Which Linux

Ì may have told you that my Olde computer will be used for Linux. Which begs the question: Which Linux?

Until now (or, well 2 years ago or so) I have used Suse, and was happy with that. But now, when I install a new Linux system, I may as well try a new one? Linux will be the only OS on the machine.

So: Which Linux and why?

pibbur who has decided to listen to the watch in this particular case.

If you're looking to try new things, then it probably makes sense to try different desktop environments, since this will provide the most visible difference between distros.

Manjaro XFCE edition is well worth a look. Fastest desktop I've ever used, and a very good choice on older PCs.

Fedora 21 Gnome edition is worth a look. It's probably the most cutting edge distro right now, and Gnome 3 has become very polished and usable - but it's still a love it or hate it affair.

Or there's Deepin 2014.1, the chinese distro which has created its own desktop environment, and is quite unique. Some nice design ideas, though I'm not totally convinced.

Finally there's Mint, which is the safest choice - Ubuntu-based and with the very Windows-like Cinnamon desktop. This will very rarely give you any trouble.

I am currently running Mint 17 on my machine without issue, and have been for over 6 months. Prior to that, I dual-booted, but I finally had enough of Windows. I'm currently running the Cinnamon desktop, but there is alse KDE, Gnome3, and MATE desktops which I have not experienced. In the past I used Gnome, but not in several years.

Opensuse (tumbleweed)

Best trade off between stability and bleeding edge, no unnecessary manual configuration, KDE centric, opensuse software studio.

I use Ubuntu for numerical calculations, but not as frequently as Windows. Ubuntu is very easy to install on a Windows system (it does everything for you, even hard disk partitioning and dual boot!). It is also compatible with most of the programs that I use and with most Linux games.

I also tried Opensuse and I like it alot as it has a UI that is very close to Windows, but unfortunately it was not (easily) compatible with the programs that I wanted to use.

I don't need it to look like windows. I like gnome, so I'll use that. Fedora serms like an interesting distro.

Pibbur who has windows (8.1) on his new comp.

I completely misread this thread title as Witch Linux and was hoping for a a thread about a literally and figuratively arcane linux distro.

Something like Linux ver. 0.01 from '91?

pibbur who has decided to call the olde soon to be linuxed pc "pibbux".

Linux Mint of course. Xfce which is the best running version.

Here I am on the olde pc, just installed Fedora. Looking good so far. Yay.

pibbur who decided to call the dmachine Asterix, in the end pibbux didn't feel quite right.

I replaced fedora with openSuse. System administration seemed a bit "dumbed down", the gui, that is. Several things I couldn't find out howto do. I'm sure I could find out more if working on it, but then I decided to go back to what I already knew, and installed suse along with the good ol' yast2.

Pibbur who cannot guarantee that he won't replace suse with something else. The fun of installing linux on an untainted (by windows) virgin(al machine)!!!!

Yeeeees. I won!!!!

(Be honest, it was a competition)

I prefered Lubuntu when I used Linux, but now I don't anymore, way too many problems and frustrating glitches.

Lubuntu, eh? How many distros are there!?!?!?

Pibbur who will look'em up on wikipedia later tonight.

Originally Posted by pibbur who
Lubuntu, eh? How many distros are there!?!?!?

Welcome to the Linux jungle

It uses LXDE which is by far the lightest Linux UI, yet it has the Ubuntu reps and the compatibility of Ubuntu. To me this is by far the best of both worlds.

If I find I don't like Suse after all, maybe that will be the next I try.

pibbur who finds the name funny

But as you mentioned the admin GUI as an important factor, I don't think you'll find better than yast. My advice - stick with opensuse, and when they switch over to the new KDE 5, you'll get some interesting changes anyway. You can install the early version alongside the default KDe4, to try it out. I think it's shaping up to be excellent.

Thanks for the advice.

pibbur who actually uses gnome with suse

If you really want something different try openbsd. Or, ah yes, steam os ?