Getting into linux for the first time

[Smellyfinger]

Hey guys. I'm about to dual boot my windows pc with linux. What distro would you guys recommend? Also are there any maintenance applications/tools i should know about?

Thanks for any help in advance!

 

[jurassicplayer]

If this wasn't a "first time" thing, i would probably be suggesting stuff i would like...but since it is, suggesting something that leaves a favorable first impression probably is more important.
Use one of the Linux Mint things maybe.

If you want to derp around with some other stuff, try fedora or archlinux. Both are considered not as stable because the packages are always latest packages...but i live with my archlinux install blissfully unaware of most things, so meh.

Maintenance-wise...you should probably just get things that you feel like as they come up. All you really need at best is to keep your box updated. Gnome-system-monitor is a rather fancy task manager that i like though.

 

[migles]

i liked ubuntu... but now its full of social apps crap like facebook included and when you now type on the "start menu equivalent" it will search your files and on google automatically, if you have privacy concerns like me.. and don't want anything with facebook shit.. you can get rid of it but its a pain in the ass..
they only included this starting at i think from 1 year ago?.. before that i loved ubuntu, specially because the app store where you could find almost every thing...

 

[FAST6191]

Yeah I usually give people Linux Mint if I am breaking them into GUI based Linux. On the matter of "maintenance applications/tools" then that is pretty much what a distro really is, give or take their choice of package manager, which is to say they bundle them in there.

If you want to get into the command line/back end of things then you can still play on mint as well, though if you want do or die then yeah linux from scratch, arch and other such things are what you at least want to go through once. Then you can move to something less fiddly but still with a heavy command line focus.

By the way you do not have to dual boot. Most modern machines will be able to handle a virtual machine quite happily.

 

[migles]

By the way you do not have to dual boot. Most modern machines will be able to handle a virtual machine quite happily.

i forgot to tell about this

a linux distro can also be installed and run from USB\cd
this means you don't actually need to install it (by install i mean partition an hdd and load it from there)
keep in mind, with a simple usb\cd live all settings and files are reseted when you restart the computer (just like ram) unless you save the files to an actuall pen drive or other media.. for keep files settings and modifications you can create "persistence" if you follow the usb\cd path... that means there is a container file that will contain your modifications\files saved to filesystem...

if you decide you really want to dual boot, you don't need to get rid of windows, you can do just like i did, use windows tools to shrink a partition on the primary hdd,
then using linux to create an extended partition and install linux on there

 

[FAST6191]

Other than things like puppy linux which are built from the ground up for persistence in a liveCD scenario I have never been a particular fan of the implementations available for storing the data of liveCDs, be it things like Wubi or something more generic/cobbled together.

LiveCDs are wonderful for data recovery, for trialling a distro when you already know what to look for or need to check with your hardware setup, for ensuring you have a reasonably clean machine to do something secure on, for not touching the underlying hardware of another machine and such like. Whether I would suggest it.

However I am a year or two out of such things and I might be pleasantly surprised. I doubt it as it was not half as pressing as the likes of getting wifi, graphics, surround sound and webcams working for people but I could be surprised.

 

[The Catboy]

I have been using Linux for over 8 years now and still use it to this very day!
The three best Linux Distros for Windows Users would have to be; Linux Mint, Zorin OS, and ChaletOS.
All are based on Ubuntu LTS, so they have very stable cores and still work with Ubuntu PPA's. They are all meant to be user-friendly, with pretty much everything and anything you need installed right out of the box. I also suggest installing some custom PPA's/Repos, like;
http://www.playdeb.net/welcome/
http://www.getdeb.net/welcome/
These are also some helpful guides
http://www.unixmen.com/top-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-15-04/
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2...do-after-installing-ubuntu-14-04-trusty-tahr/
http://www.howtogeek.com/115797/6-ways-to-speed-up-ubuntu/
https://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/to-do-list-after-installing-linux-mint-17/

 

[Lucifer666]

The only one I've used is ubuntu and it worked like a charm, definitely recommend that

 

[TecXero]

I'd recommend Mint (Ubuntu based, not the Debian based build). If you prefer more of a classic and clean interface, go for MATE. If you prefer the newer graphically heavy interfaces, Cinnamon will probably be better for you.

 

[mid-kid]

I'd recommend Mint (Ubuntu based, not the Debian based build). If you prefer more of a classic and clean interface, go for MATE. If you prefer the newer graphically heavy interfaces, Cinnamon will probably be better for you.

if you're saying release date, mate is newer.

As for recommended distro, it depends on the person you are.
If you don't like change, maybe chaletos or zorinos.
If you want to experience actual desktop linux superficially, mint, or any of the ubuntu spinoffs with different desktops.
If you want to be up to date and don't mind doing a bit of stuff with the terminal, fedora, debian testing, manjaro.
If you want a GUI configuration panel on steroids, opensuse.
If you want to dive deeper and find out what makes linux tick, arch, gentoo, funtoo, or linux from scratch may serve you well.