Linux, What is the best version?

[Ryex]

So, Recently my friend cane to school with an external hard drive with Linux installed separately and with no attachment to the internal hd and I tried to boot it on my comp. I was able to boot it with no trouble. it was pretty cool. that's when I got the idea to try installing Linux to a partitioned external hd and play around with it.

so heres my question. I'm well aware the Linux come in may different flavors but which one is the best?
ie. which one is the most stable, most compatible, best designed, best feachers, *cough*best looking*cough*
all that jazz.
also which ones can fit on a 4gig flash drive with room to spare?

also, if you can provide links they are very helpful. yes google can do the job but i'm lazy you know.

EDIT: also if you can point out tuts for partitioning an external hd and booting from it at the same time, or if you have the knowledge your self and can tell me, please do so.

[fugibo]

So, Recently my friend can to school with an external hard drive with Linux installed and i was able to boot it on my comp. I was able to boot it with no trouble. that's when i got the idea to try installing Linux to a flash drive and play around with it.

so heres my question. I'm well aware the Linux come in may different flavors but which one is the best?
ie. which one is the most stable, most compatible, best designed, best feachers, *cough*best looking*cough*
all that jazz.
also which ones can fit on a 4gig flash drive with room to spare?

also, if you can provide links they are very helpful. yes google can do the job but i'm lazy you know.

First off, there is no "best" distro, there are just some that are more "polished" than the others. This isn't the same thing as Microsoft vs Apple, etc in terms of software - almost all Linux distributions are built off of the same software, but each one has a different configuration, and each comes with different software built in.

My personal favorite is Ubuntu, but I haven't used it for nearly a year so YMMV. It fits on a single 700mb CD, and works very well for most things. In my experience, it's also very easy to use - the built-in software for installing and removing packages (which are bundles of software and supporting files), apt-get, is very, very nice. It has support for Compiz-Fusion and Emerald, which is as good-looking as Linux is gonna get.

Another two you might want to look in to are KNOPPIX and Puppy Linux. The former is a "LiveCD" distro, which means that it's optimized to be run from external media, such as CDs and jumpdrives. It's not as polished or easy-to-use as Ubuntu, but it's based on the same distribution (Debian) that Ubuntu is, so there are some similarities once you learn how to use them both. The latter is a TINY distro (~100mb) and will run on just about anything.

There are a ton of others out there, though - the best way to learn Linux is to pick one, play with it as your main OS for minor tasks (not just boot into it, learn how to browse the web, and leave, but learn how to do most of your mundane stuff other than gaming and RMXP and actually do it), then Google anything you don't get or anything you're interested in. Following links from there will lead you to all sorts of goodies, and I promise you'll learn a ton about computers by the time you're done with it.

EDIT:
BTW, if you can't tell, I'm a huge UNIX fan. If you have any questions about anything related to a *NIX, I probably at least have a general idea about it.

[Ryex]

thanks for the reply LF. the distro my friend had was Fadora, know anything about it?
also I edited my first post because I realized that it wan't a flash drive I wanted to install it to but a partition on an external HD. I want to have a Linux OS while still keeping HD space for my windows data storage.
is there any thing special you have to do to get a computer to boot from an external HD partition no mater what computer you plug it into? ie. i know the the external will need to have a MBR of its own.

EDIT: from looking around it looks like I will have to "resize" my existing external HD partition so that i'll have about 50-30 gigs of unpartitioned space and then install Linux there in a new partition? dose that sound about right?

EDIT2:

Spoiler: ShowHide

there I shrank my existing partition to give me 20 free gigabytes so do you know how to install Linux to that unallocated space?

[fugibo]

Boot into your distro CD of choice, fire up the partioner and create a new ext3 partition in the free space. Then use it as the target location for your install.

Note that Linux usually needs a thing called GRUB to boot. I haven't really had a chance to try booting off sn ext. HDD on a PC, so you'll need to Google how to boot Linux from an external drive. Sorry I can't help you more there. 

[Ryex]

if i don't want GRUB to be installed on my internal HD would it be a good idea to remove it during installation of Ubuntu?

EDIT: I WORKS!. that's right! at this very moment I'm using Firefox 3.5 in Ubuntu 9.10! and the best part there is no modification to my computer! it's all on my external hd! if my External isn't plugged in it lodes windows, if it is, it loads Ubuntu! and even better I could load this on almost any other computer too!
the is kick ass!

[Blizzard]

I'm siding here with LF. Ubuntu is the favorite Linux distro at my college and my college is full of programmers so that has to say something. o.o; Most of the Ubuntu fanboys even claim that it's so easy to use that even an average user shouldn't have more problems than with Windows.
Cool that you got it running. xD

[Ryex]

ubuntu is amazing that's all I can say.

[fugibo]

ubuntu is amazing that's all I can say.

Exactly what I thought. "Wait, you mean that a bunch of hobbyists can actually BEAT Microsoft at making an OS?* Holy crap!"

*I say beat, but I do admit that Microsoft is superior is some hard-to-notice areas. I also do love Office '07 and up, even though they cost waaay too much and take way too much RAM for my tastes.

[Ryex]

put it this way Ubuntu (and linux in general) is the OS designed for people who know how to use a computer well.
Windows is for the user who knows how use a computer ok, or wants to start learning how to use an os.
and Mac is either for peoplw who can't use a computer, or is a professional (or the equivalent skill) in media.
if Wine was perfect or all corporate companies made stuff for Linux as well as windows then threre would be no reason for me to use Windows.

I must say though it was a pain getting my wireless card to work. I had to use windows to look up how to do it and that took HOURS. i ended up using the windows driver and installing it through the windows wireless divers emulator thing, then I had to blacklist the default driver and make sure mine loaded on boot. the entire process was easier to fix than a similar problem on widows only because of the wealth of online information that is out there about Linux.

all in all my experience so far tells me that if I was any worse with computers I would still be Linux-less as I would of screwed up the install or some such.

the benefits of Linux so far:

FAR more ways customise it in terms of how the GUI is laid out than Mac or windows (with workspaces and the top AND bottom being panels to place things on)
with full graphics enabled it rivals Windows 7 and OSX for looks, but dose not hog your ram or other resources like Vista
the network proxy tool lets you proxy your entire system at once, no SOCKS cap client stuff
all the "advanced" things that you can do in windows are genially easier to do in Linux

cons

you can't really play any commercial games on it unless you use Wine and Wine isn't perfect, yet, it is still buggy.
no support aside form online, if you encounter a problem you have to be  the one to deal with it.
it ask fore you password to do EVERYTHING! almost as annoying as vista account control

[fugibo]

The reason it's asking for your password is that you're trying to do something your account isn't allowed to, technically, but you still want to do. It's made that way so that only programs you authorize can do "bad" things, such as alter the currently loaded drivers (lsmod and modprobe FTW!) or rewrite things in your root directory, which you should only touch when configuring low-level system files and installing programs. Because of it requiring your password, Linux will almost never get viruses (the only exception being Trojans).

As for everything else you said, the huge amount of knowledge on the Interblag and configurability are Linux's biggest strengths next to the whole open-source thing. The only reason I don't use Linux anymore is because I love how polished everything is on OS X, which comes purely from the fact that Apple has a lot more resources to put into OS X than anyone does to put into Linux. Plus, once you get used to the system it's actually pretty modifiable, at least as much as Windows but nowhere near as much Linux.

Just a word of caution: Be ready for something to go wrong while you're messing with things, and be ready for it to go wrong bad. You've only seen the "happy" side of Ubuntu so far, the part where even the bugs are easy to deal with - the underworkings aren't perfect, and when something goes wrong there it might take someone much more experienced than you or I  to fix. Not that everything that goes wrong goes horribly wrong, but things can get effed up.

[Blizzard]

You guys said it. Windows is there to protect the user from himself while Linux doesn't do that if the user doesn't want it. Since over 99% of the PC users have totally no idea what's going on, Windows is better for them.

[Ryex]

Just a word of caution: Be ready for something to go wrong while you're messing with things, and be ready for it to go wrong bad. You've only seen the "happy" side of Ubuntu so far, the part where even the bugs are easy to deal with - the underworkings aren't perfect, and when something goes wrong there it might take someone much more experienced than you or I  to fix. Not that everything that goes wrong goes horribly wrong, but things can get effed up.

this would be why I installed it on an external drive and kept windows intact.
if something goes wrong in Ubuntu I still have my windows side to possibly go in and fix the problem, and if not... I can easily format the partition, reinstall, and nothing is lost... or almost nothing.

also... this whole workspace thing is ingenious why do Windows and Mac NOT have them? the whole idea of a tabbed desktop is brilliant!

[fugibo]

Just a word of caution: Be ready for something to go wrong while you're messing with things, and be ready for it to go wrong bad. You've only seen the "happy" side of Ubuntu so far, the part where even the bugs are easy to deal with - the underworkings aren't perfect, and when something goes wrong there it might take someone much more experienced than you or I  to fix. Not that everything that goes wrong goes horribly wrong, but things can get effed up.

this would be why I installed it on an external drive and kept windows intact.
if something goes wrong in Ubuntu I still have my windows side to possibly go in and fix the problem, and if not... I can easily format the partition, reinstall, and nothing is lost... or almost nothing.

also... this whole workspace thing is ingenious why do Windows and Mac NOT have them? the whole idea of a tabbed desktop is brilliant!

Mac DOES have workspaces. It's called Spaces, and I use it all the time. We also have an Aero equivalent and Exposé, but noone ever knows about them, either. They're just like "ooh, Mac users, look at all the cool stuff we got with Vista! Like a whole new graphics stack, and shiny window effects! Ooh, and look at all the UI stuff that you don't have in Windows 7!" When, in fact, OS X has had an equivalent graphics stack since 2000, almost all of those features since 2000, and while we don't have some of the UI features (Snap, that Window preview thing and Shake being the only ones that come to mind), we've had equivalent or better features since 10.3, which I believe came out in 2004. I'm not saying OS X is better, just that I really wish people would pick on that bad parts of it, like now a kernel panic just results in the OS telling you shut down, nothing else. I didn't even know that was a kernel panic until yesterday, and now I don't even know if I want to touch WoW again (it's KP'ed me at least a dozen times, while nothing else has EVER caused that).

[Blizzard]

What's the difference between a PC and a Mac? The price. I rest my case.

[winkio]

I just taught this mac user that I'm friends with how to right click in chemistry last week.  He has been using macs since high school.  I rest my case.

[Fantasist]

I dual-booted (not exactly, look below) Ubuntu 9.04 and I'm absolutely LOVING it. I managed to find drivers for my 9800 easily enough and Compiz... I already put two of my college Vista fanboys in awe B)

I didn't exactly dual boot it. I "installed Ubuntu through Windows just like any other app". I should learn how to do a proper install. Time to whip up that old PC of mine, I guess. I'm really curious how Compiz will hold up on my old FX5500 (or my GeForce 2 MX o.o)

EDIT:

Just a word of caution: Be ready for something to go wrong while you're messing with things, and be ready for it to go wrong bad. You've only seen the "happy" side of Ubuntu so far, the part where even the bugs are easy to deal with - the underworkings aren't perfect, and when something goes wrong there it might take someone much more experienced than you or I  to fix. Not that everything that goes wrong goes horribly wrong, but things can get effed up.

I'm curious now, what could go wrong?

[fugibo]

I dual-booted (not exactly, look below) Ubuntu 9.04 and I'm absolutely LOVING it. I managed to find drivers for my 9800 easily enough and Compiz... I already put two of my college Vista fanboys in awe B)

I didn't exactly dual boot it. I "installed Ubuntu through Windows just like any other app". I should learn how to do a proper install. Time to whip up that old PC of mine, I guess. I'm really curious how Compiz will hold up on my old FX5500 (or my GeForce 2 MX o.o)

EDIT:

Just a word of caution: Be ready for something to go wrong while you're messing with things, and be ready for it to go wrong bad. You've only seen the "happy" side of Ubuntu so far, the part where even the bugs are easy to deal with - the underworkings aren't perfect, and when something goes wrong there it might take someone much more experienced than you or I  to fix. Not that everything that goes wrong goes horribly wrong, but things can get effed up.

I'm curious now, what could go wrong?

Absolutely anything, from kernel corruption to corrupted preference files. Not because Ubuntu is unstable, but because things can get effed up when you do something without understanding it at least 72%.

[G_G]

Can you boot Ubuntu from a Pro Duo Memory Stick? Its a psp memory card.
Or can I pop my psp into usb mode and boot it that way?

[fugibo]

Can you boot Ubuntu from a Pro Duo Memory Stick? Its a psp memory card.
Or can I pop my psp into usb mode and boot it that way?

If you can get your BIOS to boot from it, yes.

[Ryex]

but don't boot it as a full file system, instead make a live USB (same thing as a live cd but a bit faster and more portable) if you make it a full file system your drive or flash card will ear out REALLY fast because flash memory in USB sticks can only with stand some many writes to one sector before failing.