Guys, I know a lot of you are new here, but that question comes up multiple times a day. Please check out some sites like distro watch and linux.org before asking here! In case you don't find what you need there, let me tell you, right here, what distro is best for you.

For newbies -- Mandrake, Fedora, SuSE
For cutting-edge software lovers -- Gentoo, Fedorra
For those who want rock-hard stability -- Debian
For speed-demons -- Gentoo, Damn Small Linux
For experienced UNIX/Linux users not afraid of the command line -- Gentoo, Slackware

Now, I hope that will make things better and you won't have to come here asking about distros! Please?

A good solution to this is a user vote, "Best Linux Distro for NewBie's":
http://justlinux.com/forum/showthrea...hreadid=137678

I'm sure they aren't after backseat moderatrs trying to tell people what to do around here.

What's wrong with people asking the distro question? It doesn't hurt, sometimes they have interesting circumstances which can effect their decision and make your day slightly more interesting by reading about and anyway, nearly every distro thread states what it is in the title so if you don't want to read it don't click the link. Simple.

hi i have a question
wut disto do u think shuld i run cuz i hate windows & i think gates is the devil

Couldn't resist!

Seriously though - Mandrake and Suse aren't just for newbies. They're also ideal for experienced *nix users who just want to have a *nix box to actually do WORK on and not spend weeks on end to get the configuration "just right" - both distributions are VERY usable right out of the box without much tinkering at all.

$.02

Hi uman,

I just burned the 4 Slackware 10.1 ISO's to disks but now that I've read your reply and being a newbie to Linux I suddenly get the feeling that this may not have been such a good idea. Do you think this particular distro might be too much for me to handle being a first timer? Your opinion on this would be most welcome

Thanks in Advance
conductor

Actually, slackware's not too bad. Just don't even think about installing Gentoo or LFS. If you know how to use Google and read documentation, Slack shouldn't be too bad. Unless, of course, you are unlucky.

you can do it, conductor!!! install that slack!!! it will work!!!
plus there is so much help available here in the slack forum, and several others, plus google, you'll be happy with it. give it a try, you will learn and you will like...

and yeah!!! what DJ said...c'mon, guys...seriously...can you imagine if someone asked a question about...ohhhh...i dunno, say

recording raw binary data as an MP3

and got shut down by people who had answered that question several times? this place is about learning and helping each other out...especially for newbies...we were/are all newbies at something, right? and sure, there's a plethera of information out there, but when it's all brand new, it's a bit daunting to try to sift through it...especially if this is your first few times here and you're still getting the feel for it

OK detpenguin, you got me

cheers, uman

Thanks for the encouragement detpenguin Actually I'd already made up my mind to try and install that baby, I just hope my system can take it. I've already tried a couple of distros (ELX & Amigo) but I couldn't seem to get them to install completely While I've got your attention for a minute I'd like to ask you about partitions. I recently repartitioned my harddrive in anticipation of installing another OS (hopefully Linux), as the new partition sits currently it's a FAT32, should I reformat it to an Ext3 and add a Swap before I attempt to install the Slackware 10.1 OS? The awaiting empty FAT32 partition is 8gb (actually 7.9).

Thanks All
conductor

Of course if people learned to search first, and ask later, all this agro would be moot ....

@ #2 -
The JustLinux poll is a fine idea, except... 68 votes? Why don't we make one here, where a multizillion people always vote - and post a link in a nice and visible place on the front page?
Slackware is a fine 2nd distribution, IMO. Heavy for the starter.
Distrowatch is HORRIBLE for finding a starting point, when it posts roughly everything Linuxish. One could read the "Major Distributions" part... that tiny link in the area among all the others...

Ah, Slack for the newbie's... Don't forget to learn: