What Type Of Linux Would Be Best??
 

I'm a :newbie: and i am wondering what type of Linux would i need. I would be using it for designing Website's with php and programs with Java.

Currently my pc has windows xp on it, i have 256MB ram, 2.4 ghz intel pentium 4, GeForce FX 5200 with 128MB ram, sound blaster live!.

If you need anymore information please let me know.

Thank you,

Iquil

Hi and welcome to LQ!

I recommend you Fedora Core 2, Mandrake 10, Slackware or SuSe 9.1

Boby

Hi there Iquil!!!

Based on your machine specifications (which is good ;)), any, and I mean it, any Linux distribution will do. They are all the same, in some sort of way.

Peoples usually start with Mandrake, Redhat (now Fedora) or SuSE, for providing easy tools for configuration and installation of programs.

However, if you don't fear the command line, Slackware and Debian are outstanding. They come with practically no tools (a few though, like netconfig, mouseconfig, etc), but if you know what you are doing, I consider them as easy to use as any other distro, sometimes even easier.

I'm using SuSE 9.1 Pro right now and I'm quite happy with it. You might want to check www.distrowatch.com to read some reviews, as well as www.linuxquestions.org reviews section.

Good luck! I hope you enjoy your stay here :)

thank you both i shall give them all a look into :)

iquil; add one more note, not critizing however general asking for best is subjective. if u would take time to research sites howto,s and read on any linux distro u would then have a better specific question. as megaman x &
boby suggested all those distro,s are great providing prior knowledge is on hand. referring to just jumping from W to linux is complex and could be frustrating trying to learn some thing different. advise read anything & everything u r able to for starts. but i am wrong ur post indicates u r knowledgable. my apologies!

there is no need to apologise penguin4. i'm new to linux and what you say is true. thank you for your advise, i have just started to read up on linux and am currently trying to figure out what it is that i need from it. what i do know that i need atm is stability, as i have had too many crashes with windows.

anyways i'll stop rambling. Thank you all.

If you've never, ever used Linux before, then I recommend Mandrake. Installation is a breeze, and it's really Newb friendly.
I'm pretty sure that if you pick the right Mandrake distro, it'll come with all the tools and programs you need to get yourself up and running with php and such.

Mandrake 10 Official was easy to install for me and very user friendly.

iquil; amen to that . even though still operating from w rat now, as u stated
all those freezes,inumerous errors, halts etc,and yes (don,t forget the)crashes. goodby w HELLO LINUX!

SuSE
 

I recommend SuSE, installing RPM's is very easy and the installation itself is a breeze, plus you can install through FTP without the iso image hassle (only for the boot.iso :) )

Im a new linux user myself and i found Suse a great distro