I am not compleately new to linux ive used Linux Fedora Core a and 3
Shall i use Fedora core 4 now or any others i havent used any others so i don't know if there better or not

my first distro was fc2, and after moving on to debian-based distros, and then to debian, it is obvious to me what a nightmare the package management in Fedora is, hence my advice would be to go with something debian-based.

here is a test to help you find which distro is right for you:
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

that test is GREAT! it told me my favourite distro when I took it. Go for it!

titanium_geek

there are a billion threads on this topic.
depends on what you want to do, how much control you want to have, if you like to tinker, or if you just want something to set things up for you.

you usually get less bloat and more control with distros that you have to tinker with, but they also dont offer much in the way of hand holding.

personally, i think debian is a good combo of ease of use and performance, great package management, and tons of stuff.
you have to add other sources to your etc/apt/sources.list to get some things you may want for mplayer.
just search these forums when you want to set something up. 90% of the questions you will have have already been asked.

also explore different distros websites and read reviews, or, since they are mostly free, download a few iso's and try 'em out.
check out
distrowatch
for more info on whats out there,
have fun !

That test said i should use Gentoo
Shall i use that or not?

If you are a newbie, I would use Fedora Core 3/4 or SuSE 10.0 or Mandriva Linux 2005/2006

why not? if you don't like it you just try something else.

Im sorta a newbie
Ive used fedora core 3 and 1 and the only think i couldent work out is how to get my RaLink wireless card installed and i think it was something wrong i think ther kernal was too old

Depends. What do you want to do with Linux? Do you want to learn the ins and outs of Linux? Are you looking for a lot of technical info? Are you just looking for an alternative to Windows? It truely is a personal choice what to use.

Me, I'm a Windows SA and I wanted to use a distro that allowed me to get into the meat of the system. I miss not being able to tear into batch files and edit config files by hand. That sort of thing. So I tried out a couple newbie frienly distros and decided they weren't for me. Ended up with Slackware. Love it. Lets me play around as much as I like.

F_M

Im using linux because i tried it out and i liked it and i will use it for servers coding php im learning c++ as well

You are probably technical enough to use any of the distros. Read about Gentoo and see if it appeals to you. If so, give it a try. Also try out Debian and Slackware. Don't like what you try, something else.

F_M

did you answer the questions honestly? if not, go take the test again. Try and change if you can, otherwise try something that is "known" if you want to play and are comfortable with linux, then go with gentoo.

it's all down to personal preference really.

titanium_geek

Ok im just gonna stick with Fedora core 4 i aint got the time to try all of them