Back around November I had first heard about Linux and found out it was free. So I searched infoseek for "Linux". I came across a page that said Get Linux! I loaded it up it had a paragraph about Linux at top. At the bottom were links to several different Linux distributions and some information on each one. After checking the homepages of Slackware, Redhat, a few others, and Debian, Debian was the one that I liked the best.
I downloaded the base system and began the installation. Taking the advice of the page with the links, I already had a great deal of information about my hardware written down. The install went fine.
After that, I messed around with the command line a little bit. Having alot of DOS command line experience helped. I tryed to install Netscape and dselect ended up installing X for me also, which I had intended to do at a later time but it was fine with me. I found out I had to download Netscape from Netscape's FTP, but that didn't bother me.
I began to read the user tutorial at Debian's website and then a number of HowTOs at linux.org. Of course, I did have a year of experience with DOS and a few years with Win 95, trying a Microsoft alternative was fun, and not that difficult. Lots of documentation was there, you just need the base skills, interest, and you have to be ready for lots of reading.
Since then I have had to re-install Linux a few times, and I have tryed one other distribution, Slackware. (Which, I thought, sucked compared to Debian.)
Bottom line? Anyone who wants to try Linux, and is willing to put in the effort, should have no trouble with Debian. I was surprised to hear (On Slashdot) that Debian was a "advanced" distribution. It makes me feel like RedHat must be aiming for Win95. However, if you want something that _always_ works the first time, Debian (and probaly Linux) is not for you.
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Back around November I had first heard about Linux and found out it was free. So I searched infoseek for "Linux". I came across a page that said Get Linux! I loaded it up it had a paragraph about Linux at top. At the bottom were links to several different Linux distributions and some information on each one. After checking the homepages of Slackware, Redhat, a few others, and Debian, Debian was the one that I liked the best.
I downloaded the base system and began the installation. Taking the advice of the page with the links, I already had a great deal of information about my hardware written down. The install went fine.
After that, I messed around with the command line a little bit. Having alot of DOS command line experience helped. I tryed to install Netscape and dselect ended up installing X for me also, which I had intended to do at a later time but it was fine with me. I found out I had to download Netscape from Netscape's FTP, but that didn't bother me.
I began to read the user tutorial at Debian's website and then a number of HowTOs at linux.org. Of course, I did have a year of experience with DOS and a few years with Win 95, trying a Microsoft alternative was fun, and not that difficult. Lots of documentation was there, you just need the base skills, interest, and you have to be ready for lots of reading.
Since then I have had to re-install Linux a few times, and I have tryed one other distribution, Slackware. (Which, I thought, sucked compared to Debian.)
Bottom line? Anyone who wants to try Linux, and is willing to put in the effort, should have no trouble with Debian. I was surprised to hear (On Slashdot) that Debian was a "advanced" distribution. It makes me feel like RedHat must be aiming for Win95. However, if you want something that _always_ works the first time, Debian (and probaly Linux) is not for you.