Im new
 

Im new to Linux and I was wondering where to download it and how big is the file?

You can find it right here-
LQ ISO

Mandrake may be good for a newbie. Fedora is good for a bit more experienced user. Your mileage may vary.

~Sarav

download at:
http://iso.linuxquestions.org
http://www.linuxiso.org

the file is ~700 mb per cd
most distros come in 2 or more CD's or one DVD (couple of gigs) (aside from live distros = 1 cd)

There are also smaller stripped down and specialized versions listed at:

www.lwn.net/Distributions

and

www.distrowatch.com

Some are as small as one floppy disk.

As far as full sized distributions, with Mandrake listed above I also would recommend SuSe/Novell linux, and Knoppix (live bootable CD that works great considering it's running entirely from a CDROM, it also will install to a hard drive using a hard-to-find command). If you need more Windows program compatibility and don't mind paying for it, you might try Xandros because it includes "Crossover Office".

Depending on your location, you may pick it up on the front of a good computer magazine.
Thats how I got into Mandrake and then Smoothwall. Here in Australia are mini-books that often have Mandrake or Fedora on them.

The latest Mandrake runs into 4 CDs so have a look around your nearest bookshop.

live long and prosper
floppy

I would suggest the you try first running a LiveCD. Basically, you download an ISO image and burn it to CD. Then, with the CD in the drive, reboot. If your computer is setup to boot from CD, then it will run the Linux distribution from the CD and you can try it out without even installing.

As to which one to choose, well, my preference is SimplyMepis. You can find download mirror links on mepis.org. Or go directly here (ibiblio) and download SimplyMEPIS-2004.04.iso.

Once you've downloaded the ISO, burn it to CD as a CD image (not as a file).

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

By the way, most Linux ISO images are 700 MB. Really BIG! for a dial-up and still pretty large even with broadband. Perhaps, if your connection is slow, it would be easier to have a friend with fast Internet access, download and burn it for you.

--
Skip

You should go nab bittorrent, people running bt clients usually have fast connections, so it'll be pretty fast.
Distro disks are usually around 600mb in size.

Try something like Slackware, it's nice and quick

EDIT: and by the way, you only need one disk for Slack :D Though there is an optional second disk.

yip, i was just typing that : get Slack.
simple and easy ( well....you've gotto type instead of clicking yourself a RSI-arm )

and for any Q.'s, the Slack-forum on this site is very much alive...
( well....a lot of forums here are also.... :) )

egag

one more place to look for a good distro, in my opinion, is http://linux.org . they have a great listing of all sorts of distros, from those that fit on floppies to the more mainstream, five-cd distros.

personal recommendation: slackware

thanks
 

I found the one I want and once i get a blank CD-R im going to burn it and use it. Thanks!:)

Which distro did you go with kafei? And just to satisfy our curiosity, why did you decide to try out Linux?

Im going to use Slackware and the reason I was going to try out Linux is because I have a computer that I need to erase the hard drive and I wanted to try out something new instead of Windows, I also heard that Linux is a very stable OS that doesn't crash as often as Windows.

Well welcome aboard! And yes, you can almost say it NEVER crashes. At least it hasn't for me yet.

i'd also advise you to take a look at distrowatch, it has a lot of useful information about various linux distributions.