Slashdot Mirror
The Best Linux Distro for a New User?
GhostCypher asks: "I've been a Mac user for nigh on 12 years, and recently made the reverse-switch (yes, Mac to PC) due to an unfortunate accident to my PowerBook. Now that I have this spiffy new HP laptop, I want to run Linux or Unix of some flavor on it, but I don't know the best one to run. I've been considering FreeBSD and OpenBSD, as well as SuSE Linux, Fedora, and Mandrake. Could the wisened Linux gurus here offer some insight as to the best package for a former Mac user to introduce him to the greater world of Linux without major headaches in setting it all up?"
could this get any more redundant? Fedora is the best in my opinion.
Fedora, but adding apt-rpm and a sources.list pointing to where the mp3 and flash suport is.
Knoppix is your friend.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
... If they just want to play around with it, get a feel for how it acts, looks, etc. without changing the contents of the hard drive, Knoppix.
If they are comfortable with using space on their hard drive, even free space on a fat32 partition, I would recomend Mandrake.
But that's just me. They could use the Mandrake Move CD for non-harddrive breaking as well.
-Rusty
You never know...
There're a thousand good distros out there, but there's really no competition - Xandros is the best newbie distro out there. You don't need command line. It's got most stuff bundled.
Could the wisened Linux gurus here offer some insight as to the best package for a former Mac user to introduce him to the greater world of Linux without major headaches in setting it all up?
Well, I love and advocate Linux use all I can, but know more than a few Linux desktop users that lean hard on their MacOS X Powerbooks. They're "UNIX", they have Word, Powerpoint and the usual Mac "it just works" stuff.
But if you have some influence with Apple, mebbe you could suggest an x86 port of OS X...:)
Realistically, any modern Linux distro is reasonable, but will lack a lot of the multimedia niceties that come out of the box with your Mac.
Maybe if you get CrossOver Office or Lindows it would help ease the pain of your loss.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Sun's JDS is a well put-together desktop solution. It still won't give you the power management that you were used to on your Powerbook, though. For that, you'll need to go to windows - linux power management is still quite primitive.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
It's a legitimate question but definately flamebait starting distro religious wars.
To answer though, I'd say fedora is the best choice. You'll definately want to go to the dag site and install the apt rpm and then use that from now on. Also use Fedora Core 1, Fedora Core 2 is very new and was released extremely buggy.
Next up would be Mandrake, which is a little more user friendly but you'll have alot of trouble installing software. The reason is simple, 90% of rpms out there are made for redhat/fedora and expect the core libraries and such to match up with the names redhat has given them. All the core rpms for mandrake have different entries in the rpm database (even if the rpm is otherwise identical they've changed this for some odd reason).
As for Linux, well, you did ask for ease of use. I've tried several Linux distros, and they all failed in one way or another. RedHat was the worst -- the installer got into a nice graphics mode just fine, but somehow couldn't tell XFree86 what settings it used, and subsequently XWindows was a pain in the ass. Perhaps Fedora is better, but somehow I doubt it. Mandrake couldn't recognize my network card to save it's ass (but RedHat could, so a driver is available). SuSE wouldn't let me try without buy (no ISO), so forget them. I wouldn't touch Debian with a 20 foot pole because 1) they're so damn political, and I don't need that crap I just need an OS; 2) they're way behind on the kernel releases; and 3) they're so damn political.
Basically, I'd stay away from any distro that calls itself "GNU/Linux" because their political statement is their #1 priority, and you want the distro to be their #1 priority.
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
I can't compare any of the BSDs with each other or with Linux, but I would personally recommend Debian or one of it's derivatives (Libranet, Xandros, Knoppix, etc.), but there are bigger issues than that, IMO.
If you have a friend that's a Linux/BSD guru, pick the same distro as him so that it's easier for him to help you when you have a problem. If not, then start looking at the advice presented here.
Disclaimer: I recommended some distros, but my recommendations are not necessarily right nor wrong. Don't flame me for my own opinions.
My friend, I'm no guru, but don't install OpenBSD on your laptop... im pretty sure it will not give you the experience you are looking for... As for linux, I liked mandrake for my first linux distro.
Chaos is Divine *
Don't go with OpenBSD. OpenBSD has many noble design philosophies however "make the system usable" is possibly at the bottom of their list. I think they view "unusable base system" as the same thing as "confuses hackers if they get in & prevents them from doing any damage".
FreeBSD is considerably better but I'd still not suggest it for a unix newbie.
As far as user-friendly Linux distros go, I've had good luck sending friends to Redhat/Fedora and Mandrake (I'd assume SuSE is in the same boat but I've never given any real consideration to dropping the $$$ for it). Currently, I'd say that Fedora's the strongest option, it's more recent & seems to have more development energy than Mandrake.
Your best bet, however, would be to bite the bullet and go for Debian (or try a HDD install of Knoppix); once you actually get it up it should stay up & up to date (unless you're running unstable and try to update on a day when they're pushing seriously broken packages...).
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
Why do you want to switch to Linux?
It really depends on your needs. Though I personally recommend Gentoo to all (yep, I'm a zealot :), because of it's great documentation, strong system control, and ease with which it teaches you Unix systems in general
My advice, start out with Mandrake, and after you screw it up or it screws you up, switch over to debian - with a little patience you will never want to use anything else.
I recommend debian to everyone since it's my favourite distro by a large margin. Try it out, if it's not to your liking there are other distros. Debian used to be a pain to install, now they have a fancy new installer and knoppix it's much much better. But it was never a hard distro to run. Just get familiar with the package management tools and documentation and you're golden, everything else is done for you. Oh yeah try the testing version of debian for best results. Unstable is ok too but breaks sometimes in a minor way.
Liberty.
I used Mandrake a few months back for my first Linux install, and installation and (for the most part) configuration was a breeze.
The only trouble I had was with getting TwinView (dual monitors) working with my NVidia card. I got it eventually, but it took quite a few nights of scouring the web and trying a few dozen configurations to get it going.
Other than that, pretty much everything else auto-conifgured itself during the install. It took longer to download the ISO's than to get it installed and running (except the TwinView, that is.)
I bet this is what happened to the Powerbook :)
Just a joke, honest!. Actually, any of the major distributions will almost certainly do you just fine. Each have their ups and downs. My very first was slackware, about 10 years ago, but I wouldn't suggest it to a new user today unless you are very comfortable with command line configuration and post-installation setup. I still use it because I like it.
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
...and tech worker productivity in North America ends early for the week, as everyone gets sucked into a straight-up Linux distro war. And then people will post comments referencing vi vs Emacs or KDE vs GNOME, and those will be taken up in all seriousness, as well.
/home on a separate partition so you can reformat and reinstall easily! **
My advice is:
1) If you have a high-speed connection and a CD burner, download a bunch of ISOs (Fedora, Mandrake, SuSe, Knoppix) and try them out. Probably half will detect your hardware correctly and half won't -- that can be solved but at this stage just use what worked. ** Put
2) Maybe try some of the new friendly distros like Lycoris.
3) You said your PowerBook is dead, but if you have another Mac around, I'd strongly suggest trying Yellow Dog on it.
4) And once you've been through all that learning experience, you'll be ready to switch to Gentoo!
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
There are so many variables involving your needs and preferences that there is no really good answer to this question. One solution would be to visit http://www.linuxiso.org/ , burn a couple of distros and install them to see what you like.
Personally, I have used three different distros: SuSe, Debian and RedHat. I like the Debian ethos and, if you're setting up a server, it is hands-down my preference.
RedHat used to be the leader but has stopped supporting desktop version and has been replaced with Fedora. When RedHat went public, they replaced their loyalty to customers with loyalty to shareholders - much to the detriment of their product. They had made several Microsoft-style moves to lock users into their product. I don't know if any of these maneuvers currently affect Fedora. If they do, you should avoid it.
SuSe is my most recent experience. I take my own advice and try different distros occasionally and I must say I am extremely happy with the usability and look-and-feel of Suse 9.0. You could certainly do worse.
It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
When I first started with linux I used whichever Red Hat was out 6 years ago. After a year I switched up to Mandrake. Mandrake had newer packages and supported my hardware better. As I used linux more and more I learned more and more about it. About 6 months ago I switched up to Gentoo. I wouldn't reccomend going to Gentoo or Debian right away unless you are particularly adventurous. But if you are the kind of user who really wont settle for less they are the only distros that give you "real unadulterated linux".
So what you want to do is use Knoppix Mandrake Suse, etc. And learn as much as you can from those. Eventually you will reach a point where you aren't learning anything new. You'll also start getting frustrated because things wont work, and you wont be able to change certain things. RPMs are easy, but overall fickle and confining. When you reach this point, set aside a weekend and print the gentoo installation handbook and get a livecd. Or go the debian way, either is good. Anything harder core than those two distros is more difficulty with little reward for it. Lunar Linux is about as far as you want to go.
Anyway the point is if you want to be a real linux guy and get the full experience and whatnot, start small and work your way up.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
First I started with mandrake, since everyone told me it was really simple to install. And it was, i'll definitely say that. After a few weeks i got SICK of rpms. they really are the devil. My friends raved about gentoo but said the install was hard. Well, for a newbie linux user with only 2 weeks experience i still managed to install gentoo just fine. If you can follow directions it's really not that hard.
However, i recommend Fedore Core 2 now. Redhat's installer, bootloader, and everything is absolustely gorgeous. It's without a doubt the best looking distro. With yum and apt-rpm now i here most of my complaints about the lack of good rpm support is gone.
Once you feel you're a bit more experienced though, you should try making the switch to gentoo or debian because they cater far more to the power user than a distro like fedora, mandrake, or suse ever can. It's harder to setup, but once you do you know everything about your system down to the config files which makes your life *much* easier when you need to debug random-problem-x with hardware-component-y. The do-it-all for you distros are harder for power users to use simply because we don't know how our system is setup!.
- tristan
Here I was going to suggest Debian, but you're right Knoppix is one of the best introductions to Debian out there.
I realize I'm going to get flamed and modded as flamebait or troll for this...
Debian is a great first distribution for the hobbyist. The installation is wonderful for anyone who likes to tinker. And they'll only have to do it once.
The installers are getting easier and easier as time passes, too.
The hardest part is still Xwindows. With Knoppix, a working XF86Config-4 can be created and copied to the HD. That's what I did with my Vaio laptop. Darned unique hardware!
Bob-
The Ludwig von Mises Institute. The reasoning individuals economics
It's not the best distro available, but it's easy to set up and run, and comes with installation, migration and operation support as part of the selling price. List price is $100, but it might still be selling for half that as the intro sale. It'd be my "For Dummies" pick.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
I have to agree with n1ywb. Try Knoppix. It's a wonderful live distro and it's great for beginners. It'll help you learn the basics and then when your comfortable with it, you can install it to disk or move on to a more powerful distro. Fedora would be a good second step.
No, I will not fix your computer.
~ Tech404
In the past few weeks I've installed SuSE 9.0 on a number of systems (PI 166 - Athlon 600) using the FTP install option. Assuming the system has at least 96 MB of RAM it's a breeze to install (using a temporary swap file gave many problems when I tried it).
Other than that, all hardware in those systems (ranging from proprietary OEM to self-build systems) was detected without issues. YAST is the best admin tool I've used with any distro (including Mandrake and RedHat (now Fedora)).
YMMV.
Site & blog: http://www.mayaposch.com
Let the Holy Wars Begin!
Never could figure out why my girl liked my bitch tits, then I found out she was a lesbian.
Really, while dealing with a clean cut GUI is great, it's still a great idea to deal with the command line on occasion. You will get a fuller understanding of everything from the Linux kernel to Computer Science in general.
Obviously, you shouldn't have to use the command line exclusively, in fact, you shouldn't have to use it most of the time, but playing with the command line every once in a while, alongside a little bit of frustration, will be worth your time.
Further, you might run into little pitfalls every once in a while that have no GUI solution. If you do not at least partially familiarize yourself with the command line you will not be able to solve it.
Also, when I get bored, if you look at my history, you will see chunks that take the form:
cd *folder name*
ls
cat *file name*
ad nauseum.
I'm more knowledgable because of it.
So, bottom line, don't pick a distro because everything is graphical, and don't work with a distro avoiding the command line at all costs, it will only hurt your GUI experience and hurt your Linux experience in general.
If you just interested in something that works and has everything that a linux distro may offer. I would go Mandrake.
And don't forget to use irc.freenode to ask questions on the #mandrake channel and they will help you with any problem.
-- I don't buy it, I grow it.
As people have already told you, it depends on the user. If they want to learn Unix, learn the OS and environment inside and out, how it works, etc., then stay away from the newbie distros. The hard systems are the way to go.
Slackware, FreeBSD, or Debian. Without the handholding, they'll actually learn the system. They'll be forced to drop into the command line to configure some stuff. They'll come to understand how it all fits together. This is a Good Thing(tm).
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
"without major headaches in setting it all up"
Unless this laptop was specially Linux "certified" I wouldn't even try it unless your main goal is to learn way more than you need about Linux. Save yourself the pain and just use the copy of Windows that came with it that you already paid for.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
Tried Red Hat, Didn't like it. SuSe, Likewise. Settled on Mandrake and am happy with it. Haven't used Windows for anything other than games or Photoshop for a year. YMMV.
I personally started out on a Macintosh (Ended after OS 8.5, so you can imaginethat was some time ago *L*), and then took an interest in PCs. I've run all of the Windows OSes post-95... and For well ovr a year, I was stuck with ME (had it been XP/2000 and 98SE, I may still be a windows user today... but I think I would've prefered DOS to ME.)
:D. As a *nix n00b, it was absolutely incredibly easy to set up and use... and after about a third of a year at it, I have my FreeBSD 5.2.1 machine up, running, updated sources and ports, and all the things my Windows machien could do (except Battlefield Vietnam... oh how I miss gunning down hordes of Communists,... aside from the critisisms of Friends in family "ie, YOU are a Communist.")
:P, Red Hats post 7.3 -detested- my CD-ROM drive of the day)... and after this time with FreeBSD, I am comfortabel at any *nix machine, whether it be BSD, Gentoo, or "other".
:D
And now, I use FreeBSD
Anyways, the point I'm getting to, is that although I prefer BSD highly to Linux, when I originally switched to Linux (before BSD), I found it difficult, andthe only dostro I could get up and running properly was Mandrake (and KNOPPIX, but Live-CD was something I didn't want to do permanenty
I'm sure people have mentioned it... Gentoo [gentoo.org], If I were to head back into Linux country (and I just may thanks to it...), I'd go Gentoo. The installation is painful for a newbie, but the benefits are grand indeed
I get a kick out of many Linux zealots, how they think if something has a GUI and you can actually install it without dropping to the CLI to run some obscure command, that its too Windows like, and thus garbage.
Nearly every mainstream distro runs the same kernel, the same XFree, the same Samba, the same Mozilla, the same Evolution. Some may be older, or newer versions, but in general its ALL THE SAME SOFTWARE!
The bottom line, especially for someone new to Linux is to get them familiar with it, without frustrating the hell out of them, or making them dependant on the local Linux guru to do even the simplist of tasks. This will greatly increase the chances of them actually liking it, and wanting to learn more ON THEIR OWN.
People who recommend Debian to someone who has never install Linux before is simply throwing them to the wolves. Oh, but Debian only uses open source software? If this person has never installed Linux before, chances are they don't care! Oh, but you only ever install it once, then use apt-get after that. This is mostly true, but if they get frustrated before they even install it, what good is apt-get?
Apt-get used to be Debians one "killer feature", but that is no longer so. Every major distro has something similar, and in some cases something much better, especially for newbies. (read: Mandrakes URPMI, which is anything but new)
If your new to Linux, and your looking for the easiest route to get up and running with it, install Mandrake. Its as simple as that. Mandrake has some of the best hardware detection, and by far the easiest install process. Not to mention, once its installed, your not left out to dry.
It has nice GUI utilities to setup almost anything you want, all in ONE SIMPLE CONTROL PANEL. Printers? No problem, its easier then Windows if your printer is supported. Want to change screen resolutions? This is just as simple as windows too. What about a scanner? Yup, that too, simple. Even remote desktop applications like VNC/rdesktop Mandrake has simple little utilities to help you out.
I can hear people screaming right now. "Oh, but they wont learn how to actually use Linux then." You know what, MOST people don't care. They just want something that WORKS! If the Mandrake utilities work, thats great. If they don't, they can still dig in to the configuration files and get it to work. Just because the GUI utilities exist, doesn't mean the distro is evil, it simply means there are more options.
I've been using Linux since Slackware 3, and as the only OS on my home and work machine for the last 4 years. Mandrake is my distro of choice simply because I value my time, and when I want something to work, I don't want to have to spend hours reading man pages and forums to learn some obscure configuration file settings to just get my printer to work. I fire up Mandrakes printer utility, pick my printer, it downloads the drivers, installs them, and I print a test page. For things I care more about, like the Kernel I'm running, I simply download the latest MM patches and install them like normal.
Simply put, it just works. For newbies though, please don't try to push your ideals on them, simply help them get up and running as fast as possible and feel comfortable. Once they've done that, they can explore at will.
If you don't recommend Mandrake for this task, you either haven't tried it yourself, or you haven't given it a real chance. Because if you had, you would realize that NO other distro has put as much time and effort in to making Linux accessible to newbies then Mandrake has.
Open Source Time and Attendance, Job Costing a
That anyone would take this seriously just shows how fundementally fucked up this site is.
I know this is flamebait material, but I'll do it anyways - as it's a good question.
The linux distros I've personally used are: Slackware, Debian, RedHat, SuSE, Turbolinux, Storm Linux and Mandrake. I've also fiddled a bit with Gentoo, but not much.
Slackware, for me, was a bitch. I was new to linux, and that was the first distro I tried. It was hell. No good documentation at the time, and nothing worked out of the box. I fiddled with it for about two weeks, then gave up. Forget that one.
Debian. Great system for servers. Used it for four years on various boxes. Only had a few problems with it, namely a single box when I updated from slink to potato, and a box where I attempted to upgrade mysql from 3.22 to 3.23 by using unstable on a few binaries/libraries. This was before potato was out, if I remember correctly. I've always thought that Debian sucks for workstations, but quite a few people disagree. It's neither very easy to install nor very easy to configure. When you've got it up and running it's extremely easy to maintain.
RedHat. Used it for a few servers, and use it regularly as a workstation at the University. To be quite frank - I think it sucks as both. I really don't think it's any good at anything. Neither the installer, up2date, nor default configuration works as it should. And this is "the" mainstream linux? Blargh!
Mandrake. I used to use Mandrake, but they fscked up a lot of things between 8.1 and 8.2 , and I've not used it seriously afterwards. I used to be a paying member of mandrakeclub - but really didn't renew the payment after the 9.0 release which stunk just as much as 8.2 for me. The problem was quite simply that 8.1 just 'worked' on my computers, while 8.2 and 9.0 was riddled with lockups, various flaws and lots of other stuff. It's a very NICE distro though, it's easy to install, shiny, and so forth.
I'll drop commenting on TurboLinux and Storm, as it's several years since I tried them out, and they never did impress me.
Now onto the distro that I really, really like.
SUSE!
SuSE both installs easily, and is slick, shiny and well built. It's obvious that a lot of work has gone into making things work out of the box, especially if you're a KDE user (and you should be). YaST is a really wonderfull tool when it comes to installing and updating stuff, it works wonderfully on my HP Omnibook 6100, it works wonderfully on my servers, my desktops, and all my works desktop computers.. we've also bought SuSE OpenExchange, which works like a charm.
In short, I've got nothing wrong to say about SuSE, and I've been using it for about two years now, after using nothing but Linux the last 5 years. No other distro has shown me such ease of installation, such ease of installing other programs, such ease of security updates, such ease of maintainance, and so forth.
A single negative and important note about SuSE though - it uses ReiserFS as default. Change it to ext3 or something else - ReiserFS is notorious for corrupting data. I've had three systems where ReiserFS has fucked up my data badly. I don't trust that filesystem. Steer away from it like a pest. It sucks. It's bad for you. It destroys your data.
*phew*.
"Rune Kristian Viken" - http://www.nwo.no - arca
Echoing some of the other posts here: It depends what you want to get out of Linux.
If you "just want to use it" (i.e. you just want a nice desktop system that isn't proprietary, or just want to try out some Linux programs) I'd recommend (roughly in order of preference):
If, on the other hand, you actually want to learn Linux:
Those would be my suggestions, anyway.
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
Everyone has their opinion on the best distro. However, if your main goals are easy, stable, cheap, complete, MadrakeLinux is your choice. Ohter people will say other distros. Often I think their reasons are that everyone's goals should be speed, congiruablitiy, community-led, 1 CD install, etc. instead of easy, stable, cheap, complete. Pick the distro for your goals.
- Gentoo: fast, configurable, community-based
- Debian: stable, community-based
- Knoppix: 1 CD install.
- Fedora: cutting (bleeding) edge
- etc.
Madrake 10.0 official will be available free at the end of this month.I'll have to play the part of the resident Gentoo zealot...
I like Gentoo because of a few characteristics:
1. Up-to-date stable packages - usually released within a few weeks of their upstream releases... GNOME 2.6 just went stable yesterday, and kernel 2.6.6 was stable the day it came out.
2. Tinker-friendly community - Gentoo is desktop-hobbyist-friendly, with a great community. I like the feeling that yes, my desire to tinker with a new X server or the latest Mozilla is fully appreciated and supported.
3. Easy package installations - one-line package database updating, package installations, etc., plus the whole self-compilation idea lets you customize the packages to your liking, while still within the confines of the management system.
4. Wonderful documentation - the installation is the hardest part, but with the Gentoo handbook, you'll be up in no time.
Of course, it does take time to get it up and running the first time, and for packages to compile, but I find it to be worth it, simply because it doesn't that that long, and you only have to do it once. Binary packages and a binary installation are available as well.
WeRelate.org - wiki-based genealogy
Hi i'm an intermediate linux user.I began with
:)
Slackware 96,and then i passed through redhat and mandrake.Now i have Mandrake 10 and it ROX!
If you want something that works out of the Box,try Mandrake 10. The Install is easy,the OS is very stable,TONS of apps, your hardware will work and there is a great community of people willing to help you (irc.freenode.net #mandrake )
My system:
Athlon 1 Ghz
256 RAM
MB ASUS A7V133-C
HDD Seagate Barracuda 40GB
Nvidia TNT2 16 RAM
Soundblaster 16
ATI TV wonder PCI card
REALTEK Ethernet 10/100mbps card
And please,stop telling people that Mandrake is only for newbies..it is as good as any other Linux OS (if not better..) Gurus and linux wizards are also welcomed!!
I've seen it mentioned a few times, but not nearly as much as RedHat/Fedora and Mandrake -- Gentoo.
I started out with Mandrake, but hated the lack of applications. Everything seemed to be packaged for Red Hat, which is true. So I switched to Red Hat, and experienced "dependency hell." That's when the program you want depends on other programs that conflict with the programs you already have installed. YUCK!
Finally, I swiched to Gentoo. Gentoo is unique for a Linux distro in that it compiles everything from the source code. While that makes it slower to install software, it saves considerable time by keeping you from having to resolve broken dependencies.
Also, every open-source project releases the source, but they don't all create RPMs/packages for every distribution. You can easily add just about any application you need to Portage yourself, if it isn't already there, and take advantage of Portage's package management features (upgrades, dependencies, the ability to save a list of installed software in order to rebuild the system later).
Finally, Gentoo has less hand-holding GUI widgets to do everything for you. Sometimes you do have to open a terminal, sometimes you do have to go read documentation or ask questions (try forums.gentoo.org, they're great). You'll learn the ins-and-outs of Linux almost as if by osmosis -- you won't realize it.
Oh, and about their forums... I've found the Gentoo forums to be one of the best. Since Gentoo makes you learn about Linux, the people on the forum actually know Linux, not how to click a bunch of buttons and claim their experts. The help you'll get from the Gentoo forums is magnitudes more helpful than you'll get from Mandrake, for example.
Though largely it depends on your goals.
If you want a linux system that will be up and running with the least amount of hassle, mandrake, knoppix, rh, etc are all fairly decent.
But if you're really out to LEARN linux, you want something like slackware or debian. Not as simple or hassle-free to set up, they tend to be lacking in simple GUI based setup utils. But you get a better chance to dive in and learn linux. As opposed to learning your distro.
1995: SCO UNIX (I know, i know, but I had to use it at work)
1997: Slackware
1999: Debian
2000?: Gentoo
2001?: Back to Debian
Still using Debian (mix of stable+testing) and, barring conflict.dependency issues with mplayer-k7/libvorbis, I've never been happier.
I'd recommend starting with Slackware - it worked for me.
--- We are not in the 8th dimension. We are over New Jersey.
I tends to be more secure out of the box than other distros. It has a superior package system that doesn't break your system or install lots of unnecessary crap. It has superior BSD style init scripts that are easier to manage (no need to wrestle with multiple levels of scripts and symbolic links). It puts files where software developers intend them to be instead of second-guessing them. It doesn't try to tie you in to nonstandard admin tools. These last two points make finding answers on the internet a lot more productive, since you have to spend less effort trying to adjust the information to your machine.
-- $SIGNATURE
I started with RedHat and then moved to Mandrake and then to Debian back to Mandrake then to MacOS X then quickly back to Debian and then finally to Gentoo. And after using several distros over the years Gentoo taught me how to REALLY use linux.
Debian is one of the best for for servers and using testing or unstable is fine for workstations.
In my experience the package management systems of Debian and Gentoo are superior to RPM based systems.
I have never had a better running Linux system than with Gentoo. And I prefer Gentoo's package management over Debian's.
I found Gentoo's install time consuming and for a beginner there is a steep learning curve, but there is excellent documentation available and I believe that the end result is well worth the work/time involved.
...but I wouldn't recommend them for a newbie. The install's just not geared for newbies.
Has nothing to do with the fact that Gentoo doesn't have a pretty-pretty graphical installer. The docs on the gentoo.org site are _great_, you follow the bouncing ball, and poof. You've got a Gentoo Linux system. Stuff Just Works. Cool.
Here's the problem: Before you have a functional system, you gotta decide: What kernel do I want? 2.4? 2.6? One of the modified kernel branches like -ac or gentoo's "gaming-sources"? Which syslogger do I want? Do I want ncron or vcron?
I'm not entirely certain your average newb has any desire to figure out how to answer those questions for his first install, so I'd recommend against Gentoo. Get 'em hooked, then they might want something like Gentoo.
It's really quite sad, though. You have to make all the decisions, making it unsuitable for neophytes, but once you make those decisions, Everything Just Works, which'd be excellent for the newbs...
Mandrake's a good starter distro, plus it works well on HP Laptops, especially ones that use the Radeon IGP chips. I'd say use that distro, otherwise you're going to be doing a lot more work than you probably want to be doing at first...if you want to go a little more advanced than that...try installing Slackware, but only if you've got someone to go to for assistance... on IRC or otherwise. I've had good experiences with both. No matter what, you're going to want to pick up the skills necessary to run any build of linux. The distro stops mattering so much AFTER you get to the point where you have a command over *nix style operating systems. Anyway, have fun with it!
Starting out, I used Mandrake, but it seems since then (9.0 and later), Mandrake is broken and doesn't work that well. All of my friends have tried and liked SuSE, so I guess that's a good point to start with. I have never used Fedora, and therefore have no idea whether it's good or not. I heard Gentoo was good, and i heard it was horrible. I have not used it. Currently, I used Slackware, and I almost jumped right into it, from little knowledge. If you are a first time Linux user, you need to make sure all your hardware works in Linux (like a modem, damn WinModems). And don't be afraid of google. Chances are, other people have had the same error, and it's probably on some web archive somewhere. If not, go to the appropriate mailing list (like, don't complain about apache doesn't work as it should to the distro mailing list, apache has it's own). Wow, my first big /. post...
x86, oh yes, I'm pro.
Ow! My head hurts!
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
I think Knoppix is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure that the questioner really needs a whole different operating system that requires shutting down whatever you're doing and rebooting whenever you want to do a little "grep" or "wc" or whatever. (If Knoppix now works as just another application without requiring a reboot, please respond and correct me.)
As an owner of Macs, Windows PCs, and a Linux server who uses Solaris at work, what I find I need on my laptop is the customized drivers and other goodies that come with it in the version of Windows XP that comes with it, plus the ability to run Windows GUI apps that have no acceptable equivalent in the Linux world, plus the array of command line Unix tools that I find so amazingly useful when I'm working on a Unix/Linux box.
Dual booting doesn't work for me. Having to wait for a reboot to use grep or wc is like having to get dressed in the middle of the night to go out to an outhouse in the dead of winter. (And I guess that makes DOS a chamberpot.)
Unless the machine I'm using is a server itself, in which case I need the full Linux (which is what I do with my home server), I find that combo of Cygwin plus the customized Windows that your manufacturer provides with their hardware to be a great solution (for a laptop, for today).
"Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
was redhat 5 or so. It was a pain in the ass. Took me like 3 days to get the mouse to work. Anyway...
I suggest you start out with something that does alot of autoconfiguration of hardware for you . Mandrake, SuSE, and Red Hat 9.x come to mind. Mandrake seems to be able to do a tad more than the rest as far as initial setup goes but SuSE and Red Hat may have a little more hardware covered in general. My recommendation however is SuSE. A full blown install comes with most everything ever written for most every piece of OS... nevermind. Its good stuff.
I also suggest installing your choice of the BSD's on the same drive if ya got the space. You can sorta use what SuSE has done with config files to get a relatively good idea for how a BSD might get set up. Worked well for me for my transition (on a sony laptop), but again I have been using them for years.
Interestingly enough, FreeBSD supports my wireless pccard where SuSE does not seem to like it very much. I suggest FreeBSD as a way to extend your experience with other operating systems. NetBSD and OpenBSD will make you pull out your hair, as will Slackware and possibly Debian if you dont know what youre doing with an initial install.
Hope it helps. This method really worked for me and now I get to market a skill of being able to pick up on technologies, evaluate situations, and develop quick solutions to the needs of my clients which include for the most part small to medium sized financial institutions. I seriously suggest you consider this advice, especially on a laptop.
One more thing. Once you get a little bit-o-source under your belt you might wanna try to build your own Linux distro. Its probably the most educational project I've ever undertaken. Who knows, you might be real good at it >=]
Good Luck!
You are about to give someone a piece of your mind, something which you can ill afford...
If you could type in a command like RPM without argument on the command-line and it would throw up a GUI version like a combination Microsoft Task Pad and Wizard. With hyperlinked help to each element. That could be pretty bad ass.
It works pretty well for me. A lot of the bugs that bothered me in earlier test releases appear to have been resolved.
When booting the cd, quickly type "linux reiserfs" at the boot prompt or else you'll be stuck with installing to the slower but probably more stable ext3 filesystem.
Choose custom package install, then where it gives you the choice of what to install, scroll all the way to the bottom and select the "everything" option.
If you don't hear any sound during the install's sound test, it's probably because Fedora is shipped with the headphone volume set to zero and your speakers are plugged into the headphone out (some cheap pc's lack a real speaker out).
After installing, you'll probably want something for playing DVD's. Mplayer should work. You'll just have to download and instal the rpm's. Surprisingly there was no Java either. I heard MP3 support was removed as well, but I don't know for sure because I use Ogg.
Up2date may give you problems. Feel free to download the source and fix it. Some people have better luck with yum (basically the same, but console based), but that too can be a nightmare under certain conditions.
But aside from that, it's a pretty stable desktop running the new 2.6 kernel.
My first and last home install of Mandrake (9.1, not the latest) was pretty painful. First use of the update utility, during my first day of use, broke enough programs that I just installed a new distribution.
Slackware has always been a favorite of mine. It's small, fast, simple, stable, and includes everything a console loving beginner could ever want. But it's main focus is not the desktop.
Suse is stable a has some nice user friendly features, but it's pretty bare for anything beyond home use.
I have not tried Debian. It looks very difficult to obtain and install.
Flame On! (No, this in itself is not a flame)
YOU'RE WINNER !
Another lame blog
No Linux install will be as easy as a an OS X install, because PC's have such a range of hardware compared to Mac's. That said SUSE is quick and easy, if you get it wrong first time just try again, after all it's a learning experience. Make sure you set the BIOS to allow writing to the boot sector, that gotcha has been the my single biggest source of free beer from clueful Windows users making the switch to Linux.
Personally I went with Fedora Core 1 and installed from the CD in Red Hat and Fedora Core Unleashed. (Amazon. ) I got mine at the library.
The book walks you through some trouble spots you might encounter and nudges you towards some options that may not be obvious from the Fedora literature, like having yum look at freshrpms.net instead of Red Hat (for packages that Red Hat might regard with disdain.) It even walks through installs of the UT2004 Demo and Enemy Territory.
blarg.
Here we go again.
1000 geeks will respond with different opinions.
Asking this question at all is absurd to the point of insanity.
Try different distros. Find one you can easily get into and integrate your work into. Go with that. That's the only way you're going to get an answer to your question.
If you want to try Mandrake, maybe you should get PCLinuxOS. It is based on mandrake, has it's control center, but also has nvidia and ati drivers pre-installed, and also plugins pre-installed also. It also has APT for RPM installed too.
It comes on a LiveCD which you can install it from. It changed the default package selection a bit, for example Firebird/Firefox is included.
Live distros hardly ever work on laptops.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
This is how i figured out what distro i liked the best. Buy a spindle of cds and start downloading isos. Install a different one ever week for a while and figure out which one *YOU* like.
I find Mandrake to be a great flavor for beginning users to try. It is a very powerfull, fullfledged distribution of Linux, and it provides a very easy and comfortable enviroment. Most of all, the installs are a breeze for beginners. It even makes a dual boot with Windows fairly easy.
OK, so the fans of the various distros are all comparing how big the penises of their favorites are. It's a fun exercise, but not what the guy asked about. I'd suggest that someone new to Linux look at: Mandrake, Xandros, Lycoris, SUSE, or Linspire. Each of these has a company behind it that's placing a high priority on making their distro accessible to new users, and that sounds like your top priority as well.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
I would have to say... to test out various operating systems with Linux LiveCDS. You can find an assortment here.
Besides that though, if you just want a first clean mount, I would probably recommend MandrakeLinux. My friend, who also is new to Linux, installed it a month ago and runs it as if he still has Windows installed.
"Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
I would have to say... test out various operating systems with Linux LiveCDs. You can find an assortment here.
Besides that though, if you just want a first clean mount, I would probably recommend MandrakeLinux. My friend, who also is new to Linux, installed it a month ago and runs it as if he still has Windows installed.
"Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
If you want to USE Linux, install a Debian derivative like Mepis or Knoppix.
If you want to LEARN Linux, install Gentoo.
-- "Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." - R.A.H.
The FreeBSD installer does tend to do a good job of recognizing hardware, which is obviously vital for a newbie. It's a million times better than Debian, for instance, but maybe not quite as "automagical" as Knoppix. (Considering that Knoppix always recognizes the monitor correctly, why the heck does any Unix installer still get it wrong and require you to edit XF86Config by hand???) USB support in FreeBSD is relatively new and buggy (still lots of posts on comp.unix.freebsd.misc from people trying to get their keychain drives working, etc.), so that might be a reason to prefer Mandrake.
I really like FreeBSD because of its ports system, but I'm not sure it's right for a typical newbie. For one thing, you tend to get in situations where you upgrade libfoo-2.0.so.200 to libfoo-2.0.so.400, and then that breaks all the apps that expect the older version. A typical newbie would not have the slightest idea how to deal with this. (And no, recompiling the app from the latest cvs doesn't always fix it.) Also, compiling a new app often forces you to do "make deinstall ; make reinstall" cycles on a bunch of libraries, which is a pain, and would probably be scary and confusing to a newbie. The ports system is also only as good as the work of the people who maintain the individual ports. Since FreeBSD is more popular as a server system than as a desktop system, some of the ports of GUI apps, games, etc. aren't maintained very assiduously.
I'd actually be interested in hearing from people who've used the latest and greatest Mandrake GUI for installing applications.
Having said all that, one big advantage of FreeBSD for a newbie is that you can buy a book on FreeBSD, and what they're describing is the system you're running. This is not true for Linux. For instance, you can buy O'Reilly's Running Linux book, but it's trying to describe every Linux distro at once, so there's lots of "If you're running RedHat, the command to add a user is this, but if you're running Debian, it's this." Personally I like Lehey's The Complete FreeBSD, but the FreeBSD Handbook is also good. (I felt that FreeBSD Unleashed had too many of the wrong topics, and the screenshots were illegible.)
Find free books.
I tried redhat and debian before switching to gentoo, and I found them both harder to use. Redhat I have had way too many problems with dependency hell, and with debian you have to live on unstable to get any new packages, and sometimes that breaks things in a bad way (and... Debian doesnt have the best documentation / support.) Gentoo definatley has a steeper learning curve, but it has enough help to let you do anything you could possibley think of, and more, even if you are new to linux. It also is probably one of the fastest distros out there in my experiance. In short, Gentoo is harder, but its easier at the same time.
I hadn't thought about it, but I'm two degrees of separation from Chelsea Clinton. Mmm.....
Stop the world; I need to get off.
ReiserFS has gotten pretty good lately. I've been a heavy user of it on several high-traffic servers since SuSE 8.2 was released and the corruption probs seem to have been all ironed away. Presently running SuSE 9.0 on all my machines with Reiser on all but one (XFS on that one) and experiencing no filesystem corruption at all. I prefer XFS or JFS over Ext3. Where absolute performance is needed I'd rather just run plain old Ext2 and deal with long fsck times.
OSX is built on FreeBSD, so it should be the easiest switch. No, not really, but it is still a very good OS, even for relativly new people.
Apt does everything urpmi does and then some.
Too bad it's not the redhat standard.
The parent recommends Fedora 1st & Mandrake 2nd, then turns around and says that the install mechanism for both sucks enough that he goes right to the Debian method.
Isn't the ease of installing/updating a big factor in the choice of distro?
gewg_
I have been running Mandrake 9.1 for about two months and like it. Maybe its because I started out last April with Slackware 3.0 on a 386sx. But, postfix was not working "out of the box." Even for using the default hostname "localhost."
That was all fixed with LinuxConf.
I've heard about Linspire (Lindows) and (IMHO)think that there more "we want to make big money."
SuSE and HP work together so for your HP laptop you'll probably see the best support from SuSE. See press release for more.
You can get SuSE for free using the ftp download so don't worry about cost and if you want support later you can still buy it unlike Fedora. Definitely do SuSE if only because it's officially used by HP.
Went to Linux/Unix on a new x86 notebook and tried a few Linux distro's and FreeBSD, but each of them had a few things that really annoyed me. Some didn't work well with the hardware of my Siemens notebook, but most of the time it were just those small things you miss, that on a Mac just work.
... get yourself a cup of coffee and when you get back it works." Too bad they never told me that we were talking about a dimension in which a minute lasts half a day and that the cup of coffee was to be picked up in Colombia .... In the end, people started taking my machine home, in order to fix it. Yes, support in the Open Source community really rocks. No bad word about that, but a usable machine never really materialized ...
:)
:)
... and got me an alumium Powerbook :)
What I especially didn't like were those "Let me fix it for you" events. Goodwilling Unix cracks that absolutely wanted me to adore my Open Source system. "It will take about five minutes
First of all, I'm not a Unix geek. I learn fast, but it clearly wasn't fast enough. I travel with my computer and I found it h*ll to make the thing work on all different networks I must logon, using all diferent settings... in the end I was just glad when I was able to browse the internet and 'webmail' became my best friend... aaaaaw.
Second of all, I don't like it to mess with my OS each day. I did like the terminal though.
Third: it was clearly a bad choice to put Linux/Unix on a productionmachine of someone not willing to mess with an OS each day. I should have put it on a spare...
After six months of really hard trying, reading manuals, raiding forums and bothering all kind of Unix specialists in my addressbook I gave up and bought a new Powerbook with OS X and put all Linux distri boxes in my cupboard for 'later'
I hope for your sake, that you have better control of your bloodpressure than I have and that the distro's have become a whole lot better since Q1 and Q2 of 2003.
Looking from the bright side: the whole experience made me rediscover the ease of use of my Mac, thought me how to find my way in OS X using the terminal
I would recommend Knoppix but not installing it. If you want Debian, install Debian. Things will go smoother for you. In fact, I'd avoid all derivatives for the simple fact that you'll get more support that way.
Everything depends on the user, of course, but for the vast majority of new users suggesting they start with a 'hard' distro is sheer idiocy.
"The number of Unix installations has grown to ten, with more expected." (Unix Programmer's Manual, 2nd ed.; june 1972)
1. Go look at Distrowatch web site, (sorry, no link, find your own country mirror), there are hundreds of linux distros, a dozen of releases every day.
2. Pick one and install.
3. Repeat until completely satisfied.
There you are, staring at me again.
If you want to "LEARN" Slackware is the best way, It was the way I started, tons of hair pulling and frustration to get things going, but when I switch to Red Hat 5.0 a while ago it seemed extremely easy and you have an apreatiation for the OS. And now fedora doesn't seem troublesome at all.
Xandros is the best choice you could make as a new user.
It is easy to install, administer, use and update, and does not come with needless duplicate functionality (mozilla aside), and you'll be hard pressed to find a situation where you'll need to access the command prompt.
It is based on Debian Linux, which is widely regarded as a well tested and stable distribution, as well as upon an enhanced version of KDE, making day to day activities seem like second nature.
There is also a large repository of freely available and tested free and open source software that is either a few clicks, or an apt-get away.
So if ease of use, stability, security and maintanability are what you're looking for in a Linux distribution, then Xandros is the way to go.
I started with SuSe 7.3 Pro (you got the book, CD's, DVD etc). I now run 8.2 Pro and have found it to be better and easier. Installation is easier than Windows in my experience - but thats just my personal view.
Installation of Firefox & Plugins, Xine etc are worthwhile.
I think my only complaints when using Linux, relate to Web designers who insist on using Realplayer and Windows Media Player for Web TV, Rock Radio stations etc., Also Manufacturers, Training course providers etc who provide software that only runs on Windows. We cannot blame SuSe or any other Linux distribution for that.
At work I'm pressed into using a fairly restrictive XP PC. On a daily basis I long to get home and boot up my Linux box.
I'll say it again: "Three Cheers for SuSe".
Caveat: I don't play games
Sorry. I do play games. I'm a Kolor Lines addict.
My hyperlinks aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
I hope that was just a grammatical error.. and that people don't honestly believe that is the case.
That said, and if you actually want Linux, try the latest Mepis beta. Its a more 'civilized' debian.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Yes, that's a joke, damnit.
I've tried the typical Linux distributions only to find that I don't like any of them as a workstation; Fedora, Mandrake, Debian, and Gentoo. Gentoo being the biggest waste of time. It can take over 1 hour just to have a useable system. If you like wasting time, and taking orders you have no understanding of, use Gentoo. If you want to learn something, try "Linux From Scratch(LFS)".
The first valuable skill you will develop while trying to put together an LFS system, is how to compile software from a Tar-Ball. After that major hurdle, you'll have a better understanding of what a "package" means to any one Linux Distribution.
I Love the Command Line Interface(CLI)(this doesn't include BASH, I prefer pdksh; it does what people like about BASH, without the bloat of BASH), and I abhor most Graphical User Interfaces(GUI); Imagine living life with one hand, and that one hand has only one finger, and that one finger is not a thumb; that is the efficiency of a GUI. If you want to be this inefficient, I recommend Mac Operating System Ten(OS X) over anything else; OS X is the most efficient, of the inefficient. If you want to feel in control and learn something, use a CLI to do most of your work. At this moment a piece written by Neal Stepheson comes to mind; In the Beginning was the Command Line. Have something you enjoy to drink and read the work in one sitting. This will give you a better understanding of the available choices you can make.
Of all Operating Systems I prefer OpenBSD. Why? Because they give me the essentials. No more, no less. Kinda like when you are born; evolution has given you "No more, and no less". You are born with what you need to get started, a body, and someone to feed you. From then on, you influence life by the choices you make. With every other Operating System, you are FORCED to live life the way they want you to. Fuck that. I like the Freedom To Choose.
For the World Wide Web(WWW) I tend to use FireFox. For reading Email, I use Mutt. For getting Email, I use Fetchmail. For putting that Email where it belongs, I use Procmail. I don't use a Desktop Environment like KDE, or GNOME; you like driving around with a few tons in your trunk? I sure don't. I use EvilWM for my Window Manager. For media, Mplayer suits my needs; there's vlc and ogle if you don't like Mplayer. You want to play video games? Go shoot yourself in the head and do the Gene Pool a favor.
For what I do, OpenBSD is the tool to choose. What do you do on your workstation? Giving that information would make it a lot easier to make a non-biased suggestion. Hell, you might still be better off with a Microsoft product.
Slax
SuSE
Mandrake
Knoppix
these four are the main seem to be the main live disks and should give you a feel for what is out there, I've used all of these and find them all easy to use, the advantage to Knoppix and Slax are that the Live disks can be used to do a Hard disk install where the SuSE and Mandrake ones can not. If you would like to look at other distros I'd recommend looking at THIS site, as it is dedicated to giving you access to as many distos as possable.
To use these you will need to make sure that you have CD burning software that allows you to burn an ISO image, most does though some burning software likes to play hide and seek so you may have to look for it. you will also need a High speed internet connection to down load most of these.
One other option is to see if there is a Linux User Group (LUG) in your area, usually someone at these will have a live CD laying around for you to have as well as be able to offer help to you while you start out.
this is by no means a definitive list of Live CDs if anyone knows of other please add to my list with your links, thanks.
"Napalm is nature's toothpaste" - Chef Brian
With Linux it doesn't really matter which distro you choose, either way you're gonna have to learn how to use it. Personally, I would use knoppix first to test it out and see how well the hardware compatibility with the laptop is (linux doesn't work with everything), and then either go for SuSE or Red Hat Linux because those seem to be the 2 most well supported ones.
I started out with RH / Mandrake before taking the plunge with Debian. I learned alot more with Debian then I had ever learned with the 2 previous Distros. I haven't tried Xandros, but I LOVED (several big hearts) Corel and would have recommended it to ANYONE.
If you want a windows wannabe avoid Debian. If you want to learn about Linux (GNU or otherwise) then Debian is a great choice.
Vertical
72 CD D7 52 D0 7E D8 47 44 91 D5 84 D1 59 F1 A9-This is my 128bit integer. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
FreeBSD. I've used various Linux distros to know that since FreeBSD installs without a hitch, is well documented, runs Linux binaries, and otherwise does pretty well much what I want it to do and little of what I don't want it to do, why muck about with Linux? I've had an easier time hardening my Windows XP install than getting Gentoo to boot. Linux distroland is a fragmented, convoluted, half-baked piece of crap. The same goes for kernel compilation.
Installing Debian is difficult.
Installing Knoppix is a snap: boot from the CD, run knoppix-installer as root ('sudo knoppix-installer' from a terminal).
Con: you must (re)partition your HD in advance.
Pro: you get an immediately usable Debian system, preconfigured (including autoconfiguring your hardware) with lots of good software preinstalled. Play from here.
I've heard about Linspire (Lindows) and (IMHO)think that there more "we want to make big money."
You're right.
I got a copy of Linspire via Bittorrent. The funny thing about it: the tracker (bittorrent 'server') was linspire.com itself! They not seem to advertise it on the website, but I got the link via suprnova.
The first thing I noticed is: there was NO development tools AT ALL in the distribution. In other words, you couldn't download some program's source and compile it. That was intentional: they wanted users to use Linspire's "click-n-run".
I think this distribution is more centered about this click-n-run service (which is not free in beer) than anything else. The only thing I found interesting is the functionning Wine app already installed.
"...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
I heard MP3 support was removed as well, but I don't know for sure because I use Ogg.
You're right
I dont know for how long MP3 support was removed, but the default XMMS binary coming with Fedora has a fake MP3 input plugin displaying a message box saying """
MP3 support disabled due to license problems from Fraunhofer/Thompson Multimedia
-Fedora Core Team
""" when trying to read a MP3 file. The simple workaround I found is to download a binary package on the XMMS website, it includes a "real" MP3 library.
"...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
Naturally, not all of these things are exclusive of Mepis Linux, but Mepis does headquarter all of them in one easy-to-use installation.
I recently had the pleasure of installing munjoy linux, a variation of knoppix designed just for hard drive installs. Worked like a charm, everything I wanted pre installed or a simple apt-get away (its roots are knoppix, and in turn, debian). Highly recomended! http://munjoylinux.org
Like a poster before me pointed out, get a distro that can download and install software for you. My natural choice is apt, since Ive been a Debian user for many years. Recently Ive had the pleasure to run Fedora on a few systems, and the apt-rpm was installed the minut the box came up after a fresh install. :) Even though apt-get and apt-cache is available, I sorely miss aptitude. Does anyone of you know if its available for Fedora? I only found synaptic.
Give Knoppix a shot, it'll let you get used to a linux environment.
Once you're comfortable, install Gentoo. Make sure you read the x86 quick install notes and do a stage3 install. You'll probably get it done in about 2-3 hours if you have cable/dsl.
I want to say debian is good, but apt breaks stuff all the time for me. Gentoo is far better and much faster.
I would not have recommended this to new users up until about 3 weeks ago, when I installed version 9.1 for the first time. It has changed quite a bit from what I remember, and if you perform the install with the default options, it will give you quite a bit including java runtime and alsa by default. I haven't looked at fedora core 2 yet, but you definately didn't get this with fedora core 1 or debian. The one problem is that the sound is still muted by default, which could throw some people off. But other than that, it has those two really big things people want in the default install, and if they choose to use gnome or kde, they will have a rich windows compatable desktop ready to use. Also there is a very simple and new user friendly book/manual
For what its worth...
I installed mandrake 10.0. First linux install in a while. Didn't have any trouble. Only thing that bugs me is that it claims bringing up eth0 failed on boot when the ethernet clearly works. That and it wanted to install apache 2.0 by default, not the 1.x..x series.
I tested the machine's hardware with knoplix live boot first. Worked very well.
Which kernel do I want? gentoo-sources-2.6 of course. 2.6 because, for example, it does ALSA by default. Do I menuconfig or do I genkernel? I tried menuconfig once, but from now on I'm using genkernel. menuconfig is *such* a pain and if you find you didn't compile something you needed, you'll need to recompile. (somebody will probably reply explaining how to compile a component seperately as a module, but never mind). Genkernel builds too much for your system (i.e. it takes ages) but it's simpler. Syslogger and cron? I have no idea. I followed the recommendations. I haven't looked at any system logs and I haven't set up any cronjobs. That's all I can say. See? Your choices are made for you! Actually, you need to pick a filesystem and partition your disk. That's simple though.