Which is the best Linux distribution

[Polska]

I am looking to start learning and using Linux... wondering which distribution I should go with? So far I've been looking at Red hat...

[kloter1]

dam bro good luck with linux. right now in my MNE class we setup a web server using fedora and it was a pain in the fuking azz. another group setup red hat which seemed to work ok but its alot of work just installing programs and navigating. one good thing with linux is its very secure and almost will never get a virus. i think there are only 6 or 7 viruses even out since its production. id use either red hat or fedora. peace

[MMC78]

For newbies, Redhat is a sure bet.

[MMC78]

one good thing with linux is its very secure and almost will never get a virus. i think there are only 6 or 7 viruses even out since its production. id use either red hat or fedora. peace

Not true at all. If you don't know how to secure a linux machine, prepare to get a$$ raped with an out of the box configuration.

[DevilsDeity]

there is not best distro , its all personal pref , dont for get all the distro are driven off the same kernel.

redhat your gonna pay for
fedora is redhats free project only problem is they only support the current version and the previous version , the rest go into legacy.

[Elysium]

Go for a copy of RedHat Linux. Its apparently the easiest to get to grips with, ive never used Linux but it does have quite a few advantages.

[gjh]

Mandrake is very easy for beginners. I like SuSe but it is a little harder to use at first.

gjh

[Panzerfaust]

SuSe has better GUI than RedHat. I am using it on my machine i am running my FTP on.

[MMC78]

SuSe has better GUI than RedHat. I am using it on my machine i am running my FTP on.

No. They all have the same set of GUI's. They all run Gnome/KDE/E.

[chicamahomico]

Start out with Mandrake Move. Its a CD booted O/S and you can try out Linux without any effort. Another topic aside, I can't see why anyone would want to use Linux.

[The Baron]

Mandrake is a good distro for a beginner. Based on RedHat so it is fairly universal. SuSE comes with lots and lots of apps. RedHat is the most popular and has the most how-to-do-it books out. Knoppix bootable CD distro is fun to play around with but you will outgrow it in a couple of days. There are lots of "pocket linux" distros out that fit handily on one fo those wallet sized CDs. My choice would be Mandrake.

[Polska]

Another topic aside, I can't see why anyone would want to use Linux.

Im curious.... why do you say that?

[The Baron]

Only a few drawbacks to Linux. One is that there is a relative lack of slick, newbie friendly software out there that holds your hand through the installation and learning process. Another is that a lot of hardware has no Linux/Unix drivers. Another was, until recently, the lack of an easy to use programming IDE for folks who aren't "real" programmers. Microsoft came out with Visual Basic and made everybody who could use a mouse and type into a developer. But now with Delphi/Kylix you have a very hand-holding IDE that allows you to easily port apps between Windows and Linux. It's not VB but it is close.

I will say this... with XP it seems that microsoft is finally getting close to getting it right. If XP had turned out to be just an extra bloated version of 98, I would be running Linux or maybe FreeBSD now. As it was, I was about ready to go back to OS/2. WAAAAAY ahead of its time! Too bad version 4 was the last one. I rather liked that OS myself.

[MMC78]

There's dozens of reasons not to switch from Windows to Linux. Anyone that says otherwise isn't someone you should trust for advice.

Baron, that's a bunch of BS you wrote there. There have been decent (non free) IDE's for Linux for quite a long time. Furthermore an IDE or lack of one does not affect the majority of users--it isn't a make or break app like MS Office.

XP is the NT 4.0 kernel, repackaged all purty like, 10+ year old technology designed and written by the creator of VMS. Their best OS was Windows 2000 professional.