Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

ubuntu is great ive had it installed for some time now and its now vary rare i boot windows now. i used a program called Wubi to install and made the whole install really easy for a first time.

definatly worth playing around with it before i got my n900 i never even knew the vast amount of options out ther for os. i love how ubuntu runs aswell its fast easy to set up and fun to use.

Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

that is nothing! you have to start with gentoo and build your own kernel and apps!!!!! there is no way besides that to be tru3 l1nux!!!

Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

BACKTRACK 4 R1 all the way

Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

Try ubuntu 10.04 LTS. Very nice OS. Newer 10.10 have some bugs, it may take some time for community to fix them.

Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

I would go with Ubuntu over fedora or OpenSUSE

1 word ... .deb

Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

Yeah.. really hate RPM.

And what makes Ubuntu more windows like? Also have been using Ubuntu 10.10 since alpha 2. It have been really stable for me and works better than 10.04.

Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

In what way shape or form is Ubuntu too 'Windows-like'?
My mrs has Ubuntu on a 10" white netbook and it looks exactly like OS X...not like windows one bit!
I have an installation on my desktop using the standard theme and ...well I can only say it looks 'Ubuntu-like'.

They both have a desktop...normally with things on...you use a mouse, keyboard, look at a monitor...I think that really is as far as the similarities go!

Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

well he is a noob so it's better that its noob friendly. Want it to be a hardcore one? Simple! Download the server edition which is pure commandline

Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

Thats a good proposal. For just the first tests even 2GB of RAM are enough.
Dont let you confuse by the "ubuntu is better", "opensuse is better", "... is better". Thats normal in Linux communities ;)
I bring another in "KDE is better" :) I use Kubuntu so this would be my choice.
So now we can start another KDE vs. Gnome battle ... no wait.

So with daperls proposal, you can easy test some different distributions, some Desktop Environments, and then you choose your favorite.

Next step after that could be a dualboot on your Harddisk, so on boot you can decide if windows or linux. This would result in a bit faster system and better hardware support (As in a virtualbox you cant use all internal cards, like dvb cards)

After some years maybe you end like me, with windows is gone from my harddisk.

I think Ubuntu, Kubuntu (Or install KDE in Ubuntu, than its nearly kubuntu), Opensuse, Fedora or Mint can end in your choices.

Re: N900 user wants to explore linux on his desktop...
 

I too use Ubuntu. I've tried Linux OS' on and off over the past 10 years, but it was only when I tried Ubuntu 18 months that everything (that I needed anyway) just worked, or I could get to work with a little digging around. I had already become an opensource advocate before then and then when I used it on my home media server (an old desktop machine) I was converted to the extent that my Windows partition on my laptop is seldom used, and when I heard that the n900 had an opensource OS and the price was right (£265 refurb from carphonewarehouse) I jumped in and got my first OS phone.