Recommended Linux Distro?

Okay well my Linux is quite rusty, would like to pick it up again. I'm running Knoppix 6.4.4 off a DVD (I don't want to install it on the main hard drive). Any other Linux distros anyone recommends that runs off DVD/USB thumb drive?

 

I've run Mint 11 off a thumb drive as well as Kubuntu 11.04.

 

Well, if you want something that loads in RAM without a persistant install, there's Puppy Linux if you want something lightweight, or Kanotix, which most defintely isn't. Personally, I didn't care for KDE, and Kanotix is a DVD sized download - about 1.2-1.3 GB. Kanotix is worth a try.

Of course, you can always run Ubuntu (or most other popular distros) from Unetbootin. Not Kanotix, oddly enough, but there are comprehensive instructions for a USB install on the Kanotix site.

There's another distro that I've never tried but sounds fascinating. Lightweight Portable Security 1.2.2. It's from the Pentagon. Yup the Department of Defense has its own distro and it's public. Oddly enough, it comes with Flash, despite apparently being a very small, very lightweight distro. I guess the whole point of LPS is to securely access the internet without accessing the primary hard drive, all of which makes sense for the Pentagon.

Distribution Release: Lightweight Portable Security 1.2.2 (DistroWatch.com News)

 

Debian is all you need to know.

 

Hrm well I'll look into the others.

I thought Knoppix was based off Debian?

 

You can run pretty much any distro from a optical/flash drive these days. Sounds like you want to set up a persistent install (rather than just run the live cd) on a flash drive. Class 6+ sdhc cards work great for this.

 

Not familiar with knoppix, but with the years of ubuntu use (based off debian) I wish that I had just gone straight to the source from the beginning.

 

The ones below bolded are what I would recommend to someone returning and/or fairly new to Linux. But since I ramble, I offer the following opinions:

If you're new to linux, I would say Mint 11. Or LMDE, but that's Debian Testing, it'll come up and bite you from time to time. Some guys change repos to Stable.

If you want Long Term Support, Scientific Linux 6.0 (6.1 final in about a week) is good for 7 years and runs on modern hardware. It's not difficult.

hmmm....Arch you can forget about, there's no package security at all, and the install requires a "how-to". (I use in production environment and will get flamed for this, but can't see it in any case...that's just me!) There are many Archers out there....so I'm looking over my shoulder on this one, but I had to say it the way I see it.

Sabayon KDE aside from openSUSE is the best KDE distro I've found and has a certain 'cool' factor...slick.

I personally like openSUSE KDE, but don't like the way they cripple some packages due to licensing, which must be replaced with Packman packages. Do a major update? Replace them again. BTW, who has ever been sued in the linux community for provided codecs? Anyone? LOL

Of course, there's Fedora (basically a buggy Scientific Linux, with no LTS)
hmmmmm....well of course Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu.

One thing about linux, there's a lot to choose from! Just take a look at the top 20 distro's on DW.

Ah, for Debian (what I would use if I lost SL), even if you're a purist, you can install SalineOS....and just set the standard repos for Debian Stable and you're done because Anthony has added scripts for codecs, wireless firmware, etc and it makes for a no fuss Debian install. Other than his scripts, it's pure. You'll end up with the same thing as Debian Stable and it defaults to Xfce if you like that DE. But like I said, remove his backports repos and set up standard Debian Stable repos. This also applies to LMDE mentioned above.

Or just install Debian...adding wireless firmware isn't difficult, but have the .deb file on flash before you install. Many prefer this route.

I love Slackware, but if you're rusty, leave that for now. It's the oldest running Linux Distro.

There is also Mageia....the Mandriva spin off but I'm not sure of it's current development state.

If you have a netbook there is some cool stuff, like Intel's Meego...my daughter loves that one

But I look for: 0)Runs on my hardware, 1)Stability, 2)Security 3)Active development support 4)How long the support is, 5) the rest is up to you.

This question can be very subjective and you'll get many answers and reasons. Some users like to do a new install every few months, especially with a fast evolving distro like Ubuntu. These are just my own reasons. I want something that is more stable than windows...to at least be able to say _that_ You can make any linux distro look nicer than windows with some tweaking and theming.

Many to choose from. Try a few liveDVD's and see what strikes your fancy! Have fun! Sorry for my slap-dash writing here, but I'm trying to get some work done. haha Nice to see you over here from the Vostro 3350 owner's cafe! Welcome!

 

Yeah the wireless issue with debian can deter some, but honestly its a quick and easy copy and paste and youre up and running. Although I would love Debian to do as salineos has...

iwlagn - Debian Wiki

 

I'll take a look at Mint, heard good things. I liked Knoppix as it automatically found drivers for everything and it is bootable off DVD/thumb drive. I use it for troubleshooting at work.

 

Remember, the main downside to Mint 11 is the fact that Google searches are redirected for the sake of advertising money.

 

It's ludicrous that even Intel wireless cards aren't automatically supported in Debian without user intervention. Debian is the slow release cycle and backward approach to development. Debian represents a backward approach to Linux development, with a slow release cycle and a dated version of the kernel. Yes, Debian serves as base for Ubuntu, but it's just that; a base for a more user friendly distro.

 

That's true, microcode is copied and pasted to /lib/firmware or wherever. But I do NOT like their philosophy of open source only. Hardware isn't open source only, and neither are proper drivers. I think that philosophy's time has long since passed. Just my .03

Just wait till Android hit's the desktop for some new distro fun! (Since we are talking about distros in this thread) haha
But for now, I would use Linux Mint 11 or Linux Mint Debian Edition if you're up to it. Or/ just go with Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu

 

Uhh ^^ did not understand a single thing you typed out there buddy lol.

 

Sorry....if you run into some issues, just post on this forum...our resident Debian guru is AllurGroceries...I believe he's a moderator now, so he can be found

 

It is really a pain in some cases not only with Debian but with any distro that you need an internet connection to download the proprietary driver for your ethernet/WiFi card leading to a Chicken and an Egg situation. On the other hand if there were a standard driver for Ethernet and WiFi cards (just like AHCI, OHCI, UHCI or something for USB, SATA ports, etc.) - we could avoid this problem all together.

 

There should be a law that all linux distro's must be compiled on a laptop....LOL

 

Is this a browser setting or part of that mintsearch engine for Firefox? Seems like something that could easily be shut off or changed.

I've not experienced this on Mint 10 and Debian so I guess it's a Katya thing. So far it's only been the google entry in the Update Manager to verify net access which is easily changed to any other domain.


EDIT: Ok, it is in Julia and Mint Debian. Go into Synaptic, search for mint-search-addon, mark for complete removal. Problem solved.

 

No, it's not ludicrous. These firmwares are only available as blobs, so they don't comply with Debian's approach to release a distro made of free software only. Kicking those blobs out of the standard installation was just a logic step. One doesn't have to agree with that philosophy. If you don't just pick another distro.

Debian is just not for version junkies. This has nothing to do with a "backward approach". The distro doesn't develop backwards. It's just conservative when it comes to including new features in their stable branch.

I doubt that there'll ever be "distro fun" with Android. I tinkered a bit with it half a year ago when I was about to buy my first smartphone and I didn't like it at all. Everybody says that Android is an open system but in fact that only goes for inside the Dalvik VM. If you want to leave that VM (e.g. because you need to add another file system driver) you're facing a massively locked down system.
This was the main reason why I decided for the Nokia N900 with Maemo and against the (in terms of hardware superior) HTC Desire Z with Android.

 

The two-of-you need to agree to disagree. Recognize that most users neither have the tine nor knowledge to build a system from Debian. Regardless of their philosophical ideologies I beleive we can agree that GNU/Linus regardless of distro is a 'good start'. Package mgmt and philosophies aside, I use Crunchbang#!( rolling debian Squeeze) and Ubuntu 11.04 ( classic, no effects) and I have no issues.

You gentlemen remind me of the 'crews' of people when I go to a 'brewers' convention (not the team, the process of homebrew convention), everyone has their version or way of doing things.

Most of the time non is either better than the other.

* on my desktop I use Debian Sid + XFCE 4.8+ X window manager.

 

If you ask me, everyone should brew and drink beer the way he prefers it. I just don't like when people complain that they don't like my beer because it doesn't taste like theirs. In that case they should simply drink theirs.

 

I completely agree with what you are saying. that was my intent. I choose to use 3 distros at the moment -- Ubuntu, Crunchbang, Debian Sid. 2011 is the best year for Linux that I can remember.

 

Fun is what fun does. Comeon Debguy, it'll be blast if it makes it that far.

 

Grab a random android version (mine was mainly 2.2 but 2.1 and 2.3 weren't that different), tinker with it on the base system level (not on the apps level inside the Dalvik VM) and then compare that to any conventional Linux distro you've ever tried.
Then we'll talk about fun again.

 

Yup. I have two N900's. One in regular use, the other one in the box for when the first one dies. I love it's openness, and I doubt there will ever be another device as the N900.

 

In hindsight, Maemo was at best a third place contender in the smartphone wars, before it was effectively killed by the Microsoft deal. Now Windows Phone can play the role of a losing third place contender.

The real problem is that Nokia played around with Symbian while Apple was fine tuning iOS, and by the time Maemo/MeeGo was a real option, Nokia was no longer perceived as a mainstream brand, at least not in any important markets.

 

Very true. But, that doesn't take away from the fact that the N900 is awesome and will remain so until it ticks its last little CPU cycle. I still would take it over any other device out there.

 

And I'm glad that's all it ever was. This way it doesn't get the attention of people who write malware.

Also very true! The N900 with Maemo was the best compromise between openness and usefulness* that's ever been on the market. Plus, there's still a quite good community over at [1] working on improvements for the N900.
Perhaps I should also get a 2nd N900 to tinker with. One gets a little too careful if it's the only phone and that one needs every day. My next "mod" will be to add a 32GB class 10 micro-SDHC, partly to add another swap partition.

*) No, the Openmoko Freerunner wasn't really useful.

[1] maemo.org - maemo.org: Home of the Maemo community