New to Linux

[Vexir]

Hey I want to start using and experimenting Linux (I know nothing as of rgith now) and I plan to run a dual boot.

Can anyone suggest a good free (or cheap) Linux .. er.. version? like I would have picked SuSE but its pretty expensive for me at the moment.

3 Cheers for Open Source! :party:

[frozenRage]

well, i'm planing on trying linux to and i plan to use fedora, it's supposed to be pretty good but feel free to correct me if i'm wrong

[ya3]

Get Fedora, it's free. Oh, and it's about one DVD in size ;)
And use the GNOME interface (rather than KDE). It's purdy :P

That's about all I know.
okthxabi

[thoriphes]

*waits for guaranteed response from njs...*;)

[GreenLantern]

I played around with RedHat for a while. I thought it was pretty good. I never really got anywhere with it because at the time I couldn't get linux to recognize my modem so I coudln't get on the internet, so what was the point?

I have been thinking about getting back into it, but then again what's the point?

Basically what I am asking you is, why bother with linux?

[thoriphes]

There's a version of Linux called Knoppix. It's a live-on-cd meaning you burn the CD, a boot it on the computer and it loads everything onto memory.

[Voetsjoeba]

Or Ubuntu Linux (http://www.ubuntulinux.org). They send you as many cds with Ubuntu Linux on it as you want for free :thumb:

[λ]

Or Ubuntu Linux (http://www.ubuntulinux.org). They send you as many cds with Ubuntu Linux on it as you want for free :thumb:
:thumb: Ubuntu rules!

@GreenLantern: It's just something different really. Plus, it really rules for coding :)

(well thor, I just had to reply after you said that ;))

[ya3]

Slax is good. Live CD distro. 180mb - comes with everything you need (office suite, messenger, browser, etc, etc)
http://linux-live.org

[Disco-Stu]

SLACKWARE OWNS J00!!!!

<---Crazy slackware server minion

[Yeldarb]

I use slackware to mess around on -- I like it.

[Vexir]

Vote standings:

Fedora : 2
Red Hat: 1
Knoppix: 1
Ubuntu: 2
Slackware : 3

Heh, I'll wait for a few more replies then make my decision.

[grinch]

I use RH, and I love it. I think it's really great for the linux noob. It has an awsome desktop system, reminds me of a mac really. Check it out, also they have these huge LINUX RH bibles, that'll teach you alot!

TIP - try dual booting, it's worth it ;)

[Vexir]

TIP - try dual booting, it's worth it ;)

I know, of course :)

[Yeldarb]

Oh, and in my opinion, KDE rocks gnome's socks :P
(Slackware comes with both though, so you can see what you like)

[grinch]

Ah yeah bradley, KDE rox0r!

[Vexir]

I think I'll go with slackware, anyone want to provide a link + links to some guides to use it? :)

[Yeldarb]

http://www.slackware.org/
There should be a link to the torrents of the isos there.

And there's a guide on there as well.

If you need any help with the basics (that's pretty much all i know so far :P) pop into IRC.

[Vexir]

Slackware.org could not be found?

[frozenRage]

i reckon i'm going to try fedora out, sounds like it's pretty good..

[jtviper456]

Actually SuSE is free, it's the support you get charged for(who needs it anyway?...lol) I'm having a bit of troubles setting the internet connection up though, it's kinda challanging if you have ADSL, other than that, everything is running fine...if you pick and chose your menus right at suse.com, they send you right to the download, it's a very easy install too, auto partitioning too...
Cheers
Jtviper456

[λ]

Actually SuSE is free, it's the support you get charged for(who needs it anyway?...lol) I'm having a bit of troubles setting the internet connection up though, it's kinda challanging if you have ADSL, other than that, everything is running fine...if you pick and chose your menus right at suse.com, they send you right to the download, it's a very easy install too, auto partitioning too...
Cheers
Jtviper456
What ADSL modem do you have?

[samoscratch]

actually since you are new to this I recommend the newcomer-friendly mandrake

[Yeldarb]

Slackware.org could not be found?:huh:
Works for me.

[teet]

actually since you are new to this I recommend the newcomer-friendly mandrake

I agree to a certain extent.

I first started with redhat about a year ago. There's a lot of things that mandrake has that redhat/fedora doesn't (like out-of-the-box support for mp3's, video files, ntfs, etc.) and so that makes it nice for a beginner. But then again, if I wasn't forced to figure out how to get those things working, I probably wouldn't know much about linux (the little I do know that is).

I would suggest Fedora to any newcomer to linux. It has a huge support base (just check out the fedora forums at linuxquestions.org), is a breeze to install, and there are enough things left for the user to install (xmms, mplayer, xine, true type fonts, java, flash, etc.) that the user will be forced to learn the basics of working from the command prompt.

That's just my thoughts :)

-teet

[λ]

Ubuntu really does kick αss - I installed it over my Gentoo last night (and I really did like Gentoo) and I haven't looked back :)

The nice thing about it is that it's based off Debian (which is used for servers and such and has a very good package management system), but Debian sucks for desktops. What Ubuntu have done is tweaked Debian to run on a desktop - so you keep all the kickass package management tools, and get a nice recent version of GNOME and good multimedia :)

I would say it would probably be good for newbies, as well - it autodetected my sound card, and sound cards are usually painful to set up.

[werd]

gentoo user here!

The new Gnome GUI is way improved now and can be just as aesthetic as KDE. I am installing Gnome and soon as I install gentoo on my laptop, probably take me 2 days again but thats okay! Haha!


Mandrake is for new user so I also reccomend that too.

[Hans Kilian]

What do you want to use Linux for?

IMO, Gnome and KDE are best left on the installation CD's. Bash is the only way to run Linux... :)

[Vexir]

Never mind, screw it, I'm going to devote my time to finally learning Flash. (& AS)