Newbie Linux

[Heeter]

Hi Guys,

Well I scored a PIII433 computer that I am thinking of installing Linux in it just to learn on. Which distro should begin with. I am thinking to go with Mandrake 10. What do you guys think?

Heeter

 

[NetRyder]

I've heard that SuSE makes a nice starting distro, but I've never actually used it.

I personally began with RedHat 6 as my very first distro (talk about horrendous hardware support back then ). You could go with Fedora Core or Mandrake too. Another option is Knoppix, which you can use as a LiveCD - you don't need to install anything to your hard disk until you're sure you want to.

 

[sean.ferguson]

I'd say SuSE over any other RPM based distro, i have used it for a while for various tasks and even tried it as a server.
But another good choice would be Fedora Core

Mandrake in my opinion is far too bloated, and will slow down your system further than SuSE or Fedora will.

 

[Unleashed]

Mandrake is great, best newbie Linux distro there is.

 

[Xie]

I tinkered with SuSe ages ago but I liked it best out of the "newbie" distro's. YaST is pretty nice.

 

[Heeter]

Thanks guys,

I am dedicating this 'puter to Linux to learn on, so I am not concerned about installing anything. My main thing is to learn and having no problems with hardware. Last thing I need from the get-go is Linux not recognizing the most basic hardware I have it on. I do have some manuals already as well.

I read something about "Slackware". I heard it is basically *BSD with a GUI. Would that be a newbie consideration?

Thanks for all your input so far.

Heeter

 

[LordOfLA]

Slackware is what I started out on before I moved to BSD.

If you ask me BSD is easier and nicer for a newbie to learn - theres just a lot more to learn before you get a pretty GUI.

In all cases be prepared to break it and clean install a few times befoer figuing out how to fix it by hand

Abve all just have fun.

 

[X-Istence]

Someone needs a spell checker .

I suggest Mandrake or Slackware. Suse is pretty nice currently, and i think it will be even better, but it is a bit tempermental on my test system.

 

[unknownsoul]

I have Suse running on my server right now, and I had problems with mandrake 10 sucking all the resources from my other computer. I have run Red Hat 9 (haven't had time to mess with fedora) and have been quite happy with it.

 

[desie]

Mandrake is pretty cool for a newbie distro. Slackware is cool for diving in a bit further on.