Favorite Blend of Linux Desktop

[Lemur]

Hey gang,

I know we have more than a few Linux users here. Not super-impressed with where Ubuntu is going.

What's your favorite blend/distro? What are your perceived advantages/disadvantages to the distro you use (or recommend)?

Thanks!

[Furunculus]

opensuse with the kde desktop.

good kitchen sink distro with lots of gui driven config tools.

[Xiahou]

Try LinuxMint and you'll never look back.

[Lemur]

Try LinuxMint and you'll never look back.

Oooh, I heard about this distro ... thoughts? Mini-review? Highlights?

[Xiahou]

It's the most intuitive distro I've used to date. It's easy to install, has a clean intuitive interface and either comes with most everything you need loaded or has it readily installable. If you can run Windows7, you should be able to run this. It's like they actually set out to make an easy to use distro.... I know right?

I've always used MATE desktop, but if you want more shiny things, don't be afraid to give the Cinnamon version a try.

[caravel]

I know we have more than a few Linux users here. Not super-impressed with where Ubuntu is going.

Oooh, I heard about this distro ... thoughts? Mini-review? Highlights?

The main issue you will have with mint, is that it is in fact ubuntu with some extras (cinnamon, etc). It uses the ubuntu repositories directly.

If it's just the unity shell you dislike, then yes mint will be one way of solving that, but you just as easily install a different desktop. Personally of the DEs I prefer XFCE or KDE to gnome-shell and mate (gnome 2 fork), but YMMV.

[wudang_clown]

If anyone's interested in previewing a distro before installation, then distrowatch.com provides good info on many different distributions. Also, it's possible to try out a distro directly, without any trouble - just use any software which allows setting virtual machines, and you can check out any distro you like and as many as you please.

[Lemur]

Hey, @Xiahou, I'm going to try out your favorite distro, Linux Mint. Goal is to resuscitate and revitalize a netbook for the kids, on which Win7 is dragging like a tired dog.

Goal is an easy experience with lots of multimedia playback. Major netbook use for kids: Playing Flash games and watching (local) movies in .mp4 or .mkv containers.

Question: What's the diff between Cinnamon and MATE? Given my goals, which is more appropriate?

[Xiahou]

Well, MATE is forked from Gnome 2 and is thought to be the more stable and less flashy of the two.

Cinnamon is based on Gnome 3 and is supposed to be flashier and it seems to get more updates (a MATE fan might argue that's because it has more bugs).

MATE will probably be lighter on resources, if that's your concern- but Cinnamon will have more Zazz!.

If you want to see some side-by-sides before you decide, check youtube for comparison videos.

[Lemur]

Roger-roger, reading you loud and clear.

Installing the Cinnamon version now, because you really can't argue with zazz.

[Beskar]

I was reading somewhere that Debian was best for the very low bloat/usage, especially for server work. Admittedly, I am waiting for the SteamOS to really kick off and using Ubuntu on my laptop.

[Xiahou]

@Lemur
Let us know how you like Mint. The last time I installed it, I would describe it as shockingly intuitive.... but that was at my last job nearly a year ago now.

I really need to get it running on some of my personal gear... I just don't seem to have the time to tinker like I used to.

[Husar]

I'm also interested, the last time I installed it, the login screen would hang up after the first restart and continue to do so very often.
I hadn't even changed anything except pick a username and password.

[Lemur]

It was pretty silky smooth. Created an install on a USB stick (netbooks haz no DVD drives) using this utility, plugged it in, tweaked the BIOS for boot loader (get the netbook to recognize USB before HD), and away we went.

First time I booted, it did not recognize the touchpad. Second time I booted, all was fine. Rest of install was simple, easy, breezy.

The version of Firefox it came with was weird, didn't have Google search available, defaulted to all kinds of weird stuff. Downloaded and installed Chrome, which fixed everything.

Definitely breathed new life into the netbook. Had my girl sit and play with it for a couple of hours, no complaints.

[Xiahou]

I fired up VMWare Player, and loaded up LinuxMint 16- Cinnamon. Very nice.

Wine was a snap to setup and it seems to work better than ever... I was surprised how well most of the apps I use for work ran on it. I was also able to get Steam up and running in minutes, but I couldn't run any games- probably due to graphics problems being in a VM.

LinuxMint continues to impress me.

[Xiahou]

The version of Firefox it came with was weird, didn't have Google search available, defaulted to all kinds of weird stuff. Downloaded and installed Chrome, which fixed everything.

@Lemur
I just realized what's going on with that. They're escewing Google- mainly over privacy concerns. The replacements "DuckDuckGo" and "StartPage" are supposed to be anonymous search engines. Of the two, "StartPage" advertises itself as providing "augmented" Google search results- so it'd probably be the most Google-like of the two. Yahoo apparently made the list because.... they're paying them.

[Lemur]

Well, ran into my first wall of solid Linux ignorance. Wanted to mount a folder from my home NAS, looked up several variations on instructions. Ignored the ones that told me to edit this system file because I am a coward.

Instead, tried doing the File/Connect To Server command, which worked poorly.

FInally found a simple command line to mount the folder I wanted. Can't re-find that command this morning, so just take my word for it.

To watch later, when I'm not working:



And I really need to get a Linux for Dummies book or something like that. I haven't felt this helpless with a computer in a long time. I HAVE BEEN STUNTED BY THE GUI!

[Xiahou]

On my test setup, I did this by just typing :

smb://

into one of the "Nemo" file browser windows, followed by the URL for the Windows share you were trying to reach.

So, whereas on Windows you would type " \\servername\sharename\ ", in Mint I type " smb://servername/sharename ". There might be better ways, but this always seems to work for me.

Once I found the folder I wanted (my home folder in this case), I dragged it to the 'My Computer" menu on the right left side of the window and whenever I click on that it auto-mounts the share.... assuming you saved your password when you made the connection for the first time.