What version of linux should i try this time?

[jlbenedict]

I just installed Suse 10.1 on the rig in my signature.

Everything worked right off of the install. I performed the online update and everything is golden (so far)

 

[country2]

I'm running a dual boot with w2k and PCLinuxOS.In my opinion PCLinuxOS is the easiest to learn if you've never used linux before.I've messed with about 6 distro's this year trying to learn and leave MS.I would useit or Mepis linux or even SUSE.

 

[stupidkid]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

If you want fast, go with Gentoo stage 1. Or just stage 3 is fine.

You mean if you want to watch gcc output scroll for days for no good reason.

Hence, you get a fast computer. well...not for no reason, so you get the most effecient program, like not compiling KDE support when you use Gnome.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: stupidkid
Hence, you get a fast computer. well...not for no reason, so you get the most effecient program, like not compiling KDE support when you use Gnome.

How do you make programs more efficient in Gentoo?

If you use Gnome on Debian, why would you be compiling KDE?

 

[Ausm]

Wow nobody mentioned Mepis?? I would give that distro a try especially if you like KDE.


Ausm

 

[SleepWalkerX]

Mepis is definantly one of the easiest livecd I've ever used. I would wait a little bit though. I think soon they'll be releasing 6.0 final.

 

[thehstrybean]

Fedora Core 5 FTW!!

 

[country2]

Originally posted by: Ausm
Wow nobody mentioned Mepis?? I would give that distro a try especially if you like KDE.


Ausm

I did!!
I ran both Mepis and PCLinuxOS and PCLinuxOS was a tad easier...But thats just me.

 

[stupidkid]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: stupidkid
Hence, you get a fast computer. well...not for no reason, so you get the most effecient program, like not compiling KDE support when you use Gnome.

How do you make programs more efficient in Gentoo?

If you use Gnome on Debian, why would you be compiling KDE?

Note the "KDE support". Some programs can be customized so they support different desktop enviroments. Similarly, if you never watch realplayer movies then why bother compiling realplayer support for MPlayer? But of course, watching a command window roll up with intelligible text is pretty annoying sometimes. Therefore, compile programs at night.

 

[Nothinman]

Similarly, if you never watch realplayer movies then why bother compiling realplayer support for MPlayer?

Because in the big picture it doesn't matter at all? And for this particular example, last time I looked mplayer used the win32 libraries for realmedia support so that wouldn't affect the mplayer binary at all.

 

[stupidkid]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Similarly, if you never watch realplayer movies then why bother compiling realplayer support for MPlayer?

Because in the big picture it doesn't matter at all? And for this particular example, last time I looked mplayer used the win32 libraries for realmedia support so that wouldn't affect the mplayer binary at all.

Hmm...maybe it's different for Gentoo then. From http://gentoo-portage.com/media-video/mplayer/USE#ptabs

"win32codecs
Global: use win32codecs package for dll avi decoding support (wmv and what not)

real
Global: Installs the real video codecs
Local: Adds real video support"

win32 codecs doesn't have read support. At least I can't play them if I don't have the real use flag on.

 

[Nothinman]

I did a little more digging and it turns out that there is internal REAL support in mplayer, but the code for it is only ~700 lines and that's counting comments and whitespace. How about you compile two copies of mplayer, one with real and one without and let us know how much space you really saved. I'd bet it's on the order of a few bytes. And yet you've already wasted hundreds of megs on build dependencies that you wouldn't need with a binary-only system.

 

[Deinonych]

Originally posted by: pkme2
Try Ubuntu. It seems to find the necessary drivers for many components easily.

:thumbsup:

 

[stardrek]

Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE
mine is actually a PCMCIA card in a laptop.

model: WPC54GS

Linux Driver for your card: Link

From opendrivers.com...good site.

Edit:

I would also like to say that I have SuSE 9 run on a PIII 1.2Ghz laptop with 512MB of RAM and it ran smooth when I use to use it alot. Wirless wasn't too bad and driver updates were cake. I'm sure 10 has some nice extra features, not sure on the requirements difference though, but you have a P4. I would stick away from Red Hat, because it has become fairly bloated, but if you want all the features that Red Hat has, which is a ton, then it is a good choice. SuSE 9 ran smooth and fast for me and I used it on a laptop for a couple years. Still dual boots with it too, I'm using it right now.

 

[OSX]

Originally posted by: xtknight
Debian.

 

[keldog7]

I see no reason why Suse wouldn't be a decent choice on your hardware. It definitely would NOT be the fastest, nor the easiest to configure (and the unpatched version of 10.1 will not let you run a proprietary video driver...or am I thinking of FC5?....anyway).

Mandriva 2006 will boot up faster than most (from power button to login screen in under 30 seconds on the rig in my Sig), but the software is getting a bit dated now. OOO1.15 was especially annoying to see again...

Ubuntu will surely work nicely.

A fast and light distro would also be Damn Small Linux (DSL), but you probably wont be using a KDE/Gnome desktop for eyecandy with it. The supplied Windows manager/theme is still very usable, and to my knowledge, hardware detection is above average.

Cheers,
A