linux on a new pc

mukki

i am hoping to build a high spec pc with an x6800


but i want people to sit in front of the pc and it too be like nothing they ever used before sooo....

guys i need a linux distro, that will be able to use the hardware, and have software to do a good bit of video conversion and just surf the net ( ethernet BB so no modems needed)

first attempt a linux, so it will have to be a simple one too


thanks

generalmiaow

well, luckily you don't have to take our word for it You can try nearly every distro out there as a liveCD and see whether your hardware works on it and it looks good. Personally I recommend ubuntu or suse for beginners, and maybe later when you're more confident you can try get xgl/compiz working to take advantage of that high spec.

zAbbo

Ubuntu or any Debian based distro, I'd avoid Suse though, package management system isn't as good as Debian

Khannie

Make sure you get an nvidia card if you intend using the machine for 3D gaming. ATI's drivers have improved a lot, but are still crap compared to nVidia's.

I highly recommend ubuntu. I find it excellent. Mine's running (very fast) on a 4600+ x2, 6800GT and 1G of ram.

netwhizkid

I too have also began Linux Experimentations, I have four distros at the Moment. Which I got with the September Edition of "Personal Computer World Magazine" I#m on Dial up and one-way sat BB so downloading them isn't an option.

My four Distros,

Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake,
AUSTRUMI 1.2
Knoppix 5.01
OpenSuSE 10.1

I have tried the first three as live Cd's both on my Dell Dimension 8400 and 8yr old Packard Bell, only AUSTRUMI would work on the Packard Bell and rather poorly at that. They all worked on my Dell and I like both Knoppix and Ubuntu, Austrumi sucks as alot of it is in the Latvian language.

I didn't try OpenSuSE yet as ISO Recorder wouldn't record it onto a DVD+RW and I am out of DVD-R's so when I get them I shall try it on the Dell. The Packard bell lacks a DVD drive and OpenSuSE is too big for a CD.

I woder is this normal for OpenSuSE not to be able to go onto a DVD+RW in ISO Recorder.


I like Knoppix the most as i find Ubuntu too brown, Although I presume this can be changed right??

monkey tennis

netwhizkid wrote:

I like Knoppix the most as i find Ubuntu too brown, Although I presume this can be changed right??

Are you some horrible joke that has been unleashed on the unsuspecting IT community?

Capt'n Midnight

netwhizkid wrote:

I like Knoppix the most as i find Ubuntu too brown, Although I presume this can be changed right??

Check your monitor for colour temperature adjustments. Some also have other corrections too.

Or for that really special effect swap aound the R,G,B pins on the monitor cable.

Khannie

monkey tennis wrote:

Are you some horrible joke that has been unleashed on the unsuspecting IT community?

ROFL.

LOL.

etc.

(really did laugh though)

mukki

monkey tennis wrote:

Are you some horrible joke that has been unleashed on the unsuspecting IT community?

that mean to avoide knoppix

treid ubuntu, it just hangs when i try to boot it from the cd

tehn tried debian, but couldn't figure out how to download it

netwhizkid

mukki wrote:

that mean to avoide knoppix

treid ubuntu, it just hangs when i try to boot it from the cd

tehn tried debian, but couldn't figure out how to download it

I reckon monkey tennis was referring to me with the "horrible joke" thingy. Knoppix is bootable from the live disc so I'd say give it a go, I find it to be my prefered choice of the three distros I've tried.

As for Ubuntu being brown, I have doen some more checking on it and it should be changeable and customizable similary to Win Xp. Ubuntu and Knoppix are both good but Knoppix has more software pre built in like Open Office etc.

Capt'n Midnight

netwhizkid wrote:

As for Ubuntu being brown, I have doen some more checking on it and it should be changeable and customizable similary to Win Xp. Ubuntu and Knoppix are both good but Knoppix has more software pre built in like Open Office etc.

try the "Redmond" theme for desktop in Knoppix if you like XP :rolleyes:

Knoppix can be copied to a hard drive, and run from there and you can install stuff,
BUT it's so tweaked up and customised that an apt-get upgrade will seriously upset it so you can't use as a permanent OS. Also pleasently suprising how many drivers it has too. And tonnes of goodies. I use partimage on it to resize ntfs partions to porvide room for installing a partition for windows / room for other OS's

mukki

some geeks ye are....

you are all wrong, their is NO linux distro that is compatabal with this new system (asus p5b -mb)

i have to wait for a newer release

monkey tennis

mukki wrote:

you are all wrong, their is NO linux distro that is compatabal with this new system (asus p5b -mb)

I find that pretty hard to believe. Which distros have you tried?

Khannie

monkey tennis wrote:

I find that pretty hard to believe. Which distros have you tried?

I also find it hard to believe. There is a minimal set of drivers that should work with ANY system.

ressem

He's right in that modern kernels will reportedly choke on the network card and the sata / ide controllers on this motherboard especially but 965 based boards in general have issues.

There's work being done to sort it out, but as of yesterday for example Ubuntu daily snapshots were still struggling to sort out the issue. E.g. using both ide (cdrom) and sata (hard drive) would cause both to fail.

mukki

yeah i bought a usb hard drive, kinda need it because i have 3 pcs, and 3 dvd-rw (which i cam sell now)

i can now install linux

ubuntu- kept hanging, and didn't recgnise graphics card or network (installing drivers is not for a nubie)

suse 10.1, oh my god i got the 64bit version, installed and its sooooo slow, didn't recognise the network, used an old card, loads of browsers, but all the text is too small in the browsers menus,


anyway i found them all horribal to look at, so have installed xp again