Tips for Linux rookies?
 

I was looking into Slackware because a very talented teaching assistant at my school uses Slackware

And when we asked our UNIX professor for a recommendation on distro he recommended Ubuntu, and if we google around for five minutes we all can see that Ubuntu is the most popular distro.

I tried Mint and it was fast, smooth and a sweet pleasure.

I am not worried about screwing things up on my laptop, which already has Windows 8 and some important data, because if something goes wrong and my laptop can't even start, I can run Knoppix in USB stick to log on.

Any important tips for Linux rookies?

Ubuntu tends to be a favorite of rookies. Mint is Ubuntu, and Debian based; all three use the Debian package manager, so once you're familiar with it on one, you're able to manage packages (software) on all. Ubuntu and Mint will have more recent versions of software out of the gate.

I wouldn't jump into Slackware until you're more familiar with GNU/Linux.

To portect your data on the Windows partition, just make sure you tel the installer not to make that Windows partition available under GNU/Linux. You can always change that later with programs with Disk Manager. The downside: you will only have access to that data under Windows, but it will be as safe as it can be in such a case.

Ubuntu, Mint and Debian all have Live editions that you can write to a USB stick, this way once you're started, there's no need to keep Knoppix. Use the live distro that matches the one you're trying to become familiar with and have installed, as if you need it in emergency you'll already be familiar with the tools available.

You should know about free (as in freedom) GNU/Linux distributions, and what free software is, and
additional tips about terminology with explanations. The "open software" expression is very popular, but not everyone knows how it's dfferent from "free software".

Keep it simple and use Mint or “grow your own from seed” and use Slackware or Arch Linux?
It's your decision.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/is-slac...right-for-you/

Dual boot:
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/d...-8-ubuntu.html

Command Line resources:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CommandLineResources

The best tip I can give you, regardless of operating system, is:

DO A BACKUP!

Read a good introductory book on linux.

Your distro manual and support would be of help.

Some docs on this site.

Search LQ for previous questions and answers related to your concern.

Web search your good friend.

A book for newbies;
RUTE

I would say if you just want to install Linux fairly quickly and start using it day-to-day straight away then you may be better off with Mint (my first choice for an easy install as it has non-free CODECs and drivers by default and I hate Ubuntu's desktop, Unity) or Ubuntu.
If, however, you are willing to spend a little longer installing and learning how to set things up then Slackware is a good idea. It's not difficult to install per-se but takes a bit of reading and there are some post-install tasks like creating a user and setting the desktop environment that need to be done. So, Slackware takes a little longer to install and get using but the process teaches you about Linux so is time well spent if you're wanting to learn about the nuts and bolts to Linux.

Well, then what more can you ask for! Mint is a very well known and documented. If you just want to use this as a personal computer then you might as well go for what you like since they are going to all be very similar (function wise) for that purpose.

As far as getting in to servers, then asking the experts here for advice is helpful. But, otherwise, if you like Mint that much for desktop, just go for it.

If you like Mint, I would highly recommend PCLinuxOS Matte. It is a product of Texstar who is a Linux guru. I'm running it on three partitiions on two computers.

But my favorite is PCLinuxOS KDE. I would be pretty lost without KDE.

Start a collection of tips and tricks to help you get out of trouble. There are ways to fix most any problem so keep that in mind :)

Slackware is very good, but it's also very different. The bootloader and initialisation are quite different to those used on other distros, for example. You also need to gather up your own software, as the repository is tiny: the DVD is Slackware.

If you liked Mint, go with it. Ubuntu, for reasons which are partly historical, is the one recommended by journalists, but not so often recommended here.

Read the manual or wiki of your distro.
Try things (always backing up configuration files before altering them!)
Look at http://tille.garrels.be/training/tldp/
Also http://lowfatlinux.com/ (a pity about the spam!)
RUTE is ancient, but still the best guide to the command line and general nuts and bolts: see post #6.

As a very slight advance in "difficulty" try pure Debian in different desktop environments.
Mint produce a version (LMDE) which is based on Debian, not Ubuntu - it's presently a bit dated though.

Is Mint able to download and install each and every type of software available for Ubuntu? with the same sudo apt-get install command?

Apart from the Unity desktop, yes. Mint is based upon Ubuntu (apart from LMDE) and Ubuntu is based upon Debian so, with the odd quirky exception*, everything available on Debian is available on Ubuntu and everything on Ubuntu on Mint.

*I can't say I can name any but it does happen when things are packaged differently or the version of Debian upon which Ubuntu is based is missing that package for some reason. Not anything you ought to worry about day-to-day.

Well then, it is Mint for me

Use linux more and MS windows less. Then you will really learn linux and put the fun back in computing.

Learn some linux commands and then shell scripting, specifically bash. There are many tutorials on linux commands and bash shell scripting on the web and on youtube.