HOw easy is it for Newbies?
 

I'm extremely new. I would like to use linux, been using XP. Is debian good for beginners?

try knoppix first.. search around the forums, there are MANY discussions on it. knoppix is good for starting out because it runs entirely on CD and wont be able to mess up your windows partition. It is also based on debian so it should give you the feel for it.

Hi

As you are new to Linux I would recommend you try Suse or Mandrake as they more or less set themselves up.
If you want to try Debian you could start with Knoppix, a live cd that can be installed to your hard drive and is quite easy to set up.
When you have more experience you could move onto Debian which is an excellent Distro.

sls

I started with knoppix ran it for 1 day then dive in for an intense 2 weeks of hell getiing debian up and running...I didnt want an easy time I was looking to learn

Diving head first into the system is the best/worst way to learn Linux. A good thing to have when do this, is a seperate computer with Windows (any version) on it, that will allow you to connect to the internet. That way when you run into a problem you can quickly look it up on Google, or ask here.

Mike

yeah its better to try first a distro based on debian like libranet , knoppix , mepis (also livecd and very good) , lindows , xandros

how easy is it for nebies
 

being a newbie also like afew plunged in head first. but
bought afew text books then some. read n read til confidence crept in. jumped in to linux website to learn
some more n more still not a guru far from it this learning
curve is like climbing k2. but love that challenge! ok enuf
selling. lucky had subscriptions to pc mags an acquired
distros free trial basis. saw them thru w98 bang hooked.
decided buy mdk 8.1,9.2 plan 10. since ms is abandoning
us with out upgrade to xp or some thing else nix for me.
got tired on the dependance MS programmers n flaws.
find home here with linux and all distros. My suggestions
acquire as much info from any where on any linux subject an flourish with new os of future.

I like Debian. I think you would too. Installation is more hands on and takes patience. Once intstalled, I've found it better than other distros I've used. (My 2 cents)

As others have stated, you might want to give Knoppix a try first and perhaps Morphix. Both Debian based live-CD's that have an option for hard drive installation.

I believe it depends on the type of user you are. If you are an advanced user, try something a little harder like Slackware or Gentoo. If you are a beginner > novice user, try Fedora or Mandrake. Debain is probably somewhere in the middle. There are many different distributions of Linux, these are just some main ones.

Re: HOw easy is it for Newbies?
 

debian is definitely not for a beginner.....but Knoppix Live CD is great....you will leqarn the basics making debian a viable upgrade once you know what you are doing...and without having to start all over again...

Debian and beginner don't mix. It's an awesome distro once you get it installed, but installing Debian is the most difficult of all distros. Ironicly, Debian is the easiest to keep updated. All I have to type to make sure my linux box is up to date is:

# apt-get update; apt-get dist-upgrade

For a comical account of someone trying to install Linux, check out this url I randomly found the other day. http://www.lanceandeskimo.com/paul/linux1.shtml

how easy is it for newbie
 

utanja; how ever much you may know about working
with software the hitch is knowledge is never enough.
more is better. agree with Gameboyhippo some of this
linux os`s are complex, try gbh & my suggestion: mdk 10
[new] ,9.2 ,9.1 even 8.1 which am learning on. read my
previous message how i did it. at any method WELCOME to linux.

Re: how easy is it for newbie
 

in case you did not read my signature. :rolleyes: ..i am running debian sid on a 7 worksstation debian network....my only comment was that i thought knoppix was a good intro to debian for a begiinner....i have been runing linux since many years bacj ( RH v 5right up thru fedora core 1) and only switch to debian because i did not like to route RH was going and getting so commercial...
thank you for the welcome anyway...i am a newbie in this forum but not newbie to linux...infact before linux i use an NCR tower with Unix system V......:)

i concur with untaja, it is not for newbies unless they have time, time to RTFM a little bit or at least to understand quickly basic commands and so on. That's why most of the time a newbie who wants the easy way will run knoppix at first till he get used to the debian way. A newbie generally just want to see the desktop, listen music etc... but what happen if you have to compile immediatly the kernel, edit configuration files to make X work with a nvidia card for example, use wireless proprio drivers,etc...
That's why i say that is not for a newbie, but when you know a little bit more linux it is very easy do it all.

Why does everyone say Debian is so hard and not for newbies? I'm just wondering about this.

Maybe it's the type of user I am, I like to get in there and learn all I can about the system and setup. I made sure I NEVER set anything up in a GUI, always the console. That way I know whats going on and understand it better. The only thing I've ever setup in a GUI is a GUI based program that has no console ability. The initial setup is a little more involved than some other distros, I agree with that, but for me Debian was very easy to learn and use. I haven't run into a problem on my system yet that I haven't been able to fix in debian. This wasn't so with some other distros I've tried.

I can't find any distro that runs as smooth with their installers as compared to apt-get. There are some that are close but debian has them beat in my opinion. The hardest thing I've found with any linux distros is installing new software, like with rpm or from source, where you have to track down and install dependencies to get your package installed. This can get frustrating and cause the casual user and newbie to give up. Apt-get solves that problem almost entirely. The only time there is a problem is if you try to install from a source then you may have to fill some dependency, but you can most likely find that with apt-get and problem solved.

My recommendation for a newbie who wants to learn and use linux is debian. I think it's so much easier based on my experience. Maybe I'm just lucky in that respect, but I think it's easy and very newbie friendly. It seems a lot of people don't agree with that from what I've read. Like I said though, in my experience I disagree with that. I'm just wondering why it seems so few others have had the same experience I've had with debian.