Hello all!

I'm definately new to Linux, but have been reading up on it in several newsletters & forums. I know it will be a big challenge to learn, as I'm "Jack Benny's" age.... Only those who are past 39 will understand that old saying! Still, since I basically taught myself in the early 90's about computers by hands-on trial & error, reading magazines & books & asking lots of questions of anyone I met with a computer, there may be hope for me to accomplish this task.

I started out with an old Mac+, upgraded a couple of times, got a 386 PC at a garage sale & started learning Windows. That was a challenge, as I wasn't really interested in it at the time, but my hubby wanted one to play games on & the Mac software was a rare thing in our remote state of Alaska!

Windows kept "breaking", and my husband always looked to me to "fix it"! Soooo.... I've learned it fairly well, including the fact that a brand name is harder to deal with than one built from the ground up - which is what I've been doing for the past 8 or so years.

I have a couple of extra computers and plan on turning one into a Linux machine, when I get time. Until then, I will be mostly lurking in the background, picking up tips and taking notes.

I'm no "brain child", but if my old dad can start learning computers at age 80 (with a lot of help & prodding, of course), I think I can still learn, too! Besides, when I quit learning, I hope I'll be dead! I don't want to be a dead head vegetable!

Keep up the good work!

Cheers...

For some Background/Historical info you can try:
http://www.gnu.org/

For a idea of what a linux distribution (aka distro) is, and how many are there you can check here:
http://distrowatch.com/

And if you have any questions, I'm sure that anyone here at LQ.org would be glad to help.

Don't try different distrobutions, that is where people fall down go boom. Do your homework properly and pick one that has good package management, a good community and a large package repository. Once you have done that install it and stick with it, the more you learn your way around your distro of choice the easier everything will become. Installing a new distro as soon as you find a problem with the old one is idiotic but it seems that a lot of people do it.

Linux is fun so don't make things hard for yourself, just some friendly advice

I disagree with cs-cam.

There are huge differences amongst the mainstream distros. Some are very difficult to install and setup. Some have poor package management and are hard to update. Some have no multimedia support making it difficult for you to view videos and play mp3. The list goes on.

Try a few. Work with each one a bit till you find something that works for you. We all have different needs.

Sorry cs-cam, I too disagree with you. Every distro has it's own quirks and finding the best distro can sometimes be a matter of instinct. Good package management is important, yes, but since they all have package managers the question is somewhat moot.

Try a load and decide which one suits you best - that's what I did.

Welcome to LQ

Funny, I could have sworn I said to research all that before making a decision...

Research if fine. Experience is the deciding factor.

Do you mean to tell us that you have never used or tried another distro cs-cam? You just read up on Arch and knew that was the one for you without even trying it?

Amazing.

Not at all, Arch is my second "real" distrobution. My first was Gentoo, I made the mistake of *not* doing my homework first and discovered after a few months that building everything from source wasn't for me. Before Gentoo I used Mandrake once for a few days before going back to Windows, Gentoo came next.

Thank you ALL for your replies and advice. There is good reasoning behind each viewpoint & I've decided to start out by trying the "Live" CD's that are available in a couple of the Linux distros.

My thinking is that if the Live CD will recognize most everything on the older computer, then it's worth a try as an installation.

Right now, though, I've been busy working on fixing "broken windows" for other friends and still have a couple more waiting their turns. I don't charge for my work, but occasionally, some cash is forced on me. I figure that cash will help buy any new parts I might need for this hobby.

Again, thank you all for the advice!