

Which Linux should I install? - jkush

Hi everyone:<p>I've decided to install Linux on a hand-me-down laptop I just got. I'm debating which one to install and since everyone here is pretty smart I thought I'd see what you all recommend. The only requirement I have is that it's free.<p>What do you use?
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corentin
I've used FreeBSD or OpenBSD on my laptops for years but I've recently given
up; while they're both nice operating systems (including on the desktop,
especially if you use DesktopBSD) they lack some things I need (mostly
embedded software development tools and easy support for things such as flash
video). So I'm now a Kubuntu user (it's like Ubuntu but with the K Desktop
Environment instead of Gnome). I like the way all KDE applications
interoperate with each other (well, this works if you use KDE applications;
fortunately there are a lot of great KDE applications including a full office
suite, an IDE, the wonderful Amarok audio player, etc.) It may not be as good
as Mac OS X but I think it's a decent alternative. And KDE is very
configurable and overall well designed.

Now, the bad thing about Kubuntu is that the out-of-the-box experience could
be better. You actually have to install support for proprietary codecs and
things like that yourself (but it's easy).

A final thing: I've experienced the FreeBSD ports system, the NetBSD pkgsrc
system, the OpenBSD ports system and, while they're all good systems, I have
to say that the apt system shipped with (k)Ubuntu is by far the best. It just
works.

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sspencer
Any flavor of ubuntu ought to work well for a beginner. I would get the latest
stable version, but be ready to have some possible driver issues. It's become
better over time, but the laptop driver scene is still kind of dicey for
Linux. What kind of laptop is it?

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davidw
Ubuntu +1. You can look here for stuff that doesn't work with Linux:

<http://www.leenooks.com>

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mig
I would recommend ubuntu dapper.

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jkush
Thanks for the suggestion!

