since i knew whats linux and open source softwares about two years ago, im just newbie too , i started with mandrake it worked good
but i don't feel comfortable using it, cause it didn't show me the real power behind linux and the philosophy of open source softwares,
then i tried ubantu, on live CD.
but now i feel so happy with Slackware i think its the best distribution for people who wanna see the real power of open source softwares,and how to exploit your computer the best way.
your start maybe so hard at the first time but i think thats the best way to learn what is a linux operating system, and to get rid of the stupid commercial ideas you learn during using windows. the ease is just for selling as much as microsoft can do, and same for some other commercial linux distributions, just be dare for the first few weeks and u will see another amazing word behind your computer screen,

hmm, interesting. is this...

1) a genuine outpouring of opinion and helpful advice for newbies

or

2) a simple way to get around not being able to post urls on the first post, so the next two threads you immediately post to other sites can have url's in them

i know where my vote is.

Now that's interesting... a spam-human. Haven't seen one of these in a while. Was thinking they were extinct.

*spam referring to commercial spam, and not gibberish/contentless posts (like this one!)