I noticed there are a lot of posts about linux these past few days. I've only tried installing Gentoo and it was a bit difficult at first since there's no GUI to guide you in the installation. You have to print the Gentoo handbook first because it will come in handy when you're installing. If you're looking for a version to start with you might want to avoid redhat and mandrake since you have to buy them cuz they're not free anymore but if money isn't the issue then go buy them. Gentoo is still free but it's again a bit difficult to install. But if you're good in following directions in the handbook you'll be fine.

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I started using a month ago and i was also new to linux at that time. I started to research a lot into linux to find out which is the best for me, and i found out that Ubuntu Linux stays the best out there for total newbies.

The main problem with linux is that many newbies to linux don't know how to install drivers which requires to type in some commands. So the best distribution would be the one which eases this part for the newbies so that they can start learning to use linux.

Ubuntu was the best linux distro that i ever used. It automatically installed the drivers for my sound, LAN etc. and guess what, i just used the live cd of ubuntu and i was able to browse the net just in a few minutes after i booted in with the live cd.

So, i strongly recommend all the newbies to linux to try out Ubuntu.

 

 

 

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I would get MandrakeLinux since it easy even for your own web server. I recommend MandrakeLinux Limited Edition, it includes most stuff. Even you when partition there is an Auto Allocate button to do partitioning for you.

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I have a machine setup with SuSE Linux 9.1 Professional. For the $89 it costs me, I got 2 manuals, 5 CDs, and 2 double-sided DVDs (for 64-bit machines). It took about 2 hours to install it (that's because the computer is old, and therefore, very slow) and I only have about 200 MB left on my hard drive (I plan to resize my Windows partition even more than YaST did during setup). I like the KDE enviroment; it has nice 3D icons, very configurable. SuSE's nice installation and administration tool, YaST, is a wonder compared to Control Panel.
Here are some old but useful articles on beginnig with Linux:
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,113746,00.asp#
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,104693,00.asp

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Gosh, so much suggestions!

I would go for these two steps:

1) Live CD - Knoppix, Slax or Ubuntu Live - get familiar with Linux
2) SuSE 10, Ubuntu or Mandrake - install it

I personally use SuSE 10 with the Gnome desktop environment, so far it is really stable and functional! 60% of all work I do in Windows can be done in SuSE! Remember, SuSE is a 1DVD or 5CD distribution, so if you do a full install, you probably won't have to download anything at all if you want to install any additional programs... Of course, Yast is here to do all the updating, so there's no need to worry about keeping your system up to date..

Remember: You can install any distribution that you want, whether it is a user friendly one, or an advanced one, but if you want to make all your devices work in Linux and configure your Linux system completely, you will have to use the CONSOLE sooner or later!

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there is really no 'best' Distro for you. You need to download them all, test them, and see which one is the best for you, not just 'the best'.

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I bought SuSE linux after reading those PC World articles mentioned above. I was not very educated at the time. But now I am happy with my decision. Sometimes you take what comes. And, yes, the console is very important.

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I'm not at all new to the linux scene.
My experience with it, however, is quite less.
Unfortunately, many of the programs I use were made only for windows.
Quite annoying imo.

However I have tested quite a few distros via livecd.
My favorite was either SuSe or Ubuntu.
Fairly easy to setup and recognizes most of your hardware right away.
As soon as I can make a backup of all my personal files I'll be switching.
I'll try to let you guys know how it goes.

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I would reccommend Gentoo to any user who is really interested in getting down and dirty with linux. Aside from its many features, which I will outline a bit below for you, it is meant to make learn linux from the start. It has a textual based install(pdont get scared though as there is a complete intall walkthrough available). From formatting to installing your Window Manager, you do it all from the command line. This may not sound easy at first, but it actually takes just as long as any other distro install and your system is not cluttered with unused resources and programs.

It also enables you to compile your own kernel for your system, this is also good so you do not have a buch of modules eating resources for hardware that you do not even own. That is better than the generic kernel that most distros are going to.

The best feature however is portage. It is a cache of nearly 90% of the programs available for linux. meaning you can simply install a program by typing for example "emerge xorg". What this does is downloads the source for xorg and compiles it to your system specs, so you get the best bang for your install. It also holds dependency trees so that if you emerge a program with dependencies, it will also search your system and if they are not installed it will install those as well.

If you have any questions please feel free to pm me or ask on here.

Please check it out at www.gentoo.org.

P.S. As a note to the mods, this is all in my own words and not copied from anywhere. I just wanted to outline the key features of this distro for him.

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Personally, I'm a fan of Ubuntu, just because it's so easy to use and I don't know too much about programming or anything like that.

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