want to try new distro... any sugestions?

[turkeythigh]

anybody want to suggest a new distro for me to try. ive used ubuntu debian redhat and fedora. and am curently running linux mint.

[OldSmoky2]

Bodhi Linux is an interesting distro. It's based on Ubuntu but uses Enlightenment as the interface/window manager. It's very lightweight - I use it on my old netbook and it's very fast and very customizable.

[pane-free]

anybody want to suggest a new distro for me to try. ive used ubuntu debian redhat and fedora. and am curently running linux mint.

Greetings from WA, OR!

Since you have tried the Debian, Redhat and Ubuntu families of GNU/Linux, may I suggest the last (and oldest), Slackware?

I favor Salix since it has dependency-checking similar to Deb/Ubu. Another decent one in this family I have tried is Absolute. It's good on older PCs.

Also, if you have not given Puppy Linux a whirl, I highly recommend the new Slacko 5.4 -- puppy that uses Slackware and Salix repos as well as its own. With puppy, you will need a small USB stick best dedicated to its use only (but a larger one with sufficient space can be used, as well).

Regarding Gentoo -- many like it, but I prefer Slack. Try Sabayon, as a suggestion if you want to sample a gentoo-based distro that will not give the user headaches. Same for Arch. These latter two are better saved for when the user has a firm foundation in Linux, IMHO.

The only other one I can think of to suggest is PCLinuxOS (Mandriva-based, originally). Once used to debian repos, however, you will find selection of packages lacking.

Best wishes! And which part of OR?

[turkeythigh]

thank you for the input. albany/corvallis area

[turkeythigh]

Decided that slackware is in order.

[pane-free]

Decided that slackware is in order.

Good decision. OSU?

[turkeythigh]

i dont know anything about slitaz ill have to check it out
and no im not in school right now.

[codesun]

LFS, best choice

[Artim]

It's too hard of a question to answer without knowing what you want from your distro. Do you want to "learn Linux?" Slackware, Gentoo, Linux-From-Scratch. Do you want to install a ready-to-use, one-size-fits-all drop-in replacement (well, kinda) for Windows? Mepis, PCLinuxOS, Linux Mint, Ubuntu. Something super stable for a "mission critical" computer for work or school? Slackware again, SalixOS (built on Slackware), Debian Stable, CentOS (built on Red Hat), Scientific Linux. Something dark and sinister-looking but really nice on older hardware? Crunchbang Linux (Debian-based).

But as a new Slacker who started out in Ubuntu and got scorned by a bunch of snobby stuck-up techno-geeks on Debian forums when I was trying to get my Debian install configured, I just can't resist repeating s little saying that I found in some Slackware literature:

Learn Debian and you'll learn - Debian.
Learn Slackware and you'll learn LINUX.

With no disrespect towards Debian,
Artim