Hi All, Being a complete beginner to linux/ubuntu, and using a p4 crap pc, i'm wanting a linux distro that works "out of the box", meaning i don't have to mess around too much with terminal commands to get normal stuff (browsing, flash vids, docs etc) working. 1. Am i asking too much here? 2. What would you recommend for a low end pc. Something snappy that doesn't use too much ram. I have 1.25GB 3. If dabbling is needed, where is the best place online to start learning the basics? My apologies if this has been asked countless times.... Thanks Neal/Betty
You've answered your own question as far as I'm concerned - Ubuntu is a distro of Linux, and IMO the most user friendly/easiest to use. It comes with loads of stuff out-the-box, and has a nice software centre for installing new apps. No commandline required. http://www.ubuntu.com/download
You could try linux mint, which is basically ubuntu but with things like flash pre-installed. Ubuntu itself is pretty simple to get working though.
Yeah, Ubuntu or Mint. The extras that Mint includes (Flash, etc) can be added to Ubuntu by ticking a box when you install. Mint includes a different desktop, more similar to Windows, but is based on mostly the same software.
I asked the same question about a month and a half- two months ago. I tried Ubuntu and loved the immediacy it gave me, and its a great starter distro. It does take some configuration, but this is fairly straight forward. As an 'intermediate' user, just give me a shout (PM) if you need any novice pointers When you feel comfortable using the distro you start with, look online (http://distrowatch.com/ is a good place) and start going up in the difficulty ranges for the distro's. Hope this helps, and as I said, ask for help should you need it
Probably best to go Xubuntu/lubuntu over plain Ubuntu if you have little RAM. All Ubuntu variants tend to include some bloat compared to other distros, the price you pay for 'no fuss'. Fedora could be another option http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options Again, go for lighter window managers (ie. LXDE or Xfce spin) Pick one and try it, if you don't like it, switch!
I'm using Fedora 14 on my old Sempron Laptop (1GB Ram + crappy S3 graphics) works a treat and has far less bloat than Ubuntu. The best thing to do is download a couple of Live distros and see which you prefer.
Ubuntu really is the way to go. When i bought a laptop with Vista installed Linux was my only option and it surprised me. I knew absolutely nothing about it then and installed without any problems. I had to mess about a bit to get the wifi card drivers working but the Ubuntu forum helped no end with that and i don't think it really has problems like that any more. If you want something that looks a little more groovy out of the box then try Kubuntu or Mint, although Kubuntu may not run well on your machine (don't know specs) if it's not too great. But there are loads of easily installable themes for Ubuntu anyway. Like jumperfly said, if Ubuntu is too demanding Xubuntu is pretty much just as good, or if you prefer the Mint variation you can get Xfce Mint, which is still packed with features.
Thank you all for your replies. I have so far tried the following: 1. Ubuntu - Nice but a bit slow on an older system. 2. Puppy linux - Awesome and lightning fast. 3. xubuntu - faster and lighter than Ubuntu, but haven't had time to play with it. I'm going to give Crunchbang a go. I've only tried it as a live cd so far, but its nice and quick.
for a Linux newbie with a low spec system http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1802 tis the only way Lubuntu is a bit lighter, but so far doesnt include the all important (especially to newbies) software centre i have personally used Lubuntu on a Dell x300 ultra portable laptop single core celeron 1.4ghz cpu and 512mb ram and it was as fast as my main gaming system running windows
