linux distribution

[lemoke]

Can someone give me some guidance as to which distribution I should be installing. I would be a first time linux user, but have a fair amount of experience with the windows os ( as developer and user)
I want to download the iso's now before my broadband gets capped.
I want to eventually use linux instead of windows, but mainly I would be running it on a second computer to gain experience first.

[tecker]

Welcome to the linux relm. If you want to join try Mandrake [www.mandrakelinux.com]. Good software for new users. Good support for it to (that waht i'm using) There are others out there. Corel had something out there but ive never tried it. I've just heard it is pretty good. Look on the Net. There are millions out there. Check out [www.linuxformat.com] htey might have some things. Hope this helps. ;-)

[dbl221]

Try Mandrake 8.2. Install in expert mode and use ext2fs NOT the newer third extended filesystem.

Good Luck

[semeniuk]

Mandrake 8.2 is the best for new Linux users. If you can't get that installed or have trouble with hardware, the next one would be Redhat 7.3 (in my opinion of course).

[semeniuk]

Originally posted by dbl221
Try Mandrake 8.2. Install in expert mode and use ext2fs NOT the newer third extended filesystem.

Good Luck


dbl221, why would you choose ext2fs over ext3? Everything I've heard about ext3fs has been good (and I've been using ext3 for quite a few months now), but maybe I'm missing something ...

[Sephiroth]

Originally posted by lemoke
Can someone give me some guidance as to which distribution I should be installing. I would be a first time linux user, but have a fair amount of experience with the windows os ( as developer and user)
I want to download the iso's now before my broadband gets capped.
I want to eventually use linux instead of windows, but mainly I would be running it on a second computer to gain experience first.

Get Red Hat (www.redhat.com) I got the isos a while ago and the NASA mirror was very fast for me. Red hat is better if not just as good as mandrake and you only have to get 2 isos but mandrake has 3 so it depends on how many isos you want to download.

[Rickio]

check this website out, it's for a project called demolinux.

http://demolinux.org

You can download the iso there but the interesting thing about this project is you can run linux off a cdrom and even install it if you decide you want to. It was created to promote linux and make it easy for people to experience linux before they install one of the various installation packages.

check it out, it's free.

:-)

[HeadHolio]

I originally had Mandrake installed on my system but have moved on to Gentoo and Debian. Debian is great for security and reliability. Gentoo is great for system optimization and bleeding edge programs. Both Debian and Gentoo have what I consider to be the best package management systems available. I recommend you start with a newbie distro (like Mandrake), until you feel confident enough to install a distro catered to the experts (like Debian, or Gentoo). The benefit of installing a distro like Debian and Gentoo is that you only install only what you need (by default) and upgrading all of the software to the newest version is easily done by typing two short lines. For example, do you want Limewire on your Gentoo box? No problem, simply type "emerge limewire", wait about five minutes for it to compile, and voila! It's there. No configuration necessary (that includes Java configuration as well). Do you have an outdated distro of Gentoo and want to update it? No problem, simply type "emerge --update world", wait a few hours, and bam, you're up to date.

[Diamondback_007]

Mandrake is best for linux newbs

[AnonyPuss]

The first Linux distro that I tried was Red Hat, but after getting Suse, I would say that Suse is the best choice, of course it costs money for the full versions, unlike most other Linux distros. It was worth paying for.

Want to know which one is right for you? Download VmWare or Virtual PC, install the ones that interest you and find out for yourself. There is no single distro that is right for everyone, it just depends on your taste and level of patience. Personally, I hate Mandrake.

Whatever you do, don't get rid of Windows until your comfortable running and maintaining Linux. It took myself about 2 weeks to dump Windows, would have only been a week except I had to transfer a shitload of files over to my Linux partitions. Good luck.

[HeadHolio]

Don't be scared to try different distributions either. If you set your box up correctly with your partitions, you can install a different distribution each week and not loose any info or personal settings (just have to make sure that you don't wipe out your /home partition). Try one of the big three (known for their ease of installation), Red Hat, Mandrake, or Suse to get you started. Then once you learn more about running Linux, experiment with different distributions. Just remember, there will ALWAYS be a flaw in the distribution you use, and there will ALWAYS be a feature in some other distribution that you don't have in yours.