need help picking distro
 

Hi,
I have had some trouble getting my Knoppix cd to work. I am a total newbie with linux, and I was wondering if there was an easier one that I could use. If knoppix is the best I will be willing to buy a copy of it. What I'm looking for is E-mails, Internet, Games (I know it is limited), playing Mp3z, yah that is basically it. I also want something that is easy to use, were I could like make my own icons to programs , also that is not to hard to install programs (or is it always difficult). I am a advanced user on WinXP, so I can learn how to do pretty difficult things. I guess what I'm trying to avoid is something that is all Termal Prompts.

Thank your everybody.

This will probably be moved to the distros forum, but anyway:

For newcomers to linux, I would definetly recommend mandrake. It's easy to install, it's flexible, and has pretty good multimedia support right of the box. Also, urpmi is of the best linux package management tools, makes installing software a snap. Mandrake also has a pretty nice suite of configuration and administration utilities that make keeping your computer in good shape easy. Good luck.

thanks!

just putting my 2 cents in:

I usually recommend RedHat for newbies because
the install does a good job of autodetecting hardware,
and by default installs a good selection of software, including
games, although they arent the greatest.
The downside is that RedHat deviates a bit from standard in
the init scripts, etc...but I still would recommend it.

I remember using redhat a few years ago. The install went very easily, but when I started to play around I found that there wasn't any mp3 support installed. Being a real noob, I didn't really know what to do so I sort of just gave up on it for a while. Also, redhat won't install important development software such as gcc on its own, so that can be a cause of confusion for somebody new to linux.

Moved to Linux-Distribution, as it's a better place for a question about pros and cons of different distribution.

Sidenote: kurt9090, is the problem with Knoppix media related (broken cd) or it rather looks like a driver problem? If it's a driver problem, I'd spend some time browsing hardware compability lists of different distros to get one that'd work with your hardware (of course it'd be easiest if you know which piece may cause problems).

Yah,
I have a Pentium 4, (1.5 megahertz). Sound Baster Audigy (not platium). Nvidia, USB 2.0 Card. Iomega Zip Cd Writer (its not a zip, its a burner, weird name huh?). Western Digital 120GB Hard Drive. That's Basically It. I built it myself so I know alot about it.

Thanks! ;-)

Well, right off the top of my head I know that knoppix doesn't have support for the audiy line of sound cards. However, you shouldn't have problems with any other distros. I'm not sure about the rest though.

Processor - OK
Nvidia - OK (default drivers without acceleration, accelerated from nvidia.com)
USB - OK
Iomega Zip cd writer - reported OK for MDK, so should work.
WD disk - OK

In that case, everything should be good and you should be okay to insall a linux distro without any problem.

Mandrake is very user friendly. I'd suggest trying that out, but you might want to wait a few weeks until mandrakesoft releases mandrakelinux 10.0 official. The community version that is out now is a beta so you'll propably encounter some problems. Mandrake also has a good community, for example mandrakeusers.org.

Or you could try SuSE as well, they are just releasing versoin 9.1 (and the 9,1 LiveCD is already out, you could try that and see if it autodetects everything). SuSE also has great gui:s for nearly everything and has mp3 support out of the box (but no dvd support)

hope this helps :)