So what was your first Linux distro?

[JimBobIV]

I realize this is formally the Linux help/support subforum, but there are other conversational topics here and this subforum could use some livening up anyways.

 

Mine was DamnSmallLinux in probably 2008; I needed a live OS to boot on an old laptop and recover files. The small size made it one of the only feasible downloads on a dial-up connection, and the low system requirements went well with the 800mhz AMD processor and 128MB of RAM. Nowadays my main distro is Fedora; I had a nice Gnome-Shell Arch setup on my other laptop but it had a catastrophic hardware failure early in the year and had long since gone out of warranty.

[CHiLL]

Mandrake (now called Mandrive) was the first I used in about 2007. I never liked it much, so I never used it.

[ridwan sameer]

Ubuntu Was my first, Using some asy dualboot installer for windows

[Victor Leigh]

I started with Ubuntu, just to see what it's all about. Then my Windows died. I couldn't install even Ubuntu. After trying out many distros, I found that Puppy Linux works for me. Now I have Puppy Linux on one partition for most of my work which is mainly surfing the net. Then I have Ubuntu on another partition for learning more about Linux programs. I also have Windows 8 for World of Warcraft.

[Marc]

Ubuntu on my own system, and currently centos on my server. Takes some getting used to however I can see the appeal

[JimBobIV]

I started with Ubuntu, just to see what it's all about. Then my Windows died. I couldn't install even Ubuntu. After trying out many distros, I found that Puppy Linux works for me. Now I have Puppy Linux on one partition for most of my work which is mainly surfing the net. Then I have Ubuntu on another partition for learning more about Linux programs. I also have Windows 8 for World of Warcraft.

 

You know, if WoW was absolutely the only thing you used Windows for, you might want tor look at running it under Wine, if you haven't already. From what I've heard (I never really got into WoW) it runs pretty well with only a few bugs. If that works, you could get rid of Windows altogether, although I'm not sure if that's something you're really looking to do, especially if you use Netflix.

[Marc]

You know, if WoW was absolutely the only thing you used Windows for, you might want tor look at running it under Wine, if you haven't already. From what I've heard (I never really got into WoW) it runs pretty well with only a few bugs. If that works, you could get rid of Windows altogether, although I'm not sure if that's something you're really looking to do, especially if you use Netflix.

 

 

Wine? This a virtual box type system for linux then?

[Victor Leigh]

You know, if WoW was absolutely the only thing you used Windows for, you might want tor look at running it under Wine, if you haven't already. From what I've heard (I never really got into WoW) it runs pretty well with only a few bugs. If that works, you could get rid of Windows altogether, although I'm not sure if that's something you're really looking to do, especially if you use Netflix.

 

I have already tried running World of Warcraft under Wine. It can run but it cannot be played. When I run WoW under Windows 8 on my old laptop with a Celeron 1.2Ghz chip, I can get 30 - 70 fps. When I run WoW under Wine on the same machine, I can get only less than 10fps, which is totally unplayable. So, for the time being, I am stuck with using Windows for WoW.

[CHiLL]

Wine? This a virtual box type system for linux then?

Wine is a programme on Linux that allows you to run some Windows applications on Linux. Sounds good, but it's extremely flakey. Only a handful of applications work, and fewer work well.

[Marc]

Will have a play later

[merlyn73]

Wine is a programme on Linux that allows you to run some Windows applications on Linux. Sounds good, but it's extremely flakey. Only a handful of applications work, and fewer work well.

 

I find that Skyrim works absolutely flawlessly on my install of Wine, but older games do not for some reason. It's like you said, it's hit or miss with that particular application. I work with Ubuntu 11, and have found more and more reasons to stick with it every day.

[Talk Tech News]

For a number of years I was curious about Linux and when I decided to try it I used Ubuntu.

[Victor Leigh]

For a number of years I was curious about Linux and when I decided to try it I used Ubuntu.

 

Which desktop environment are you using? What I did was try Lubuntu and Xubuntu and both have things which I wanted. So I ended up with Ubuntu on which I also installed the Lubuntu and Xubuntu desktop environments to get the things I wanted.

[Marc]

Which desktop environment are you using? What I did was try Lubuntu and Xubuntu and both have things which I wanted. So I ended up with Ubuntu on which I also installed the Lubuntu and Xubuntu desktop environments to get the things I wanted.

 

So Im interested. What to they have that makes them better than using ubuntu?

[supersundae]

First Linux distro was Slackware 98. Back in '98.

 

Over the years, I played with RedHat (later Fedora and CentOS), Debian, DamnSmallLinux, Knoppix, Yellow Dog, Gentoo, SUSE, MEPIS, Ubuntu... just to name a few. FreeBSD/OpenBSD/Open Solaris too, if they count.

 

Since thn, my interest has drifted away from sysadmin/tinkering to "everyday use" (web browsing, gaming) and development (system app, server-side, and mobile). Nowadays I use Linux Mint exclusively.

[ridwan sameer]

Oh did i forge to mention i also toyed with the LimeLinux or something.. I forgot it;s name but it's mascot was a lime or something

[DarkGizmo]

My first dip into Linux was Ubuntu. I've since used different variants of ubuntu, PuppyLinux, Fedora, Mint and Zorin OS.

[flotwig]

My dad bought me a CD (you know, the shiny circle with a hole in the middle?) of SuSE Enterprise Linux a while back... I had lots of fun with it.

[Victor Leigh]

So Im interested. What to they have that makes them better than using ubuntu?

 

You mean Lubuntu and Xubuntu? Well, by default the desktop environment for Ubuntu is Gnome. Lubuntu is Ubuntu using the LXDE desktop environment. Xubuntu is Ubuntu using the XFCE desktop environment. A desktop environment is basically the way that the desktop is organised and also the standard software that is bundled with the DE (Desktop Environment).

 

Both LXDE and XFCE are lightweight DEs. Which means that the DE is not very heavily loaded and the bundled software are the lighter versions. Being lightweight, the whole thing runs more snappily. If you want something that's very complete, then you can install Kubuntu which is Ubuntu with the KDE DE. It's very complete and comes with Konqueror which is a web browser and file manager all-in-one.

[JHTech100]

Ubuntu Server was my first. I have been interested in server administration for the past year or so, but after that I moved to CentOS.

[Victor Leigh]

Ubuntu Server was my first. I have been interested in server administration for the past year or so, but after that I moved to CentOS.

 

Have you considered moving from Centos to Debian? I have read something about Debian being a better choice because it's truly open source whereas Centos is dependent on Red Hat.

[JHTech100]

 

 

Have you considered moving from Centos to Debian? I have read something about Debian being a better choice because it's truly open source whereas Centos is dependent on Red Hat.

 

I've tossed around the idea. I play mostly with CentOS because it's more likely that I'll run into it if I get a VPS. Sure, providers give you choice, but I would need cPanel for some things that I just don't know how to do in the command line. cPanel only runs on CentOS, RHEL, and CloudLinux (CentOS with LVE @ kernel level).

 

But I might put it into a VMware machine on my Mac to play around with.

[Victor Leigh]

I've tossed around the idea. I play mostly with CentOS because it's more likely that I'll run into it if I get a VPS. Sure, providers give you choice, but I would need cPanel for some things that I just don't know how to do in the command line. cPanel only runs on CentOS, RHEL, and CloudLinux (CentOS with LVE @ kernel level).

 

But I might put it into a VMware machine on my Mac to play around with.

 

cPanel? I use that, too. When I get it free together with my shared hosting. When I have to pay for it myself, I don't use it. I had used Kloxo before. Now I am switching to Webmin. Maybe you can try using Webmin, too. It's not that difficult to learn how to use it.

[JHTech100]

I've definitely heard of Webmin, and I've used it and Virtualmin before. cPanel just has a UI and system that I like. I found cP for $14.95 a month or $170 a year. It's not too bad, considering that buying directly from cPanel is considerably more expensive.

 

I am paying for convenience and a UI that I like. To me, that makes it worth my money. I guess we probably have different views on that .

[Victor Leigh]

I've definitely heard of Webmin, and I've used it and Virtualmin before. cPanel just has a UI and system that I like. I found cP for $14.95 a month or $170 a year. It's not too bad, considering that buying directly from cPanel is considerably more expensive.

 

I am paying for convenience and a UI that I like. To me, that makes it worth my money. I guess we probably have different views on that .

 

14.95usd per month? In that case, my host is selling it very cheaply. I can get cPanel for my vps at 9.99usd per month. I wonder if there is any difference in the versions. Is there such a thing as a cheaper cPanel version?