Suggest which to install for first time user

[Z]

A friend gave me a Dell inspiration 5100 laptop. He kept the hard drive. I have a blank one. There is no COA so I can't put windows on it. Any suggestions on which version of Linux I could try? I have just barely played with Live CD"s. I will only be using it to get online, email, would like to be able to watch videos . It is a P4 with 512 ram, Ethernet and a wireless card. One that has a Live CD version might be better so I can try before I install but it does not have to be. Thanks

[plodr]

Go here  http://www.livecdlist.com/ 
for live CDs.
IMHO, the most user friendly distros are: PCLinux, Ubuntu, Puppy and MEPIS.
If you have a good connection and access to a burner, grab those and burn the ISOs using a free program like ImgBurn.

If you are on dialup or have a limit on downloads, request a free CD be mailed to you  https://shipit.ubuntu.com/ 

You have the correct idea, to try a few live distros to see what likes your hardware. After you have working what you need: video, audio, internet connection and printer then do an install. Most have an icon on the desktop that you simply click and it will install from the live CD.

[msp]

I like Puppy Linux (h/t curious john). It. Just. Works. On every computer I've tried it on.

Debian rocks, too. Or any Debian-based distro for that manner (Mepis). That's the great thing about Linux, there's so many different distros, you can experiment and find one that suits you.

Go slow. Be patient. Be willing to learn. Have fun.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Lots of knowledge here, and probably the most friendly forum for new Linux users that I know.
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[curious john]

I like Puppy but then I am very used to it. PClinux is super stable and be great for newbie also. I'm not so fond of Ubuntu but it has the biggest user/support community which is nice, so any problem you come up with probably somebody else has experienced it and found a solution or workaround. Another common live disk distribution is Knoppix. But there are literally dozens and dozens of distributions out there. Most isos free download if you have broadband or are a very persistent dialup user.

If you are on dialup and dont want to spend huge amounts time downloading, there are various "cheap linux" online stores where you can find any current distribution for couple bucks each. Now the big linux distributions like free version of Redhat (think its called Fedora) and Debian and such are on multiple cds or dvds, so are more expensive. The charge isnt for the operating system itself, but for the copying and shipping of the disks.

Oh about watching video, Puppy comes with Gxine. It usually works ok but there are better media players. Gxine is the default for size reasons. For example VLC is great player but rather large. There are packages to add nearly any linux software not included on Puppy cd to Puppy. If you find some software that doesnt have a current Puppy PET pkg to install it, post on Puppy forum and somebody will probably create it for you. Be aware some software can require LOT of support libraries. Many KDE and Gnome related software just isnt worth installing due to all the support libraries needed since Puppy uses neither KDE nor Gnome out of the box. It uses JWM window manager and ROX file manager which are mush less resource heavy.

[Z]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have DSL so I will download and try these out in the next few days.

[blsJason]

I've used quite a few live CDs since being turned on to them through another user's post on this site several years ago.

Here's some of my experiences:

Slitaz is currently my favorite due to the size (approx. 30 MB), however obviously at that size it doesn't play videos off of the CD. There was a version that had a video player on it a while back but it didn't work. It also doesn't have scalable dial-up, but since you have DSL and wi-fi that won't be an issue.

Knoppix is probably the most versatile, and works much more like a full bells and whistles Linux demo. The DVD has a dizzying assortment of all kinds of software.

Many people swear by Ubuntu, Kubuntu, etc., I'm personally not a fan of anything Canonical puts out, for the way I use computers I found Ubuntu extremely annoying.

I once tried PCLinuxOS 2007. One copy I downloaded over multiple sessions over dial-up, another was part of a shipment from one of those ordering houses Plodr mentioned. Neither worked on any the three computers I had at the time (all met or exceeded the specifications of the distro).

I've tried others, but quite a long time ago and all have either many newer editions or are no longer being updated/maintained.

Also, no amount of advice from others will replace simple trial-and-error to see what works best for you. This is probably the largest strength of Linux as well as it's largest drawback... with some distros and/or software, those responsible for it might say 'feel free to contribute your own code to improve it.'
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[degarb]

Ubuntu by far. I have been using a graphical windows gui since 95, and tried versions of linux since 2000, one about every other year. Ubuntu is first one I kinda like since it recently breathed new life in an old laptop with little problem. Vector linux was able to breath life into a kids 266 machine, but was pain to install, and has an akward gui only a linux lover could like.

Ubuntu has; the Best/large/not snobby/friendly forum and largest userbase. Best out of box compatibility. Best gui. Best philosophy of helping others and not looking down on others. Probably the largest repository of free software (actually easier to find and install than in windows).

Knoppix and vector have tons of crap in menus, most windows users won't understand. vector installing was pulling teethe to get running, but had responsive forum. Puppy had good interface, compared with vector or knoppix, but non responsive forum.

Running live cd as a new user, doesn't allow one to really install non out of box hardware, nor to appreciate the snaptic package manager.

Now, with ubuntu, wine/ndiswrappe/universal repositories were not enabled by default. I don't know how a windows user can get the os up and running with out all three of these. I would use the forum to find out more.
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R-ights, I-nfrastructure, D-efense, S-afetynet 4 helpless: R.I.D.S--the limit of legislation. Not to grow, control, and maintain power.

[plodr]

Ubuntu never can use my printer so for me and perhaps a new user, this is not a distro I can install.
Again I say, you have to try live CDs/DVDs to discover which distro likes your hardware.

As far as I am aware Knoppix only has Live CDs there is not an installed version. The OP specifically asked for something to install.

One you might want to try live is Linux Mint. It included codecs so if you browse sites like YouTube, you won't have to struggle to come up with what you need to install to get websites to show properly.
 http://www.knoppix.net/ 

[degarb]

 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Printers 

What would be really cool is to get my hp deskjet 6200 series to print accross the network. I think there are devices you can buy to plug the printer into (usb in , to ehternet_.) My next printer setup needs this. I also manually refill the cartridges, so allowing this is essential, since they mark up ink prices 1000 to 1.


1. backward compatibility. (wine or size of repository) 2. helpful community. 3. out of box installability. . Experienced linux users don't care about these. While the rest of us do, so when mentioning a any distro, I think each of these points need to be reviewed.

 http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1399350 
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Thnx. But really, adulation isn't required.
.
R-ights, I-nfrastructure, D-efense, S-afetynet 4 helpless: R.I.D.S--the limit of legislation. Not to grow, control, and maintain power.

[plodr]

My printer is plugged into the router, using a parallel to ethernet print server gizmo. It is really great. My husband's computer in the basement can print to it as well as the other 4 computers I have upstairs. I did not install the printer software on two other computers in the basement.
PCLinux, puppy and Xandros/Debian use it with no problem. Ubuntu can't see it and Mandriva 2009.1 prints one line and stops; the lights on the printer flash for hours yet nothing is every printed and the paper remains partly in and partly out. So those those two distros are not a consideration for me; particularly since there are others were the printer just works.

[fallen flyerfan]

recently i found a discarded notebook
panasonic toughbook cf-w4

it was partly put back together after disasemmbly
many screws are missing
but everything seems to work with built in 512 mb of ddr2 memory and
a pentium4 1.2 mhz cpu

the hardrive is missing, it needs a low voltage 3.3 volt laptop harddrive which is hard to
get

after running ubuntu live cd
i tried installing ubuntu in a usb drive

i am so happy with this setup , i just get online and report it here

installing ubuntu on a usb drive is very simple the way i do it on a computer
with windows

first download

For your netbook - download Ubuntu Netbook Remix

 http://www.ubuntu.com/GetUbuntu/download-netbook 

then follow the instru;ctions on the webpages
To install the i386 desktop version to a flash drive from a disk image on Windows, use the incredibly easy process described at  http://www.pendrivelinux.com/create-a-ubun...n-windows/ 

 http://www.pendrivelinux.com/create-a-ubun...n-windows/ 
on this website , i download the usb installer program

with the usb drive plugged in and formatted

simply run the usb installer programn in windwos , the installer will find the linux
iso downloaded and go to work installing it on the usb drive

after installation , move the usb drive to the labtop,
boot up and i am on the web
to post here

ubuntu for netbook is good , it was squeesed into my 2 gb usb drive
with less than 200mb to spare
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