Does it really matter which distro you start with?

[devils casper]

I disagree with the whole "can't recommend a distro" thing. You can recommend a car because you can say what it has, what engine, fuel, parts, extras it has. Same with distros, you can recommend distros because of what they have, how they act. Recommend a few, let them try them and see what happens

i prefer Ubuntu but some one else will suggest Fedora or SuSe or SlackWare or Gentoo. it will confuse newbies a lot. nobody can tell what is best for others.
We can divide Distros in two categories only. Distros for Old/Weaker Machines and Distros for New/Good Machines.
one can consider out of box Multimedia and 3D support or things like that too but its easy to install any codec or package in any distro.

[easuter]

I normally just lend a whole stack of CDs and say "use whatever floats your boat".
That is if there is no specific need in mind, but if I'm asked for more specific info like whats best for servers or older hardware then I'll make suggestions for that situation.

BTW, OpenSuse is no longer part of that CD stack

[Oxygen]

Work with me here:

Hey, I'm new to Linux, my friend recommended me to this forum for help. First question I have though is what dsitrubution should I use? I'm looking for a distribution that's easy, up-to-date, stable and doesn't need much tinkering to get working.

... of which I'd recommend something along the lines of buntu, Fedora

Hey, I'm going to put Linux on my machine because I'd like to learn about Linux, I'd also like a platform to do programming on that's reliable but I'd like ti tinker about to get to know the command line.

... of which I'd recommend slackware, gentoo and that sort.

See how this can be done?

[cousinlucky]

The windows guy who suggested I try Suse in Linux did so after he installed suse on a machine. He had problems with configuration and support and so have I. He later went with Ubuntu which he now wholeheartedly recommends for any present Windows users that do not know a thing about Linux.

If I hit a lottery number and have extra cash; I will get myself a custom hand made computer and install the Ubuntu disks I sent for, that are still in the mailing pouch upon my desk.

[Seren]

Of course it depends on what the person wants to get done with it, but I would tend to recommend that users with Windows backgrounds install a distro that's likely to get Xwindows working during the installation. That's because getting Xwindows working afterwards isn't the easiest thing for a newbie, and because Windows users will probably need to use GUI system apps until they can get up to speed with CLI ones.

If the potential new user doesn't want to use the CLI at all, I might suggest to them that they leave Linux alone.

However, if they'd already gotten Linux installed, but complain the moment someone suggested they need to use the CLI, I'd try to get them to start into it slowly and without arguing with them, probably by reassuring them that it isn't hard and by giving them easy first and second things to do on the CLI.