the question of all questions for a newbe
 

hell, i know im a newbee. i know very little about linux. i am currently in the process of downloading the redhad cd set. not hard becuase ive got cable. ive been using windows for many years and have gotten used to it, but after hearing linux is much better and getting into the server scene i decided to try it. i am building a new computer and was deciding what os to put on it and decided linux. but looking over this site it looks almost like another language. can you guys give me starter tips, commands, links, anything that will help me out. i will be using this forum as i start and thank you for you help.
the newbee
matt

http://tldp.org

i tried rh9.0, but found rh8.0 much better. rh9.0 had much more issues with my hardware i think ... i really dont know - but it really didnt work out.
but rh8 is workin gr8. :)

Well, first off, www.tldp.org is your friend.

the following commands are also your friends: ls, rm, mv, cd.

If you don't know what those are, I suggest using this command,
followed by the above: "man <command>"

I would also ask that you a) google for linux newbies, b) read some
books and c) look/search these forums.

One you start googling and actually using linux you'll start to learn
new stuff.
-vexer

also an opinion, i would recommend rh8 rather than 9, and also just browse through them howtos on that site mentioned, on anything specific you want to get into....also:
here is a dictionary for commands so just click the command you wanna read about and thats it...
heres a page with shortcuts and commands
and heres a page that basically covers everything and more

rh9 has no mp3, and redhat is considered by a portion of the linux community to be bottom line, other love it, I am that first portion, 5 years ago I got slackware, within a month I never used windows again, if you d-load the cd's and eather buy the guide or read it free on there website you should be fine www.slackware.com. and as for redhat, only my opinion, do not bash me and I will not bash you :-P

:scratch: its tough to double click an rpm to get mp3 support :scratch:

some ppl click on "everything", some on "minimal".
it could be a 1 cd install too, could redhat.
its really upto a person to do what they feel like with their linux distro.

it is extreamly hard to double click a mp3 rpm or even obtain it when you install dies on a 2week trip with no internet access on your laptop and only redhat is on shelves!

what are you guys talking about mp3 rpm? and if redhad sucks, im gona go ahead and download slackware. my trial starts this afternoon. so keep clarify on things, you all are being extremely helpfull

redhat comes with no mp3 support for legal reasons, you need to add it in yourself, this can be done by downloading rpm's or sources, but neather come with.
however slackware and most others do have mp3 support.

Yeah, Slackware does (mpg123 hurray!). But anyway... I recommend Slackware 9.0 as well. The installation is really easy, and most problems are quickly fixable. I know people like RedHat because it's a smoother transition from Windows blablabla, but really for learning all about Linux I recommend Slackware.

Well... you know... just had to get my Slacker :twocents: in.

;)

-zsejk

The Linux Newbie Administrator guide is excellent for new Linux users - there's tons of good info at a pleasant level.

http://linux-newbie.sunsite.dk/index.html

redhat = most windows like (crashes more oftne then most linux in my experiance to)

debian = most precompiled packages I have ever seen, you need it they have it ready for download quickly thus it is fastest

slackware = most technical without being to technical, if you want to learn a lot about linux but not everything about every line of code use slack (simple install to) also has easy to use script setting, chain script rather than numbered scripts symlinked everywhere

gentoo/arch = high end users only, install is hard, use is moderate this is for those who want absolute control and knowledge, not very practical eather in a lot of cases everything from source (good concept, I hate the gentoo meathod and have never tried arch)

generic rpm based (suse, gentus, etc.) generally redhat clones with new graphics and mp3 support. windows like, stability, easy, can't do much more than what it comes ready for though.

debian based - Like it sounds

well, i grabbed a copy of both slackware and redhat. slackware is 1 cd and redhat is 3, does that say anything about the quality? most of what im going to be doing though is servers, webpages, and a bit of gaming. help me make the choice

slackware is only 1 cd because it is everything you need and some extras doen ifficiently, redhat is everything you need except mp3 support plus several versions of some things, and also a lot of stuff you won't need, if you are running a server I recommend slack because for redhat servers you would want there server edition, not there free/user editions, in eather distro you would want to compile the server apps from source anyway for security/performance reasons, and in my experiance all server apps (newest versions) compile fine under slack with no extra needed progs, but ion redhat I always have lots of compilation errors. (that was in 7.3 though not 9.0)