Hey guys, I'm new here. Just returned from Iraq in October, where I did network administration & PC repair/support. Mostly Cisco routers though. Lately, I've been getting bored with Windows, and since it seems most Network Security stuff is built on *nix these days, I thought "hey, what the hell, why not check Linux out."

Basically, I need some advice. How do I choose from all the 'flavors' out there? I don't mind learning new stuff, but I don't know jack about *nix, except for a few commands (pwd, ls, cat are about it). I would REALLY like to do a dual-boot for a while, so I can keep Windows XP for production, until I'm comfortable enough with *nix to switch over.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice.

- stephan

Stephan, why don't you spend some time browsing the Distrowatch archives/reviews/... There's plenty of general info around there.

Hey, thanks - I'll do that.

- stephan

Dual booting is a good idea.
This screenshot page shows install screens and some other stuff for a lot of distributions.
Read a command line tutoral or two.( 1 2 3 )
There are free distribution downloads you can try.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux-General and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Thanks for the move XavierP, much appreciation.

I pulled out my old Unix/Solaris notes today and started trying to remember stuff...like Cat and pwd.

Thanks 2damncommon, those tutorials are great, especially the LinuxCommand.org one.

- stephan

The LQ Bookmarks has a load of links to online information and tutorials. Also, if you are looking for opinions, I would search LQ for "which distro", you will see that there are pages and pages of opinions on distros ina variety of situations.

I'd say your best bet is to try several Linux distros, then decide for yourself which one best fits your needs/preferences. Good luck with it and welcome to LQ