I want to make a general request to the newbies using the board to do something for us...

First, use the search function of the board,... that goes without saying...

But more importantly, If someone tells you something that actually helps,... PLEASE RESPOND and TELL US SO...

Most of us here help out of a commitment to Open Source in general and Linux in particular, and like to hear if our suggestions do any good.

I don't know if this is appropriate for this forum or is more appropriate for General,... but I'm stating it here because I think the Linux "veterans" here would be in agreement that we would like to hear if what we suggest works.

Also
1. If you are installing for the first time and have problems,
let us know where you got the CD/DVD from :-
a Did you burn it yourself and where did you get the iso from
b A freebie of a magazine cover
c Did you purchase it from somewhere

2. A little bit of info about your computer specs goes a long way
Processor and motherboard
video and sound cards
chipset if known

3. and unless its a real problem for you, your location can be a big help too, if you live in Timbuktu then theres no point recommending you buy gear from a site in the US. And there may be a Linux-user-group near you !

floppy

I think I speak for a lot of newbies out there when i say that it would be next to impossible to even install linux without help from forums such as these.I have friends who have been linux users for some time and know how to install and run linux, and using their help I could have installed and run linux, however using this forum Im happy to say that I've installed ( today is my first day ) linux all on my own.
What I'm trying to say is, by doing it on my own, using instructions, comment and help, i'm actually learning....i could have just let someone set it all up for me.
I appreciate all the help given by members and linux veterans...
thankx !

More Stuff:

1. Not sure which distro to use? Personal preference. Look at distrowatch.
2. Install does not work. MD5checksums
3. Is my hardware compatible? look in the HCL.

ok well, heres as much as i know...
1. I got Linux Fedora Core 3 from a magazine cover....the magazine is "Digit" -India.
2.I live in India (obviously).
3.I have a Intel Pentium 3 1GHz processor, with an Intel 815 Chipset(?)
4.I have a nVidia GeForce 2MX/MX400 Graphics Card
5.Seperate DVD, CD-RW drives.
6.A sluggish cable internet connection

I agreee - doing it yourself is the only way to learn.

My box is an ex-windows 800Mhz Duron processor, with an Nvidia ge Force with 32Mbytes of Ram, have a SB sound card and an ActionTec win-modem that I haven't tackled yet - 80Gig HD, generic CD-ROM and 3 1/2" floppy- 256Mbytes of MB RAM.
About 3-years back I received as a gift, Caldera's Open-Linux using I believe 2.3 kernal. It was automatic and I didn't learn much about Linux. When it crashed I didn't bother with it anymore. Two years ago I downloaded Debian 3.0 Woody - just getting around to install it - totally different animal. I live in NW USA.

I agree totally, tell us if we helped.