A few questions

Scooter McGee · 07-23-2003, 10:38 AM

Hi,
I'm fairly new to the world of Linux (but well educated elsewhere) and I'm just about to set up my first linux box at home. I was wondering:
a) IYHO, which distrobution is best to learn the ropes on?
b) Guys I work with all suggested RedHat. Is there an FTP install of 9.0, like the FTP install of SuSe 8.2?

nakedjohn · 07-23-2003, 10:39 AM

i'm learning on slackware

koyi · 07-23-2003, 10:45 AM

IMHO, Redhat/Mandrake is good coz you can start to use it once you have successfully installed it. But if you want to learn more about linux, then Slackware/Gentoo/Debian is a better choice.

This may help you.
http://www.distrowatch.com

And yeah there is a FTP version of Redhat. You can download it from their homepage.

Skyline · 07-23-2003, 11:24 AM

My reccomendation would be

Mandrake 9.1

For me - Red Hat 9 is a good second - so the chioce is yours.

PhilD · 07-23-2003, 11:37 AM

From my years in linux, Mandrake is the easiest to use. Suse and Red Hat are coming up a close second now. I started with Mandrake and it made for an easy transition. However, if you are comfortable diving in a little deeper to begin with I would not recommend any of these.

Like I said, these are the easiest to use, i.e. they have wizards and central controls for just about everything. Because of this though, they are not always the easiest to learn the underneath of. Grab Slack or gentoo (I prefer Gentoo) for a good distro that lets, well, requires you to lean not only how to use it, but also how to understand it. These also provide by default a system that is a little more accepting of lower level tweaks and customization.

Well that is my 2 cents. I personally am still on Mandrake. As soon as my connection increases (DSL) Gentoo will be a quick replacement!

PhilD