Hello everyone. new here and need some thoughts. I'm fairly new to LINUX and my XP box... well, it's not going to be XP anymore. i'm trying to hold myself back from swearing like a sailor about my desktop right now. i'm on my laptop which is a fairly old IBM I-series. what i need to know is since i'm faily new to the whole LINUX thing, is it a good idea to go with Slackware? i have done some searching here and slackware seems to be a good choice but how hard is it to configure? my only problem is that i'm using a MN-510 and i read somewhere online where someone made it work but only on a MN-520.

Let me tell everyone here the party i'm at:
I don't have a burner readily available so it's not like i can torrent any ISO's.
I don't want to loose any e-mail i have in outlook or my contacts.
I want my iPaq h5550 to work via activesync.
I still want to play CS (POS Steam!).
I like my ATI 8500DV card and i would like it to work like it did before watching TV, DVD, etc.
I can only guess SoundBlaster Live! Platinium has LINUX drivers, yes?

i would go with redhat but i'm not sure how it stands up compared to other flavors. everyone seems to run redhat one way or another. Mandrake sounds too controlling. SuSe... never heard of it and don't know much about how it runs though from reading some searches, it sounds OK. Any FTP where i can get slackware? PM or reply if anyone here can help me out. i can always go downstairs and use my friend's PC to burn it. I swear once i get a set of ISO's i'll put it on my remote server for everyone since torrent is only good as the amount of seeds.

Just to let you know how fustrated i've been with my PC, i've quit smoking for about a year now and i just picked it back up from wanting to just throw the damn box out the window.

I swear if it's not against the law i would sow Gate's a$$h0|e shut and keep feeding him and feeding him and feeding him (4 WuTang lovers :-D).

AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!! i am so hating life right now.

Thanks for listening and any advice anyone could give.

You get the isos on your hd and install with a floppy disk from them.
I heard CS works in Wine . We have a gaming forum right here in LQ. Also, take a look at this: www.frankscorner.org

Well, for your first distro, I thing you should go for Mandrake, It is basicly a better Red Hat.
As for the ting with Gates ashole, we all had that or simular wish. You will get other enemies soon (sco, patent, closed protocol).


Welcome to the free world

Hi Chivas -

take a look here for distro isos:
http://www.linuxiso.org

check out
http://www.distrowatch.com
and
http://www.distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

for distro comparisons - I'd agree try mandrake for new-user friendliness at least till you get familiar with things. any distro is only as controlling as you let it be, you can always configure everything yourself or turn off what you don't like.

as for hw, check the hcl on LQ (this site), also
http://www.linuxcompatible.org

regal or the plural of heroin?

regal. :-)

thanks! i went to best buy just to see how much stores are charging LINUX and they wanted $80+ tax for SuSE (Best Buy). Circuit City wanted $10 for Red Hat but i workstation. wonder why they charge people for something they can get for free. huh...

So what makes one Linux better than the other? or what makes one different than another? Yeah, i hear you about SCO... that's where i learned some UNIX stuff at my old job. idiot boss tought he knew everything like static PC for a company of 100 running win98 is the best idea to keep a network secure. idiot.

thanks for the reply; you'll be hearing from me more and more.

many distros (including suse and debian) can be installed via ftp.... you simply download a "jumpstart" cd rom that loads basic linux and an install program.... whole suse install takes me about 2 hours on a residential dsl line...

check out www.suse.com or look at one of thier mirror sites (available on thier website) and download the 20 MB .iso file (there is only one in the entire distribution.... I think in a folder called "boot")

So i was rummaging around in my junk room to come across 2 Linux CD's. i'm not sure what to make of them but one of them is TurboLinux Server 6.0 Lite and Connectiva Linux. Connectiva is a Brazilian company and their site isn't in english so that's not going to be installed. TurboLinux... hum... any thoughts?

"Linux" refers to the kernel - various groups have packaged the kernel with other apps to make different distros - they differ in configuration tools and methods of organization and updating, etc.

for ex., some of the "easier" distros like Mandrake, RH, etc. include graphical installations that are (usually) noob-friendly, while others rely on the user for more configuration work - each system has its pros/cons. the great part about it is that they are all free to try and experiment with.

asking which distro is "best" isn't a good idea - everyone has their own favorites, and it only produces neverending arguments and flames take a look at distrowatch.com for comparisons, browse the distro forums here, and try some for yourself....