Hi!
I am a guy from Department of Computer Science,and I fall in love with linux three months ago.

Well, I learned basic options and commands of linux,and my PC is an old ware with 512MB memory. Ubuntu 11.04 runs not very well in my laptop. I want to learning linux and OS deeper, which distribution should I install? What's about Debian?

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Debian is a good choice to move to from ubuntu- similar commands, same package management tools avaible, etc.

Arch, Slackware or even Gentoo would also be good if you want to learn more about linux. They would be harder to move to than debian, but would also make you learn things that you wouldnt have to with debian.

I'm alwys suprised at how many people suggest LFS. Its a long strech from ubuntu to LFS. Do-able, but it would be easier and less fustrating to try something simplier than LFS for almost anyone moving from ubuntu.

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I know that, but if the person specifies that he wants
to get in "deeper", well then, I don't think there's any
harm in taking him to the sea and be shown the depth!

You could try installing a base install of Debian and learn the command line.

I think Linux From Scratch would be an excellent idea. Working from the book, it will step you through compiling your own programs and libraries, and editing the configuration files by hand.

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Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux-Newbie and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Why not give Slackware or Arch a go?

While it would be quite a jump from Ubuntu to Slack, Gentoo or Arch (or LFS), having done just that (Ubuntu to Slackware) last week I would certainly recommend it to you. I'm in a very similar situation as a computer science undergrad who really wants to learn more about linux as opposed to just using it.

Debian is a good choice too, from what I hear. Like the more basic distros that have been mentioned here, I think you can choose which packages you want to install, so you can do some research to find the ones you'll absolutely need and leave the rest for later so you can get experience compiling and configuring source code. Sort of like Linux from Scratch, but you'll have more structure to start with.

I think the most important thing though is the community. Debian, Slackware, Arch, and Gentoo all have their own supportive and helpful communities. It doesn't ultimately matter how "hard" a distro is to use if you have an experienced community to turn to. You'll "get it" eventually. Trust me, I managed to make the switch in about a week because of all the resources online, especially this forum, even though I'm an idiot.

EDIT: Wow, and I just noticed where you said you have a laptop with 512 MB memory. Just like my Thinkpad T41!

You could have a Gentoo install that can take a month to get anything to work along with another distro to get your immediate needs taken care of. Some of the nuts and bolts of an OS are to small to be practical. The command line is mostly a lesson in one line script writing. It is important but that is mostly what it is. It might be useful to set things up manually like a network instead of using the Network Manager. I don't think an intermediate O.S is going to be more than a compromise because you are choosing just one.The intermediate O.Ss give you some functionality out of the box. Learning AutoTools is not going to be any better on a OS that does not provide anything. You could start by reading the Gentoo manual and then see what you think.

+1 for Slackware.

A full install gives you a fully functional system, but it doesn't hold your hand when you start trying to tailor your installation.

Slack expects you to RTFM and do your homework. Plus the Slacker community is a large and helpful one.

If you learn your way around Slackware, no other distro will ever intimidate you.

Once you Slack, you never go back.

You may go exploring, but you will always come home again.

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Slackware will definitely teach you how to administrate a working Linux system that adheres to the UNIX/BSD model. You should definitely learn dependency resolving. Systems like APT and Portage won't always be available to manage and govern packages also so learning how to build things from scratch sources will be extremely helpful for the rogue and random packages that pop up from time to time.

Slackware's startup and shutdown scripts are also easy to understand and manipulate as well and with the community doing the package management using simple build scripts, the enter distribution as a whole as a result is smaller and easier to manage.

Once you get a hand at Slackware, take some time and be adventurous and give FreeBSD a whirl. You'll find that FreeBSD shares a lot of things in common with Slackware as far as how the system works, is configured, and managed.

Basically you could say learning Slackware is like learning a gateway distribution into not just Linux, but BSD/UNIX also.

It's one thing to learn Gentoo, Debian, Red Hat and all the spinoffs each has brought about, but when you want to learn the system as a whole, you have to get back to basics.

Slackware for learning is the best and obvious way to go.

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slackware++

OK! Slackware is my finally choice.

If you really want to learn it building a lot of it yourself will be a good way.
LFS is perfect for that but takes a REALLY long time and may be a little too complicated for a first build. Building Gentoo is significantly easier and you will learn a lot.

If you want a distro that is relatively stable but small and has many of the training wheels pulled off try crunch bang. It's Debian based and you can download distro's preloaded with either open-box or xfce.

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