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Best Linux Distros For Newcomers
Datamation ^ | 11 January 2016 | Matt Hartley

Posted on 01/13/2016 3:50:54 AM PST by ShadowAce

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To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten

The biggest thing for me for a distro is to solve the dependency closure problem - I don’t want to have to figure out which glibc I need or which libssl will work with all my other software. The reason we have distros is that we can just install - say GIMP and everything will play well with everything else because they’re all in the same dependency closure.

As long as the dependency graph doesn’t break and as long as the repos “have a lot of stuff in them” and as long as things are relatively new or recent - then one distro should be about as good as another.

Unless you want to go crazy and do something like Arch Linux where you build everything from source. No thanks, I don’t have that much time or patience.


41 posted on 01/13/2016 9:00:23 AM PST by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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To: Varmint Al

I’m already using Linux Mint 17.3 “Rosa” Cinnamon for over 6 months.


42 posted on 01/13/2016 9:36:47 AM PST by r_barton
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To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
That gives me the UI I'm used to ...

Yeah--I just cannot get used to Gnome. I can use KDE fairly easily, but I prefer Xfce.

43 posted on 01/13/2016 10:36:29 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: ShadowAce

I started using PCLinuxos - KDE in 2009 have it on a laptop, netbook and a 64bit quad core desktop... just works out of the box


44 posted on 01/13/2016 11:10:03 AM PST by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!)
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To: ShadowAce

That’s the beauty of Linux - to each his own! Vive la difference!


45 posted on 01/13/2016 11:36:24 AM PST by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten

Indeed. While I like Ubuntu, with Unity, my friend prefers Linux Mint. With some research, users can find a flavor they prefer.

Zorin and Zorin Lite are also nice distros for the Linux beginner as I have installed for a few looking to change. Zorin Lite is good for older computers that are lighter on hardware but still able to be used for basic computing, web browsing. I’ve tried many different distros and there are many good ones out there and it just comes down to personal preference.

CGato


46 posted on 01/13/2016 12:53:12 PM PST by Conservative Gato
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To: ShadowAce

.


47 posted on 01/13/2016 4:58:25 PM PST by sauropod (I am His and He is mine.)
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To: markman46

+1 for PCLinuxOS (KDE and LXDE).

For kicks, I installed Arch on an old laptop that struggled with XP (750 MB RAM). Wow, that thing is super fast now!


48 posted on 01/13/2016 5:23:06 PM PST by kevao (Biblical Jesus: Give your money to the poor. Socialist Jesus: Give your neighbor's money to the poor)
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To: Conservative Gato

My bias is that there are probably more similarities than differences. At the end of the day you’re down to a linux kernel, a GUI environment (KDE, Gnome, XFCE), a collection of software that all works together, a package manager (Yum/DNF and RPM or the Debian equivalents) and some glue scripts that bring the system up and down. To my way of thinking there are only so many basic ways you can mix or match all of things.

When I’m working on Fedora or working on Ubuntu with Gnome3 shell it feels pretty much the same to me except that I do dnf install on one box and apt-get install on another.

That’s how it feels to me anyway.


49 posted on 01/14/2016 2:15:24 PM PST by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten

Oh and there’s one more thing - that is the support community. Whether you go looking for answers on Fedoraforums or AskUbuntu etc. etc. At that point it’s down to preference - what community you feel more at home with. That’s a bit like if you like FreeRepublic or some other political board.


50 posted on 01/14/2016 2:17:16 PM PST by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten; ShadowAce
I’m with those that don’t like Unity.

Me too - But I have to confess that I think I am going Unity on my TVs... Easier to use across the room, maybe.

51 posted on 01/14/2016 2:27:54 PM PST by roamer_1 (Globalism is just Socialism in a business suit.)
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