• Use a tool to help you choose - or take all of these tests, as they all give a different perspective: zegenie Studios Linux Distribution Chooser (most thorough, and multi-lingual), (:^tuxs.org) Linux Distribution Chooser (simple), or polishlinux.org's Distro chooser (moderate). You want to narrow it down based on your experience, hardware, and any personal preferences (e.g. if you've used Linux before, you might know whether you prefer the Gnome interface or KDE, or something else... if you've never heard of these, don't worry). E.g. PCLinuxOS and to a lesser extent Ubuntu and Mandriva are good for those new to Linux. (The table below should eventually lay out issues like ease for beginners, range of software - e.g. PCLinuxOS is more limited than other major distros - and ease of installing software.)
• Look for reasonably popular distribution - this means more support, and more debugging.
• Assume that you'll have to try more than one distro before you find one that works and works the way you want.
• Make a LiveCD^W and try it out. You may only try one, or you may try several. In the end, you'll pick your distros based largely on compatibility with your system, including hardware detection.
  • Does it work with your computer? Can you connect to the internet, use wireless? Note that some of the settings, (e.g. monitor resolution settings?) might not be available until you install it to the hard disk.
  • A distro that works for most people might not work for you - it might not recognize your hardware without a lot of work, it might be unstable, it might not have the programs you need. Don't waste too much time on it - try another one, and you'll probably find one that works much more easily.
• Is lightweight computing important to you? Are you ready to choose your own packages, or check what packages are light and effective, as part of choosing your distro? See Lightweight Linux software.
• When you install to hard disk, partition the hard disk. Make at least two partitions, plus swap. Keeping the operating system separate makes things much easier if you want to try a different distro, as well as when it's time to upgrade to a newer version. You'll need to create:
  • One smaller partition for the operating system - Mount point: /
  • One partition for all your personal stuff and program settings - Mount point: /home - Some people break it down further, but this is enough.
  • swap - normally twice as much as your RAM. E.g. 1 GB RAM, create 2GB swap. Some people like a different amount, but if you want to use the "hibernate" function, you'll need at least this amount to be confident that you can hibernate whenever you want. (If you're worried that excessive use of swap slows down your computer, you can change the swappiness setting - or is this just Ubuntu?)
• If you want to help others set up Linux, don't throw away the LiveCD's - use them to demonstrate and give people choices, and see what works on their systems.

Comparison table

Suggested Linux distribution^Ws

Aimed at very low end and limited hardware, such as the 386/486 with 4Mb memory. Comes on 2 floppies instead of the more normal CD.

See also

• Low cost computer guide

External links

• Wikipedia:List of Linux distributions.
• Linux distros listing
• List of Linux distributions with only Free Libre Open Source Software inside - (Truly Free Libre Linux, with NO proprietary/closed source applications, or closed portions or bits of code inside)