I’m thinking about putting a Linux partition on my hard drive (presently an XP system). For the Linux users out there, which version would you recomend and what advise can you give to a Linux newbie?
Warren
for a total newbie to linux, I would suggest mandrake. easy to install, easy to configure, easy to learn… and once you get the hang of how things go in linux, you can easily move on to different distros.
in mandrake, they put much time on configuration and maintenance tools. lot of nice graphical interfaces everywhere…
and underneath all that nice graphical-stuff, there really is a normal linux 
you get all the same stuff that other distros give.
mandrake is also “one of the big” distros out there. that means, lot of help available everywhere.
another choice could be the new redhat… in the new version, redhat has come down from server-like system to more home user desktop-style… and in my opinion, they did a very good job. you have special tools like in mandrake, but you still get the chance on configuring everything by hand (in console) like you want, without a worry of setup tool overwriting your settings.
I’m using redhat. this is mainly because I’ve been using it since the beginning… so it’s “my distro”. I like the stability of it… and the logo guy with red hat is cool
.b
oh, and the advise I wanted to give you was:
once you have installed it, and first try it out, remember:
it is not windows. it’s not supposed to act or look like windows.
.b
I have a preference for RedHat, very easy to install with lots of features, and most software has been formated to the rpm installer so it’s really easy to install new software.
I also recommend Mandrake. Out of the 3 distros I’ve tried (RedHat, SuSE, Mandrake), I like Mandrake the best. It is the easiest to work with. It also uses the RPM system.
I’d reccomend… well, I have no clue. Sorry if this sounds like spam, but I think I simultaneously need and shouldn’t have Linux. I need it because it sounds WAY better than Windows, but I shouldn’t because
- I have no computer to do it on (my computer would be perfect, but it is down
and my mother won’t reformat it) :x , and - Every single app I have is for Windows.
:x Is there a way to access Windows apps in Linux? Any way to alter the sources to make it Windows-application friendly?
Don’t count on having win apps work in linux.
I have office 2000 working, but my setup is bizzare and took weeks to activate
if you must use ms office, use crossover office.
having all windows programs in no problem, cause just about everything youre used to paying for is free on linux! and sometimes better, too. just much less polished, in just about every way. That’s the fun part, you get to polish it yourself.
Thank you ever so much for the comments. I’ll think I’ll try a go at Mandrake. Wish me luck!
you could always buy lindows
You always can download ISO-images of the distros and burn them on CD (much cheaper, better to try out different distros, BUT: no manual!!). If you don’t have a good internet connection you can buy them for only a few $$. For a link to order them do a serach on this forum, this has been discussed before.
Oh and my advice: Mandrake first and once you get used to linux: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org
From all the reviews I have read, I would not try Red Hat 8.0. Though I started my system
with RedHat so long ago, it did help I know Unix to get the system running the way
I like it. My dad swears by Mandrake as well.
Nicholas
Mandrake 9.0, baby. I REALLY like it.
nothing wrong with redhat8. what you have read, is not true. I was afraid at first too, reading all that bullshit about kde and gnome integration… but after I installed it, I noticed that all they did, was design some icons, and matching themes. they made it a bit more home-user-friendly.
.b
i would go with mandrake or debian. ahhh trashing the gnome i was a big fan when gnome and enlightenment joined up. but these days i’ve run back to the wonderful xp sorry poor nix one day we shall meet again…