Hi. I am pretty new to Linux and I'm looking for the best distribution to help a newbie learn the basics of the Linux OS. I have used nothing but Windows for several years and quite frankly I am pretty tired of it and ready for something new. So far I have installed Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, Lycoris, and Caldera, but everything seems to be really windows like. Is there a basic Linux distro out there I can play with in order to practice some of the basics, etc? Someone mentioned Slackware?

Thanks in advance!
Neil

Mandrake is probably the most newbish distro..

look in the distribution forum as this question is asked all the time..

slackware is the most unix like.. for advanced users of linux..

-trickykid

Thanks for the reply Trickykid. Yeah, I have seen the different posts regarding this topic. My question is a little different though. I'm not looking for the most "user friendly" distribution that is similiar to Windows. I've installed most of those already. Basically I want to learn Linux. I want to learn the core commands and how to use the shell. I think the best way to understand something is to know how it works at the core. Yes, a nice UI makes things easier but hopefully I can just use that as a tool instead of relying on it.

Neil

If you want to learn that way then, go with Debian or (My Favorite) Slackware. Don't think you'd wanna try a BSD but you can do that also. Those two though are good contenders!

Honestly, if you just want to learn a pile of core commands and how not to throttle yourself in bash... any of them and then just don't install X.

Then again, masochism breeds competence, so I'm going with Taz on this one, Slackware!

Cheers,

Finegan

It's nice to see people acknowledging that underneath the brand name and hype we're all basically running the same kernel.

Running Linux without X is really a good way to learn not only how to do things via the command line but that you CAN do everything via the command line. You'll be amazed at just how powerful some of the little applications are.

Another thing that you'll rapidly discover (or not because when it comes down to it you don't NEED to) is that the command line isn't simply the command line. There are a half dozen popular and useful ones in pert near every Linux distro and a gazillion arcane and masochistic shells being cooked up over at sourceforge. If you can learn to do everything you can do with your Windows machine from the command line you'll be in good shape.

Check out the man page for find some time. It's like a whole universe of new ways to look at your machine. The command line is powerful and not very forgiving. Don't run sessions as root in a command line environment if at all possible. People usually have to disregard this warning and learn on their own but: avoid your root account unless you need to be in it.

I recommend slackware for newbies.. the install is straight forward and easy, and once you get the basics sorted out, you can dig in and get your feet wet learning how to go about doing everything..

Debian IMHO has 5 things needed in a Linux distro:

1. Ease of use
2. Power
3. Stability
4. Security
5. Up to date packages (apt-get and dpkg are really nice tools)