Hey! I am a linux newbie. I recently discovered how to setup a webserver in linux. So, I go to install linux. My first choice was Xandros. It didnt work. Ubuntu gave me a bootloader error. Slackware was really hard to setup. Can you recommend me a good distro that is 1) Easy to use and can be dual booted with XP; 2) Good networking support with Windows; 3) Not many CDs.

Can you please recommend a good distro? Thanks!

well i often recommend ubuntu for something easy but if you are really having that much trouble getting it to work you might want to get used to linux a bit first. Try something like DSL which is a liveCD and therefore doesnt need to be installed to your harddrive. Then you dont have to configure the dual boot because you can either boot with the DSL disc in you cdrom drive or with it not.

After you get familiar with linux a bit I would probably go back to ubuntu. I know it had a bootloader error but if you tell us what the error is we would be glad to help you out. It is one of the simpler installations and it also has good package management so you dont have to install everything from source which makes it easier for a newbie.

What is good anyway? Well I like these:
1- gentoo (the one I am currently using and that I like but not too easy to setup) --> very configurable, emerge is awesome
2- debian (i believe this is the most stable linux i have ever used but takes too long to deploy the stable stuff for new hardware so I stopped using it recently) --> very stable, i love apt
3- fedora (i used it for several years and just recently stopped using it. this is the most supported linux i know of) --> good support, too many total system updates (fedora 1, fedora 2, fedora 3, fedora 4, ...)

Thats what i think about "good" distro. I used some others too that are not worth mentioning because the trial period was too short and I had too many problems so I gave up in less than 1 week of use. Good luck!

Thanks a lot for your help! DSL is actually what got me into linuxing. I was looking into Gentoo, but it looks really hard to setup.

Does any of you know if Fedora can easily share folders on the windows network and if it can read NTFS?

Thanks!

While I do like Fedora, you just can't beat PCLinuxOS for quick and easy, IMHO.
It's a livecd which has a tool for installing to a hard drive.
It does have ntfs support and the livecd automatically mounts every partition it finds.
You can also tweak the hard drive system, then make a new livecd which fits your custom needs.

Any decent distro can as long as you enable it in the kernel. I use Gentoo here and I run samba so I have a common interface between windows and linux. My home network is a work in progress and Gentoo is working fine so far. I have my parents upload pictures for me using SSH, friends upload stuff thru ftp, web server, email (almost working have to talk to ISP to unblock my smtp). Since you are experimenting why not try Gentoo? I almost gave up on it but, man, it would have been a mistake. Anyway, all distros have their good and bad points. Just avoid installing stuff from source if you dont know what you are doing, look for the package managers and use them it is faster and more reliable. I tried many distros before i settled with the one I am most comfortable with. You should do the same. Try it. If you have problems ask. People will help you if you know how to ask your questions.

as homey suggested you can try the livecds too. I add Knoppix to my previous list.

Cool! Thanks a lot for your help. I'm downloading Fedora now. I've heard its really good.

This is going to be a frustrating approach for you. Any mainstream Linux distro WILL work. If you don't know why one attempt fails, then trying a different distro might not help.

"Xandros didn't work" What exactly was the issue?

"Ubuntu bootloader error" WHAT error

etc.

Pick any of the free distros at random and stay with it till you get it working.

Well, I posted at the Xandros forums about it. I havent gotten any help that would work. What happens is that it gives you a blank screen when it tries to load the login screen.
[/QUOTE]
Error 18, I think.

Yeh, your proababaly right. I've switched around distros before that way, and I've always came across one that works (except now, lol!).

Thanks for your help.

Your post is somewhat confusing and vague.
I am guessing that "discovering how to setup a webserver in Linux" means you have read it is possible but have not done so yourself since you then go on to state that you are unable to use 3 distributions for vague reasons.
I will assume your goal is to first install Linux and then configure and use Apache (??).
Xandros "didn't work". You couldn't install it? It didn't boot up? The webserver didn't work? This is unclear.
Ubuntu had a "bootloader error". Sometimes these are simple configuration problems that editing a single file can resolve. Did you install the boot loader? Where did you install the bootloader?
Slackware was "really hard to set up". Does that mean you never even got the GUI working or that after you got everything configured you decided it was too much?
Are you attempting to just play with the webserver yourself or set it up for internet access?
Once you get Linux installed and working, starting Apache, should be easy. Using it yourself is as easy as typing 127.0.0.1 into your web browser. Configuring outside access is a little more complicated and for security reasons should be studied some.

Okay, I agree, my posts are really confusing. Sorry! I've got a webserver working before in Xandros on a different computer. The computer I got it working on has a really small hard drive on it and is really old. I want to get linux on one of my other computers. First, I tried to get Xandros on. The installation works fine. Then, when I boot up Xandros, it goes through the boot up process. It says Starting Xandros Desktop and blanks out. Then nothing happens. I know it should load up the login screen. But no problem, I'll just load up ubuntu and everything will work. I got through the install but I get a GRUB BOOTLOADER ERROR 18. Then I try slackware. The installation looked really hard, so I got scared I would screw up something (i got a HDD with important info on it) so I gave up. I plan on using an Apache software suite called XAMPP. I've already forwarded ports and got my no-ip account, so I can view it from the WAN.

I'm downloading Fedora now. I'll try that, and if that doesnt work, i'll work on ubuntu. I am really sorry about these really confusing posts. Thanks for your help!

Sounds like some sort of hardware problem that you will need to identify then.
Sounds like you have your ducks in a row.

Good Luck.

Cool, thanks a lot!

Well, I use SUSE 10.0 it comes on a DVD and YAST is a very good config-tool