What Are the Best Free Linux Distros for Beginners to Try?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers around the best free Linux distributions for beginners, with a strong recommendation for Knoppix as a live CD option that allows users to try Linux without installation. Other suggested beginner-friendly distributions include Fedora, Suse, and Lycoris, each catering to different user preferences and experiences. Participants emphasize the importance of learning basic console commands and ensuring proper ISO file integrity before burning. Users also share insights on hardware compatibility and the overall user experience with various distros.

PREREQUISITES
  • Basic understanding of Linux distributions and their purposes
  • Familiarity with burning ISO files to CD
  • Knowledge of basic console commands in Linux
  • Understanding of hardware compatibility issues with Linux
NEXT STEPS
  • Explore the features and community support of Fedora and Lycoris
  • Learn about Linux command line basics, including commands like 'ls', 'cd', and 'chmod'
  • Research hardware compatibility for Linux distributions, focusing on USB and network support
  • Investigate the process of verifying ISO file integrity using MD5 checksums
USEFUL FOR

Beginner Linux users, Windows users transitioning to Linux, and anyone interested in exploring free Linux distributions for personal or programming use.

DarkAnt
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ok, you have finally done it dduardo. By using evil subtle tactics you have convinced a diehard windows user to try out linux. Congratulations you manipulative penguin My question is, what linux should I get if I just want to play around with it and try it out? I don't want to pay for anything, I'm cheap:wink:
 
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You should probably start with a run from CD distro like Knoppix. That way you don't have to wipe everything out to try it.
 
wow, that was insanely fast! That response was under 5 minutes!.
 
could I get a link with that?
 
Did I mention I'm extremely lazy? Thanks for the link.
 
I'm downloading it now, any other suggestions?
 
DarkAnt, come to the dark side. Muahaha

Here is the super lazy link:

http://www.linuxiso.org/download.php/327/KNOPPIX_V3.3-2003-11-19-EN.iso

Just download, burn, and boot from the cd

Don't be suprised if it is slow. The whole distro runs from the cd and RAM.

I believe you can install knoppix to your harddrive, but i would wait until you see how you like the feel of linux.

Other good newbie distros:

Fedora
Suse
Lycoris

More advanced distros:

Gentoo
Debian
Slackware

[edit] I see that you just started to download it. O well. One thing I would say to do now is learn some console commands like:

ls - list directory
cd - change directory
man - manual
chmod - change mode (permissions)
pico, nano, joe - text editors (you can also try vi or vim, but they might scare you)
mkdir - make directory
rm - remove file
ln - link

There are many more, just do a google search for bash commands
 
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The linux is taking over

actually I'm still waiting for that download to finish. The link you gave me said this

Woops ! Sorry, this website has linked to our download script directly - which due to constant shuffling and restructuring of our site is a very bad idea.

I went to www.linuxiso.org,[/URL] I'm guessing this is where I was supposed to go. Thanks for everything dduardo and NateTg:smile:
 
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  • #10
I have redhat 9 - but I rarely use it. Mostly just for the proggraming tools and GIMP on its native platform. The problem is that it isn't compatible with my windoze modem, and I havn't been able to get it to work with my USB drive, or my network, or my 20GB shared fat32 partition

However, if these worked, I would use linux a lot more. I specially like KDE. nice screensavers/features.
 
  • #11
I just double clicked on the knoppix file and Roxio Easy CD creator came up and came up with the window to start burning. So i grabbed a cd and burned it figuring it had automatically set up all the boot disk stuff for me. well... it didn't. So I guess I have to do it manually. Well, another problem arose. When I go to create a boot disk I am given the option of creating a floppy disk emulation (1.44MB), floppy disk emulation (2.88MB), hard disk emulation and no emulation. I don't know which one to pick, could someone please tell an extremely ignorant wannabe darksider which one I am supposed to use?
 
  • #12
1. Put the knoppix cd into your cdrom drive.
2. Reboot your computer and go into the bios
3. Change the order of how your system boots, make sure the cdrom is the first item in the list
4. Save your bios settings and reboot
5. Let knoppix run
 
  • #13
Originally posted by DivisionByZero
I have redhat 9 - but I rarely use it. Mostly just for the proggraming tools and GIMP on its native platform. The problem is that it isn't compatible with my windoze modem, and I havn't been able to get it to work with my USB drive, or my network, or my 20GB shared fat32 partition

However, if these worked, I would use linux a lot more. I specially like KDE. nice screensavers/features.

Windows Modem:
http://www.linmodems.org/

USB:
Make sure you have USB support in the kernel. You can get the kernel sources from either your redhat 9 cd or from kernel.org

Network:
Again, you need to make sure your kernel supports windows networking. You can also try creating a samba server

Fat32:
Make sure you kernel supports mounting windows 32 partitions. It should already with redhat. Then do the following
mkdir /mnt/c_drive
mount -t vfat /dev/hda(x) /mnt/c_drive

where x is the partition number of you windows installation
 
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  • #14
I got it to work... up until I pressed space bar to skip the resolution thing and then it had a whole bunch of errors unpacking it
 
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  • #15
What resolution thing? Why did you press the space bar to skip it?
 
  • #16
I'm just that type of idiot.

I tried it again and set the resolution and the same thing happened. Basically I got this output.

Accessing KNOPPIX CDROM at /dev/scd0
Setting paths... cloop: error -3 uncompressing block 12457 6553610/30116/028511 B21-285 741937

I doubt the last part means anything to you. btw, thanks a ton for trying to get this to work for me dduardo.
 
  • #17
Where ever you got the iso image from, get the accompanying md5 checksum from their site

Then get this program

http://winmd5sum.solidblue.biz/

and generate a md5 checksum for the iso file on your computer.

If the two numbers don't match you need to redownload the iso image.

By doing this before you burn the cd, you make sure you have a good copy that hasn't been corrupted by the download.
 
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  • #18
Well, that's the problem. The numbers don't match so I guess my download was corrupted. I'll try again. Thank you sooooooo much dduardo.
 
  • #19
Originally posted by DivisionByZero
The problem is that it isn't compatible with my windoze modem,

you could also check http://www.linuxant.com

and I havn't been able to get it to work with my USB drive
that's strange, mine worked in just 3 commands. What USB drive do you have?

, or my network, or my 20GB shared fat32 partition
I just can't believe this...

and to the sarter of the thread:
I use Mandrake 8.2 (yes, it's a bit old) but I like it ...
 
  • #20
well I tried out knoppix. It was ok, definitely not mindblowing, but interesting. I think I might look into some more.

Which one would you suggest I get and why should get it over the others?

Fedora
Lycoris
Suse
 
  • #21
Originally posted by DarkAnt
well I tried out knoppix. It was ok, definitely not mindblowing, but interesting. I think I might look into some more.

Which distro you use is usually determined by what you want to do, and how you use the computer.
 
  • #22
hmm... well all I really do on the computer is program, play games, listen to music, write a paper or two and chat with friends. A big emphasis on the whole games part

...thats what they are called, distros. I was wondering about that.
 
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  • #23
oh yea, I like to have lots of options to mess around with. I don't know if that narrows it down at all.
 
  • #24
Originally posted by DarkAnt
Which one would you suggest I get and why should get it over the others?

Fedora
Lycoris
Suse

I heard only good things about SuSE. Aparently they have the largest number of suported hardware from all the distros ...
(they also have nice T-shirts )
 
  • #25
Well, apparently they want me to pay for a SuSE cd. bah! I'm much too cheap for that. So I guess the list is narrowed down to Fedora and Lycoris.
 
  • #26
Lycoris has more of a windows feel. It is also like SUSE in that it is corporate run, so you might have to pay for some stuff. Choose this if you want an easy to use desktop.

Fedora continues Redhat legacy in the home user market. It is completely community driven. This distro is a little harder than Lycoris, but used by more people. Good Audio and Video support is lacking, but you can easily download the appropraite codecs yourself. Choose this if you want good community support that should stay free, but is little harder than Lycoris to setup.

-------------

As for major games, you got Return to Castle Wolfenstien/Enemy Terrirtory, Neverwinter Nights, and Unreal Tournament 2003. Also, Metal of Honor is supposed to be ported soon, and whenever Doom 3 is done, it too should run on linux.

XMMS is the major audio player
OpenOffice is the MS Office for linux
Gaim is the best Aim, Yahoo, ICQ, etc chatting software
 
  • #27
hmmm, I think I'm going to take a leap into the darkness and go for Fedora. Thanks for everything everyone:smile:
 
  • #28
The last straw...

I'm so sick of this stuff. If it weren't for my addiction to video games I wouldn't even have windows on my comp anymore.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3477899.stm

I'm really starting to think linux is the way to go.
 
  • #30
personally i love slackware and have used it a lot. others i have only installed but haven't really played with and as for linux on a mac, never done it, unix is good enough, hehehe.. anyway...

oh but i would install suse linux if there was no slackware, I have used and liked it.
 

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