Putting together a new Linux system. Help me pick the right Distro

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Deadjasper

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 28, 2001
Messages
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Have all the parts except the shield plate. it's coming from China so I'm looking at 2 weeks or more so I have plenty time to choose. I'm very much CLI challenged and pron to making typos so a Distro that's user friendly and requires the least amount of tweeking would be great. I absolutely hate Unity. I prefer the task bar be on the bottom but on the top is not a deal breaker. On the side is tho. I'm not a heavy gamer but do enjoy a board game now and then. I would also prefer a distro that allows me to add and remove drives as easily as Windows does without having to jump through hoops.

Specs on new system (Most used parts and sourced from eBay)

MB - Intel DH67BLB3
CPU - Intel Core i7 3770K
RAM - 16GB DDR3 (New)
HD - SSD (Make model and capacity TBD. I have several on hand to choose from)
PSU - Corsair TX750W
3.5 caddyless drive bay and 2 x 2.5 caddyless drive bay
DVD Writer

For a case I'm reusing a mid tower I've had for well over a decade. It's built like a tank. It has the initials "EBC" on the front. Nothing turned up on Google so I assume they are long extinct. It will receive a fresh paint job. I have a friend who paints cars for a living and he's going to do the deed. I've picked out a textured copper paint that will make it a one of a kind.

So, all that's left is to wait for the shield plate and pick a distro.

TIA
 
I recommend an Ubuntu based distro. Most people recommend Linux Mint, I'm going to go against that and recommend Ubuntu MATE - Although I am biased, it's the distro I use and I love it!

Once you've installed it feel free to tweak it to your liking, it's very customisable. Even the 'Start menu' can be changed for a different one.

You can mount drives via the GUI using the 'Disks' applet, unlike Windows drives need to be mounted, but this isn't difficult using the drives applet. PM me and I'd be only to happy to guide you through the procedure. Windows is literally the only OS where drives don't need to be mounted in the traditional sense, although under Linux drives will automount where necessary making using USB sticks and USB drives as easy to use as they are under Windows - In fact they work better as Linux supports more file systems out of the box.
 
Excellent. Thanks. I'm not familiar with Ubuntu MATE but will consult Father Google. One more question, How big does the boot drive need to be?

Thanks
 
Deadjasper said:
Excellent. Thanks. I'm not familiar with Ubuntu MATE but will consult Father Google. One more question, How big does the boot drive need to be?

Thanks
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Let the installer work all that out, don't touch a thing. I don't recommend using LVM, so make sure that box is unticked in the installer (it should be by default).

Tick download updates while installing and tick download third party software.
 
As Bulletdust said, I would stick with Ubuntu. However, I think Mint (cinnamon specifically) would be the best option.

Some of the features I would expect from a modern distro were missing when I was using MATE.
 
auntjemima said:
As Bulletdust said, I would stick with Ubuntu. However, I think Mint (cinnamon specifically) would be the best option.

Some of the features I would expect from a modern distro were missing when I was using MATE.
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The best thing is the installer allows the user to 'try before buy', so burn a couple of ISO's and try them out in live mode, see what suits you best.
 
Thanks all. I'll report back once the build is complete.

I'm currently running Ubuntu in a VM on Win Server 2012 RF2. It's purpose is to host NextCloud. It's working great but I have yet to figure out how to enforce https redirect. But that's for another thread.
 
Ubuntu Budgie is Ubuntu with the Budgie desktop environment used by Solus. https://ubuntubudgie.org/ (site not loading atm for some reason)
I'd recommend against Solus for the simple fact that it's no longer based on Debian and is a completely independent distro, and also uses a rolling release schedule instead of point releases.
Unity is being dropped in Ubuntu starting with 18.04 LTS when they will switch to the GNOME 3 DE. (I don't particularly care for Unity, but I definitely like it more than GNOME 3.)
I like Ubuntu MATE quite a lot, same as BulletDust. MATE is a very well organized, very lean running DE that (IMHO) has a nice look to it as well without being too flashy or trying to be too busy.
I have played a little with Ubuntu Budgie, and I see a lot of parallels between Budgie and MATE; it's clear where Solus got the ideas for Budgie.
Cinnamon is a good DE as well, but I prefer MATE.
 
zero2dash said:
Ubuntu Budgie is Ubuntu with the Budgie desktop environment used by Solus. https://ubuntubudgie.org/ (site not loading atm for some reason)
I'd recommend against Solus for the simple fact that it's no longer based on Debian and is a completely independent distro, and also uses a rolling release schedule instead of point releases.
Unity is being dropped in Ubuntu starting with 18.04 LTS when they will switch to the GNOME 3 DE. (I don't particularly care for Unity, but I definitely like it more than GNOME 3.)
I like Ubuntu MATE quite a lot, same as BulletDust. MATE is a very well organized, very lean running DE that (IMHO) has a nice look to it as well without being too flashy or trying to be too busy.
I have played a little with Ubuntu Budgie, and I see a lot of parallels between Budgie and MATE; it's clear where Solus got the ideas for Budgie.
Cinnamon is a good DE as well, but I prefer MATE.
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Nothing wrong with something not being Debian based (god forbid a disto not follow Debian, Ubuntu, or Arch :rolleyes: ) and certainly nothing wrong with rolling release schedules (they use the LTS kernel so it's not like Arch which is mainstream all the time).

Solus also has great leadership. Ikey, the founder, appears on a number of Linux podcasts and is very open about the plans for Solus. He's incredibly knowledgeable too about the Linux world in general. Ikey and his team know exactly what they want with Solus. There's no bullshit involved. No investor money pushing things in strange directions either. They are also very open to ideas and thoughts and are more than willing to have open discussions about things. Don't see software you desire in their repository? Put a request in and they'll see what they can do and they're quick about it.

Solus is getting enough people talking about that Phoronix benched it against the others after getting so many requests. They noted some issues. So what did Ikey do? Posted right in the comments and said we'll fix all that and even started showing some initial benchmarks with some of the fixes.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=solus-april-2017&num=1

Solus recently wanted a better way to handle new kernel installs. So they brought in clr-boot-manager from Intel's Clear Linux. Wonderful tool btw and something no other distro has as far I know (outside Clear Linux of course). Not only does this make upgrading the kernel far safer, it will allow users to choose more than just the LTS kernel in the future. As in they will give you the option to install the mainstream kernel if you so desire.

Solus has a MATE version. They're about to release the GNOME version (again something asked for the community). They're getting Budgie off of the Gnome stack in the future as well so that they aren't dependent on that anymore. They're moving to flatpak's for installs.

Honestly, there's no reason to not consider using Solus (it does have a Live CD as well for test driving). I honestly never thought I'd leave Arch. I was wrong and Solus was the reason.
 
naib said:
gentoo
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see_no_evil__hear_no_evil__speak_no_evil_by_dolphydolphiana-da3y6hh.jpg
 
Vermillion said:
Nothing wrong with something not being Debian based (god forbid a disto not follow Debian, Ubuntu, or Arch :rolleyes: )
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You missed the point, which was they are now an independent release. I couldn't care less whether they were Debian, are Debian, or if they were something else that is a known, supported base. They're not, that's the point.

I'd rather use a distro with a known, widely supported base than one without. That's all I'm saying. If you're comfortable doing that, or if the OP is, more power to you. IMHO, the main reason to choose Solus is the Budgie desktop, and I'm saying there are other distros now with a non-independent base that use Budgie.
 
I agree with zero2dash.

I've used most distro's, I come back to the Ubuntu based distro's because of their support base.

At the end of the day a DM can be added no matter what the distro.
 
BulletDust said:
I agree with zero2dash.

I've used most distro's, I come back to the Ubuntu based distro's because of their support base.

At the end of the day a DM can be added no matter what the distro.
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Tooling around with weird distros can be good fun but at some point you realize you're just wasting time trying to memorize all the quirks of 10 different distros. Nowadays I'm sticking to debian based distros simply because they are the easyest for me.
 
B00nie said:
Tooling around with weird distros can be good fun but at some point you realize you're just wasting time trying to memorize all the quirks of 10 different distros. Nowadays I'm sticking to debian based distros simply because they are the easyest for me.
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Same here. I CBF anymore....
 
The best thing you can do is to try different distros. Give each a day or 2. You will find many people with different opinions, likes and dislikes which means you'll get conflicting answers.
 
Install various distros inside a virtual machine (ie: virtualbox) and see which one you like best, perhaps.
 
I would go with ubuntu, and install xfce4, mate, and cinnamon, try them all out and see which one you like.
 
Like mate, like mate, like mate....

Ha! Honestly, it's all personal opinion and that's the beauty of choosing an OS that doesn't have a locked down desktop manager/compositor.

I'm with tbg, try them all!
 
BulletDust said:
Like mate, like mate, like mate....

Ha! Honestly, it's all personal opinion and that's the beauty of choosing an OS that doesn't have a locked down desktop manager/compositor.

I'm with tbg, try them all!
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With a single exception - if you're time pressed to get working results, trying many distros is a waste of time and may end up to failing your project. For hobby, yes, I recommend trying everything out too. You'll learn in the process.
 
B00nie said:
With a single exception - if you're time pressed to get working results, trying many distros is a waste of time and may end up to failing your project. For hobby, yes, I recommend trying everything out too. You'll learn in the process.
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Valid point, very valid point. lay out perhaps three or four packaged distro's based around your needs, try the live environments and see what suits you best.
 
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