Introducing myself

[ForeverNoobie]

Hi. I'm ForeverNoobie, a name I chose because no matter how much I learn I always seem to remain a noob. Thats why I came here. You see I'm what I like to call a "new age programmer": someone who's good at writing code but really doesn't know much else about computers, due to being spoiled by modern computer convince and user-friendly-ness. I don't even know how much I don't know. It could be a little, it could be a hell of a lot. I find that its hard to keep up with the guys who were around before GUIs even existed. I'm incredibly inept when it comes to anything involving a command line.

So I figured the best way to figure out what I don't know is to dual boot Linux with my Windows XP. I tried to do this and all I managed to accomplish was the waste of three days and the deletion of all my precious data. I was trying to install Slackware, which I heard has a relatively high learning curve. Since learning was what I was after I figured that was a good thing.

Now, about a year later, I've gone to counseling, overcome my Slackware-phobia, and I'm ready to try installing it again. So thats what I'm up to. I'm probably going to pester you good people with a good amount of noob-ish questions over the next few days.

[MikeTbob]

Hello and Welcome.
Glad you decided to try again, even though you got bit the first time. We'll gladly help you with any problems you may have. I'd suggest trying a more friendly Distro than Slackware. I'd say, Ubuntu, Mint , SUSE or Fedora would be good.

[oz]

Welcome to the forums, ForeverNoobie!

If all else fails, you can always buy a computer that has Linux already installed on it and learn from there. After all, that's how the huge majority of Windows users managed to learn that operating system.

Either way, best of luck with Linux this time around...

[jayd512]

Hi, Noobie! Welcome to LinuxForums!

Slackware can be a bear for those that are new. So, along with what Mike said, you may want to start with a slightly friendlier distro.
After all, no matter how friendly and pretty the GUI, you can always drop to a terminal and start fiddling around.

Either way, glad you're giving it another go around!

[rokytnji]

Howdy and Welcome. If you wish to be a Slacker. You might give Zenwalk or Verctor Linux a spin.

[ForeverNoobie]

Yeah you guys are right. I tend to go overboard sometimes. I'll go with a more user-friendly Linux and start the real learning after I have it safely installed.

As for which one I'd go with I'll probably pick Ubuntu, openSUSE, or Fredora. By chance would one of those be easier to dual boot with Windows XP than the others?

[oz]

As for which one I'd go with I'll probably pick Ubuntu, openSUSE, or Fredora. By chance would one of those be easier to dual boot with Windows XP than the others?

They should all be about the same for that purpose and any of the three are good choices for new Linux users to experiment with.

Have fun with it!

[MikeTbob]

I'd say they are about the same in that respect.