Good day to everybody. I'm a new user here and a Linux virgin in general. I'm seriously considering the switch to Linux OS and have done some reading about it to get a place to start. I'm educated in computers and have a very good knowledge of software & hardware as far as the Microsoft-based things are concerned; but know little about Linux.

I'm very interested in trying Linux on my system; but as I'm sure you can imagine, I' feel almost bombarded with all of the different software packages and distrobutions, Kernels, etc. I'm hoping to find a knowledgable individual that might guide me on the right path to find that distrobution I'm looking for.

If anybody out there has a good working knowledge of Linux and it's many avenues, please contact me. I'd greatly appreciate any help you might be able to provide.

Thanks!

try this http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

Kubuntu
http://www.kubuntu.org/

Mandriva
http://www.mandriva.com/community/mandrivaone

PCLinuxOS .92
http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/dist...glish/preview/
ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/distr...glish/preview/

This is the distro I use and recommend, Why because it works right out of the box. No need to configure Everything, everything just works. It also comes as a 1 CD install that is a live CD that you can install later if you wish.

Mephis
http://www.mepis.org/

Blag
http://www.blagblagblag.org/download/

if your still unsure of the distro, try these Distro choosers

http://eedok.voidofmind.com/linux/chooser.html
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/
http://polishlinux.org/choose/quiz/
http://desktoplinuxathome.com/distro.html

The link acid_kewpie gave is good, also distrowatch is a good resource to find out more about distributions.

When I started out I found this guide which I found pretty helpful. There's also a lot of documentation on the linux documentation project. And you've already found a good resource here. Looking through old postings is a good way to learn how to do things.

Good luck

Start out with a few live CD's to try out on your
computer. It's a sure way to find out if your hardware is compatible with the distro.

If you find a distro you like enough to install to your hard drive, try to stick with it awhile before
trying out other distros. Study a little bit about your Linux file system.

Learn the Command Line Interface (CLI). Here is a link that I think will really help you to do that.

http://linuxcommand.org/


After doing the above, you may want to test out more distros to find the one that you can be satisfied with. Knowing how to get around in Linux
to start with makes it easier and a lot more fun.