Linux distros

[bernie1227]

hiya guys,
I'm thinking of running a linux distro on a virtual machine, does anyone have any suggestions about which distro? At the moment, I'm leaning towards something KDE.
thanks,
bernie

[traq]

for what purpose? a specific job/task? day-to-day computing? testing things? just to try it out?

[bernie1227]

Just to try out really

[djr33]

Do you want to stick with something similar to Windows, something more familiar? Or try something potentially better?

[bernie1227]

Like I said, at the moment I'm looking for something KDE based.

[traq]

well, I run Ubuntu on my desktop. There's a KDE version called Kubuntu (http://kubuntu.org).

Something you might consider is that many distros are "live" (meaning they can be run from CD/flash drive without being installed). I know you're talking about running a virtual machine, but if you want to know what a particular distro can do with your whole machine, it's a great, no-risk way to find out.

Can I ask why you're focused on KDE? portability?

[bernie1227]

I'll take a look at kubuntu,
The reason I'm looking at KDE is personal preference really, I might take a look at some gnome based stuff as well.

[bernie1227]

I guess I'd better elaborate more here, I'm basically looking for a fast operating system to run on a small machine. After some research, it looks like gnome is pretty fast.

[traq]

Just about any distro will be very fast, especially compared to something like windows. Linux is just so lightweight. If you're looking for a similar desktop experience, [k]ubuntu is a good starting point.

When I switched, I already used graphics programs that were available on both windows and linux - Linux saw a 3 - 4x improvement in speed, easy. It's also great to be able to (mostly) ignore viruses, and actually be productive from the command line. :)

[bernie1227]

I know a couple of guys who are fans of Ubuntu, apparently it has the widest community of application development out of the lunx distros, so I'll take a look at it.

[bernie1227]

So I've just installed Ubuntu onto VMware workstation, so far it's looking pretty good,I definitely like the feel of it, it seems to have taken my favourite features from windows and mac and mashed them together. It's definitely a lot faster than anything I've ever used before. I might also end up trying out Linux mint.

[traq]

Glad you're liking it. Friendly advice: if you're not already planning to, learn yrself some bash (http://ss64.com/bash/).
Don't fear the terminal. the terminal is your friend :)



BTW... :) (http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/)

[bernie1227]

Yeah, it's actually 100x better than I expected :p
I've been looking online about bash commands, do you know any good tutorials?

[bernie1227]

BTW... :) (http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/)



re-check my spelling why don't you :p

[traq]

Personally I find reference guides (like the one I linked to) much more useful than tutorials. Just my learning style. There was a good tutorial I read once, I'll try to find it for you.

[traq]

these aren't the ones I was thinking of, but try out:

http://linuxcommand.org/learning_the_shell.php
http://arachnoid.com/linux/shell_programming.html
http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/book/ <-- just about anything Zed Shaw writes is worth reading

[bernie1227]

I'll have a look at them. I got some hands on experience with the shell today, spending a good 20 minutes trying to make desktop icons work, by just using the GUI, then realizing that it only takes about 20 seconds with the shell :p

[traq]

this can be very useful too (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GtkComposeTable).