which linux for my a8n-sli

[mrscintilla]

Hi, linux gurus. Mind answering a specific but probably an age-old question--which distribution is right for my setup and needs? I am getting bored looking at my bland xp pro desktop, taskbar,..., etc.

Hardware: AMD athlon64, Asus A8n-SLI, Maxtor SATAII 300gb, Nvidia Geforce 6600, BenQ Ddv-RW.
Needs: easiest file management, pretty/intuitive GUI, automatic package update.
Application Use: web-browising mostly, lots of word processing (so easy file management is key), light text processing script writing, need a Chinese input program.
Experience: ran Slackware many years back, didn't like the GUI.

Thx for allowing me to pick you brain.

 

[Nothinman]

The GUI's are almost all the same, the difference is in the default setups and to a much lesser extent the bundled apps. KDE on SuSe can be setup exactly the same as KDE on Debian.

 

[mrscintilla]

I just read about Ubuntu, which offers automatic updates. Looks interesting...

One question: Ubuntu doesn't offer kernel compilation. Does compiling cutomized kernel offer significant performance on an AMD athlon64?

And what's the main difference bet. KDE and GNOME?

 

[Enfer Singe]

Originally posted by: mrscintilla
I just read about Ubuntu, which offers automatic updates. Looks interesting...

One question: Ubuntu doesn't offer kernel compilation. Does compiling cutomized kernel offer significant performance on an AMD athlon64?

And what's the main difference bet. KDE and GNOME?

If this is one of your first experiences with linux, I wouldn't worry about compiling your own kernel. As for KDE vs gnome (or other wm's such as IceWM, just be aware that there are others), it is really up to you. Most distros allow you to install both, so you can try them both out and see which one you like. It is similar in a way to mac vs windows...you have your fanboy's of both. KDE offers a more....windows style gui out of the box than gnome does though. Look at screenshots of both and try them out to see what you like.

 

[Nothinman]

One question: Ubuntu doesn't offer kernel compilation. Does compiling cutomized kernel offer significant performance on an AMD athlon64?

They all 'offer' kernel compilation, and infact since Ubuntu is based upon Debian it's a pretty simple process. But no, you won't get any real performance difference from compiling your own kernel.

 

[Alex]

i recommend mandrake if this is your first time... granted I've only used Red Hat and Mandrake but I found it to be very user friendly to install and once its set up everything works right off the bat.

 

[lansalot]

Give gentoo a go - the process of configuring and installing it is invaluable. You can do it by following the whole long process from the manual, but it is very worth it. You will learn so much in the process.

 

[nweaver]

Gentoo is not good for a newer/inexperienced user imho. It's great after you get your redhat training wheels off and want to dig into the OS more, but not to learn...(again, based on my experience, of trying gentoo very first, getting it up to reboot, and then wondering what to do..and then moving to redhat for a few months before moving back to mainly gentoo)