The Linux Distribution Selection Problem

Why on earth are there so many Linux distros that you probably would need to hire a computer professional in order to decide which one is well-suited for you? If you’re looking for a Microsoft Windows package, you’d have to choose only between a stripped down Home version or a Professional version. Or if it is to be used for your business, you’d choose between a Business version or an Enterprise version.

Since Linux is freely modifiable, every abled programmer has created his or her own distribution package, aside from small and large companies that have their own line of Linux.

So, how do we choose the right distro?

When we go shopping for cellphones or televisions or any consumer products, we usually stick to well-known brands, or products from reputable companies, or maybe choose the popular ones. Based on this line of thinking, I was able to decide which Linux distros to download and take a look at:

1. Fedora - this distro is supported by Redhat, a well known Linux distributor.

2. Opensuse - supported by Novell Netware, one of Microsoft’s main competitor when it comes to networking.

3. Ubuntu - rated by many websites as being the most popular.

My Experiences With The Selected Linux Distributions

FEDORA
As I expected, it was easy to install. I downloaded the live cd and used unetbootin to create a bootable flash drive. I installed it on my new 2Ghz Amd LE computer and on an older P4-1.5Ghz computer without encountering any problem.

UBUNTU
I wonder how a popular software could possibly have a broken installer.

Using the bootable flash drive I created with unetbootin, the installer was trying to mount a cdrom device and then quit as it can’t find the installer files from the CDROM (of course, because they were on the USB flash drive). I burned a CD from the iso image, and used this CD to install it from the CDROM drive. The installer worked and I was able to partition the hard disk and it copied the system files to the hard disk. Then came the “Configuring APT” screen, and it stayed there for 20 minutes saying it was 45% completed. I was installing it on my Intel P4-1.5Ghz computer.

I tried installing it on a different computer, an AMD LE-1150 2.0Ghz computer and the result was the same. The screen “Configuring APT” simply stared at me.

I did a few googles and found out I was not alone with the problem. The solution was to disconnect the network cable so the installer could not connect to the internet.

I re-installed UBUNTU, AND TO MY DISMAY, the installer started from the scratch instead of allowing me to continue the installation from where it left off, “Configuring APT.” I had no choice but to re-partition the hard drive and start from the beginning. Eureka!!! I was able to install UBUNTU!!!

I switched to my old P4-1.5Ghz computer and installed it there too with the internet connection severed and it installed without any hassle. After rebooting and entering my username and password on the login screen, the mouse STOPPED responding. After several reboots and the mouse would always stop responding after I log in, I decided to re-install it again. RE-INSTALLATION DID NOT SOLVED THE PROBLEM.

CONCLUSIONS ON UBUNTU

Based on my experience, i found two issues with UBUNTU during installation.
The first was that it hangs during installation when it tries to connect to the internet. This was easy to solve as you simply need to disconnect it from the internet by removing the internet cable connection. The second issue, where the mouse hangs after the login on a fully installed UBUNTU, may be hardware related. So, depending on your hardware configuration, it may or may not install properly. I would suppose that a Linux guru who knows how to install device drivers or change some of the system configurations using the shell command available with the installer can easily fix the problem. THE UBUNTU INSTALLER IS BROKEN AND A PAIN IN THE NECK.

If you’re lucky enough to install it correctly on your hardware, you’ll find out that it feels and looks like Microsoft Windows. You can copy and paste files from one directory to another just like in Microsoft Windows. GUI interfaces for the installation and configuration of additional user programs make everything easy and effortless. I tried installing Samba so I can access other Windows computer on the network and everything worked fine. IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S GOT A REASON FOR ITS POPULARITY.

IF YOU CAN DEAL WITH ITS INSTALLER, THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST LINUX DISTRIBUTION FOR USERS WELL USED TO WINDOWS.

How to install Ubuntu Server 9.04 Linux Operating System - step by step Instructions and Network Interface Setup - So before we start the installation make sure that you have your Harddrive formatted and Ready or a blank Virtual Machine Ready. Now go and download the Ubuntu Server 9.04 Edition from http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download-server. It is compatible with both AMD and INTEL, the only option you need to look as is whether you want to run a 32 bit or 64 bit version, most likely it will be 32bit and I will be going through the steps for the 32 bit version.

How To Install Ubuntu? - New users who experiment with Ubuntu often use the downloadable Live CD. However, they are often unsure about installing it over their home computers, courtesy the popular myth that installation of a Linux distribution (for example, Ubuntu) is difficult and may result in complete loss of data.