I use dual-boot for my pc. I like Windows XP because it is simple, and Linux because it is a chance for me to learn more about programming and stuff, but there is no easy way to get into Linux...
I've got a bunch of big books to read...

If and when I start to understand Linux, I'm gonna make a way for Windows users to get into linux. I think I'll set up something so they start out with an easy to understand version of linux (one that actully can work with WiFi without changing code n etc. Then after they get comfortable with using the different programs on Linux, I'll have them move up.

I'd also want to explain things in a different way. Most adults don't even understand how to use Windows, which is an extemely easy OS to use (which is why it has become so successful!). I'd like to make my own distro sometime. It will be solely for teaching how to use linux. for help files, instead of just saying what -s, -f, and -whatever, I'd have it say how to actually enter these files.

All I really want from linux, though, Is to get on the internet and to play my XP games. I'd also want drivers for my monitor and graphics card. If I could do that, I'd wipe XP away forever. Until then, XP will be my primary OS.

I'm not sure what I'm gonna do yet. If I don't get the internet working soo, I'm gonna lose interest in Linux and probably have to stick with the boys in Redmond.

-jkillah

OK jkillah1, here's the skinny:

1- Your live CD works on your computer regardless of what filesystem is on the hard disk. This is because when you boot to the CD, your computer is, in effect, pretending that the CD is the main hard drive and the other drives are peripheral devices. NOTHING is written to them without you telling Linux to do so. Just take the CD out of the drive when you're done and your father will never see a difference...

2- Read those books you have. Sit with them in front of your Linux, open a terminal and try the things the book says. Poke around the filesystem. Do something bad on purpose and figure out how to fix it (like 'rm -f /boot/vmlinuz'). EVERY Linux specialist started out this way, and if you want to personally do something to help new users, you're going to have to learn the hard way so you can tell them the easy way.

3- I see you've discovered how to hook up your wireless card with ndiswrapper. Congratulations, I think you just graduated out of n00b. NOW REMEMBER- Almost all hardware issues in Linux are the fault of the hardware manufacturers, NOT Linux. All the trickiest programmers in the world aren't going to make a piece of hardware go if the manufacturer has not released the specs to code on. What do you do about it? Make sure any piece of hardware you buy from here on out EXPLICITLY says it is supported in Linux. Lots of hardware does work, but not everything has official support and those folks who do guarantee Linux support deserve YOUR support.

4- I'm not down on games, but the plain hard facts is, the more you spend on games, the less time you have for learning and doing. Watch that time. Like David Handy (Author of Computer Programming is Fun) says, "Programming a game is educational, playing a game is not."

Also, I wonder if your Dad will let you fix up an old computer for yourself for the purpose of learning Linux without having to bug him.

Actually, that is exactly what he has done, but the old computer he has is sooooo slow, I can't even boot SLAX! Popcorn, regular, KillBill, nothing! It is a pretty old computer, but it was good enough to run Windows 2000...

I forget the exact specs, but I remember it has like 34 megs of ram, an old intel processor, and a 4 GB harddrive lol!

Also, I have heard about ndiswrapper, and the code u put into it, but I don't know how to enter that code I'll probably find out by reading my books, which I plan to do this weekend now that I have some freetime, but I'd still like to know exactly how to use ndiswrapper & other programs and how I enter stuff, because it looks like you don't just enter it into the command prompt, but Im not sure about that either .

Anyways, I think I'm gonna learn how to use Linux on Fedora Core 6, because that is the distro that my Linux for Dummies reccomends, and the Running Linux book, I think, doesn't specify what distro to use.

Anyways, thank you, and everyone else, for helping me.

FC6 is NOT a distro I would recommend ... it's way messed up, at least for me.

What's wrong with it? Will it mess up my computer?

It will not mess up your computer, but it will not work well. It had so many bugs when I tried it ... soooo many that I switched to Slackware. So, in a way, it's a good thing

If you want a friendly distro maybe Ubuntu ... but still wouldn't recommend it. I can only recommend Slackware, the only one that I can say 'it just works'.

So, you can try all the distros, and I highly recommend it. But note that if you like none of them (like me), then do try Slackware ... it is the last hope (IMO).

@jkillah1 - there is a (fairly widely) accepted saying in the linux community:

"If you want to learn a particular distro, get it and install that distro...
If you want to learn linux, get and install Slackware."

I am a total noob, and Slackware was my first distro. I now have 3 machines all working.

I must admit that I've tried FC, Ubuntu/Kubuntu, Gentoo - but still I stick with Slackware.

If what you're truly after is something that you can see all the nuts and bolts of, without having to become Mr. Super Linux over night, then Slackware is (IMO) a great distro to do that with.

If what you're looking for is simple and plain plug&play compatibility then I'd suggest something less 'involved' than slackware - just keep in mind that typically these 'hands off' distros are just that, IMO much more difficult to screw with and break (and fix later).

K, well, I'm gonna use Fedora until I finish the For Dummies book, then if I understand Linux, I'll go with slackware. After I get goood at that, I will learn to write my own kind of Linux. Of course, this will probably be years in the future, so I might as well get started now!