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I currently run RH9. I know it's starting to get to be outdated so, im wondering what i should switch to now. Should I switch to Fedora or move to Mandrake or Slackware??? What do you think???
There's no signle best distro for everyone. How advanced are your Linux skills (in particular your command line skills)? How good is your hardware? If you have good command line skills, I'm partial to Slackware or maybe Debian (Sarge not Woody for desktop use). If you still depend on a GUI to do most of your administration, Mandrake or Fedora might be the best bet.
Distribution: Gentoo 2004.2: Who needs exmmpkg when you have emerge?
Posts: 1,795
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I wonder why so many people ask this without searching the boards first...
Anyhoo, I would recommend Mandrake, then when (or if ) you get better, use Slackware or maybe even Gentoo if you really want to get your hands dirty.
Mandrake and Fedora suck i think. Im still a bit of a noob, first installed linux in february..dont a bit of messing around. Id recomend gentoo or slack or CollegeLinux which is slack based
college linux is old by now. it's a good distro, just a little out of date. if you want the latest and the greatest, fast and easy (but without holding your hand, either), try arch. it's the slickest distro currently out there, imho (and it's also slackware based, if i'm not mistaken).
bah, gentoo. read through pages and pages of setup instructions, which you have to follow meticulously. compile your system for days, then start over and compile for a few more days if it screws up. no thanks.
arch: install base system in 5 minutes, configure your network and system in one rc.conf file, then pacman any package you need. total time: less than an hour. end result: fully functional i686-optimized system that will likely be as fast as gentoo (and easier to maintain).
Yes College Linux is a bit out of date right now. I am on the development team for it (mainly just a tester/documentation writer since i cant program) and the 2.6 version is supposed to come out extremely soon. This version will be up to date.
Ill say im an intermedate user..... know my networking...... started using linux on my primary system in 6/03 and started using linux on my laptop 2/04.....
2.6Ghz (Athlon XP 400MHz FSB)
512MB DDR400MHZ Ram
80GB SATA HD
nVIdia 128MB Graphics
DVD-ROM
DVD-/+R/RW
gentoo, it's fully customizable, and with emerge, you can get nearly any file compiled, and every dependency it needs installed with it, except for the about 70-page manual to install
or maybe try knoppix, and install to HD, or if you wanna try something tough debian, I never used slackware, even though I hear it's really good.
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) you get better, use Slackware or maybe even Gentoo if you really want to get your hands dirty.
read through pages and pages of setup instructions, which you have to follow meticulously. compile your system for days, then start over and compile for a few more days if it screws up. 
no thanks. 
