Which Linux? What do you think of Debian?

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ixwood · #1 Post by **ixwood** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:57 am

Hi

I'm in the process of updating an old 600x and x21 thinkpads. I think I'm going to use linux.

I had a quick google and ended gettng a cheap copy of Debian off ebay. I've installed it no probelm on both machines (quite impressed actually), but before I get too involved and pass the point of no return I thought check up on it. Mainly because noone else round here seems to use it.

WHat's your linux recommendations? Is Debian OK?

Cheers

#2 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:06 am

Debian is very good. Which version did you get?
It probably has the broadest range of software available of any type of Linux. You will want to use synaptic package manager to find and install software. If "synaptic" package manager is not installed open a terminal and type "apt-get update" (without quotes) and when that finishes, "apt-get install synaptic" (without quotes). Once you have synaptic installed you can search for software to install like drivers, programs, etc.
Make sure you have alll the drivers installed for your hardware, then install any programs you like.

MeaninglessNick · #3 Post by **MeaninglessNick** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:47 am

I use Debian or Ubuntu (debian derivative) on all my machines, from laptops to compute clusters. Ubuntu is supposed to be easier for beginners; these things are kind of a matter of taste.

You might find

http://www.debianhelp.org/
http://forums.debian.net/

helpful.

#4 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:17 pm

Yeah, Debian is the plain version, Ubuntu and other derivatives are different flavors of Debian. You can do pretty much the same thing with all of them but finding "your" distro means finding out which one is setup closest to your ideal configuration, right out if the box. In other words some distros will need more tweaking than others to suit your taste. Trial and eror is the only way to find out what you like.
You will be able to tweak plain Debian to be whatever you want.

ixwood · #5 Post by **ixwood** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:21 pm

Thanks for the info. It's v4.0.

I have seen Ubuntu mentioned quite a lot, amongst others, but no debian and was starting to think I'd bought a turkey.

So all in all then , debian is an OK choice. That's good. I did like the "stick close to linux/standards" and non commericalness of it.

ixwood · #6 Post by **ixwood** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:38 pm

I want it all to just work!! lol.

Out of curisoity, what could I "make" it then? In what regards? Like a web server/ print server etc?

Which Linux? What do you think of Debian?

Which Linux? What do you think of Debian?

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