Which os is best?

[phoenix1313k]

Hi. i have ubuntu 11. i have installed it on my desktop. but whenever i try to open the banshee music player, the computer hangs, and then i have to restart the pc. so can anyone tell me what to do??

and also please tell me which is the best unix/linux os available, which comes with a lots of applications pre-installed. because ubuntu doesn't have many...
which one to choose???

 

[Pyroflea]

There is no best distribution; it's entirely based on preference and what you intend to use the system for. Linux by nature is very modular, so any distro can be made to be nearly identical to any other distro.

Most distro's don't include a lot of software because that just adds unnecessary bloat. The Ubuntu repositories have an insane amount of software in them, and will allow you to install basically anything you could imagine.

 

[cavan21]

Ok what I am going to say here is that your linux os "ubuntu" is having problems with your os.
For some people that is a easy solution to fix. One thing i do say though since I have ubuntu inside a vm on my desktop and full on my laptop.
DO NOT INSTALL SOFTWARE WHICH CLAIMS IT SPEEDS YOUR SYSTEM UP.

firstly i would say upgrade to ubuntu 12. Some people claims it runs faster since 11 was lagging for people.
If not try getting another linux enviroment not a whole new OS. See if any of these are for your liking

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/237516/five_linux_desktops_that_arent_unity_or_gnome_3.html

hth

--Cavan

 

[g0rd0]

+1 to the theory that there is no "best" linux, it depends entirely on what you use it for. Checked my ubuntu machine and I've got audacity, movie player, rythmbox, sound converter, sound recorder, and VLC for music files. If banshee keeps giving you problems, try something a little different. That's the "best" part of open source.

 

[mobrocket]

Try Linux Mint

it has the best of ubuntu but more included apps and in my opinion better interface compared to Unity

 

[nhasian]

didn't we just go over this?? http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/238331-50-whats-operating-system

Ubuntu and Fedora are operating systems based on the Linux kernel. There are many operating systems that use the Linux kernel (sometimes these are called "Linux distros"). I recommend either Fedora 17 or Ubuntu 12.04.

How to install Ubuntu 12.04

How to install Fedora 17

 

[Pyroflea]

You know you can link to other posts rather than repeating the same post verbatim 13 times right?

 

[nhasian]

but then i dont get the pretty pictures

 

[Pyroflea]

Sorry about that last post if it sounded a bit harsh; was a bit grumpy last night. Didn't mean anything by it.

 

[chamaecyparis]

IMHO, any Debian distro that suits your fancy and your hardware.

 

[phoenix1313k]

Yeah that's okay. but i'm asking for an version of linux which comes built in with the apps like geany, vine and some others like it.
because i'm having problem in installing all these applications manually, cause i've got no internet connection at home.

 

[chamaecyparis]

@OP -- In that case, choices are more limited. Being able to purchase a repository may be the best bet. My stand-by for purchasing such is somewhat constrained by popularity (what sells); nonethelsess you may want to check out what is available for such distros as ultimate edition or xubuntu. Others are availble or do-it-yourself.

 

[randomizer]

The distro with the most pre-installed applications (if you choose them all) is probably Slackware.

 

[audiovoodoo]

I set my brother up on Fedora 17 LXDE at the weekend. So far quite impressed, it's certainly quick on older HW.

 

[onichikun]

I prefer Gentoo and Archlinux personally.

I love compiling packages to meet my needs and remove the bloat. Of course, there are a lot of issues that come along with this... which is why I also use Arch. Arch has really nice binary repos and source, so I can choose to have bleeding edge in the packages I want, and use binary repos for the apps I dont.

You will also learn a lot from using these distros.

 

[audiovoodoo]

For the experienced user I'd agree, personally I've lost the urge to be that custom. After a day at work I just want a simple update system, stability and reasonable performance. If I could really do better GCC optimisation flags than an experienced developer then I should really be earning my living doing that.

 

[drgspot]

best distro...?
there is no such a thing...
Coz nowDays these are all basicaly the same kernels (unless you compile your own), same GNUuserLand (apps), same x windowing system, window managers, desktop environments...& apps for them...even the source for same app betwen platforms are same (AmigaOS, MorphOS, GNU/Linux, system 5 & bsd unix,...)
What differs them are packaging standards & configuration/scripting glue logic, library dependency...

http://images.google.com/search?q=linux+history&num=10&hl=en&tbm=isch&sout=1&biw=582&bih=230

Tried 100s of them but simplyMepis, Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuSE...seems ok for desktop productivity...
Some of them are more localised/translated by volonteer effort...
There are some distros for special purpose (medical, christian, realTime, low resources, specific cpu architecture, complete freedom of patents, cluster, grid, cloud,.....)

Here is download top list...:

http://distrowatch.com/

 

[powerhouse32]

As mobrocket above mentioned, I'd try Linux Mint. Specifically Linux Mint 13 Maya 64 bit. There are several ISO downloads - most of them come complete with restricted codecs for multimedia. The download page is quite clear about it.

In any case i suggest to put it on a USB stick. Most (all?) versions are live systems so you can boot them from the USB stick and play with Linux Mint before you install anything!

If you prefer the Ubuntu user interface then go for it - there is also Mediabuntu (?) that comes with more codecs and preinstalled multimedia applications.

As to Fedora, I find it difficult. It has some great features - many of which I need (LVM in the installer, Xen kernel support, etc.) - but for the average user and even for me it is challenging at the user interface level. It also doesn't come with multimedia codecs. The selinux concept for enhanced security may be nice for enterprise users, but I have a hard time with it getting simple administrative things done. I'm sure a Fedora user can point you to the right direction.

Debian, which has been mentioned, comes without ANY restricted codecs for multimedia. It is their philosophy to provide true open source software. In contrast, Linux Mint will suggest after installation and boot that you install for example the Nvidia proprietary driver which is a day and night difference concerning GPU support.

Slackware was my first Linux experience in the 90s. It used to be a purist system, and isn't that popular nowadays. I can't say more about it - it may be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Gentoo means that you need to compile your kernel and perhaps other applications. It's supposed to allow you to squeeze the last bit out of your hardware. I tried it many years ago but I found it was a bit too challenging to me.

Puppet linux is nice for low performance hardware. I have it installed on a 7 years old low-end laptop with 500 MB memory.

Suse Linux is yet another option. It provides a nice installer and very comprehensive applications. I used it 10 years ago. It is still one of the top Linux distributions.

Mandriva Linux was the Linux distribution I switched to after Suse Linux. They have undergone some changes and I don't know their current state. It used to be easy to install with plenty of applications in the Redhat format (now Fedora). At that time it was much more user friendly than Redhat.

In the end it depends on what you are looking for. Linux Mint 13 Maya seems a suitable contestant which provides restricted multimedia codecs out of the box as well as a pletora of applications and relatively easy installation. I have been using it on 2 PCs for the last 4-5 years and it's been good to me.

It's a challenge to find the right Linux distro. Good luck!

 

[Kewlx25]

FreeBSD

Very stable, fewer bugs, awesome documentation, great package manager, ZFS, great IO performance.

 

[phoenix1313k]

Best answer selected by phoenix1313k.