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I am getting to the Linux world and trying to figure out how to negin. What kind of linux should I start with? What kind of a book should I get? HOW TO START?
I would say start with fedora debian or red hat, maybe mandriva. there is a lot of info about them in the web, so when you screw up (u will) you have resources.
I am getting to the Linux world and trying to figure out how to negin. What kind of linux should I start with? What kind of a book should I get? HOW TO START?
Thanks,
Well as someone already suggested Mandriva I won't.
So I'll recommend what appears to be the latest/greatest, the "Buntu's" (thats Ubuntu which is based on the gnome desktop, Kubuntu which is based on KDE desktop and Xbuntu which is based on XFCE).
If you are only used to windows, then Kubuntu. If you'd like to try something different, then just install the Ubuntu desktop after installing Kubuntu.
If you can wait, then just google for Kubuntu shippit, they will even ship the CD free of charge (that includes postage), only it takes 4 to 6 weeks for the discs to arrive.
It's based on debian. So it has just about the largest number of available packages of any distro.
It's specific remit is to be user friendly. So as a new user, it should be reasonably straight forward.
Yes, it has a few "quirks". You can't play mp3's out of the box (for legal reasons) and a few other bits and pieces. This isn't a problem. If you installed it, then just looked up "easyubuntu" on google, and follow the instructions, then that just about sorts out all of the possible quirks that you might find.
The documentation is good, theres plenty of community support out there.
As someone who played with RPM based distros (SuSE, Mandriva, redhat, etc etc) this is better. The package management is superior.
There are lots more possible reasons, which I won't bore you with.
regards
John
p.s. Oh and most of the major magazines published in the last 3 or 4 months will have an article saying how wonderful it is - and yes, they aren't far off IMO!
Personally i don’t think it really matters what distro you go for. In my experience any distro will usually have some small problems out of the box and fixing those problems so that you can do what you need (or just want) to do is what getting into linux is about for your average newbie. Saying this, i think take a common distro and just try installing it. I am still a still a real newb and quoting one of the senior members (hopefully not miss quoting) "search engines are gods gift to linux users."
I still have a small bias towards fedora core; It has a large community and fc5 was just so easy to get working on my desktop and laptop even though i have some strange hardware(fake raid).
And, as no one has mentioned it, check out www.distrowatch.com
There you will find the basic information of about 1 billion Linux Distrobutions (yes, that was hyperbole). You can find the most popular ones and less well-known ones.
When it comes down to it, eventually there are very few differences between Linux Distrobutions (package management, init scripts, few other things). The core of the OS tends to always be the same, or varying slightly. Sometimes it comes down to how much work you want to invest in the system to get it up and running.
Distros like Mandriva, the *buntus, Fedora Core, PcLinuxOS, etc all are pretty standard out of the box (again, with small varying degrees). They all have pretty solid hardware detection that can help out a fledgling young Linuxer.
Distros like Gentoo, Arch, Slackware, Pure Debian, LFS, etc all tend to put the power in the hands of the user. While this is great (to me) as you get to tailor your system to exactly what you want it to be, it can be a daunting task to a newbie (and sometimes scare them away!).
I would recommend, as lazyFoot said, picking a distro that is well known and widly used. That should help get you a support base. But pick something that really stands out to you. It's good to try out tons of distros (most of us here have before we finally decided on one to use).
And if you can't figure something out, Google it. If that still doesn't work, search around here. If you're still lost, post us a question. We'll be more than happy to help. Just one word of advice to a newbie. You'll learn a lot more by actually trying to figure out problems on your own first, rather than just having someone tell you an answer. The experience you gain from learning something new is, IMHO, a big part of being a member of the Linux community.
Last edited by DeusExLinux; 08-03-2006 at 01:22 AM.
Yes, it has a few "quirks". You can't play mp3's out of the box (for legal reasons) and a few other bits and pieces. This isn't a problem. If you installed it, then just looked up "easyubuntu" on google, and follow the instructions, then that just about sorts out all of the possible quirks that you might find.
Thanks! This was my very first question after installing Kubuntu (which, by the way, installed amazingly well on my old Fujitsu P2040 with a Transmeta Crusoe chip).
However, I have yet to be able to get an internet connection working, so I can't (yet) download easyubuntu. Once I get that far I'd like to know the answer to a question most/all newbies should have: Where do you "copy and paste" or "enter the following" commands? Through the Run Command? Terminal program?
The easiest way to start would be to buy a Magazine which includes a "Live CD" distribution. With a LiveCD, you can run Linux without actually installing anything on your computer.
You can also get a live version from many of the major distro sites--or from the various sites that sell Linux CDs.
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