If you are a Linux newbie, I think one of the best ways to go would be with a boxed solution. SuSe is a pretty good distrubution, is backed by Novell, and will give you just about all you could ever hope for on a bunch of CDs or DVD. As a boxed solution, it comes with basic manuals hardcopy and all the manuals plus extras on the CDs and accessible once you have done the install.
There is a bit of controversy about Novell's recent deal with Microsoft but that might end up being a benefit to a mostly Windows user.
A lot of people will recommend a "roll your own" solution but for most people getting into Linux for the first time, that might not be the best answer. You can always switch later - and that's one of the benefits to Linux - it's free. Only the boxed solutions cost and not very much compared to Windows. If you know how to download and burn ISOs, you can go Fedora, Ubuntu, etc., and are at least a little familiar with GRUB, RPMs, YAST, etc, you may well want to go with the others.
But otherwise, I'd suggest SuSe in a box.
I can't say much about PalmOS now since I've been away for a while, but it used to be a really nice OS to develop for. The MetroWerks CodeWarrior environment really worked well for me - in spite of a few glitches. Also, the way the PalmOS worked was really nicely done and easy to code for once you understood the method behind the madness.
However, I know a lot of us left the PalmOS ranks when Handspring killed the Visor. We were doing hardware development for the expansion slot and the serial port and the platform was really nice to piggyback on and use as a display, data storage, etc. But when Handspring left us all high and dry, I know a lot of us went elsewhere.
Don't know what percentage we were of the overall ranks, but there was some amazing innovation and really good ideas being pounded into products that just evaporated and took a whole market segment that had been on the verge of really taking off with it.
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AMEN.
If you are a Linux newbie, I think one of the best ways to go would be with a boxed solution. SuSe is a pretty good distrubution, is backed by Novell, and will give you just about all you could ever hope for on a bunch of CDs or DVD. As a boxed solution, it comes with basic manuals hardcopy and all the manuals plus extras on the CDs and accessible once you have done the install. There is a bit of controversy about Novell's recent deal with Microsoft but that might end up being a benefit to a mostly Windows user. A lot of people will recommend a "roll your own" solution but for most people getting into Linux for the first time, that might not be the best answer. You can always switch later - and that's one of the benefits to Linux - it's free. Only the boxed solutions cost and not very much compared to Windows. If you know how to download and burn ISOs, you can go Fedora, Ubuntu, etc., and are at least a little familiar with GRUB, RPMs, YAST, etc, you may well want to go with the others. But otherwise, I'd suggest SuSe in a box.
I can't say much about PalmOS now since I've been away for a while, but it used to be a really nice OS to develop for. The MetroWerks CodeWarrior environment really worked well for me - in spite of a few glitches. Also, the way the PalmOS worked was really nicely done and easy to code for once you understood the method behind the madness.
However, I know a lot of us left the PalmOS ranks when Handspring killed the Visor. We were doing hardware development for the expansion slot and the serial port and the platform was really nice to piggyback on and use as a display, data storage, etc. But when Handspring left us all high and dry, I know a lot of us went elsewhere.
Don't know what percentage we were of the overall ranks, but there was some amazing innovation and really good ideas being pounded into products that just evaporated and took a whole market segment that had been on the verge of really taking off with it.