I'm looking at getting a new laptop this summer and i'm torn between an apple ibook 700 and any new laptop that will run linux. I've only ever used Red Hat and it was a bit unfriendly so I'll probably get SUSE or Mandrake. But I don't know which will serve my needs best, I surf the net, listen to mp3's and watch films on my computer but I want to learn more about network admin and internet security. It has to be a laptop because I can't buy a decent desktop where I live. I liked the simplicity of a mac you know unix based but great simple GUI.

So my questions are which is better to learn for future networking use Linux or OS X?

Which are the most linux friendly laptops you can pick up in your local compusa?

Should I get a cheaper Ibook model so that I have enough left to get a decent desktop for linux and windows use at a later date (We're talking 6-8 months for the desktop.)?

Just give me some ideas and direction.

Thanx

Well you can get the best of both worlds afaik. I believe that other (like alpha,sparc, ppc) versions of Mandrake are available for Mac processors. So go ahead and get that Mac, and then throw a dual booter on there.

Anyone know different?

you say you can't get a decent desktop where you live....why don't you just build your own. Pricewatch is a great place to get all your components, then maybe you could buy two systems so you have a dedicated client and server

Well if I was going for linux I'd rather have it on a pc so I can save money, secondly can't by part either there to expensive here I can build one or two when I get back to the Uk but I have no idea when that will be.