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[DrKillPatient]

I've recently, in the last month or so, gotten into Linux. However, I'm not quite content with my current distro-- Mint 10. It seems that my computer's age might have something to do with it, it's nearly 3 years old, but there's some very irritating bugs occuring. For instance, the computer won't shut down, I need to hold down the off button and do it manually. Window borders don't show up when the system is started, I need to logout and back in again. The Main Menu thing doesn't actually seem to do anything. I suppose I could go on... Anyway, it seems that my computer doesn't quite like Ubuntu and its close derivatives, so I'm looking for another distro and I'm hoping that someone could inform me a bit more and perhaps suggest some others to try. Here's some points that I can currently think of regarding my distro choice (although if I've missed anything vital feel free to ask):

- I'd say I'm fairly technologically competent, but I've always been a Windows user until recently, so although I'm not averse to unlearning the Windows methods in favor of Linux, I find it hard to figure out where to start. I keep doing Windows-like things, like creating a bunch of shortcuts on the desktop rather than using the GNOME menus and so on. I suppose I need to be de-Windowsed before I can start to learn Linux from the ground up.

- I don't like overly simple/bloated things: this concerns me chiefly in the newer desktop environments of KDE4 and GNOME3. I tried KDE briefly, and it seems like a Vista lookalike to me. Gnome, on the other hand, seems to be striving to be too simple, and apparently in GNOME3 they seem to be gravitating toward functions that look more befitting to a tablet. I haven't tried XFCE much yet.

- One reason I've been trying to stick closely to well-known and often-used distros is that I'm quite new to the whole Linux community and I feel like anything less than an incredibly active community will fail to yield any help (I have a feeling that this is a falsehood, but I can't shake it!). Actually, I haven't even looked outside of the 'major distros' list on Distrowatch, because once again I really have no idea where to start.

- I'm just beginning to learn programming, starting with C++ and Actionscript currently, and considering taking a look at Python.

- I do have some Windows programs I'd like to keep using, Steam is a notable one. I'm not aware how well that works on Wine-- has anyone had experience with that?

- I haven't actually used Ubuntu itself, because I hate the sidebar with every fibre of my being. I suppose this is another symptom of Windows-adaptation. Fedora 15's GNOME3 doesn't want to run on my graphics card, so that's out of the question. I like the principles of giving complete control to the user, as Arch and Gentoo do, but at the same time, a) I'm far too incompetent at this point to attempt the use of such an advanced distro and b) I prefer to use things that can be accessed 'under the hood' if I want to, but I don't want to be forced to do that, as those two distros seem to do (unless I'm entirely misinterpreting their workings, which is rather likely).

- I currently boot into Windows if I can't figure something out, usually when I fail to emulate any one of many softwares with Wine. I'd like to migrate over to generally complete Linux use because I think it has a lot more potential for freedom with one's own OS than proprietary software.

- I suppose, to sum it up, I really have no idea what I'm doing and I've got no idea who or what will instruct me about what I should be doing. I find myself falling back into old Windows habits quite often, and I'm certain that's not a good way to go if I really want to learn the ropes of a new OS.

Hm, I seem to have posted quite a bit more than I originally intended to. Please excuse my ramblings. Anyway, I'd be grateful if anyone could shed some light on my predicament, although I have a feeling that it's not entirely uncommon...

[ChairmanPoo]

How abouut an older, nin sidebary versión of ubuntu? Ior alternatively: install11.04 but start it in classic mode. Or install the new gnome onto it

[Deadmeat1471]

How abouut an older, nin sidebary versión of ubuntu? Ior alternatively: install11.04 but start it in classic mode. Or install the new gnome onto it

I hate that side bar. So much.

[Kay12]

I find Xfce very usable, and my current coding laptop is running one without any problems at all (Xfce is also a bit more resource friendly). Xubuntu is Ubuntu with Xfce instead of GNOME, and might suit your needs well.

I'm afraid that the only Steam experience I've had with Linux was as follows: I was in the army when Civ V was released. I read a praising review about the game, and was gleeful to find out it worked on WINE without any sorcery at all. So I ordered the game.

However, when I got to play the game, it turned out Steam had screwed it up so it couldn't be played without major spellcasting.


In any case, you might find the Wine AppDB helpful.

[Sir Finkus]

Steam "works" but it has some annoying issues.  Sometimes windows get "thrown" off the screen when you move them among other things.  Take anything you read on the wine app db with a large grain of salt.  Many "platinum" rated apps barely work at all.

[optimumtact]

I use Archlinux, which offers in the install only the basic packages and programs needed, it is then up to you the user to add any extra functionality you want, such as your choice of Window Manager, file browsers, etc.

http://www.archlinux.org/

furthermore the archlinux wiki is a fantastic resource for most common and popular programs and has good guides to setting them up on a archlinux system

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Main_Page

Be aware that archlinux doesn't have any package signing.
While I'm at it, I should mention that the wiki alone is a pretty valuable resource even if you don't use archlinux as many config options can be similar depending on your distro.

[ILikePie]

The Arch Wiki is indeed a wonderful resource.

I'd definitely give Gentoo a go. It's installation process makes sure you don't have a bunch of useless daemons hogging up memory. Gentoo comes also with a boatload of scripts and tools for maintaining the OS. Tools to enable or disable features, automate kernel configuration, set up a cross development toolchain, etc. Portage is a wonderful package manager. It compiles your applications from source, allowing you disable various features before compilation (You don't need bluetooth support? Fine, turn it off. Not a GNOME user? Just disable GNOME support and you're golden.), and it allows you to mix between stable and unstable packages pretty easily. The community is also active and very very helpful, and the installation manual is great. Installation can take between 10 minutes to just over an hour depending on your experience. Then you just have to compile a shitload of stuff (Portage automates the compilation process for you of course.).

I've got Gentoo running on a ten-year-old computer (This thing used to be state of the art. ), and it runs almost as fast as my newer Windows XP machine (I believe it's 3 years old).

[DrKillPatient]

I haven't used linux for too long (although, I am fairly technically literate), do you think that it's a good idea to go ahead and try Arch/Gentoo now, or should I move along with increasingly more complex distros? On the plus side, it seems that I'll be able to learn a lot more about the inner workings of Linux in the use of either of them, and that's sort of my goal at this point.

[ILikePie]

If it means anything, my first distro was Gentoo. I messed around with bash a bit on my iPhone before, but I was a complete newbie to all things Linux.

You could also give Slackware a go if you want. It's easier to install than Gentoo or Arch, but it lacks proper a package manager. Pkgtool just keeps track of what packages you have installed so you can get rid of them easily later on. You don't get any dependency resolving or package fetching like you do with Portage, apt, Pacman or yum. (I actually wrote a package fetcher for Slackware in bash a while back, but it sucked pretty bad.)

[Andir]

Steam "works" but it has some annoying issues.  Sometimes windows get "thrown" off the screen when you move them among other things.  Take anything you read on the wine app db with a large grain of salt.  Many "platinum" rated apps barely work at all.

I actually had an argument with someone about that before.  They rated an app as platinum and in the details they stated that they used a custom compiled Wine.  /facepalm

As far as Desktop UIs... I was a Gnome fan for the longest time, but with the new shells I've been running LXDE for quite a while and I like it enough to hold onto it.  There are some oddities to it that I haven't quite figured out though.  I installed it from Live CD and it still thinks it's a live install and keeps overwriting my desktop settings on reboot.  Since I never reboot (suspend mainly) it's kind of a low priority for me to fix it.  There's also an issue with pcmanfm that won't start unless it's sudo run that's starting to really piss me off though.