Gaming Thinking of maybe installing a Linux OS.

[Nujui]

*Hoping Mazor answers this.*

I've been thinking about this for a long while now, and I thought that I would finally do it and install linux....though I don't know which one to install. Here's my computer secs if that helps:

Spoiler

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System Information
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Time of this report: 10/6/2011, 15:20:16
Machine name: DUSKYE-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista? Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.101014-0432)
Language: Japanese (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dell XPS420
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A03
Processor: Intel Core™2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 3070MB RAM
Page File: 3201MB used, 3164MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 32bit Unicode

I just want a opinion on what would be the best for me.

 

[Kioku]

:S I would say Ubuntu, it's pretty simple to use and easy to figure out. Somebody is going to come in here and say Arch because of its fanciness, but it's not really user friendly and you HAVE TO BE EXTREMELY careful because something goes wrong and you're screwed. I use Ubuntu and love it.. that's just me. It's seriously the simplest Linux Dist I've used.

 

[Mazor]

Give us some more information and you're likely to get recommendations that suit you.

Specs are one thing, but we also need to know what you are looking for. How much user-friendlyness do you want? Do you want the distribution to come prepackaged with lots of software (giving you a ready to use system at the cost of it being bloated)? Do you want the operating system to be fast? Do you think it's worth it to spend some time learning the operating system if that can improve your experience? The more information you give, the better recommendation you'll get.

 

[Nujui]

Give us some more information and you're likely to get recommendations that suit you.

Specs are one thing, but we also need to know what you are looking for. How much user-friendlyness do you want? Do you want the distribution to come prepackaged with lots of software (giving you a ready to use system at the cost of it being bloated)? Do you want the operating system to be fast? Do you think it's worth it to spend some time learning the operating system if that can improve your experience? The more information you give, the better recommendation you'll get.

Sorry, didn't really know what to say at first.

.

I guess some user friendlyness. I'm OK when it comes to computers, so I wouldn't mind some user friednlyness.

And it depends, what do prepackaged ditros usually come with?

Sort of fast. I kind want it to use less resources, as I run a server for a group of people, and someone suggested that using a linux distro would be better in the long run.

And I'm will to spend time learning it, I've only used linux like a couple of times on my dads old computer, so learning more about it would be nice.

 

[Rydian]

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

To get a general idea.

 

[KDH]

Sorry, didn't really know what to say at first.

.

I guess some user friendlyness. I'm OK when it comes to computers, so I wouldn't mind some user friednlyness.

And it depends, what do prepackaged ditros usually come with?

Sort of fast. I kind want it to use less resources, as I run a server for a group of people, and someone suggested that using a linux distro would be better in the long run.

And I'm will to spend time learning it, I've only used linux like a couple of times on my dads old computer, so learning more about it would be nice.

Sounds like you want Slackware, or at least something Slackware based. It's the best option if you really want to learn your system, plus it comes with all the software you need both for a personal machine and to setup just about any kind of server you could want.

 

[Nujui]

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

To get a general idea.

I remember taking that test, though I don't remember the results.

I just took it again. I got 100% on Ubuntu, OpenSuSE and Mandriva.

Which one would probably suit me?

 

[sentinel5000]

This is a pretty simple one, Install Ubuntu 11.10 when available (I believe it launches this oct 13th) then just install essentials for it and ull be good to go, I am an ubuntu user and I know ubuntu is an awesome FREE OS. if u have any questions u can ask me if u want about anything for it and if I know about it ill try to help.

 

[doyama]

I'd recommend perhaps going with a Ubuntu Live version first to see if you feel like it suits your needs. You can find various levels of 'shit that does not work' depending on what you need to do.

 

[Nujui]

I'll give Ubuntu Live a try.

 

[Rydian]

I wouldn't really recommend that, Ubuntu's a "large" distro and the live version performs like shit compared to an install, it might give you the wrong impression.

 

[sentinel5000]

Yeah dont use live, just install in a partition, live vs install are totally different.

 

[Nujui]

Alright...so I have Windows Vista on my main hard drive, but I also have a little backup drive. Do I just partition my main hdd and install linux on it? And what about the Vista install? Do I just get rid of it or do I just keep it?

 

[Fishaman P]

Definitely try Ubuntu. I would say wait around 10 days, though; the next release in their 6-month release schedule is coming out on the 13th, if I'm not mistaken.

Second, you should be running Windows Vista 64-bit. It's obvious that Vista isn't seeing all of your RAM, and there are some applications that run much faster in 64-bit mode.
This also means you should use 64-bit Ubuntu.

Third, in case your graphics card is new enough to support it, you should update your DirectX version to DX11.

EDIT: The Ubuntu installer will take care of it all for you; it auto-detects other operating systems and lets you set how much hard drive space you want the other OS to keep.
It even sets up the paging partition automagically!

 

[Rydian]

You can use WUBI (do the install within windows) to avoid having to partition.

 

[Nujui]

You can use WUBI (do the install within windows) to avoid having to partition.

Alright, I'll give it a try.

 

[Nimbus]

Although I prefer partitioning (Seriously, having a 30GB Root Partition and a massive seperate /home Partition is a godsend. Having the seperate Home partition allows you to reinstall any distro at any point without having to lose all your stuff. Just choose to mount said partition used for /home without telling the installer to format it. Just make sure all the user info, including the password is the same as it was in the initial install)

As for Distros, I distaste OpenSuSE for personal reasons, and it's not really just Novell's backstabbing that makes me dislike it, I've never really liked SuSE. However you may enjoy it. I don't know what it's future holds though with Novell selling themselves out to Attachmate.

If this is your first Linux OS Here's what I would suggest, aside from Ubuntu being an obvious choice, here are some others.

Linux Mint: Like Ubuntu and based on it, with a Facelift, and it includes all the restricted extras out of the box that Ubuntu doesn't usually provide)

Debian: One could say this is Ubuntu's Mother for a lack of better terms. Debian usually only see's one release every 3 years, but if you're running it's stable branch it's rock solid. Testing is for those that would like a taste of the cutting edge, and for those that enjoy breakage and fixing it, Sid is your man. Just for the record, in addition to Ubuntu, I also run Debian Sid albiet the latter is sort of my playtoy.

Linux Mint also has a Debian branch, which is a little more lightweight and is of course based on Debian. It's namely based on the Testing Branch of Debian.

Again, each distro for the most part has a Live mode which allows you to try it out, but it's not at full speed obviously.

If you do decide to partition, your Home Partition should be the largest, Root should be 25-30GB at most, and since you have 4GB of RAM, I would make a 8GB Swap Partition. If you can afford to as well, add at least a 10-15GB /tmp partition. If an app goes rouge and starts eating up resources, you don't want that to be on root like it usually is, if /tmp gets filled up it will just cause the program to terminate.

You could even try it out in a virtual machine first, but this will not allow you to test your computers hardware to see if everything works.

If this is a laptop, Atheros Wireless cards generally work out of the Box with no need to install any proprietary drivers. Intel Wireless cards are also pretty good for working out of the box. Broadcom is another story, as few are actually fully open-sourced and as such, almost all of them require you to hook in via an ethernet cable and download/install them before they will work.

Intel's graphics cards are the only one's I know of in terms of modern ones that do not require you to install propriatary drivers in order to maximize their potential. Older ATI cards are generally supported flawlessly by the Open Source driver, but the modern ones need the FLGXR proprietary driver for power management and whatnot. NVidia is more or less the same situation as ATI.

I personally would go with KDE as your desktop environment provided your machine is reletively powerful, which it seems to be. Unity is kinda bleh IMHO, and if you want something similar to Gnome 2 which sadly is no longer with us, Xfce is probably the best alternative to it now.

 

[Nujui]

Well, I have tried linux on the PS3 when mine was still hacked. I gave both Ubuntu and Debain a try (Despite it being a pain to work with.), I found I like Ubuntu more. I don't remember which distro was the one I tried on my dads old computer, but it was Debain from what I remember.


Annnnd I just installed Ubuntu on a 20gb partition for right now, to get a feel of it.

 

[Nimbus]

Well, I have tried linux on the PS3 when mine was still hacked. I gave both Ubuntu and Debain a try (Despite it being a pain to work with.), I found i like Ubuntu more. I don't remember which distro as the one I tried on my dads old computer, but it was Debain from what I remember.


Annnnd I just installed Ubuntu on a 20gb partition for right now, to get a feel of it.

Yeah, I mean if you dont like it you can always blow away that partition easily. Or drop a train on it, whichever you like best.

I used Mint before and found it too simplistic and whatnot. Ubuntu still gave me that edge of complexion that I enjoyed. Debian ain't bad though, and it rocks now what I have a new laptop with a natively supported wireless cards. (I swear, Atheros can have part of my soul)

If you really get the hang of Linux and want to dive into and try the more complex and less friendly sides, Arch and Gentoo are your friends in that case. I actually have used the former and used it for about half a year, taught me a great deal about Linux.

 

[sentinel5000]

Ok, first, get rid of vista ASAP!!!. Get windows 7, even if its home premium (ultimate preferably). Then wait till Ubuntu 11.10 is released and install that in a new partition in your HDD. and then ull be good to go