Good newb distro

darkclown · 2007-07-24 02:37:19

I have a friend I'm gonna introduce to Linux, hes not the geeky type so hes gonna need time, so I was wondering if anyone knew a good distro with a slow learning curve. The demands are that i want mplayerplugin, xine and vlc configured kind of like the out of the box arch config and he needs skim or uim.
Any advice? I was thinking maybe suse, but i don't remember how the media codecs are with it..

cactus · 2007-07-24 03:08:53

not suse.
That is all the input I will provide. Just not suse.

mianka · 2007-07-24 03:22:58

Have a look at distrowatch.org, a site that give an overview of nearly all linuxes.They have a search engine where you can set your criteria.

dolby · 2007-07-24 04:09:07

debian

theringmaster · 2007-07-24 05:02:01

ubuntu is the best for new people. That is what I use. I also have arch in virtualbox.

Last edited by theringmaster (2007-07-24 05:02:29)

xnooby2 · 2007-07-24 05:13:19

If he's not going to run Arch, then he should run Ubuntu. If he needs to play a lot of multimedia files, then he should run Mint (which is Ubuntu plus codecs).

shining · 2007-07-24 08:44:39

Ubuntu all the way, a distrib oriented for newbies that has the power of Debian with apt-get/aptitude/synaptic.
You can install codecs on all distribs, the only difference is how easy it's made.
I personally think that the codecs that have a special legal status shouldn't be automatically installed, or even as easy to install as others. Mostly for an educational purpose.

But I don't even know how their install is in last Ubuntu release.

kth5 · 2007-07-24 09:04:18

+1 Ubuntu

But we should keep in mind that Ubuntu wasn't made for people who want to care about the underlying system at all. It tries to replace Windows for that matter with everything being accessible through GUIs and only a few mouseclicks away.
It's nice for a *nix newbee but without a simple system without all these abstractions, noone will even try to learn the essence of *nix. Might as well run OSX, right?

My recommendation:
Debian, tasksel a standard debian with X and office on either GNOME or KDE

It's a bit obscure for a newbee but will quickly involve him/her into dealing with what's under all the GUIs.

Last edited by kth5 (2007-07-24 09:05:45)

shining · 2007-07-24 10:30:45

kth5 wrote:

+1 Ubuntu
But we should keep in mind that Ubuntu wasn't made for people who want to care about the underlying system at all. It tries to replace Windows for that matter with everything being accessible through GUIs and only a few mouseclicks away.
It's nice for a *nix newbee but without a simple system without all these abstractions, noone will even try to learn the essence of *nix. Might as well run OSX, right?
My recommendation:
Debian, tasksel a standard debian with X and office on either GNOME or KDE
It's a bit obscure for a newbee but will quickly involve him/her into dealing with what's under all the GUIs.

What's good with Ubuntu in my opinion is that it's based on Debian, and you can still configure and use it pretty much like Debian, by doing a minimal install, and not using GUIs. At least last time I tried.
Though for most of the differences between Debian and Ubuntu, I always preferred Debian's way. So I prefer Debian myself (second favorite distrib after Arch), but Ubuntu is better for some users in my opinion, because Ubuntu is more concerned about GUIs, without forcing you to use them.

rhfrommn · 2007-07-24 16:38:46

Remember the requirements - this is for somebody who specifically doesn't want to learn Linux/Unix - they just want an easy, functional computer. Thus your suggestion of Ubuntu seems perfect.

I see value in Linux for users like that as well. Not everybody needs to be a geek, but even non-geeks may have valid reasons to want something other than Windows.

chicha · 2007-07-24 19:39:26

What ever distro you choose one day your friend will come to you and say : "my usb device is not recognized but it is on windows, please help" or "I would like to communicate with my brother using MSN webcam ? Which tool should I use" ... I could continue during hours with such common (and normal) questions.

What I would recommand is :

1- Choose the distro you are the most confortable with and install it for him on his computer.
2- Install an accessible and simple to configure desktop such as Gnome or KDE (the one you are the most confortable with).
3- Install all the most common and largely spread softwares (gaim/kopete, Gimp, OpenOffice, Firefox, Amarok/Rythmbox, Totem/Kafeine, ...)
4- Install ssh or a tool which can help controlling his computer and his desktop from your computer.
5- Provide him some help and start educate him with GNU/Linux systems when time permit.

If you really do not have time or do not want to provide him some support then do the same as I did with my mother : I told her to buy a mac and to take some basic computing lessons.

Cheers,
Chicha

Last edited by chicha (2007-07-24 19:40:10)

ataraxia · 2007-07-24 19:46:34

Beware that some distros mysteriously won't work on some machines. I have one that will run Debian, Arch, Fedora, Slackware, Zenwalk, Sabayon, WinXP, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Solaris, but won't boot Foresight, Ubuntu, Mandriva, PCLinuxOS, NetBSD, or DragonFly. So as much as I'd like to look at Ubuntu on it, I just can't.

So, be prepared to have a backup distro choice.

Noneus · 2007-07-24 23:18:26

I'd suggest Ubuntu or Fedora. They both just work. Ubuntu has one big advantage for any newbie. It's huge community.

darkclown · 2007-07-25 00:40:07

I was thinking Ubuntu/mint to begin with but its to much of a hassle to get mplayerplugin up and running at its full potential, I have given it up on my mint install already, and since i run arch were mplayer works perfectly out of the box I haven't yet bother to learn how to config it myself
I'm gonna look at Debian closer, but what do you guys think of mandriva, pclinux and fedora?
@Chicha I would do that except id say I'm still learning and with arch witch I have spent the most time with and in his eyes a system without some functions I still haven't figured yet can end up a bad experience.
P.s. Its not that he doesn`t want to learn, its more that he needs a small learning curve, getting used to file system and programs before moving on to some commands and so on..

codemac · 2007-07-25 01:12:37

I suggest Fedora or Ubuntu. Out of personal experience and preference, I would suggest fedora over ubuntu. That makes the assumption you want to learn more about linux though. Ubuntu will leave you in lala land if that's what you want.

detox332 · 2007-07-25 01:39:15

Mepis, much like ubuntu with all the "hand-holding" GUIs

Cogar · 2007-07-25 03:59:58

openSUSE is fine for newbies or even experienced users IMO. It provides a great out-of-the-box experience. Still, they stopped distributing proprietary software with the distro, so you need to get a few things from other repositories. There is a good walkthrough here:
http://www.softwareinreview.com/cms/content/view/60/

My reasons:
1. The installer is a lot more flexible than the one you get with Debian/Ubuntu. You can choose exactly what you want--right down to the package level like with Slackware or Arch. It can also do lots of other tasks like safely shrink Windows partitions, make suggestions regarding directories and mount points, etc. This is a big deal to someone new to Linux. (If you install the system for your friend, well then this point is not a big deal. However, under that situation, maybe you should set him up with Arch and be done with it.)
2. It is very polished. You plug in a USB stick, camera or whatever and it is mounted automatically and asks which of several appropriate applications you want to launch to use it.
3. It supports wireless, and handles the different types of WPA encryption better than any other I have run across. If you want to keep DHCP from overwriting your DNS addresses, just click a checkbox and it will not mess with your DNS addresses while providing everything else. I know of no other distribution that will do this.
4. Configuration is a no-brainer. Launch YaST and you can change your set up or install like you know what you are doing.
5. The DVD contains just about every application you could want. It is so complete that you do not need an Internet connection except to apply updates. If you learn about an application you want to try, chances are very good you will find it on the DVD. KDE and GNOME come with the distribution--several window managers too. If they don't like the "look" (a big deal to some people), they just have to log out and start a different session.
6. Lots of support. SUSE is the second most popular distribution for commercial use (behind Red Hat) and third most popular open source distribution. With that many people, chances are you can find help on almost anything.

kishd · 2007-07-25 04:57:08

darkclown, If you are going to do the initial install for your friend I would suggest arch with kde. Once arch is installed it is far easier to maintain than any other distro including ubuntu. Let me explain in Ubuntu if you try kde and later want to remove it, its almost impossible without a re-install. In arch it's as simple as pacman -Rc kde. You would also have the added advantage of being able to help him from memory when he calls you with a problem (and he will) as you run arch. Besides the install procedure Arch is just as nooby friendly as any distro.

adlucem · 2007-07-25 07:24:52

darkclown wrote:

I have a friend I'm gonna introduce to Linux, hes not the geeky type so hes gonna need time, so I was wondering if anyone knew a good distro with a slow learning curve. The demands are that i want mplayerplugin, xine and vlc configured kind of like the out of the box arch config and he needs skim or uim.
Any advice? I was thinking maybe suse, but i don't remember how the media codecs are with it..

The only way your friend is going to have an "out of the box" experience is if 1) you watch him use his current PC and note all important usages 2) you install a distro for him and do the configuration work necessary to get him to do all his important usages.
(Therefore you care don't about how easy it is to install this or that plugin in this or that distro, because for you it's not a problem either way).

Everybody says Ubuntu, I don't know I didn't try it; I used PCLinuxOS and I found that the learning curve was slow. I guess it's also true of plain Mandriva, Mint or whichever "out of the box" distro that can be installed on his machine. If one of them doesn't, the other should.
For someone that doesn't want to learn, I'd be wary of Debian: the community/ressources are big and technically oriented. Ubuntu wikis OTOH, are full of tips for noobs.
And if you're going to be his hotline, choose a distro that you already know, unless you enjoy learning little idiosyncracies to solve someone else's problems on the spot.

darkclown · 2007-07-25 13:51:27

Thanks for all the replays, it helps me narrow down quite a bit.
Since I'm rather new to Linux myself (less than a year) but I took the hard way starting with arch and then jumped allot to get back to arch.And i don't have all the functions running on my system yet that he will expect, i wont install arch for him. I guess I will play around a bit with all of the distros mentioned above.
The 2 above i have the most experience with is suse and Ubuntu/mint, and I have yet to figure out how to get complete media browser plug in support, so I'm not a big fan of it, and suse I think yast is pretty good tool for someone who wants to get used to the new system and programs before touching configfiles and commands. I have to say though that I didn't have much of a clue when I was running suse last though, I only stuck with it for a week
The idea is that I will install his system and sett it up wile he watches, then ill just point him in the right direction when hes got a problem, so it`s got to be doable for him self.
Sorry for my bad English and ones again thanks for all the imput

s0lar · 2008-03-11 19:09:59

I use 3 distro's. Arch, Fedora (or BLAG) and Mepis (debian). I used ubuntu before. The best advice is to try a distro with good user support. Try it for a few weeks. Don't give up the selected distro because of a small dislike. There is no perfect distro, if there was, everybody used that one. Or everybody is an idiot .

I found out that Fedora, Mepis and Arch all have there advantages and dislikes. But I don't really find it that hard to live with.

The latest fedora releases really impressed me. I used Ubuntu for a year but I grew tired of it and in the end it became frustrating. Perhaps we expect to much from a distro?

xaw · 2008-03-11 21:44:25

Assuming the person in question wants to begin or have a good footing for starting the process of learning linux, then I would suggest fedora personally. Ubuntu and its derivatives are popular choices, but I think they don't do a good balance of keeping the emphasis on a GUI environment balanced with the fact that linux is predominantly driven by text configuration files and cli friendly tools.

I've also seen ubuntu fail to load on more hardware (which shouldn't be the case in theory) than fedora install mediums.

blu3ness · 2008-03-11 22:27:34

+1 for mint, comes with all existing codecs, runs just like ubuntu. I basically see it as ubuntu with a different skin and media codecs installed. I used it before Arch became my distro of choice.

mplayer support is also good on it, all you have to do is link one of mplayer plugins to the directory that firefox looks for plugins. Exact procedures can be found on their website.

Last edited by blu3ness (2008-03-11 22:28:37)

MoonSwan · 2008-03-11 22:48:39

PCLOS, I hate ubu & its derivatives.

lman · 2008-03-12 08:26:23

MoonSwan wrote:

PCLOS, I hate ubu & its derivatives.

I have always had problems with rpm based distros, so I won't suggest them to newbies. On the other side Ubuntu is in my opinion the best first choice. Just change the default theme , it's really ugly.

Arch Linux

#1 2007-07-24 02:37:19

Good newb distro

#2 2007-07-24 03:08:53

Re: Good newb distro

#3 2007-07-24 03:22:58

Re: Good newb distro

#4 2007-07-24 04:09:07

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#5 2007-07-24 05:02:01

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#6 2007-07-24 05:13:19

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#7 2007-07-24 08:44:39

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#8 2007-07-24 09:04:18

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#9 2007-07-24 10:30:45

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#10 2007-07-24 16:38:46

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#11 2007-07-24 19:39:26

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#12 2007-07-24 19:46:34

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#13 2007-07-24 23:18:26

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#14 2007-07-25 00:40:07

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