What Is OzBargainers' Best Linux?

[Deactivated] on 15/04/2015 - 16:32
Last edited 15/04/2015 - 16:34

Hi everybody, I was thinking with that many distributions out there,

which one is Ozbargainers' favourite? which version? why?

I assume most of you are using Linux, as a free OS!?
I use Ubuntu but mainly work with Centos not very happy specially with the last one, 7.
also if you like to answer, what is the cheapest laptop for Linux jobs?

mainly for heavy scientific computing or graphical visualisations?

Good CPU, good GPU, good screen maybe 4k? the rest is not that important.
Have a look here if you don't remember their names.
here is a full list.

Computing

Comments

  • zealmax on 17/04/2015 - 14:29
    +1

    Doesn't matter which distro you have as long as you have the wobbly windows effect.

  • goms on 17/04/2015 - 16:33
    +1

    I'm a Fedora user. Seems that it's not popular here.

    Why are you not happy with CentOS 7? I just upgraded my home server to Centos 7.

    • iwontreadthis on 17/04/2015 - 22:14
      +1

      I would hazard a guess at systemd and journalctl. Prime reason I see preventing people from migrating, although EL7 performance over EL6 is actually noticeable!

    • [Deactivated] on 18/04/2015 - 20:22

      I am going to try fedora too, Centos 7 has some issues for normal everyday use, good for server though, specially I made a mistake going from 6 to 7! They forked the basic structure, not enough support, some of the hardware were working fine in 6 and now they are the pain… some other hardware working better I might say

  • rolypoly on 18/04/2015 - 00:00
    +1

    I use ubuntu. Needed it for programming C++ and OpenCV. I chose ubuntu because it seemed to be the easiest distro to google solutions for when stuck. I am enjoying my first foray into linux territory. Getting things to work sometimes is as easy as taking candy from a babylonian god.

    • niknah on 18/04/2015 - 01:19
      +2

      That's the best part about Ubuntu. That someone has probably had the same or similar problem, even obscure ones.
      And you can install/remove whatever packages you want to make it like any other distro. Most of the other ubuntus, kubuntu, xubuntu is just the same thing with different default packages installed.
      I'm using Ubuntu, with openbox, tint2. It's a lot quicker than the default gnome or kde.

      Used Redhat/Fedora many years ago. Constant crashes on most GUI programs.
      Gentoo is terrible, I don't know why people suggest it here. You have to leave your computer running overnight to do an upgrade. Some upgrades that require compiling c++ will use up a large amount of CPU/memory, slows everything down. If you want to wear your computer out quickly, this is the distro to use.

  • srr on 18/04/2015 - 09:13
    +2

    Debian - you can get as stable or as bleeding edge as you like with distribution range of stable-testing-unstable.

    I mainly use stable for servers and testing for desktop.

  • Diji1 on 18/04/2015 - 09:54
    -1

    Why would you use Linux on a laptop?

    Unless you just like "playing about" I guess (by this I mean spending many hours trying to get computer hardware and software to work instead of being productive like you can be with Windows where there is no need to spend many hours trying to make your computer work).

    • twocsies on 18/04/2015 - 11:51
      +1

      To be fair, there is so much software that is really difficult to run on Windows and easy to run on Linux. For example, any software that requires dependencies can be really annoying to get going on Windows, but in Linux, they can simply be pulled from a repository.

      Basically, if you need to compile your software yourself, e.g. from github, it's often going to be much easier on Linux. I can't say how many times I've had trouble with VS version, missing dependencies, etc.

    • deek on 18/04/2015 - 12:43
      +2

      I run Linux on a laptop. It is ridiculously easy to set up, and works perfectly from installation. Wireles, ethernet, display, sound, everything automatically detected. I've even taken a hard drive from a Linux laptop, and placed it into another. It booted up perfectly fine, with all hardware working right away. If you have an OEM version of Windows, you can't do that. Not that it technically can't work, but licensing prevents it.

      Your experience with Linux may be based on a much older distribution. These days, I find it easier to install than Windows.

      I've fielded calls from my parents about the Windows 8 interface. They were frustrated to tears trying to use it. My computer illiterate Dad now uses Ubuntu on his PC. He is happy, and productive, with it.

    • niknah on 20/04/2015 - 15:29
      +1

      In my current laptop, hibernation doesn't work in Linux but is ok in windows.
      Enabling the nVidia graphics drivers stops camera apps from working in Linux.
      It's always been that newer hardware works in Windows before Linux. Nowadays new hardware usually has an App before it has anything available for Windows or linux.

      However, some other bits of hardware work better. Mouse and keyboard repeat rates can be set a lot higher in Linux.
      And drivers general don't take up tens or hundreds of megs like it sometimes does in Windows.

      • peteru on 20/04/2015 - 15:33
        +1

        It's always been that newer hardware works in Windows before Linux.

        That's not true. USB3 support was available in Linux before Windows. Linux also already supports the yet unreleased next generation of Intel hardware.

  • Dharmin85 on 18/04/2015 - 10:10
    +1

    How is the Arch Linux?? I am new to Linux and can anyone give me feedback for Arch Linux

    • mcpower on 18/04/2015 - 13:02
      +3

      If you're new to Linux, Arch is probably not a good starting place. Imagine if a clean install of Windows didn't have a graphical interface, and just gave you a command prompt and a way to install programs from the internet. That's basically Arch: start from scratch, then install whatever you want on top of it.

      If you're new to Linux, Ubuntu is very popular and it should a decent starting point. Personally, I don't really like it because I think it's a bit bloated, but it should still be faster than Windows. elementary OS (you can download it for free if you put 0 in "Custom") is a spinoff of Ubuntu which is pretty nice and focuses on aesthetics. Xubuntu is also a spinoff of Ubuntu, but it seems very lightweight as it uses a lightweight desktop environment.

      Personally, I'd recommend Xubuntu for people new to Linux. I haven't used it extensively, but it seems like a nice balance between usability and Linux-ness (lightweightness, set stuff up yourself, elegance).

      • Dharmin85 on 19/04/2015 - 07:55
        +1

        Thanks for your reply.
        My ultimate goal is to use i3 tiling wm on one of the linux that I pick. I saw that on arch linux when I was in UTS which influenced me to learn linux and have i3. But after your feedback I would start with some easy tool first such as xubuntu. Is there any online material or webiste where I can start learning Linux ubuntu?

        • mcpower on 19/04/2015 - 15:32
          +2

          I personally use i3 on my netbook with Arch installed, and getting used to it was a bit difficult; probably more so if you're new to Linux. I wouldn't recommend installing i3 yet, but you can probably come back to it once you're more used to Linux.

          IMO, the best way to learn Linux is to use it. You'll probably get stuck somewhere down the line — fixing what you messed up is part of the learning experience. This is how I started off, and I picked up various things while doing so.

          Start off by installing a distribution (Xubuntu, in your case). Play around with it, read up how-tos online, and tinker it to your liking. Eventually, you'll have to use the terminal for various tasks. Using a terminal seems daunting at first, but if you're just following guides all you need to do is type in what they tell you to. Soon enough you'll be doing sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade and understanding what they do.

          Once you're proficient with Linux, you'll use the terminal more and more, especially in distributions like Arch. For examples of what you can do with Linux, the unixporn subreddit (completely safe for work) has lots of examples of what savvy users do with their installations. It's going to be a long while until you'll be using the terminal programs ncmpcpp, weechat, vim instead of their graphical counterparts, but it just goes to show what you can do with the terminal.

        • Dharmin85 on 20/04/2015 - 13:36
          +1

          @mcpower: Thank you very very much. Earlier I went through some other forums(not on OZbargain) and never got such informative response.I will start looking into it now more seriously since now I know how I will be dealing with.

    • matabuntu on 18/04/2015 - 13:11
      +2

      I was using ubuntu for sometime but few weeks ago switched my old laptop to arch. Looks very cool and clean in the beginning, as nothing is installed except the core system which makes it at least functional. The real challenges start when you need to use the GUI (everything is text based at the beginning), and then start adding your peripherals, bluetooth device, wifi etc. There is no exact manual that will help you straight away as you will always be pointed back to the wiki page and need to try couple things. In the end I can make everything worked as expected. However in that process I probably installed so many packages and dependencies and now I dont think I have a very clean installation - imagine this. It is fun. But if you are new to Linux consider trying Ubuntu or Mint first. If really want arch try it on virtual machine first.

      Edit: mcpower beat me

      • T1OOO on 19/04/2015 - 04:00
        +2

        Uv described hell

      • Dharmin85 on 19/04/2015 - 07:55
        +1

        Thanks for your reply.
        My ultimate goal is to use i3 tiling wm on one of the linux that I pick. I saw that on arch linux when I was in UTS which influenced me to learn linux and have i3. But after your feedback I would start with some easy tool first such as xubuntu. Is there any online material or webiste where I can start learning Linux ubuntu?

      • Dharmin85 on 20/04/2015 - 13:33
        +1

        Thank you very very much. Earlier I went through some other forums(not on OZbargain) and never got such informative response.I will start looking into it now more seriously since now I know how I will be dealing with. Thanks once again for attaching those links I will go through them.

      • Dharmin85 on 20/04/2015 - 13:35
        +1

        Thank you very very much. Earlier I went through some other forums(not on OZbargain) and never got such informative response.I will start looking into it now more seriously since now I know how I will be dealing with.

  • centrelink on 18/04/2015 - 11:01
    +1

    Only use PC for gaming.. MACOS just to make millions of dollars.

  • lancedefrance on 18/04/2015 - 21:20
    +1

    I have an Ubuntu VM that I use to play with Apache/My SQL/PHP :)

  • tebbybabes on 18/04/2015 - 22:04
    +1

    I'm a total noob with Linux but am quite happy with Mint XFCE. It seems like the easiest one for me to migrate to.

  • Crownanchor on 18/04/2015 - 23:24
    +1

    Anyone using Oracle Linux? It's also a free RHEL based distro. Has some very advanced features.

  • T1OOO on 19/04/2015 - 03:55
    -1

    Come on yawl no 1 wants to use Linux. Come on like there's a hand full of people that do and deep deep down they really don't either. If ur an oz bargainer u can find a make with a free key or setting like that.

  • citybargainhunter on 19/04/2015 - 18:31
    +1

    Centos/Fedora Core 21 at work, Ubuntu/Mint at home, my favourite is FC21, just too lazy to switch at the moment.

  • HoracePinker on 19/04/2015 - 19:58
    +1

    Wow I am impressed by how many people use linux on here. I was expecting whats linux but this is great!
    /me pats everyone on the back

    • Crownanchor on 19/04/2015 - 20:23
      +2

      Savvy ozbargainers, who know the purchase price, plus reliability of software and lower cost of ownership is the way to go with Linux and BSD, so makes sense to see ozbargainers using Linux.

    • scotty on 19/04/2015 - 23:11
      +1

      Many OzBargainers got hooked when they first saw free1 software. "FREE?!! Oh Yes Download x10!"

      1. okay I know "free" = "at liberty" in this case. ↩

  • cobRAJ on 20/04/2015 - 05:13
    +1

    Gentoo Master Race.

  • [Deactivated] on 20/04/2015 - 09:47
    +1

    Mint - worked a treat on my ageing desktop.

    I've moved on to a Macbook now, but if I can work out how to dual boot Yosemite and an Linux distro without tearing my hair out I'd do it in a heartbeat

  • Starcraftmazter on 20/04/2015 - 11:39
    +1

    I use Fedora because it has up to date packages, the latest gadgets software wise and is generally pretty good and stable, KDE spin.

    For sciency stuff you should use Scientific Linux, which is based on Redhat linux.

  • Tuttorix on 20/04/2015 - 17:17
    +1

    Tails Linux. Security Reasons.

  • Finde on 20/04/2015 - 18:43
    +1

    Linux Mint is the way to go. All the support of a big linux distribution (Ubuntu) but with an infinitely better user experience.

    • c64 on 21/04/2015 - 07:48

      the only problem with linux mint is upgrading to new distributions

  • gorge on 21/04/2015 - 00:38
    +1

    install gentoo

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