Hi,

I'm a user of openSUSE linux and satisfied with it. But I have to install linux on more machines, not only mine and the problem is, that the distro I'll choose must have as much as it is possible after the installation. All I need is multimedia codecs and players (with DVD reading capabilities), Open- or K-Office, some good looking games (Frozen Bubble, TuxRacer, ...), good hardware recognizing and video drivers installed after an installation. I know I can do it alone, but I have to install it not in my house, so it should be quick and not complicated.

Thanks for any response.

Your best bet would be non-free distros. probably Xandros or Linspire. There are good reasons why everything doesn't just work on the Free Distros

probably the best youre going to do with this is make the install of all the extras as painless as possible. one think that comes to mind is a full slackware install, then make a directory of all the extra packages that youd want and run pkgtool on that directory. if you have time and want to get fancy you could edit the iso to include the directory, and add a post-install script to run pkgtool right away. other distros may be different but im only familiar with slack and fc.

What might those be?
Using MEPIS and Kubuntu, I have found NOTHING that does not work.

Yes, you do sometimes have to go looking for a video driver, etc.

You can do the same thing in ubuntu and I think it's simpler than that. Just search arround on google and you'll get a whole bunch of results.

I find that everything just works with Debian, but people so new they feel like they have to start another "which distro" thread, should just pay for Linux. It'll be easier for them.

Freespire or Mint, they both come with drivers and multimedia crap right from the start.

Although if its for someone else a pay distro that offers support like Xandros or Linspire is probably the way to go.

There is nothing in a commercial distro that you can't get in a "free" distro, the only difference is support that comes with the commercial distros.

For either of the TWO times that I paid for Linux, it did not make my life easier--quite the opposite.

Newbie threads here very often simply show unfamiliarity with the site setup--or with forums in general. I tolerate that. What annoys me is the people hwo never respond to requests for clarification or--in the limit--disappear into the ether after 1 post.

Kubuntu
http://www.kubuntu.org/

Mandriva
http://frontal2.mandriva.com/en/downloads/mirrors

PCLinuxOS .92
http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/dist...glish/preview/
ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/distr...glish/preview/

This is the distro I use and recommend, Why because it works right out of the box. No need to configure Everything, everything just works. It also comes as a 1 CD install that is a live CD that you can install later if you wish.

Mephis
http://www.mepis.org/

hope this Helps,

Jake

Freespire or Mint linux is what I would recommend to someone completely new to linux. Once they're comfortable with Linux and spending time with it, they may try a different distros.

I think newbies to linux need something like the two I mention because they will want codecs, dvd and other stuff working out of the box.

Check out this MULTIMEDIA linux flavor. I recommend this especially for multimedia home server. This is truly an out-of-the-box distro for multimedia entertainment. Its roots in Debian give it a solid foundation in terms of its code and support.

Enjoy!