Please Please Please recommend me a Linux distribution.

[simplezz]

The reason why it's not as widespread? Not many people use Linux in comparison to Windows. These are not just 'proof of concepts'. http://en.wikipedia....i/Linux_malware

The reasons viruses can't and don't spread on Linux:

1. Linux users get their software from built-in repositories which are naturally peer reviewed.

2. Heterogeneity of the platform. There are so many differences in what software and versions are present and how each system is setup that it's a complete nightmare for malware writers.

3. Speed of updates and bugfixes.

4. Full system upgrade capability. Not just the OS components itself, but every application on the system is updated at the same time ensuring all vulnerabilities and bugs are fixed. In Windows this is probably the single biggest security threat because it lacks a unified, system wide package management and update system.

Does security in obscurity play a role? Of course. But remember, GNU/Linux and FOSS code is running on many devices, from smartphones to supercomputers to routers. So I don't think that's the most important reason.

Regardless of the reasons, the fact remains that users are much more secure on GNU/Linux than Windows.

I would say the increase in browser-based exploits has increased vulnerability of the platform as a whole as well. Linux doesn't escape this angle of threat.

Browser-based exploits are platform dependent. Hence why we mostly see IE exploits even though Chrome has over taken it in marketshare. IE is guarenteed to be on a Windows system. Homogeneity is a malware writer's best weapon. Chrome/Chromium is also similar to Linux in its speed of updates.

Open source drivers aren't always significantly better, you've compared 2 pieces of software (with no source to back yourself up),

My source is my own experience with using both the proprietary(binary blob) and the open source driver. The blob is significantly less stable. I know from using it.

With regards to your comment about having to get that 'fresh' system feel every 3 months, I had my Windwos 7 install for 2 years and it was absolutely fine, provided you don't install stupid amounts of crap

Crap always gets installed with Windows. It's inevitable. Download some random app from the net (no repositories in Windows) and you'll get toolbars, adware, and all sorts of horrible junk along with it.

Then there's the gradual slow down and longer and longer boot times. It's just a real pain. It's more noticeable on XP because XP is much faster than 7 on a fresh install anyway.

and that statement can apply to any OS, including Linux.

Actually no it doesn't. For one thing Linux's journalling file systems don't suffer from horrific fragmentation like NTFS/FAT32.

[simplezz]

This thread only serves as further proof to the reasons why linux will never get anywhere on the desktop.

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/ubuntu-to-ship-on-5-of-all-pcs-sold-next-year

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

GTFO. There might be some proof of concepts, but there are no real viruses that are actively spreading.

Are you serious? LOL. There is no need for an anti-virus on GNU/Linux because there are no viruses. DUH! There's a reason security researchers use Linux when they analyse malware/viruses/rootkits etc.

I can't believe you're actually claiming that Linux users are at risk. I thought you were a Linux user? Has Windows and its security problems infected your brain or what?

Yes I am a Linux user, and I'm typing this from Arch, my primary OS. ALL operating systems can get viruses, even ones that don't have security holes, if only for the reason that the biggest security hole exists between the keyboard and the chair. Linux malware has been on the increase for years, especially given it's rising popularity as a desktop operating system. I'm not saying that Linux is much of a risk, but no-one should kid themselves into thinking that Linux is immune to them.

The biggest vulnerability for Linux is exactly the same that Windows has, downloading software from untrusted sources. Linux has this issue sorted through centralised package managers, to an extent. Even then though, the user repositories still pose a risk. PPA repositories and the AUR still pose a risk (even Canonical consider it an issue).

This doesn't include things such as Java and Mono, which allow cross platform code, WINE which potentially opens up Linux to Windows viruses, and hell, simply just downloading crap off the internet, the same way that you would in Windows. This doesn't even start down the rabbit hole of Android and its very own malware problem. People should continue to be wary of random software downloads on the internet, even Linux ones. Putting your fingers in your ears and ignoring the issue isn't wise, regardless of your OS.

Note that I'm not saying that Linux has a virus problem, but honestly I thought we got over this whole "only Windows users get viruses thing" when OSX started getting viruses. If viruses are the only reason a person is looking to swap OS, then they need to take another look is all I'm saying.

Open source drivers are significantly better, as evidenced by radeon vs Catalyst. Proprietary drivers should always be avoided if possible.

In terms of OS stability, GNU/Linux and FOSS are very good. You won't have to reboot all the time or reformat every three months just to get that fresh system feeling like in Windows.

That depends on your definition of better..

[ViperAFK]

Opensuse is a secure distro with a good kde implementation and decent repos, I'd recommend that. Opensuse also has tumbleweed which can give you a rolling release and keep all your software up to date: http://en.opensuse.o...rtal:Tumbleweed

Kubuntu is also nice, but probably not as security minded as suse or fedora. *buntu based distros are pretty great if software availability and keeping certain software up to date is very important to you though. Because of ubuntu's large repos, and the easy to use ppa system.

Fedora is also nice, but I have no experience with the KDE version. Its repos are kept pretty up to date, but its not quite as "easy" as suse or kubuntu.

And whats with the flame war that erupted in this dudes thread? He's just asking for a distro recommendation lol...

Crap always gets installed with Windows. It's inevitable. Download some random app from the net (no repositories in Windows) and you'll get toolbars, adware, and all sorts of horrible junk along with it.

arghh, I didn't really want to get involved here, but I have to comment on this. This is kind of hyperbolic, this is only the case if you don't bother to uncheck these things in the installer. Any "decent" software will have the option to not install any toolbars. Any software that does force that kind of crap wouldn't get anywhere near my windows system anyway. I have absolutely no problem keeping my windows installs light and as fast as a fresh install. If your system is filling up with random toolbars and crapware it is your own fault. Don't get me wrong, linux does have advantages in this area with software repositories, and not having to worry about any crapware at all, but its silly to say a windows system will spontaneously erupt in toolbars :p

I'm someone that uses both windows and linux everyday and like both (posting this from arch linux), and the best advice I can give to anyone is that linux and windows are different, they both have their strengths. Use what works best for you, by all means give linux a try :)

[Scorbing]

This thread only serves as further proof to the reasons why linux will never get anywhere on the desktop.

That's because too many people are so into their Windows OS and MacOSX that they don't want to give anything else a chance when the true fact is Linux is more secure and stable than both Windows and MacOSX combined.

[Aergan]

Ubuntu or Linux Mint are great starting points. Widely supported and very compatible.

I would suggest either trying some live discs, grabbing a copy of your regional Linux magazine or throwing up a virtual machine to find which Linux distribution interests you the most.

[Order_66]

That's because too many people are so into their Windows OS and MacOSX that they don't want to give anything else a chance when the true fact is Linux is more secure and stable than both Windows and MacOSX combined.

I completely disagree, I've certainly given linux a chance and for one reason or another it has failed every time ie around a month ago I built a pc for my dinning room and thought I would install mint on it, everything went fine until I went to copy some music files to one of the secondary drives on the machine, it said I couldn't copy because the drive was write protected, sure I could have gone into the command line and set it straight but why should I?

Most average users are not going to sit there and invoke a command prompt for something so small and simple as copying some music files to one of their drives, you should be able to simply right click and at the most type in the admin password to unlock the drive(even that is too much), but things like that are not that simple in linux and that's one of the many reasons why it will never even come close to making any sort of dent in desktop world.

As far as stability goes I have found linux to be around 'average', not even close to the stability of OSX10.6 or newer, probably more stable than Vista but that's not saying much, nowhere near as stable as 7.

[veternan]

Windows 8 open source version...just kidding :rofl:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

[Order_66]

Windows 8 open source version...just kidding :rofl:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

lol but as bad as unity is it pales in comparison to the genuine garbage that "metro" is :laugh:

[Scorbing]

I completely disagree, I've certainly given linux a chance and for one reason or another it has failed every time ie around a month ago I built a pc for my dinning room and thought I would install mint on it, everything went fine until I went to copy some music files to one of the secondary drives on the machine, it said I couldn't copy because the drive was write protected, sure I could have gone into the command line and set it straight but why should I?

Most average users are not going to sit there and invoke a command prompt for something so small and simple as copying some music files to one of their drives, you should be able to simply right click and at the most type in the admin password to unlock the drive(even that is too much), but things like that are not that simple in linux and that's one of the many reasons why it will never even come close to making any sort of dent in desktop world.

As far as stability goes I have found linux to be around 'average', not even close to the stability of OSX10.6 or newer, probably more stable than Vista but that's not saying much, nowhere near as stable as 7.

I have never had an issue with that. Mint is working super fine here. Maybe a bad HD?

[n_K]

GTFO. There might be some proof of concepts, but there are no real viruses that are actively spreading.

Are you serious? LOL. There is no need for an anti-virus on GNU/Linux because there are no viruses. DUH! There's a reason security researchers use Linux when they analyse malware/viruses/rootkits etc.

I can't believe you're actually claiming that Linux users are at risk. I thought you were a Linux user? Has Windows and its security problems infected your brain or what?

Christ, you're actually stupid if you believe that. GNU/Linux does NOT HAVE virus scanning software, go look at clam. The viruses for it are mostly not detectable because they're created by the people that use them and they remain the equilivent of '0-dayz'.

Just in case you try to remain as stupid as you currently are, here's some information that's actually worth a damn compared to your opinion;

http://www.theregist...otkit_released/

http://www.rootkit.n...it_hunter.html/

(OH, JUST LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF LINUX ROOTKITS, 'Supported' rootkits/backdoors/LKM's/worms:

[blockquote]

55808 Trojan - Variant A

ADM W0rm

AjaKit

aPa Kit

Apache Worm

Ambient (ark) Rootkit

Balaur Rootkit

BeastKit

beX2

BOBKit

CiNIK Worm (Slapper.B variant)

Danny-Boy's Abuse Kit

Devil RootKit

Dica

Dreams Rootkit

Duarawkz Rootkit

Flea Linux Rootkit

FreeBSD Rootkit

****`it Rootkit

GasKit

Heroin LKM

HjC Rootkit

ignoKit

ImperalsS-FBRK

Irix Rootkit

Kitko

Knark

Li0n Worm

Lockit / LJK2

mod_rootme (Apache backdoor)

MRK

Ni0 Rootkit

NSDAP (RootKit for SunOS)

Optic Kit (Tux)

Oz Rootkit

Portacelo

R3dstorm Toolkit

RH-Sharpe's rootkit

RSHA's rootkit

Scalper Worm

Shutdown

SHV4 Rootkit

SHV5 Rootkit

Sin Rootkit

Slapper

Sneakin Rootkit

Suckit

SunOS Rootkit

Superkit

TBD (Telnet BackDoor)

TeLeKiT

T0rn Rootkit

Trojanit Kit

URK (Universal RootKit)

VcKit

Volc Rootkit

X-Org SunOS Rootkit

zaRwT.KiT Rootkit

and... some known/unknown sniffers, backdoors like:

Anti Anti-sniffer

LuCe LKM

THC Backdoor

[/blockquote])

http://packetstormse...ation/rootkits/

(222 open source'd linux rootkits. So guess you OPINION of [and I quote] 'There is no need for an anti-virus on GNU/Linux because there are no viruses', LOL, IDIOT! Here's a great idead - shut up, and do your research.)

Open source drivers are significantly better, as evidenced by radeon vs Catalyst. Proprietary drivers should always be avoided if possible.

Errr, no. The open source radeon driver has NO HARDWARE ACCELLERATION or 3D accellerated support compared to the closed source radeon drievr, maybe you should go and look up about it.

Let's use arch linux for this;

https://wiki.archlin...g/index.php/ATI

'The open source driver is currently not on par with the proprietary driver in terms of 3D performance on newer cards or reliable TV-out support.'

So please, as I said earlier, do NOT claim your opinion to be fact unless you actually back it up and it's correct, because NONE of what you said is true at all and you create more people spreading your opinion claiming it to be fact.

EDIT: PHWOAR, just LOOK at the increase in FPS by using the closed source driver;

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_radeon_histq111&num=4

So that's 5 verifiable sources in this post alone compared to 0 in all your posts ever added together.

Edited June 24, 2012 by n_K

[Order_66]

I have never had an issue with that. Mint is working super fine here. Maybe a bad HD?

Nothing wrong with the drive.

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

Nothing wrong with the drive.

Was it NTFS formatted per chance? I know that a lot of Linux distros don't have write support for NTFS by default a lot of the time.

[Farstrider]

I also do not really want to get involved in the absolute nonsense that I am seeing posted here, some of it is just too much and I have to comment!

Statements like this would actually be funny if it was not sad! Seriously what "you" have found is so completely incorrect, that once again I would venture a guess that you either have used "Linux" for 5 min or not at all!

As far as stability goes I have found linux to be around 'average', not even close to the stability of OSX10.6 or newer, probably more stable than Vista but that's not saying much, nowhere near as stable as 7.

The fact that 95% of all super computers worldwide use various forms of "Linux" tells you a story in itself. I've been using "Linux" on various PC's for years and if anything the stability and usability gets better and better! Perhaps that's because I better understand the product that I am using! I also work with many different Windows PC's and quite frankly to even draw comparisons is ridiculous! Windows 7 has dramatically improved on all sorts of levels, but in 10 years time, in all likelihood, most of us will look back and say, "Did we actually think that that was good?"

[n_K]

I'll be honest, I use linux on everything, still having problems and compiling packages for gentoo raspberry pi as we speak haha. I've got a stack of about 80 CDs with various GNU/Linux distributions on and I've tried most of them and that's how I've discovered what distros I like, so if you're serious about switching to linux I suggest you do the same, or do the more up-to-date version of getting the ISOs and trying them in virtual box or whatnot etc. and seeing what you like.

If you do switch, go and look up on security and make sure you read up on it (you should do the same with whatever OS you use, if you just read stuff that says 'this os is secure as is' then you are reading the wrong documentation).

[ViperAFK]

I also do not really want to get involved in the absolute nonsense that I am seeing posted here, some of it is just too much and I have to comment!

Statements like this would actually be funny if it was not sad! Seriously what "you" have found is so completely incorrect, that once again I would venture a guess that you either have used "Linux" for 5 min or not at all!

The fact that 95% of all super computers worldwide use various forms of "Linux" tells you a story in itself. I've been using "Linux" on various PC's for years and if anything the stability and usability gets better and better! Perhaps that's because I better understand the product that I am using! I also work with many different Windows PC's and quite frankly to even draw comparisons is ridiculous! Windows 7 has dramatically improved on all sorts of levels, but in 10 years time, in all likelihood, most of us will look back and say, "Did we actually think that that was good?"

To correct him I'd say he probably meant "linux software". The kernel and commandline apps are solid as hell, but I've definitely ran into quite a few buggy/unstable linux apps.

[(Spork)]

I can't stand mint's app repositories ....

i can't stand Mint linux !

[Order_66]

Was it NTFS formatted per chance? I know that a lot of Linux distros don't have write support for NTFS by default a lot of the time.

No, ext4.

[Order_66]

I also do not really want to get involved in the absolute nonsense that I am seeing posted here, some of it is just too much and I have to comment!

Statements like this would actually be funny if it was not sad! Seriously what "you" have found is so completely incorrect, that once again I would venture a guess that you either have used "Linux" for 5 min or not at all!

The fact that 95% of all super computers worldwide use various forms of "Linux" tells you a story in itself. I've been using "Linux" on various PC's for years and if anything the stability and usability gets better and better! Perhaps that's because I better understand the product that I am using! I also work with many different Windows PC's and quite frankly to even draw comparisons is ridiculous! Windows 7 has dramatically improved on all sorts of levels, but in 10 years time, in all likelihood, most of us will look back and say, "Did we actually think that that was good?"

Who are YOU to say that I am "so incompletely incorrect" in my own findings on my own machines in my own house? I didn't say that linux sucked for everyone did I? were you here at my house watching me install and use linux? here's what I said "As far as stability goes I have found linux to be around 'average'" This is my opinion of my own experiences over the years of using different distros on many different machines, I didn't say linux was average for the rest of the world or for anyone else, if you love it then by all means knock yourself out with it, I personally don't like it and due to my experiences with it I can see why it will never make a dent in the desktop market.

[Growled Member]

I'd reccomend using Kubuntu for the OP. A lot of people put it down but I've honestly have never had any problems with it.

[spbiswas]

Go for any version of Ubuntu...its great for everyone

[soldier1st]

This thread only serves as further proof to the reasons why linux will never get anywhere on the desktop.

Incorrect. This just goes to show that linux is becoming more attractive for new users. Much like it has with me.

[soldier1st]

Yes I am a Linux user, and I'm typing this from Arch, my primary OS. ALL operating systems can get viruses, even ones that don't have security holes, if only for the reason that the biggest security hole exists between the keyboard and the chair. Linux malware has been on the increase for years, especially given it's rising popularity as a desktop operating system. I'm not saying that Linux is much of a risk, but no-one should kid themselves into thinking that Linux is immune to them.

The biggest vulnerability for Linux is exactly the same that Windows has, downloading software from untrusted sources. Linux has this issue sorted through centralised package managers, to an extent. Even then though, the user repositories still pose a risk. PPA repositories and the AUR still pose a risk (even Canonical consider it an issue).

This doesn't include things such as Java and Mono, which allow cross platform code, WINE which potentially opens up Linux to Windows viruses, and hell, simply just downloading crap off the internet, the same way that you would in Windows. This doesn't even start down the rabbit hole of Android and its very own malware problem. People should continue to be wary of random software downloads on the internet, even Linux ones. Putting your fingers in your ears and ignoring the issue isn't wise, regardless of your OS.

Note that I'm not saying that Linux has a virus problem, but honestly I thought we got over this whole "only Windows users get viruses thing" when OSX started getting viruses. If viruses are the only reason a person is looking to swap OS, then they need to take another look is all I'm saying.

That depends on your definition of better..

When i finally switch back to linux, the reason will be: The way you need to go on the internet to get new updates on winblowz can be a security nightmare(certain things don't need to do it that way) as your always taking a chance. On linux, it is less of an issue.

[soldier1st]

That's because too many people are so into their Windows OS and MacOSX that they don't want to give anything else a chance when the true fact is Linux is more secure and stable than both Windows and MacOSX combined.

Your wording is very subjective."secure and stable than both Windows and MacOSX". This sentence is very very subjective and widely open for debate. Each os has it's pro's and con's just like anything else. Each os can be stable and secure(again, very subjective)

[fbsduser]

As I look at my task manager in Windows 7 64-bit. I see all these services running. One of the most consuming programs is my Antivirus/Firewall program. I am so tired of Windows. Not pleased with Windows 8 either. I have used Windows 8 on my friend's computer.

Here are the specs for my desktop computer. I have a PCI Wifi card inside that I put in. It uses a Atheros chipset.

http://www.dealigg.c...n-p6350z-series

I'm looking for a distribution that has KDE as an option or the default. Since its the closest desktop environment that resembles Windows. I do that so my wife won't get annoyed and worst case scenario tells me to put Windows back on the machine. Although I would love to use Xfce.

This is what I am looking for in a Linux distribution and in no particular order:

1. Speed. I have a few Windows apps that don't run perfectly in Wine and I will be using Virtualbox. I just hope Virtualbox the performance is as close to native Windows. I will probably just use Windows XP in Virtualbox.

2. Has a good repository of programs that I can pick from. I just don't want to only pick from 100 programs only available to me.

3. When new Linux software gets released I don't want to wait six months or a year to download it. I would like it to be available within three months.

4. Ease of use. More for the wife than myself. I would not mind getting my hands dirty and typing in commands. I love Linux and don't mind learning. This will help putting it on my resume.

5. KDE. What I mentioned above.

6. Security. Looking for a distribution that does care about security for its end users.

7. Nice to look at. More of an option though.

8. Stable. I know Linux has legendary stability but you never know with some other Linux distributions.

I hope I can get help with this. Thank you.

You can install lubuntu or linux mint cinnamon. LXDE and Cinnamon are lightweight (LXDE is lighter than cinnamon) Windoze-like DE's. Then you set the initial admin account for yourself and a second, non-admin, account for your wife. Then install XFCE (xubuntu-desktop package) and set XFCE as the DE for your account and LXDE/Cinnamon DE (whichever you chose) for your wife's account.

I completely disagree, I've certainly given linux a chance and for one reason or another it has failed every time ie around a month ago I built a pc for my dinning room and thought I would install mint on it, everything went fine until I went to copy some music files to one of the secondary drives on the machine, it said I couldn't copy because the drive was write protected, sure I could have gone into the command line and set it straight but why should I?

Most average users are not going to sit there and invoke a command prompt for something so small and simple as copying some music files to one of their drives, you should be able to simply right click and at the most type in the admin password to unlock the drive(even that is too much), but things like that are not that simple in linux and that's one of the many reasons why it will never even come close to making any sort of dent in desktop world.

As far as stability goes I have found linux to be around 'average', not even close to the stability of OSX10.6 or newer, probably more stable than Vista but that's not saying much, nowhere near as stable as 7.

Are you on some magical powder? Or you smelled industrial disolvent by any chance?