Which distros should I consider ?

[kentborg at borg.org (Kent Borg)]

On Wed, Jul 12, 2006 at 11:37:04PM -0400, Laurence Guild wrote:
> I bought an HP laptop a couple of months ago. 
> >>From "my computer" it shows:
> 
> processor 1.60 GHz
> 590 Mhz, 504 MB of ram
> 
> from Accesories -> system tools -> system information it shows
> 
> total 512 MB, available 105.36 MB

Enough for a modern Linux, even with bloated windowing software.

> I am familiar with unix in that I worked on an AIX for many years
> and SUN OS/solaris as well.

That will help keep you out of the weeds.

> I am a programmer, mainly interested in Perl, Ruby, Java, C++,
> etc. I might want to play with appache web server as well.

These distributions come to mind:

 - Redhat   Established player, good for suits who want to pay.
 - Centos   Redhat clone, free.
 - Fedora   Redhat's development area, free.
 - Debian   Solid, conservative, always behind the times, free.
 - Gentoo   Source-based, long software update times waiting for builds, free
 - Ubuntu   Debian, but more up-to-date and better fit and finish, free.
 - Suse     Popular on this list, but unclear future (?), pay.
 - Mandriva Once a Redhat spinoff, pay (-ish?).

I have used most of the above and like Ubuntu best--but that's not
fair: For example, I tried Mandriva (then Mandrake) a long while back,
it might be much better now.  Same with Fedora.  Ubuntu recogized my
notebook hardware better than any of the others, but I didn't try
date-matching versions of the others, I assume they have progressed.

Ubuntu, being based on Debian, has depth, but frequently much newer
software.  There are some rough spots.  For example, the installer is
confusing and gets confused if you do complicated partitioning (like
raid on top of LVM), but simple partitioning (including dual boot with
windows) works well.  I have had to mess with two notebook things: the
brightness buttons didn't work right so I found the script in question
and made some changes.  Also, my SD slot didn't work after hybernation
until I added its kernel module to the list of modules that should be
reloaded on hybernation.  I had to figure this out (with help over the
internet from a fellow Linux owner of the same model), discover what
module it was, learn about the list, and find the list.  Some futzing,
but it works.

> I don't want to mess up my machine or spend endless hours trying to
> figure this out.

Ubuntu certainly intends to be good for you.  It has been the most
ready-to-wear of any Linux/Unix I have used.

Recently Ubuntu added a live CD, so you can try it, running directly
from CD, without installing it on your hard disk.  I haven't tried it,
but it seems to have a good reputation.

I had Windows XP on my notebook, I had Ubuntu resize the partition,
and that was easy.  Um, but I have never actually booted the Windows
partition.  I think it worked, it has worked for others, but... 

Ubuntu is the "hot" Linux distribution of the moment.  If you don't
like being part of the crowd, be warned, Ubuntu has actually been
heard of by some civilians.

Ubuntu has all the software you mentioned.  Unlike Redhat they don't
give an option to include everything in the initial install, but
installing new things is easy.  Using GUI or CLI, as you please.

If you like Ubuntu and want to keep it on a machine for a while,
security updates are free, and in the case of the current version
(6.6, "Dapper Drake"), are going to be available for several years.


-kb