Linux which linux is right for me?

I dont know the ins and outs between them but I hear ubuntu is more of an entry level OS. Gentoo is suposed to tailor to geeky guy's every whim

 

Gentoo is harder to setup as everything is compiled from scratch. This does mean you can tailor the install to your needs. I tried ubuntu after I hosed my Gentoo install but hated it because it was harder to solve problems on ubuntu then Gentoo.

Also gentoo will take a while to install (took 6 hrs to get a command line on a A64 3800 x2) and dual cores make a huge difference compiling.

 

cool thanks for the help.

I'll think I'm better of with ubuntu for now as I want to get it up and running ASAP and i'm a bit of a linux n00b! Maybe once I become pro I'll go Gentoo!!

 

so how bad is gentoo to install (sory if im hijacking)

 

not bad at all, provided you aren't on an amd64

 

it gets pissy at a 64bit proc? or the mem controler?

 

Installed like a dream on mine. A64 3800 x2. Didnt even have to go off the stable tree.

Its ok the main time consuming buts are compiling gcc, glibc e.t.c and intalling the base system those take about 6 hours in total on mine.

 

Iv never compiled an OS before. I have worked with java programs... is it anything incredibly intimidating?

 

nope nothing hard other than fixing it if something breaks when its trying to compile

and 6 hours?? what were you installing? didnt take nearly that long on my 4400, also the only big problems i was having was with alsa as my board is an nforce 4

 

ubuntu is not entry level in any way and i heartliy recommend it.

it's one of the more complete distributions out there, and if you don't like gnome then you can install kubuntu which is almost as good.

 

Well it was 6 hrs total with me doing other things while it was compiling. It wasnt actually to a console that was to full GUI with sound e.t.c So that was bootstrapping, emerging system, xorg, xfce, e.t.c. 6 hrs isnt too bad also quite a few of those will override the MAKEOPTS setting to -j1 because they break if using -j3.

xorg-x11 took 45min according to genlop which is about par as it only uses one CPU.

 

what are your cflags set to?
genlop says xorg only took 26 minutes on mine, is there really that much of a difference between the 3800 and the 4400?

 

CFLAGS=" -O2 -march=k8 -pipe"

 

is it s graphical install interface or all text?

 

its a command line, everything is a manual install but its portage makes it much easier

 

is it like installing something from a bash or is the command line tailored for the install?

My fear is that I will ebd up manualy extracting and compiling files before throwing everything in the right spot

 

I'm using Ubuntu right now, and i'm trying to get wpsk to work....waiting on madwifi sites to go back up(reminds me, have to check them). Anyways, are there any other distros that easily implement wpsk?

 

I would strongly recommend Ubuntu, using it now, as it is easy yet powerful. If re-installing windows as well, do so in the following order:

1) Back-up files
2) Run DBAN ( A floppy that wipes every bit on your HD, otherwise windows uses the existing filesystem )
3) Install Windows, but choose to make whatever partition size you want, not the full disk
4) Install Ubuntu, and GRUB will automatically detect and boot XP if you select.

I would download the disc, but run a checksum on it first, as I download a corrupt iso file, gave me no ened of troubles as Ubuntu wouldwipe the hard disc, but fail to install.