I'm stuck with Winbloze for another month until I can afford my new computer and until then I've been busying myself with finding the right Linux. Yes I am a newbie and though it would be good to go with something user-friendly like Mandy, I'm afraid I wouldn't like it for long. I also don't have the $ or the connection (I can download at a max of 2.2K a sec. ) to try all of the distros, so I want to make the right decision now. I want the most bug-less, good hardware support, and included software. I'm leaning towards Debian because I've heard good things about it. My other two main options I've been looking at is Red-Hat and SuSe which are apparently easier to use. Can someone tell me what they recommend and why? I have the patience to learn how to use a more difficult OS so don't worry about the newbie thing. Thanks.

P.S. Does Debian have good hardware support?

SuSE, easy insatall, seting up your software is easy & most hardware it autodetects, if you have a winmodem trash it for a externel serial modem.

Hi Zander, few things. If you are starting with Linux is better to get any distro 'til you get a feel for it. As far as less bugs, better, hardware, etc. Linux is very good supporting almost every hardware, or can be configured to do so. As far as what distro is better than what, is just a matter of opinion and what is the distro be going to be used for. I'd say 'til you get your new PC get on-line and search different sites for hardware compatibility, different distros. One good point Edward78 made is to stay away from winmodem. They are specifically for Windows, although they can be configured for Linux, but you don't want to spend the time. You'll be alot better getting a serial modem.

Good luck!

Yes, I am aware of the hardware issue, especially with modems. I'm going to build my own computer though, so I shouldn't have a problem with incompatability since I'm choosing Linux compatable parts. I just need to choose a distro that's really flexible and stable. I'm looking at Slackware and Debian, but I can't decide. I realize that most Linux's core innards are pretty much the same, there's still something about Mandrake and Suse and possibly Red-Hat that I can't put my finger on. I'm just not sure that I'd like them. I like to have total control of my system too.

Well, in the defense of the *bigger* Distros [don't get me wrong, now that I
have my Slack set-up on all my boxes I'd never trade it for any other distro]
I have to say that you still have the "full control" there, they didn't replace the
various configuration files with cryptic binaries ... just the graphical gimmicks
are quite tempting ... which is where *I* find they fail. Mandrake for instance
comes with a tool to set-up your box as a server (supposedly) allowing routing,
firewall, proxy configuration but _bloodily_ failed for me since I use TokenRing
at home and the tool(s) are only workable with eth0 ... :}

I haven't tried Debian yet, and since Slack works brilliantly for me probably
never will. However, once I have spare time (and hardware ;}) I might try a
Linux from Scratch someday :}

Cheers,
Tink

ssssssllllllllllaaaaaaacccccckkkkkkkk!!! rules!