.  it's still Ubuntu with a different windows manager.

[btq96r]

I'm loving Zorin.

http://zorin-os.com/

 

Ubuntu is okay, Mint is better than Ubuntu for "my needs", but the look and feel of Zorin is tops to me.

Edited July 20, 2015 by btq96r

[enfield]

Another vote for Mint.  I also got my feet wet with Redhat back in the day, and have used many distros since then.  Most laptop wireless connection problems can be solved with a program called fwcutter, available in the repositories.

[Jonnin]

Ubuntu is pretty nice.    It is less aggravating than most.  If it recently did not work for you, try one of the others... if it was a while back, try it now, its grown up over the last decade or so.

 

ALL Linux builds are free.  

 

UNIX and specific vendor OS are not free, like solaris (or it once cost, may not now, I forget). 

Edited July 20, 2015 by Jonnin

[Sam1]

if red hat is free, where do you download it at?  their site charges $49 for it now from what I see.

[Raoul]

This perhaps

 

http://getintopc.com/softwares/operating-systems/red-hat-linux-free-download/

[enfield]

The last time I looked, Redhat Fedora was free, Redhat Enterprise was not.

[Sam1]

The last time I looked, Redhat Fedora was free, Redhat Enterprise was not.

 

Thank you, I didn't know that they split the products up like that. (guess that tells you how long it's been since I used it lol)

[ou812]

Back in the day....a friend gave me a copy of Linux,,,I had a desktop that was not being used.  I was starting 2 weeks of vacation..so I decided on a Sunday afternoon to install Linux on the desktop. I messed with it though the night used the internet (56k dial up) to search for drivers and for help  to install the OS. So as my wife was walking out the door to go to work the next morning I decided  to give up, go to bed and admit I got my backside kicked by Linux..So a few weeks later I seen the friend who gave me the copy Linux..So I said by the way that copy of Linux you gave me....He stopped me in mid sentence and said it is a copy of a bad copy so throw it away...........................................................................................................................................................

[Ski]

Thank you, I didn't know that they split the products up like that. (guess that tells you how long it's been since I used it lol)

You might think of Fedora as a Red Hat preview. It tends to fore run Red Hat. If you want Red Hat Enterprise Linux, have a look at CentOS. They take the Red Hat source code, take out the branding, and compile it for you. The major releases definitely lag Red Hat, but the bug fixes come out pretty quickly.

[ironsniper1]

I'm running opensuse atwork


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[CommsNBombs]

Depends what you are using it for...Media center? Gaming? Daily browsing? Server/SQL uses? Hacking and forensics?

Ubuntu has its problems depending on the hard ware but 14.04 LTS is actually holding up really well.

If you want a lighter, faster version of that without the excess of programs and features Xubuntu is slick as hell.

For everyday/media Id go with Mint...and make sure to grab Wine/PlayOnLinux from the depos for your Windows program needs (iTunes for me)

I had a lot of success using ArchLinux as a media host in my house, had a media server built off of it using LAMP, it also has its "every day" niche

For server management and networking Id go with CentOS...its the open source version of Red Hat Enterprise...RHE is nice, but I dont like it...guess too much Army crap is built on it and it is really glitchy

For Network Analysis and Forensics id go with Kali Linux.

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[battleop]

Building a couple of computers for people that will probably not be too savvy with Linux and need to know which ones work pretty good outside of Ubuntu.

 

Tried loading Ubuntu and couldn't get online (not interested in troubleshooting it).  Anyone have recommendations for another flavor?  Last time I was into the Linux thing was back when redhat was free, so it's been years and years ago.

 

 

I've built 3 ISPs and a CLEC around Ubuntu and Debian.   I always go with an LTS version but there are some that run well past their EOL because they just work and I'm pretty fond of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."   I have some servers that have gone years without reboots.

[Jonnin]

the only one I really ever loved is very expensive... if its still around.. QNX high performance distribution.  You could boot a rather powerful OS off a 1.4 meg floppy back in the day, as a free demo.   

 

Red hat frustrated me, but that was like the late 90s.  I never really made friends with it, it always seemed to do everything the roundabout way.   Its probably 10000X better now.

[jgradyc]

Building computers? Are you hardwiring them to the modem or using a wifi card? It could be a problem with the wifi card. I'm guessing you've already figured that part out. 

 

Assuming you're booting from a LiveDVD, you should be able to log on to the internet without installing Linux on your hard drive.

 

Linux Mint is my favorite distro, but I use Ubuntu as well. I don't care for the barebones distros. Zorin and Linux Mint have the look and feel of Windows 7. I'ver heard good things about Elementary OS, which is supposed to look and feel a lot like the Mac.

 

Mint and Ubuntu are probably your best choices.

 

Oh, and Red Hat has been discontinued for about a decade.

Edited July 21, 2015 by jgradyc

[enfield]

http://www.redhat.com/en

[Jonnin]

 

 

Oh, and Red Hat has been discontinued for about a decade.

 

Technicality.   Its name changed so they could split out the commercial and free versions.  The same mothership still controls and "owns" both (if anyone really owns a free Linux).   Not being a huge unix fan anyway (I use it when I must, which is rare, usually I can hack out what needs doing in Cygwin) and truly hating their version, I had not kept up with their line.   But even if I personally hated it, its should still be a very viable choice.

[ou812]

I have a win 8 notebook I got back in 2013....I hated it from the start.  I installed win 7 on it...it did better but still had hic ups.  Due to win ten being released I put win 8.1 back on it.   So due to this thread I installed Ubuntu.  I liked it, so I then removed Ubuntu and install Zorin Ultimate...The notebook now flys. 

 

First time dealing with a successful linux install.  I really like it.   

 

Thanks for all the info I got from the thread!!!

 

It is now dual booted with Win 10 and Zorin so will have to see how it goes.

 

Thanks again!

[btq96r]

I have a win 8 notebook I got back in 2013....I hated it from the start.  I installed win 7 on it...it did better but still had hic ups.  Due to win ten being released I put win 8.1 back on it.   So due to this thread I installed Ubuntu.  I liked it, so I then removed Ubuntu and install Zorin Ultimate...The notebook now flys. 

 

First time dealing with a successful linux install.  I really like it.   

 

Thanks for all the info I got from the thread!!!

 

It is now dual booted with Win 10 and Zorin so will have to see how it goes.

 

Thanks again!

 

Glad Zorin is working well for you, dual boot is a decent way to go to get the best of both worlds. I'm thinking of getting a Solid State Drive for my laptop and making it even faster.

 

Win10 is something I'm holding off on, though.  No need to go through the headaches of "upgrading" when I have a stable system that does everything I need and has enough support for a while.  All the things I'm reading on other sites about Win10 being set up to send a lot of information by default doesn't sit well with me either.

Edited August 3, 2015 by btq96r

[Ted S.]

Glad Zorin is working well for you, dual boot is a decent way to go to get the best of both worlds. I'm thinking of getting a Solid State Drive for my laptop and making it even faster.

 

Win10 is something I'm holding off on, though.  No need to go through the headaches of "upgrading" when I have a stable system that does everything I need and has enough support for a while.  All the things I'm reading on other sites about Win10 being set up to send a lot of information by default doesn't sit well with me either.

 

I highly recommend getting a fairly small SSD that offers a higher transfer rate and putting just your OSes on it, then if you need storage, just get a external drive. My computer has been running one linux or the other for about 4 years since I switched the drive to SSD, and the thing still boots up in about 15 seconds.

[ou812]

Glad Zorin is working well for you, dual boot is a decent way to go to get the best of both worlds. I'm thinking of getting a Solid State Drive for my laptop and making it even faster.

 

Win10 is something I'm holding off on, though.  No need to go through the headaches of "upgrading" when I have a stable system that does everything I need and has enough support for a while.  All the things I'm reading on other sites about Win10 being set up to send a lot of information by default doesn't sit well with me either.

Thanks

 

I just read this and did as it suggested  http://bgr.com/2015/07/31/windows-10-upgrade-spying-how-to-opt-out/

 

This notebook has a legacy bios option so that made the dual booting simple.  I have been spending most my time in Zorin.

[Jonnin]

Glad Zorin is working well for you, dual boot is a decent way to go to get the best of both worlds. I'm thinking of getting a Solid State Drive for my laptop and making it even faster.

 

Win10 is something I'm holding off on, though.  No need to go through the headaches of "upgrading" when I have a stable system that does everything I need and has enough support for a while.  All the things I'm reading on other sites about Win10 being set up to send a lot of information by default doesn't sit well with me either.

 

win 10 is getting a thumbs down from most of the gamers I talk to ... lot of stuff isn't acting quite right yet.   But its windows... you don't even consider it on a deployed system until service pack 1, 2 if you can stand to wait for it.    The vanilla first release usually has problems and is usually a security nightmare.

[ou812]

Zorin started acting up on the laptop I had dual booted it with win 10....So I deleted the partition and installed linux mint 17.3   all I can say is WOW.   I really like this version.