Should i switch from windows to fedora core 7? So far i have been practicing with ubuntu and i feel i might want to make the switch. If i did it does anyone think that this book is worth it

http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0672329425

The reason i am asking is because i wanted to know about actual user experienceswith it.

If you like Ubuntu go with Ubuntu - why would you go for Fedora Core 7? Redhat/fedora sucks - install Ubuntu.

Ouch Kllr, that was harsh. Haha.

But yeah, I have Fedora Core on this computer as well as my home web server. I enjoy using it personally. Ubuntu, on the other hand, has never worked on any computer I have tried putting it on. It might just be because I suck at installing Operating Systems(though I have installed my fair share), but I've never gotten Ubuntu to work on any of my computers so I can't vote for it. I also use Duel-OS on this computer(not my server) which seems to do pretty well. Not sure if you're looking to do that or not if you still want Windows.

Fedora is pretty lame, which explains why swivel "Beanie gangster" games is using it.

ROFL! Beanie Ganster! LMFAO! Hahhahaha.

The reason I use it is because its pretty basic, which is what someone who has little or no experience with *nix would use it. It was extremely easy to install as well. Thats why it gets my vote as well as the reason I use it.

What are some other popular versions of linux other than ubuntu, that are pretty decent? I know there is gentoo but i read somewhere that it is advanced.

Fedora Core 8 was released the 9th. I'll agree with either Ubuntu or FC8. I personally have been using Sabayon, but I think that's still a little too advanced...

I have exactly the opposite situation from you, Swivel: every computer I've ever tried putting Ubuntu on has worked properly with it.

Haha, interesting... It has something to do with the XServer or something like that. My screen freaks out and for some reason won't show the OS. Sometimes its really bad in making the screen freak out. FC8 ftw! lol

Suse is another big one, but why are you so opposed to using Ubuntu?

My upstairs computer uses Fedora Core 7. Either my computer sucks or my copy of FC7 sucks, or both suck, because nothing works properly.

Also, my friend "Linux Geek" Mike told me that FC8 is still "buggy".

My personal preferences: Suse or Ubuntu FTW

It is not that i am against it, i just wanted to try something new. And i will look up Suse, to learn about it.

I've used Fedora since version 6 and Ubuntu since 6.10, and they are both pretty good. I'm using the 64-bit edition of Fedora now, using Java (with support for applets) and Flash fine, along with being able to play music formats such as mp3 and watch movies in forms such as mpeg (just to give you an idea that I got stuff to work on Fedora 8, and to make it harder, the 64-bit edition of Fedora 8). In addition, with the help of some proprietary software, I can use things like Compiz Fusion and play 3-D games such as OpenArena. Besides what anybody else may have said, one of the main reasons why I use Fedora is because a lot of the software I use, such as KTIGCC and CodeBlocks, and other stuff is available in the convenient RPM form, making it very easy to install and upgrade, while they aren't available for Ubuntu (there is a Debian repository at calcforge.org, but the .deb packages might not work completely perfectly on Ubuntu, and there isn't an automatic repository configuration package like there is for the Fedora RPM repository).

If you have the time and are willing to put in the effort, I recommend trying multiple distributions and seeing what you like. If you don't feel very comfortable with GNU/Linux or don't want to spend a lot of time compiling programs and stuff, I'd avoid Gentoo-based distributions (although besides having your programs possibly be a little more compact and faster because of them being compiled, you'll probably also learn a lot more about how GNU/Linux and computers as a whole work - I know from experience). If you want something that's easy to use, I'd recommend Ubuntu. LinuxMint, a increasingly popular Ubuntu-based distribution, and PCLinuxOS are supposed to be pretty good too, but I haven't tried them out, so I don't really know. I tried OpenSUSE and Mandriva too, and they seemed decent, but I only used them for a short time. And then, there's Fedora, which I currently use. It might take a while to get things you might take for granted to get working (such as Flash and an appropriate 3-D driver), but this is mostly due to that Fedora is strict with being completely free, so it doesn't include proprietary software - even in its repositories (unlike Ubuntu). Fedora 8 does come with IcedTea now, which basically takes care of any previous issues of getting Java to work, particularly applets.

I suggest going to DistroWatch to learn more about different distributions.

In addition, don't limit yourself to GNU/Linux - there are also free variants of BSD - freeBSD being the most popular - and other free operating systems such as OpenSolaris.

And lastly, I recommend you hold on to your Windows CD, in case you want to switch back or dual-boot.

I've loved using both OpenSUSE and Ubuntu. Ubuntu's given me some wierd issues in the past, but normally only when I try an in-place upgrade.


I highly don't recommend fooling around with BSD's as a primary desktop OS just yet, especially not for new users. The driver base, and the community support don't seem to be all there just yet, compared to say, Ubuntu, or the big other big Linux distros.

Mandriva and Linspire are nice if you want to pay for a subscription version, but the free versions aren't given the same level of loving support.

*psst*, guess what? They aren't really any different aside from the method used to install programs, manage installed programs, and how many programs come pre-installed. Other than that, they are all the same.

the important part, in terms of usability for a relatively new linux user.

the more pre-installeds + the better the package management, the less terminal mucking required.

Yes, but lets not fool ourselves here. Ubuntu, Fedora, Suse, etc... are all going to come in a nearly identical state except for the question of KDE vs. GNOME

Well i am definetly switchingto ubuntu right now because windows became corrupted, and it turns out my windows cd was corrupted as well. This leaves me with having to make some calls and get a new disk.