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I had tried linux years ago, but I was unable to have the patience to learn it. I would like to try again. I tried Mandrake Linux back then, but noticed their website doesnt appear to work anymore ( redirect ).
I wanted to know, what distro is now good for the first time linux newbie wanting to learn linux?
Hopefully one that has good documentation for those installing it.
I may be installing it on a laptop with a Promise Raid array ( software raid I believe, it is a Sager 8790 laptop ) and would like to get a distro that will work with the raid array doing a duel boot with my presently installed WinXP Pro install ( I have partition magic for duel installs that I have used with Windows duel installs ).
Any help / advice is greatly appreciated as I would like to migrate away from windows to linux, once I feel comfortable in it.
I personally uses SuSE Linux and have found it very intuitive ... but for the brand new person Mandriva is probably the best one to start with. Many of the distros are new user friendly.
THe only thing is, you have to be willing to learn and to have patience. Checking boards like this one can help a great deal.
IMO Slackware is one of the most feature-incomplete or non-existant for a newb. Now that Fedora has become a side-project for Redhat, Mandriva is really your best bet if you want a relatively easy go of it and you have an interest in learning Linux well. If you are only interested in getting Linux up and running and could care less how it works, you may opt for Lycoris, Xandros or Linspire.
I was disappointed when Redhat went the Fedora route. SLackware is a good solid distro but harder to use for someone who is just thinking about or beginning the switch.
My first exposure to Linux was in the late 90's and I have tried many. many different packages including Slack, Mandrake (Mandriva), Linxpire, REdhat (fedora) and I still prefer SuSE.
I was disappointed when Redhat went the Fedora route.
You and me both. While Redhat is entitled to do what they like and especially if it makes good business sense, I was disappointed. It seemed to me that Redhat the company had no desire to directly support hobbyist's and enterprise's free use of Redhat Linux. Surely, they didn't want to spend much time (if any at all to be honest) on something that would not produce any money (at least not immediately).
To be fair though, Redhat has spent quite a bit on money and resources when it comes to Fedora. They provide salaries for some of the developers as well as the hard-wired resources like bandwidth for Fedora's download servers. In a way, they are far more generous than other companies out there but surely they realized they were going to have cut a few lines -- especially the channels that weren't bringing the bottom line up. Now, I hope that Mandriva doesn't go this route but I fear they inevitably will. Please... someone post something quickly that will quell these fears for me .
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