u sound like u got existenial angst... lol

well to put things in perspective (since reality is what it is but perspective is what u see), some people do in fact find it intimidating... especially at first try. especially if u don't have the moolah to go out and buy whatever hardware to replace what crapped up during your first few installs (rarely happens yes... but it happens... was playing around with booting debian, redhat, mandrake and win98 at one time... really screwed the MBR with lilo... developed bad sectors... and had to beg money from folks and live on bread and water for a month to buy another harddisk.)

and for whatever other reasons they may have. people come here for help... not to get a bashing at about how silly their fears may be. a kinder tone might work better to bring your point across...

i mean existential... hoho

ok.. my 2 cents..

first off, i like mandrake, its great for beginners... last time i used it or tried it was i think 6.5 or 7.0.. can't remember it was that long ago.. cause i first started off with turbolinux.. i never hear anything about them anymore.. talk about a hard install for a newbie at the time. it was easy up until the X install. it was a good feeling getting X to work on it. from there, i installed redhat, due to the fact it was getting popular notes from everyone at the time... or so it seemed.

ok, back to the point. mandrake is good, it comes with great tools for beginners, redhat is good, it comes with alot of great stuff too.. but as i got use to linux, i used both redhat and slackware cause i like the thought of having a system as close to unix as possible. it isn't a hard install as most people say it has but anyone who has used maybe redhat or mandrake or any other distro for a while could easily install slackware. its a harder system to setup after install to get things going, but its worth it in the end i think. you learn more, you don't get a bunch of software your never going to use.. those sorts of things.

i mean truly, some distro's come with gigs worth of software.. how many can truly say they use all of them.. why do you need a dozen or more text editors.. i say, use the one you like and get use to, then you don't need anymore than that one you like.. unless maybe you need staroffice etc to read other peoples and the such...

all in all.. start out with mandrake, get your system working, then upgrade or try if you have the desire.. or try a base install, or try to reinstall mandrake or whatever with what you want.. they do have custom installs on almost all distros now a days.. or you can start out with a so called harder distro.. in the end, if you keep to it.. your going to learn it either way.. unless your just totally stupid or something.. no offense to anyone.. its like riding a bike. once you've done it.. u usually know how to do it forever..

ok.. that was my 2 cents worth...

As I said, I started on DOS 1 on the PC years ago. I actually worked on a system that used CPM. These experiences and the first versions of Windows taught me loads about computers. I think in the quest to make things so user friendly, what gets lost is the Why you do certain things and How you do certain things. Too many people are lost when a program locks up or something isn't working right. Linux may not be as user friendly as Windows or the MAC. But on the same token that is part of its appeal. I loaded Red Hat on an old Cyrix 133 system that had constant problems with Windows 98SE. I've only had one crash with Linux on this system in the 3 months or so since I loaded it (my own fault), yet with Windows 98 lockups were a daily occurance.
Actually, an easy installation is a big part of whatever OS you use. I'm not saying that people should base whose Linux they download or buy based on the installation, but it is important. After trying to install Caldera over and over again, watching Red Hat fly through the installation was a godsend. I get annoyed when an installation stops, hangs or whatever and I have to start figuring out what the cause is. I know many people who would give up and say the software is junk. And that won't help promote anyones software.

Yep, installing mandrake is a snap, installing redhat requires some thining, and installing slackware leaves you shallow if you're a newbie. I am using three of them: mandrake for playing with and trying to break it, redhat for exploring and understanding, slack for a fun to be not windozed. they all add to it.
have fun.

Why did you buy Mandrake 8.1? You could've downloaded all 3 disks for FREE. Although, I suppose that it's a good idea to either buy a distro or donate money to the open source cause from time to time ...

Paul Sterrett

It would have taken a week on my dial-up connection.

Garry Galanti ggallant@gte.net: I felt I was obligated to post this reality. I first tried RH 6.1, then 7.2 because a PHD programmer told me 'ya can't beat that kind-a support.' Red Hat Support is worse than MSoft - because it doesn't exist - anymore. I was even referred to another site. Red Hat would not install at all. Mandrake took 20 minutes. Oh, I still have to get 'HardDrake' unfroze and modem 5610 romping. RH has had big problems with AMD and non-Intel boards. And perhaps IBM, holding too tight hands has something to do with that? gg

Dial up ... I feel for you.

Paul Sterrett

I recently downloaded RH 7.2. After burning the iso's and attempting to install it, only to watch it freeze-up mid-way through the install process, I scrapped it and installed Mandrake 8.1 (which, by the way, downloads with 3 iso's as opposed to RH's only 2) Of course Mandrake was up and running beautifully within 30 minutes.

Paul Sterrett

truly this can't be true.. i have installed about every version of RH on my systems using AMD and never had any sort of problems......... never. But I use Slackware and only Slackware now, its just all around better for advanced users IMHO.

I just installed Mandrake too. I'm using a Logitech Mouseman (the kind with a light instead of a ball) and the wheel doesn't seem to be working. It doesn't scroll any windows. I tried a couple of other mice in the control panel but the wheel still wouldn't work. Anybody have any ideas?

My 2 cents...
The more i get into linux the more i start to feal a difference with the different disto... Linux is the same all around howthow the distro tend to find themselves a 'niche'. bluelinux just make theres clear: first page on the web: BlueEDU is a free operating system for computers in the educational field.
I think that Redhat is more of a enterprise server: less packages but well tested and well tested for security too. The fact that linuxconf is no longer on automaticly is an indication of there server and security trend. By the way, i love linuxconf but it seem that it opens port 98 and could be a breatch on security (the hell do i know!)
For Mandrake, i think where nich is workstation, user frendly gui conf tools and so on... It's a beautiful user machine os. Not that it doesn't do wonderful server but i don't think they are after the enterprise server majority because of the numerous packages on distro disks. Maybe, less tested for security, but again it's only a 2 cents worth comment...

For slacks, your not over helping me guys because the installation is not so hard but for the rest thank god there is a forum!!!
Well, a good trend to start would be to ask what niche do people find top distros in...
A comment...

I have Redhat 7.1 server running on a Cyrix 110 running at 133MHZ. As I said earlier it loaded fine and was up and running in 30 minutes. I loaded it on a second system running an AMD 333 with a PC-CHIPS motherboard. Same scenario.
Now, I did buy my Red Hat directly from Red Hat. I had tried earlier to download iso's of Calderas and SUSE. Neither of which I could get to install. Both froze during the installation process. The same happened with Red Hat 7.2 download. I think the problem may be in writing the iso's to a CD.
I look at the purchase this way. For $139 I got a server addition of Linux. I was looking at $749 for Caldera OpenLinux Server and $799 for the same thing with Windows 2000 Server Edition. And even more for Windows XP. And I didn't tie up my box downloading or have to mess with ISO's. But that is my scenario. Other people have their own ways.
Also, I have to agree that Red Hat's tech support is non-existent. I was a little miffed to find 7.2 was released a week after I bought 7.1. And I got no response from Red Hat on whether they would send me an upgrade. Most companies will give you an upgrade if you buy the previous version within a certain time frame before a new release.

well, it does seems that you encounter problems else than linux...
First, start with checking your iso files with md5summer. Look at www.linuxiso.org for details but is it quite easy to use and it verifies the integrity of the file downloaded. If the file are ok, i would suspect hardware problems.
good luck