Mepis, Kubuntu, Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS (in that order). All will do what you ask very nicely.
I use Mepis at home and it has been bulletproof.

>> "If you're the type of guy who gets intimidated by nameless trolls telling you you have something stuck in your ass LOL whenever you criticise Linux, then you might well be influenced by Usenet's endless stream of rubbish enthusing about difficult and unsupported garbage like Python. But crap is crap, and if you enjoy having to rely on voluntary help given by anonymous entities on the web, then you should stick with the crap you love.
BUT: there are no prizes for successfully installing (LOL) and using Python. You just get imaginary status from an anonymous surrogate peer group, which just happens to consist of the aforementioned nameless wackos."

dont give up too easily , you need some trained "skills" when using usenet ... and ... i think the relationship between the usenet and the "non-usenet" is the similarity between blues music and rap music , i mean the relationship between the anonymousness and the unanimousness ...

anyway ... with whatever linux distro you have chosen and installed , i guess(hopes that i'm not too wrong) that sometimes its better to try it out yourself doing straight python or straight tcl or straight perl firstly if you want ...


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Alred thanks for the advice but to be honest it's just not going to happen, despite my best efforts. There is too much to learn in this now-fully-fledged Linux, for a complete beginner. I'm more than slightly dubious regarding the pattern to be observed at this website (however well-intentioned some participants may be), which is something like:

1) Newbie asks for help (and the request for help itself always reveals some determined effort to understand the subject matter);
2) Expert (and we don't know if it is an expert - could just as well be a 12-year old kid as someone else commented) condescends to kindly give advice which may or may not be accurate to resolve newbie's problem;
3) Newbie's problem is resolved as a result of applying the advice.

It's just too much like a fairy-tale story every time - too many happy endings and I just don't buy it. I am not a fool and I realise that real-life events don't have so many happy endings. I can't possibly be the only one frustrated with Linux. I'm not going to pretend to be positive about Linux, just because it provides the best OS environment for my system in comparison to any other OS right now.

Regarding Python, it's not just Python or other fashionable new languages. To get to grips with Linux to a standard to which I would be comfortable, I would have to learn much much more, and Python would just be icing on the cake. For instance, I want to be familiar with the inner workings of the kernel. Now that it's millions of lines long, reverse-engineering might take a bit longer than it did for the people who did it before.So what they're saying now is: if you're a newbie get the most bloaty top-five distro you possible can to make things "easier" - just don't complain about the unwieldiness and complexity of Linux (cos we'll be the experts and you're just a dumb user).

Essentially, all I have to do is dig a little deeper and ask a few more questions, and I'd get 20 different sugar-coated versions of "RTFM". So what I'm saying is I reserve the right to tell the truth about Linux and I have nothing but contempt for people who make it out to be the perfect OS that it clearly is not, but eventually from extensive unrewarding private study that should not be necessary for an OS user I will come to understand all aspects of Linux.

>> "... and I'd get 20 different sugar-coated versions of "RTFM""

they are ok actually ... probably what they want to say is that they are puzzled at the questions being asked like "how could this guy couldnt find out the solution on this sort of problem on himself eventually within that few days(or weeks ... it doesnt matter) of having problems ??"

all i can say is try having 2(or 3) good and working pc , get a hub/switch and install 2 net cards into one of them , get ready yourself a big and fat distro , get some linux books and force yourself to use only 28k modem and visits bookshops and libraries more often ...

even if you cant stand using 28k modem or you simply and totally cant live without somekind of broadband connections ... the aforementioned "attitude" can still be trained and conform to and could be a lot easier on the efforts put into problem solving ...


ok , thats all i know and could guess at ... in fact things are getting more and more _mushy_mushy lately ...


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I've saw many problems here that just kinda hit a dead end, with the poster posting several times something isn't working, and no solution being in the thread. Now granted, they may have moved on, solved it themselves via google, etc. Personally, I've been able to solve all my problems with a combination of help from here at LQ, IRC, and Google.

Its like anything, you get out of it what you put into it. Now, I can have Ubuntu up and running on my PC in a little over an hour. Thats all of my backups restored, personal software installed, multimedia codecs, etc. I recently put Xubuntu on my laptop and again, took me about an hour.

Sorry you feel its a fairy tale, but your bias is crystal clear(doesn't work for you, a PC expert, so no way it works for a number of other people)...

There's a success stories forum here on LQ, read it. They can't all be lies.

IGF

I empathize with the frustration with learning Linux--or any other OS, for that matter--but the above is simply not an accurate picture.

First, the patterns at this site are all over the place. The one you describe is actually in the minority. What bothers me the most is the guy/gal that puts up one post, gets a few answers or requests for more info, and it then never heard from again. We will never know if they succeeded or failed.

Even when we go through several rounds of clarification and workig through options, we sometimes never get feedback. Along the way, the thread may start to digress into something unrelated to the OP. (And that's OK, because we all learn new things.)

And then there are the complainers: "Why is this so difficult?" "Why can't I get better help?" "Help me find reasons why my problems are someone else's fault."

I find this to be one of the best forums of its kind that I have ever seen. There are people here who can answer just about any clearly stated question, provided that the OP is willing to spend a few minutes providing details and diagnostics. And there are surely many like me that can sometimes provide answers, but mostly are just learning.

I see people every day who really have no choice but to run Windows, and I see what happens if they do not have a good support system. Linux is much more about choice: Very few end users are required to use it, any one who uses it is free to change and tweak to taste, and no-one is ever required to deal with places such as LQ.

OK, I read your posts, "Linux is Not Windows" and Distrowatch.com. I selected, downloaded and installed Ubuntu. I will provide my first impressions later... If you're interested

Please do.

That's a heckuva good start. Lots of people never get that far.

I suggest you go with Ubuntu (click here for the website). Ubuntu is the most used Linux distribution and also the easyest and for free. For help regarding Ubuntu I suggest you go to the Ubuntu Forums. Linuxquestions.org is great, but the Ubuntu Forums is better if you use Ubuntu. Ubuntu has everything you need and more.

Edit: There are some dissadvantages in current version of Ubuntu: there are no official drivers for graphic cards and there are no propretairy audio codecs. The upcomming release of Ubuntu will include both.

Hello every body i just installed redhat linux and what to learn more and more about it kindly guide me how can i become expert

Are you using Red Hat for desktop use or do you want to be a system administrator? I am asking you this because Red Hat aims at the enterprise market.

currently i'm using desktop but i want learn everything about linux

Since you are probably moving from Windows(?) you need to know that unlike Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista Linux is not solely made for graphical interfaces. It's more like Windows 3.1/95/98 that uses a graphical interface on top of a commandline, wich in Windows is DOS.

Because allmost nothing in the Linux world is standardized it is good to learn how to operate Linux from the command line first.Click here to learn.

The graphical user interface on top of Red Hat Linux is called Gnome. To learn Gnome you can download the PDF by clicking HERE.

If you have learned how to operate Linux from the commandline and using Gnome... come back for more

risan and vincent;
You guys have just started a mini-thread inside another......
risan;
Look for the "new thread" button--don't introduce yourself by diving into another thread.

Now:How much time do you have? The last time I found someone that knew everything, they were dead. Why not become an expert instead? They are not expected to know as much....
Seriously, one step at a time.....Read books, push buttons and ask questions here (in new threads)