Well, I'v been doing good amount of searching and trying out different distros (mepis, knopix, pclinuxos, ubuntu, and even doom9's inspired videolinux). Although I know Ubutu doesn't get a whole lot of love here at Afterdawn, it felt alot more natural and less confusing then some of the other distros I tried. The bottom line for me is that I use my desktop for is backing up DVDs/burning, media, the internet, and word processing. I'd like some recomendation for a deb based distro that would allow me to do these things as simply as possible.
Another good distro is Linux MINT. debian/ubuntu based and seemed quite good for all the time i had it on my system (32bit distro only, i have a 64bit setup so not quite what i was looking for).
Thanks for your suggestions. I have a question though which pertains to both distros. How do I know if my cpu supports x64?
what??/ there is no such thing as "supports x64" it needs to be a 64 bit system.. usually amd on a desktop machine. {darkside comment} f*** me.. don't people even know what hardware is sitting in front of them?... Life with linux will be impossible.. go to pc world and buy a complete system with full tech support. loks like the console retards have found their way into pc stuff now.. jeeeez.. I'm going to hide under the stairs {/comment}
You have to quote someone else? If your gonna be a douche have the testicular fortitude to make your own jabs.
she is right. if you are going to use Linux you cant ask stupid newb questions like that. how hard is it to look on the side of your computer and type the name of the processor into Google? and if i were you i would try not to start a fight with her, she usually wins. lol.
There is no winning on something this dumb. My response was as stupid as hers, as my question--it's dead.
What is dumb? You asked a sooooo newbie question you left yourself open to the response you got. If you dont know what the spec of your computer is or anything about CPU's and the difference between them then Linux is not for you. I am by no means a computer expert, however I know how to build one (the best way to learn anything) and what I want my PC to do for me. I got into linux a few times over the years but always went back to M$ because I couldnt be arsed. Google, Google and Google some more to find out information that is the way to learn. Deadlove is my mentor for *nix, without her I would still be a Stepford Child with M$, and not willing to learn more about something else.
hehehehehe.. some people don't know that {darkside} is my alter-ego. What I really want to say but usually keep to myself. Really though.. try asking a question like that on debian irc channels. I will wait and watch the logs for the many amusing replies. ;-) Anyway. I did actually give you some kind of answer in that lot.. If you have an amd cpu it's likely if pretty new to be a 64 bit one.. Don't think you will be running a 64bit twin xeon, or an exotic parallel 64 sparc/alpha.. If you were you would know it and not be using windows anyway.. ::lol:: No harm done.. I just felt like venting off about general stupidity and ignorance on this site, not really accusing you of it.. That;s really why I sometimes use the {darkside comment} bit.. Something like Homers brain butting in... oh yeah.. and I'm a first class bumhole.. Seeing as even now you haven't had anything like a decent answer.. here goes.. First thing to do is go to start>control panel>system>hardware Check cpu details.. it will tell all.. If you have intel32 then you need an i(3-6)86 linux release.. these will work on just about anything apart from some sun hardware.. the obvious choice for a first time user. sparc/alpha/solaris are self explanatory on the linux download page If by any chance you have a 64bit machine then you can go ahead with the x64 release.. but be warned, some x64 linux is a bit like xp64 edition.. a bit broken and buggy.. experience is needed for 64 bit linux distros as sound drivers, graphics drivers and all kinds of other weird little things will need tweaking.. better to go for the i386 for a start until you get the feel of things. Point 2... don't ever pay for linux unless you are a business user. You will see no benefit from a paid version as all you get is limited technical (software only) for a period of usually 6 months.. the tech helpline people will be expecting you to be an IT professional at the leats, and likely a sys-admin. ;-) There are a couyple of russian based linux flavours and the horrid linspire that want your money.. The general view of these are that they are substandard anyway and to be avoided at all costs unless you need the tech support in business.
Thanks for clearing that up Deadlove. I never did understand what people were actually paying for with Linux. Anyhow, I'm just gonna give a bunch more distros a try and see what suits me best. Either way it goes I'll be fussing, cussing and frustrated so I might as well just go in head first and stop talking about it. Take care.
And you.. I'm here if you need me.. Give debian etch a try. It's only 180 or so MB's to download the latest net install iso and that will get you the latest updated kernal and packages. As soon as you get to the installed desktop you will want to login as root su - password and edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file to something realistic. gedit etc/apt/sources.list Mine goes like this.. Code: # # deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 r1 _Etch_ - Official i386 NETINST Binary-1 20070820-20:21]/ etch contrib main #deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 r1 _Etch_ - Official i386 NETINST Binary-1 20070820-20:21]/ etch contrib main deb [url]http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.debian.org/debian/[/url] etch main contrib non-free deb-src [url]http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.debian.org/debian/[/url] etch main contrib non-free deb [url]http://security.debian.org/[/url] etch/updates main contrib deb-src [url]http://security.debian.org/[/url] etch/updates main contrib deb [url]http://www.debian-multimedia.org[/url] etch main deb [url]http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian[/url] etch main you can copy/paste that into the file and it will work....remember to save, not just exit..and then still as root in the terminal do an apt-get update and wait for it finishing. That will give you access to multimedia/mp3/dvd tools that aren't in the core linux repositories. ;-) It contains things that aren't strictly legal in the US.. whatever. stupid laws..
Sweet, that will save me a bunch of time fumbling around with the media player(s) trying to make it work right. I appreciate it.
That's cool.. just a note.. when you come to install mplayer put a # in front of all the sources.list entries EXCEPT the debian-multimedia.org one.. that forces apt to use only the full multimedia repositories.. Don't worry about the "unable to verify sources" error with deb multimedia sources.. there is guidance on the main site about how to fix it if you really want to.. I don't bother.. I trust them not to give me junk..
Just out of curiosity are you a Debian etch user yourself? Perhaps you already answered this in so many words with your knowledge of Debian. If not, then what are you using?
