I would not recommend starting with either Gentoo or Arch, if only because they are build from scratch.

It's hard to build a house from scratch if you don't know what you want it to look like when you are done.

Edit: The LQ Slackware forum is recommended by Pat. That's why it's full of Slackers.

What ever gave you that idea? Learning works better when the learner takes control of their learning. If they want everything handed to them then that's fine, if they want to be able to research and go off on their own tangents (I do) then so be it. No one learns the same way as another person, we are individuals and all have different styles. Lumping us all in one basket as learners totally ignores individual abilities.

Try a few distros, see which one you like best. Then settle for Slackware.
Remember, when the world ends next year, only Slackware users will be saved!

It doesn't matter which distro you use, if you want to learn you will. It's down to the state of mind of the individual.

Based on that, go for either Debian or Slackware. Fedora might be an idea also.

I'm not sure I agree completely. OP started off stating that he or she wanted to learn about Linux.

I am also troubled; I feel that "foolish" applied to aspiring Linux users is a less-than-felicitous choice of word.

When I started with Linux, installing Slackware on a surplus computer that someone had given to me, I just wanted to learn something about Linux, much like OP. I did not know enough to have a specific goal. Just configuring up the computer was enough for an initial goal.

Later, when I got a purpose for that computer (self-hosting my website), I learned a lot more because I now had a direction and a frame of reference, which led me to pursue specific things in a more disciplined way.

So, yes, I do agree that learning can be easier when one has a direction and a goal, because it provides an organizer for the learning.

But, yes, I also agree that scatter-shot learning simply for curiosity's sake is also good.

And different persons have different learning styles.

I suspect that, once OP starts using Linux, he or she will find plenty of specific things to pursue. Until he or she tries it, though, he or she may not have enough information to establish specific goals.

If Linux is unfamiliar territory, scouting out the territory may have to come before deciding which hill to take.

1 members found this post helpful.

Debian is your definitive answer.
Learn linux means to take the time to analyze and solve a single chunk of problem at a time, like debian will do for you. It installs straight and most of you computer will work with a touch. Then, any step further that you choose to take to make a single piece of debian work is up to you, one at a time.

I personally never tried slackware but I'm sure you'll be presented will many troubles from the very first time on, which will be frustrating with no satisfaction and no motivation to go further.

Ubuntu is the opposite: you'll learn nothing of general gnu linux but get used to clicking on a bunch of custom graphic menus, just like you are doing now on windows.

Also, as suggestion, take apart the time mania of "I use what will download faster" and take time to study. This is an interesting starting point: http://tldp.org/LDP/sag/html/index.html

How can you be sure, if you've never tried it?

Not having a dependency solver installed by default would be already a big concern to me.

Having started with Slackware and learned about dealing with dependencies when I was so green I didn't even know that they were called "dependencies," I understand your concern.

Compiling a program would throw an error, and I was off searching the web. I almost always managed to find what I needed. If I couldn't find it, I could find an alternative program to do what I wanted to do.

Many dependency problems in Slackware can be forestalled simply by installing Gnome, because it drags in so many libraries.

I found dealing with dependencies to be valuable learning for this newb.

With Slackbuilds.org, the dependency situation has become much easier to deal with. Each Slackbuild software page tells you what dependencies are required.

I had similar experiences to frankbell. Learning dependencies and where to find the packages I wanted/needed was invaluable to me.

If you want to go in slowly, I'd recommend a 'buntu. Don't do Ubuntu, but something with a bit less documentation and support, like Kubuntu, Mythbuntu or Edubuntu: you'll encounter problems and find Ubuntu solutions. You'll learn a lot about linux by "porting" these solutions to your 'buntu.
If you want to plunge right in and figure it out on the way, I'd recommend Slackware or Arch; you need to know how it works in order to use it.
You can also mix these methods by installing Parabola and looking up everything in the ArchWiki.
Before moving to linux, you might want to read this this.

It seems to me this thread should be a poll.

When I started using Linux, I started with Ubuntu. It taught me some very basic things, but was too error prone and caused me various critical software failures, so I moved on. The most useful thing I learned from Ubuntu was: use only serious distributions.

Then, still being a user with little understanding of Linux, I tried Debian. I managed to learn a lot during my time using Debian, even when it has turned into a very hand-holding distribution, because I started interesting in man pages and documentation. Then I became discontent with some points of the Debian release policy (no questions, please), so I moved on. I learned with Debian 80% of what I know about GNU/Linux.

Now I use Slackware, because it is solid, easy to use (in the geek sense) and very reliable, even when it suffers of some lackings which I gladly accept. Of course, I have tried some other distributions, but Slackware is my first choice among all.

So, what would be my advice? I am not sure. In my opinion, most "user-friendly" distributions are an absolute waste of time, as they are prone to problems that will keep you fixing bugs instead of working. This might be considered instructive, but having your filesystem self-destroyed because of a library that has been tested less than 30 seconds by the packager is not newbie-friendly for me. I am not saying that all "easy" distributions are bad, but many of them are.

If you want to take it easy, Debian is a good choice, as it has an excellent package manager and is more or less solid. It's installer is very good, maybe it is the better I have ever used. It is powerful, yet easy to understand if you know some computer (non-Linux) basics. In addition, Debian has a big repository, so it should be easy to the user to find and install the apps he needs.

If you want to start with the heavy artillery, Slackware could be a good option. The installation can be very hard the first time, because it requires you to learn to make filesystems using very "ugly" (yet common) tools. Once it is installed, Slackware is not really that hard to use, but can require you to turn to the documentation for some given administrative tasks at the beginning. The main advantages are (for me) the improved modernness/reliability ratio, the capability of building your own packages in a simple way and the ease for tweaking system components. If you are going to use Slackware and have no prior Linux experience, please use a full install to avoid problems. I personally prefer partial installs, but they require more time and effort to set up and can bring problems you could be not ready for.

That said, I think that what teaches is not the distribution, but your desire to read manuals.

1 members found this post helpful.

I recommend Slackware. First read the Slackbook, or at least have it available for reference. If you prefer to start out not looking under the hood at all, then use Ubuntu. If you decide on Slackware I suggest that you try the XFCE and KDE desktops to see which you like the best. XFCE is simpler, but KDE has a lot of great graphics and features. You can install Slackware with both and switch at logon.

Puppy is great if you just want a live CD to use and don't want to install it on your computer. There is also an Ubuntu version that uses WUBI to install Ubuntu on top of Windows without partitioning the disk.

Other good distros are Debian and Fedora. I never managed to install Gentoo and I'm a programmer. The instructions have to be exactly right to install Gentoo, and I found that I got stuck in too many places with unexpected errors. Maybe I just picked a bad time to try Gentoo.

Both Slackware and Ubuntu have installers that do the majority of the work. Slackware requires a little more work to partition the disk first.