> On Monday 14 March 2005 12:00, "Jay Turley" <
jay@weberrific.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi!
>>
>> I'm about to come into possession of a decent notebook that I would like
>> to turn into a linux box for use as a portable web development machine.
>>
>> I'd like to get the LAMP stuff on there, as well as Ruby on Rails, along
>> with some other nice tools.
>>
>> But that isn't the problem. The problem is that while I have used
>> Solaris and Unix back in the day, I have never used Linux and have no
>> idea what would be a good distribution to get to put on this machine.
>>
>> I would love to hear some recommendations and ideas. Thanks for all your
>> help.
I used to be very idealistic and stubborn about this questions (internally
I still am), but I have learned that people are unique and so are their
needs.
The bottom line is virtually any major distribution you choose will run on
a laptop, will have packages for LAMP, Ruby and the likes.
This leaves three major factors in choosing a distribution (some of which
are intertwined):
1. Personal taste.
(ex: Do you want something that is harder to configure, but you have full
control of? Do you want GNOME or KDE, etc etc) Generally #1 is hard for
someone new to make a decision on because they don't yet have a personal
taste for all things GNU/Linux. :)
2. Support.
(ex: What infrastructure is in place to help you when you get in trouble.
Whether it is in person, mailing lists, irc or commercial support. Where
do you go when the poop hits the fan.) I find this is generally why most
people don't give GNU/Linux a "real" chance is they have no good support
system. Generally with windows they can find someone they know that at
least has "suggestions" (even if they are wrong) about how to solve
problems on Windows.
3. Ease of use.
(ex: Does that wireless card just work when you boot it up, or does it
take 3 days and lots of frustration to get it operating smoothly? Does
the user interface feel comfortable and easy to use?) Generally hardware
configuration is a large turn off for many new GNU/Linux users.
So my suggestion is get a distribution that best meets all three of these
needs. You are the only you. Therefore only you can know. :)
I am sure others have suggested there are ton of LiveCD's Ubuntu, Knoppix,
Mepis, etc that will allow you to "test" a distribution w/o investing much
time or energy. This will give you a feel for the three items above.
Generally speaking. I generally say... "Use what your friends use." Why?
Because likely that is where you will get the most support. Generally
speaking good support solves issues. :)
Just an opinion.
<internal me>
If don't choose something that is derived directly from Debian packaging
or portage you are a fool!!! Muhahhahaa
</internal me>
-Derek
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