Having trouble choosing a Distro? Read This!!

[hongman]

Then look no further!!

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php

That there link will ask you a series of questions, about yourself and what you want to be able to accomplish with Linux. It will then present you with a distro IT thinks its most suitable for your needs.

Credit where credit's due, thanks to Liam858 for this find!!

Good luck!

[DRead]

Not bad, came back with mepis for me so i guess it works

[snooker]

Hi ... Thats funny because I just installed the Linux system for the very first time , I am a total beginner with this system , The codes are driving me nuts here Though I did do the test twice because I want to see what it would show for the text over graphical , Any ways the funny part was , I installed the Ubuntu and thats what the test show for my liken too , I did the installement first before taking the test , Now when I did the test for the graphical interface ? It choose for me Mandriva but I like the Slax 5.7 better ...

http://distrowatch.com/

....

[pmckinnie]

HI,

Haven't tried the test but I have found the distro that seems to fit my needs. Xandros is so close to windows, Desktop that is, that the things you would do in windows, you can do in Xandros even to useing MS office. so try the test. If I were to do it now I would most likely load the test to favor Xandros anyway.

Linux is getting better and must more understandable and now you don't have to use the command line much at all, unless you want to that is.

linux is fun for me now even through I am a beginner in linux.

cheers mac

[aussie0]

Hello,

I took the test (evaluation) and it seems that I would be best suited to Mandriva Linux. I tried going to the link shown but somehow I cannot get to the right download location.

Can someone please straighten me out? I seem to be going in circles. For now I would be content with the free version of Mandriva so that I can try it out. I have a P4 computer so I suppose I have 32-bit processing capability.

By the way, I do not need the software on a CD. Is it possible for me to download directly to my hard drive?

Thanks.

Hope to get someone's advice.

[P3-450]

Hi

You should be able to download it from here

http://www.mandriva.com/en/download/free

[aussie0]

Hi P3-450,

First, thank you for replying!

I went to that site and realized I have been there before. Seems like there are several options relating to choosing my Torrents, CD links, and so forth.

I tried the first link (about Mandriva Free 2007 CDs for i586) and the next screen which came up was full of all kinds of cryptic characters. Am I choosing the wrong option?

I notice that there is a list of links by country at the end of this web page so I tried clicking on a site in Illinois and got a Page Not Found.

Why does all of this have to be so convoluted?

Again, thanks for your reply.

Joe

[Tuttle]

The links on mandriva.com assume you have BitTorrent installed and configured. You apparently don't, because your browser is trying to display the .torrent file instead.

These should work to directly download the files from that Illinois server listed there though. You only need either the CDs or the DVD, not both:

CD:
ftp://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/mandrak...7-CD1.i586.iso
ftp://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/mandrak...7-CD2.i586.iso
ftp://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/mandrak...7-CD3.i586.iso
ftp://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/mandrak...7-CD4.i586.iso

DVD:
ftp://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/mandrak...e-2007-DVD.iso

[aussie0]

Tuttle,

Thanks for your advice. I went back to the site and somehow by some navigation I ended up at an FTP page which has the following address:

ftp://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/mandrak...iso/2007.0/CD/

I can see the 'iso's for 4 CD files of type i586 in the list which comes up, each apparently around 700 MB in size. I am assuming that matches my situation?

Am I being simple-minded, or can I download (copy) those 4 CD files directly to my hard drive from where I might install Linux? That would be my first preference. I might later consider burning CD files.

I appreciate your feedback. Please correct my thinking; I have programmed on large computers, and also I have used Windows operating systems for years, however, I am new in the Linux stage.

Many thanks,

Joe (originally form Perth)

[Tuttle]

Oops, there is a CD 4. Missed that the first time.

You'll pretty much want to burn the CDs or DVD (although you can use rewriteables if you want; you can get by without them after installation).

There's probably a way to extract the files from within those .iso files (IsoBuster is good for that) and install off a hard drive (after booting from a Linux boot CD or floppy), but it'll be pretty distro-specific. If you can find instructions for Mandriva then it's an option though.

Alternatively, if you're doing this in a virtual machine (Virtual PC, VMware etc) then you can mount the .iso files in that and install straight from the images.

[jdlenke]

I had recently installed freespire and was amazed that it found and used my linksys wusb11 wireless adapter.

[aussie0]

Hi Tuttle,

In that case, would the most efficient and direct method be to first burn the 4 CDs and then install from them, starting with CD #1?

I assume that I could put CD #1 in the CD drive and then boot the PC and that it can dynamically start the install process from the CD? In that case can I skip the extract?

Thanks again,

Joe

[Tuttle]

Burn the .iso files to CDs as images (so when you look at the burned CDs you'll see heaps of files, not just a single .iso). Then boot from CD1 and it should be fairly straightforward.

You don't want to extract them and then burn the files -- doing it that way would leave the CDs unbootable.

[aussie0]

Hi Tuttle,

I think I'm almost there. I have copied the following 4 CD files to my hard drive:

mandriva-free-2007-CD1.i586.iso
mandriva-free-2007-CD2.i586.iso
mandriva-free-2007-CD3.i586.iso
mandriva-free-2007-CD4.i586.iso

I can burn these 4 files to 4 individual CDs, but what do you mean 'as images'? Do you mean I burn the file
mandriva-free-2007-CD1.i586.iso to CD1 with that name,
mandriva-free-2007-CD2.i586.iso to CD2 with that name, etc.? Or am I missing something?

Sorry for these questions if they seem dumb. Again, many thanks for your advice!

Joe

[Tuttle]

There should be an option in your burning software to burn it as an image, rather than just as a file. You need to use that.