Knoppix

[PHREAK]

I just DL Knoppix live CD to try it out and I have to say, I like it.
I'm even considering making a home for it on my HD.
I know it's not the best Linux OS out there, but it's very user friendly for noobs like me due to KDE.
While it might be a windows wannabe (as some people see it) I like it.

Who has tried it (i'm sure Dave has, since I don't think there's a Linux that dude hasn't had on his HD) and what's your opinion.
Also, whats another decent noob linux that you would recommend.

[esteel]

I used Knoppix some time ago and it was nice to rescue a system or show off linux without having to install it and it was full with useful stuff. Great.
But now i happily use debian unstable

[Ed]

It's a great tool. I wouldn't consider it for a permanent system though.

[divVerent]

I used Knoppix some time ago and it was nice to rescue a system or show off linux without having to install it and it was full with useful stuff. Great.

Hm... actually, Knoppix is only usable as rescue system if you don't have anything better nearby. It's just too big and slow. As a rescue system, I'd prefer something like DamnSmallLinux, but that's using a 2.4 kernel and quite old userland and doesn't talk to all controllers, but nicely fits on any USB stick.

To show off... no. Knoppix is too slow for that, but that's to be expected - after all, its speed is bounded by the DVD drive, and these aren't really fast.

What Knoppix however is really good for is testing hardware compatibility, since it contains driver modules for about everything supported by an unpatched Linux kernel and since its detection works well. As rescue system however it's just second choice - but still good.

[leileilol]

Knoppix is slow? Tell me you haven't seen the Ubuntu live cd....

[:)]

Who has tried it (i'm sure Dave has, since I don't think there's a Linux that dude hasn't had on his HD) and what's your opinion.
Also, whats another decent noob linux that you would recommend.

Oh yes, knoppix is delicious for hijacking a computer. I would pop it in my roommate's laptop so my friends could use it. When my roommate found out, he tried to use it and asked "where are my favorites?", not realising it wasn't Windows. TrEmMa had to eventually set a boot and bios password to prevent this.

For decent noob distributions, I would recommend Ubuntu or openSUSE; which both include the option of KDE. Of course those distros are not strictly for 'noobs', many power users use them, but I have found them to be the most new-user-friendly.

[Ed]

Knoppix is slow? Tell me you haven't seen the Ubuntu live cd....

Now that really is slow!

[PHREAK]

Dave. you're evil.
Maybe thats why I like you.


I'll check out those two but I like the fact that I don't have to partition my drive to use it.
I gotta get setup on linux though and learn more about it.
Maybe I'll go with debian since it's the hardest to setup and learn so I'll learn in the process.

[esteel]

Maybe I'll go with debian since it's the hardest to setup and learn so I'll learn in the process.

I like to think this is no longer the case with a recent version. Debian comes in three flavors.. stable which is what the name says but it rather old compared to other distris and mainly for use on servers. It is top priority for security fixes but is not really updated software wise. Then there is testing which is what most people should use on their desktop. Its rather actual and also receives fast security fixes. Its quite easy.
And then there is unstable which is very very uptodate (compare it to ubuntu) but as the name suggests its the test bed for new packages which 'might' break things. However i'm running unstable on my desktop and everything just works fine. I did not found much need for changing configurations or stuff.. Sound, graphic, usb, automounting.. just fine the way it is

[PHREAK]

I have some experience with UNIX as far as Mac goes. Long itme mac lover and user, but I think it's time to mess around with linux so baby stepps for me I guess.
What I love about tiger is theh fact that I get on my G5, get the work done and get off. No fussing around making softaware and hardware work.
But it also doent give u much to do.
Windows I've taken apart and tweaked and changed, optimized, beautified as much as possible without breaking it but the whole reg system annoys me enough to look towards linux, at least as dual-boot.
I'll find my flavor, just have to taste enough of it.