BleepingComputer.com: LinuxMint, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Kubuntu

I'm currently having malware issues with my older winxp system. i'm trying to get it fixed, but in case i can't, i'm looking at sweeping my drive and going with a distro of linux. one of my friends had ubuntu for a while and seemed to like it decently well, but i never actually sat down and got familiar with the system and that's probably the closest i've been to linux. so needless to say, i'm an amature when it come to any distro of the os. i've been online reading as much as i can about the distros and i've taken that quiz on this forum but i just had a few more questions.

the main one is, what will work best on a machine that's not the newest. it a computer i bought about 4-5 years ago. it is running around a 1ghz centrino processor with probably 20gb free of hd (should be near 100gb if i erase the drive) and about 512mb of ram.

from what i've read, i'm really liking linuxmint. it seems like it has taken ubuntu and improved on it. also, all of these distro's listed in the topic title seem to be the ones that are easier to get used to. so what would you guys recommend for a person that is brand new to linux? i don't know too much about opensuse, but it seems to have it fans as well. are there really any huge differences between any of these distros?

and finally, i read the the difference between ubuntu and kubuntu is the graphic interface that it uses. one uses the GNOME and the other KDE. i really don't understand the difference between the two. they both look pretty similar to me. so what is the difference between them and what are the advantages/disadvantages of each.

thanks!

theres smaller distros, like damn small linux, puppy linux, antix which is based on mepis.i know theres others but these three are the best to me. linux mint is awsome install that instead of a plain ubuntu. linux mint is easy to use and learn.

Another vote for Linux Mint. I'm using the Gnome version in a dual boot with Vista. Also exploring using KDE version but can't decide. Have also tried Puppy - liked it but couldn't get my wireless connection to work.
DSL I found fast but again couldn't get wireless sorted.

PCLinuxOS
Website: http://www.pclinuxos.com

Screenshots: http://www.thecodingstudio.com/opensource/...2009%20Beta%203

I like Linux Mint as well, but only landed there after trying a dozen or so versions at Distrowatch.com. With each distro I tried there was a show stopper - couldn't get wireless to work, couldn't access restricted network shares, couldn't run certain must-have apps etc. With Linux Mint installed on my iMac, everything important to me worked right off the bat (still fiddling with the iSight webcam though). Basically your success and positive-experience-potential with Linux will hinge on matching the right distro with your hardware platform. You can spend a lot of time researching the Hardware Compatibility Lists for each distro, but it may be more interesting and educational to just try them out. Many distros have a 'live' version which will allow you to test drive them first, though you will get a better feel for the OS if you do a full installation.
Good luck.

I'd go with Mint.

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The main difference between Ubuntu and Kubuntu is that the former uses Gnome and the latter uses KDE.

These are the two most popular of something called a "desktop environment." They are responsible for creating the default set of buttons, checkboxes, radio buttons, sliders, and other controls used by programs to create user interfaces. They also provide the "desktop" where you can put icons and such, the menubar (which is similar to the Mac OS menu in Gnome and the Windows taskbar/start menu in KDE)

Each of these desktop environments comes with its own set of default applications. For example in Gnome the default file manager is called Nautilus whereas in KDE is Konqueror (analogous to Windows Explorer or Mac OS' Finder), the default email program is Evolution(Gnome) or Kmail(KDE).

The reason why there are these two (actually there are more than two, but these are the big ones) competing desktop environments is licensing.

THousands of years agon in the 1990s there was an upraor in the Linuc community over the fact that KDE was becoming the defacto standard desktop environment for Linux. This was because KDE was written using the proprietary Qt library and was, therefore, not open-source. The Gnome project was started with the aim to supplant KDE by creating a desktop environment using the open source GTK+ library.

Qt has since moved into the realm of open source but the two camps still persist.

It's largely a matter of deciding which environment you like best and using that one, but both can be installed and selected by the user at logon time, plus most programs written for one environment will work just fine under the other if the proper libraries are installed.

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There are others you can choose from too, like Xfce which is used in Xubuntu and is designed to be ultra-lightweight for older computers.

Or you can go totally hard core and not install any environment and just do everything from a terminal prompt, which would automatically make you a level 37 geek.

I'm not level 37 Geek!!! But I'm tempted by CrunchBang Linux - if only I could work out how to add progs to the (minimalist!!) menu. An Ubuntu-based OS.

Hi Peeps,
Hi gloryfalls12,

To start at base point, GNU/Linux comes in many flavours in terms of distribution build which have 4 camps - Red Hat based (Fedora, OpenSuse, Mandriva), Debian based (Debian, Dream Linux 3.5, Ubuntu [with a twist], Linux Mint, and a raft of others), Gentoo based (Gentoo, Mepis, Sabayon - my personal favourite), Slackware (Slackware, Vector Linux - my personal favourite). If you have wireless issues I would try Dream Linux 3.5 - but not if you have wireless keyboard and mouse. If you have a Netgear dongle then go for Vector Linux 6.0 - a free download - to check if Vector Linux 6.0 is compatible download their live version which does not install but gives you a flavour of what it is like - package install is very simple to use, as is Dream Linux (sadly 3.5 final was not as good as 3.5rc4 for Netgear dongles). The fact you have 512 Mb of Ram should not cause any issues at all for any of these distros as the minimum that most distros require is 128 Mb of Ram possibly 256 for the shinier ones! Most distros will have a web page indicating system requirements so take a look and see what best matches your configuration. Gnome Desktop is different to KDE - the latter is aimed at Windows Migraters - both have plus points and minus points - Gnome is best for Assistive Technology compared to KDE - KDE is more flashy - 4.2 might seem alien to you compared to earlier versions as it is a minimalistic desktop. One thing you will enjoy about Linux is its community driven support base - there are a plethora of forums for each distribution so check them out if you are having any particular problems. Try to limit your choice to distributions that have a live option to see if it will work - as for ubuntu look at the specially crafted addition by 'Thee Mahn' - Google for 'Ultimate Edition 2.3' - very nice.

Best regards,
chameleon437

Been using Crunchbang for about a week now. Really impressed. Worked out of the box - wireless (Dell) and Mobile Broadband. Loads fast and easy to use. Very helpful & friendly support forum.