With Ubuntu it is centered around newbies. With Slackware having a little more knowledge is helpful.

Slackware is great but think of it as the next step up for you. No need to rush, Slackware is not going anywhere. It is immortal :)

i just installed those debian 5.0.3 dvds and it said it had a kernel error and to sent the report to kerneloops.org

I just use ubuntu 1010, but I didn't know there was a slackware 13.9? What are the noticeable updates?

Debian 5.0.3 is old, probably why it is not working for you on new hardware. Debian Squeeze is (S)till (I)n (D)evelopment (SID) for a little while longer but it is very stable, stable enough to use.

I believe Ubuntu *.01 is based on Debian SID and *.10 is based on Debian Testing.

Therefore it may be a better idea to stick with Ubuntu that has a lot of documentation and centered around new users. Once you get the basics installed you can then play around with the command line. Apt-Get, Aptitude, installing rkhunter and chkrootkit, understanding how to update grub 2 menu, pretty much getting use to the command line and commands if you want to get more into Linux. A couple of links in my signature might be of use to you.

Once you are more familiar with this then you could jump into Slackware.

Slackware requires significant knowledge of linux terminal commands in order to setup and maintain the system. I would not recommend Slackware to a complete beginner. If you are still interested in Slackware, read the SlackBook to get started: http://slackbook.org/

There are some distros based on Slackware that are excellent and are much more beginner friendly. Two that I would recommend would be Zenwalk http://zenwalk.org/ and Salix http://www.salixos.org. Zenwalk and Salix are both fast and easy on computer resources; and (because of their Slackware base) they are rock solid stable.

I thank you all for the info. I still ordered the slackware 13.1. I like the challenge no matter how hard it is. Im not saying i didnt listen to you i did and the extra links you had i wrote down so i can take the time to read all of it. so again i thank you all

First, Debian Squeeze is not Sid, only Sid is Sid and will ever be.
All Ubuntu versions except the LTS-versions are based on Sid, LTS-versions are based on Testing.

Slackware will definitely teach you more about linux than just about any other distro. Although I have been using Ubuntu much longer than Slackware, most of what I know about linux comes from learning how to use Slackware.

After you read the SlackBook, be sure to read the Changes and Hints.txt, which contains a lot of helpful info about using this version of Slackware. This will be on the first Slackware CD or the DVD, or any Slackware mirror:
http://slackware.oregonstate.edu/sla..._AND_HINTS.TXT
Note: Since you will be doing a fresh install of Slackware, you can skip all the stuff about upgrading from a previous version, since it will not apply to you.
Alien Bob's wiki is also a good source of information:
http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/doku.php
And of course, the Slackware forum here at LQ is a great resource.

Second person to point out my error. Thanks. I corrected it once today, don't feel like it again.