Thread

Ok, I have been sick of Windows for quite a few years.  I am finally ready to make the move to Linux.  I plan to make a dual boot system, so that I can still test sites I set up in IE (yuck.)

However, looking at Linux distributions, there are a lot of choices out there.

I have never used Linux.  I have been running Windows XP and XAMPP.  My machine is an AMD Opteron 64bit Dual Core with 512MB, which I will be upgrading to 1GB next week.

What would be the best distribution to get me up and running with the smallest learning curve?  I need to be able to set up a good Code Igniter Development platform to get me into development quickly and efficiently.

Any recommendations?

Linux Mint

It’s based off of Ubuntu, so it’s easy to use. The Mint project has only furthered that effort - it’s the perfect transition distribution from Windows.

personally I’d go with raw Ubuntu.. but it depends if you are likely to be playing DVD’s (in which case go with Mint) or it’s just a development box…

Ok, I have been sick of Windows for quite a few years.  I am finally ready to make the move to Linux.  I plan to make a dual boot system, so that I can still test sites I set up in IE (yuck.)

However, looking at Linux distributions, there are a lot of choices out there.

I have never used Linux.  I have been running Windows XP and XAMPP.  My machine is an AMD Opteron 64bit Dual Core with 512MB, which I will be upgrading to 1GB next week.

What would be the best distribution to get me up and running with the smallest learning curve?  I need to be able to set up a good Code Igniter Development platform to get me into development quickly and efficiently.

Any recommendations?

Go with Ubuntu and be sure to visit the following two resources: Ubuntu Forums and Ubuntu Guide.  I would suggest giving the guide a thorough lookover before going to the forums—it has a how to for almost anything you might want or need to do with Ubuntu.

For now I plan to go with the development box, but would like to eventually replace all I do under XP.

I don’t really watch DVDs, but I do create and encode DVDs from various digital sources (pictures, digital video recorder, etc.).  I also do quite a bit of CD Audio work.  Nothing fancy there, though.  The biggie for me here is finding decent DVD authoring software for Linux.

Image editing is a biggie, as it will be part of development, but I’m already using GIMP so that shouldn’t be a problem.  I’m also already using Open Office, Fire Fox (except when I have to test development sites with IE or Opera), Thunderbird. 

As a newbie to Linux, I have to ask.  What’s the difference between Kubuntu and Ubuntu?  What is KDE verses Gnome?

this is a good simple article

click here

if you go with ubuntu and want to have a big desktop two monitors you’ll want to know about xrandr. ubuntu is the bomb they have ubuntu screencast that teach you everything you need to do

also it’s so easy to install a lamp server just by entering a few commands with apt-get

one thing though if you install apache the var/www directory won’t be writable

follow these instructions to set up apache

http://www.zaphu.com/2007/08/21/ubuntu-lamp-server-guide-configure-apache-mysql-and-cgi-bin/

My thoughts…

First, my choice is Ubuntu.  It is probably the most user friendly for new users.  Ubuntu is great for development and even better if you are doing it partly to become expert with Linux.

Being sick of Windows won’t make you happy with Linux.  Consider going Mac if you are simply looking for an alternative.  Mac brings a lot of the good from both worlds.

I was exclusively an Ubuntu user for about a year and I got along fine with it.  Today I am using Vista though I did not really switch back.  I bought a new laptop and have not yet taken the plunge to go back. 

There are problems.  Just about all applications you will use in Linux are a little quirky or buggy.  You can do nearly anything on a Linux system but you might have to put in just a little extra effort to get things to work and put up with more annoyances.  After a while things started to wear on me a bit.  I got tired of having to tweak things to work right.  A few annoyances here and there are fine, but multiply that by the huge number of tasks that you perform on your system and it gets old.

Linux is awesome as a workstation but not so much as a play/media machine.  For certain professional tools, you absolutely must have either Mac or Windows. 

My suggestions… 

1.  Go with Linux on your PC and dish out some cash to get a Mac Mini.  They are cheap and they can take care of things like media applications that don’t always work great in Linux.  The added bonus is that you have a good relatively cheap backup system which you can use when something on your Linux machine breaks and you don’t know how to fix it short of a reinstall.

2.  Continue using Windows but get Parallels and run Linux as a VM.  If you are looking at Linux for development you don’t need an entire GUI system to go with it.  I do all my development on Linux but through an SSH connection to my VM.  And do you REALLY notice which OS you are using?  I run all my applications though command line shortcuts (Activewords,) do my development via SSH on my VM, and spend most of the rest of my time in a browser.  There are tools available where you can further customize the Windows shell.  You could easily setup your system where you don’t even know you are even using a Windows system.  Some say the OS doesn’t matter anymore, I agree.

I’d go Ubuntu as a desktop and Centos as a server.

george why centos as the server when debian has the alien command to convert rpm packages to debian packages

all you do is a “sudo apt-get install alien” insert your ubuntu cd then it will install alien so you can convert all your redhat programs over to debian

so why install the centos as a server I don’t understand please explain

@Raymond M - I probably should have been clearer. Server is pretty general!

I was talking about a headless web server. I choose Centos for stability. I know the versions of software are not the latest but I’m not interested in bleeding edge but stability. I run many business critical websites on my server so I really want as much reliability as possible. For that reason I choose Centos. In my experience it has been a wise choice - it has been rock solid.

Ubuntu becuase it is what all the cool kids use for desktops 😉

Thanks for all these great replies!  I’ll definitely be going with Ubuntu for now.  I’m not going to need to set up a web server except for local development.  At least not yet.

I appreciate the suggestion of Mint, but I think I’ll start with actual Ubuntu.

Developer13, that guide and forums will be a great asset.  Thanks.

gtech, the article really helped me understand what I am looking for. 

Ubuntu now, and once I’m comfortable, Kubuntu, definately.  I’m tempted to go Kubuntu now, just to get KATE.

No, the reason I’m getting sick of Windows is the way they do business more than anything.  I want out of their licensing as much as possible.  I’ll have to run Windows to make sure my apps run ok with IE, but that’s about as far as I want to take it.  Eventually, I’ll have a Mac as well, but budget doesn’t allow anything just yet, as a young starter couple with a baby on the way.

Raymond, thanks for the how-to link to set up apache.  I’ll need that I’m sure.

CentOS 5 has everything already installed and preconfigured, but there are a lot of things I’ve read about first install that can make it a nightmare for a new user to Linux.  I’ll wait until I’m more experienced before I delve into that one, but I like what I’ve read about it, other than being rough on a novice.

Cool! Well whatever distro you choose you have made a good choice! One of the things I really liked about Linux when I first started using it was how helpful everyone was and that there were loads of resources available online.

Enjoy!

You can use Wine to emulate parts of the windows environment, so you can run IE among other programs.

My $0.02.

- I noticed that you have an AMD 64bit core. Make sure to install the 32 bit version of Ubuntu. You’ll have a lot less issues with drivers and software with it.
- I personally run Kubuntu and it’s sweet.