which linux is best for me??

[vickycodmaster]

i am student pursuing bachelor engineering in computer science.
i know a little about linux and basic commands of unix.but i am interested to know more and get comfortable with linux. i want to
install linux in mine dell studio xps 1340 laptop.
which linux flavour should i install and from where i will get drivers for it?

plz help??

[Salem]

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport/
One distro, with a hardware compatibility list.

And a whole lot more.
http://distrowatch.com/

[Xlphos]

Some versions of linux can be run on a live CD. Why not burn a few distros and see which you like.

If you are learning at a university it maybe worthwhile to use the same version that they are using.

[sneaker]

Hi

People say that Linux Mint is a good choice if you are not used to run Linux.
I have Mint Elyssa and really like it. Very easy to run when you are used to Windows. They have recently released Mint 7 Gloria.
Other people say that Feodora is good if you want to dig deeper into Linux. Feodora 11 is released and seems to be working quite good according to some computer magazines.
My personal advise is to start whit Mint and if you want to dig deeper move on to other distros later when you feel more familiar whit Linux.

Good luck whatever you choose =)

[KonkaNok]

I was curious about Linux and switched from Windows to the latest version of Ubuntu about 3 or 4 months ago..

Personally, I think it's a very easy distro to use and there's a huge amount of online support for it. I've never had any real problems installing drivers/libraries/software and using deb packages makes installations even easier. If compatibility is what you're looking for, then I'd definitely recommend it. Linux is very suited to programming as well - I've found coding quite a bit smoother after I switched..

Good luck!
www.ubuntu.com/

[nichita2008]

Ubuntu is a very good OS. You can install an virtual machine at your computer and you can test many linux OS before choose one. Fedora is another good Linux OS.

[vickycodmaster]

Ubuntu is a very good OS. You can install an virtual machine at your computer and you can test many linux OS before choose one. Fedora is another good Linux OS.

thanx can u tell from where i'll get drivers for ubuntu.
i m having dell studio xps 1340.if u can give me a link.

[KonkaNok]

Are you running additional hardware? If not, you shouldn't need any drivers.. If you are then have a look through the link Salem posted.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport/

If you still can't find what you're looking for then maybe try looking through ubuntuforums.org

[Salem]

> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport/
> One distro, with a hardware compatibility list.
Sometimes, it's like serving up a huge banquet with row after row of tables full of food.

> i m having dell studio xps 1340.if u can give me a link.
And still some people will sit in the middle of it all crying "I'm hungry, fetch me some food!".

When someone announces themselves as "i am student pursuing bachelor engineering in computer science.", I expect a great deal more initiative in taking what was offered and going with it.

If you don't get some initiative RSN, "pursuing" will be all you will do, because "achieving" takes more than just sitting around waiting for people to hand it over.

[Crash~Override]

if you are starting out, Ubuntu is very friendly. Plus ubuntu has amazing community support. It will be useful for you to get a hang of linux. You can install drivers from ubuntu's software sources aka synaptics. Alternatively you can google for the driver and download it.

Once you get comfortable using Ubuntu, go for slackware - this is where your skills on linux will really be tested!!!

Good luck

[pogson]

"thanx can u tell from where i'll get drivers for ubuntu.
i m having dell studio xps 1340.if u can give me a link. "

Unlike that other OS, many drivers are distributed with the GNU/Linux kernel. Also, GNU/Linux tends to use "generic" drivers, that is drivers that will run some chip or hardware rather than model xyz of some product by some company. The advantage is that many fewer drivers are needed. OEMs buy stuff from all over and their model xyz may have one chip in it on Monday and another on Tuesday. The manufacturer will supply different drivers by "revision" but your Linux kernel will not miss a beat. This works very well for chips on the motherboard and the PCI slots but is more complicated for devices like multifunction printers and USB dongles.

You should expect that your Linux kernel will identify and drive stuff in your box immediately upon installation. It will also have a large set of printer drivers and will treat most cameras as USB storage devices.

Still, there are a few manufacturers living in the dark ages who will not "divulge their trade secrets" and donate code or specifications to the Linux kernel group. Fortunately, the live CD is a simple tool to test most functions on a try before you buy approach if you must have certain hardware working. Out of the box, Linux supports more hardware than that other OS which needs driver discs for many common devices. Wireless is an area where drivers may be needed in addition to what ships with Linux but you can choose machines with Atheros chips and be reasonably sure it will work. Intel also cooperates well with Linux. With a live CD, you can check whether the right modules get loaded with lspci and lsmod commands, various GUI widgets and checking /var/log/syslog when the wireless transmitter is turned on, often by a switch on a notebook PC.

[Jelousmee034]

i am student pursuing bachelor engineering in computer science.
i know a little about linux and basic commands of unix.but i am interested to know more and get comfortable with linux. i want to
install linux in mine dell studio xps 1340 laptop.
which linux flavour should i install and from where i will get drivers for it?

plz help??

Just joined the forum today. Was looking for this information since quite some time.

[hyperbyte]

ubuntu for media and others..
fedora for dev and server //is stable and have security

[ITchimes]

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is best for you . Red Hat require minimum configuration, It's provide certification. you will make your better future with Linux.

You want to packages take from this Site:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux

[Computerphile]

i am student pursuing bachelor engineering in computer science.
i know a little about linux and basic commands of unix.but i am interested to know more and get comfortable with linux. i want to
install linux in mine dell studio xps 1340 laptop.
which linux flavour should i install and from where i will get drivers for it?

plz help??

Considering your current field of study you might want to go with something in the middle (Ubuntu in one end where everything nowadays just works, and Arch/Slackware in the other end where the learning curve is steap) and maybe start with something like Fedora.

Here's my arguments why you (as someone interested in learnig about Linux) should consider Fedora:
1. Fedora is a community driven distro where the community will actually help you (since they know what they are doing and are helpful persons).
2. Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat (read, huge contributor in the Linux development)
3. Since Fedora is a distribution where Red Hat is testing out new features, it's a cutting edge distribution that's not necessarily the most stable (this means you'll have to learn how to fix things, and if you need help, there's forums and IRC channels there to help you).
4. It's a distribution for and by programmers. As Slashdot put it "Advanced, and Not For Wimps"

If you just wanted to test out Linux and didn't study computer science I'd say you would be best off picking Ubuntu, where you nowadays don't even have to touch a terminal/cli.

Ubuntu has a market share of about 50% worldwide, comes free, can be run as live CD or installed as an application on Windows but will still run as a standalone installation.Comes with office, c++ compiler and Java compiler. BTW, take advice form @salem.