best version of linux for a new user 1

[spikestik]

I have ben a MS guy since the start...to remain competative I would like to start learing linux.
Everyone states that it is easy to learn; but I am having some trouble in determining what manufacture and version I should use.

Can anyone give me a suggestion?

 

[jiman]

start with fedora core 2 or redhat you will linux-like operation systems and when you learn more...definatly Slackware

 

[allywilson]

I started with mandrake, then went on to Redhat, back to mandrake, tried SuSE - wasn't a fan, went back to mandrake again...and now I'm waiting fo a new hdd to arrive to go for a stage1 install of Gentoo...I can feel the fear rising in my throat...lol.

Reason I went with SuSE is that it supported 64-bit extensions (have an amd64 - so why not?) - didn't really work out for me. The past day or so I've been reading the Gentoo handbook, and I'm feeling confident enough to give it a whack. Cross your fingers...

Oh, and I forgot to mention I'm a n00b. Don't know much about linux - but I am trying!

Cheers,


Ally

 

[jurgen36]

I just installed the complete Suse 9.2, downloaded the DVD (abt 16 hours) burnt the iso and installed, no problems to speak off. Openoffice would not install but fixed that later. However as it installed with the Grub bootloader it refused to boot up after shutdown. Tried to boot with the recovery disk same thing. Booted up again with the DVD went into repair and reinstalled bootloader, again no boot. Went back to repair and changed bootloader to LILO, no more problems. Could be machine specific, as I use a SATA raid system. Afterwards installed apt-get and synaptic. No downloaded about 8 gigabytes of software from the Suse archives, everything works very smoot indeed. The Openoffice.org seems to be defective on all websites, replaced it with a version from Suse 9.1. This worked ok. Downloaded Doom, Heretic and Quake from the debian sites and installed the games using Alien. All runs smooth.
Maybe this helps somebody. Regards

Jurgen

 

[TimeTraveler]

Here's some hard 'n fast Linux tips.

Mandrake 10.1 doesn't install correctly over hidden Windows partions. For a dual-boot or multi-boot Linux distro, this is not the one to use.

Debian is by far the best distro I've survey'd (RedHat, Debian, Mandrake, TurboLinux). There's a reason it's the basis for so many LiveCD versions. Debian can install to a single partion if desired.

Once familiar with UNIX/Linux, you'll find working without things such as Emacs, regular-expressions, and scripting to be a chore.

LiveCDs are the way to go to get a feel for Linux. I personally like the look and feel of Morphix, but Knoppix et al are all a good way to survey different things. This is, of course, if you're still addicted to the mouse and like pointing and clicking.

I don't have anything against RedHat, but it's not my fave for whatever reason. I think Debian has an edge in managing package dependencies. Debian comes with thousands of packages, plus it doesn't need a GUI to install. The consideration is that not all packages come in Debian packages. However, it's possible to install packages on Debian without using Debian packages, so I'm not sure that's a downside.

Hope this helps.

Sean