25 replies to this topic

[MatrixCowboy]

Personally, I really like PcLinux.  It is intuitive and very easy to use.  If you have the network drivers for your wireless network card, you can set it up using the provided GUI.

First time users of linux from Windows: I would begrudgingly recommend Linspire or Freespire.   I say begrudgingly, as, the last time I checked, you have to pay to use package manager.  It seems, though, to be more lik Windows than any other distro.

For under resourced machines, or people only wanting to use a live CD, I would have o recommend puppy.  Especially if you have two cd drives.  It stores changed informtion on a file on the hard drive or us drive.

Mepis is even touted of setting up a live USB drive

[Karo]

A few of my friends have tried talking me into getting linux.  It is pretty difficult to find programs for linux?

[Metashader]

Not at all, unless you're a sound or video editor. Since Linux is free, almost all of the programs available for it are also...and the "Install/Remove Software" application in many Linux distros gives you a large catalog of programs to choose from without even opening your browser, that you can download and install right on the spot.

I'd recommend Ubuntu personally, very nice distro. Linux Mint, which is based on Ubuntu, is also very user-friendly in its style.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://www.linuxmint.com/

[Aprz]

Wow, nobody has posted in here in awhile, but I felt like adding something. It's not very difficult finding what you need. Depending on which Linux distribution you use, most will have a package manager of their own where you can simply type in what you need. For example in Arch Linux you just need to type in 'pacman -S firefox' and it will download and install Firefox for you without you having to search on the Internet for it. Unfortunately, if you don't know what you are looking for then you'll have to go to the distribution forum to see what people know, maybe check the wikis if the distribution offers any, or there might even be a program on your computer that will help you figure out what you need by typing in some small keywords. It's one thing I really liked about GNU/Linux when I first started using it.

Then I would also like to add in that each distribution actually doesn't vary that much in difference other than where you start. Some distributions such as Ubuntu choose to give you most/all the tools you'll need to be an end-user quickly without any hassle while some others such as Gentoo will have you select what you want or don't want. Then just by hint, each distribution might compile a package differently (different triggers so that it contains more/less features or be optimal for a specific architecture) and the configuration for stuff such as your booting might vary, but just by a little bit. You aren't forced to use these though. If you learned using eINIT instead, SysV style, Kyuba, UpStart, BSD style, want openrc, whatever... you can easily replace it in GNU/Linux. You aren't obligated to use anything specific. So don't get too caught up on which Linux distribution to use first. I think you should pick one with a philosophy you like and then deviate from what is given to you to have the setup you want. Of course, there are some that might help you learn better a little such as if you try LFS, Gentoo, Arch Linux, or whatever... they will require you to do some work (specially LFS), but you could pretty much get away with following the manual and not understanding or retaining anything that you did.

Oh, and for Linux documentation... before I even bother Googling... I use man <blah>. Generally it will provide you with more than enough information on what you want to learn. It doesn't do questions though like "man where is my kernel?" haha so then you'd have to turn for Google for that.

Me, I am considering going for Linux+, but right now going for A+ cert. because a job requires it. I think I'll be able to blow that out of the water.

[kevinbrownaaa]

I haven't used lots of distributions so I can only recommend what I have used. I managed a shell server a couple of years ago for a mate of mine as a hobby, it ran on Red Hat Linux 7.0. Back then I also installed it on my computer,  I dual-booted between Linux & Windows XP. I think this is a nice distribution to start with, check the current version because 7.0 will most likely be outdated.

[muji8u]

if i was to be asked(which i think i am) i would reccomand ubuntu for beginners or linux mint. i started out with linux mint and have moved up to ubuntu and now i'm in kubuntu. i like how kubuntu looks so that is why i use it, but ubuntu is a very popular distro and good for beginners just like linux mint.