Probably the most frequently asked question...

[Dev]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and new to Linux too. I want to get away from Windows. As a new Linux user I would like to know what would be a good distrobution to start with. I have played around with Knoppix to familiarize myself and I'm told that it is based on Debian, is this correct? I have also heard some great things about the Suse Linux Distro. The machine wouldn't be used for much, word processing, internet, other office documents (ahem...open office documents), and maybe a few games. The machine does have two hard drives of substancial size. Is it a good idea to run it on the second hard drive, while XP is on the first hard drive? Thank you for any help.

Dev

[Dillinger]

RH, Mandrake and Suse are the usual recommendations for new Linux users, I myself started with Mandrake. While I've never used it, I've heard good things about JAMD Linux. Its RH based but all the packages are rebuilt for i686 and apparently its very easy to install. Check out the website at http://www.jamd-linux.com/ and check out www.easylinuxguide.com for a JAMD install guide and many other useful things. Also keeping the two OS's on seperate drives would probably make things easiest if both are a good size.

[kpzani]

Personally I like the new fedora. It is redhat based so easy to get help and books.

check out http://fedora.redhat.com

cheers

Kris

[Dev]

Thanks for your responses. I think i am going to try and get Suse linux. Been hearing some great things about it. Is there any way to get it for free? I checked the website and they don't offer it on .iso format. Or is there another method of getting it? Maybe from another website? Thanks again.

[Giro]

You need to download the boot.iso and then you can do an ftp install heres a link i would find a mirror though -> ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/

[Allblack]

I'll probably get some crap about this but my favourite one is FreeBSD.
I know it is not Linux but it is worth having a look at. I use the forum because a lot of stuff is very similar whether you use Linux or FreeBSD.

Cheers

[Hellmasker]

you can probably find a suse iso on www.linuxiso.org

[Dev]

Thanks again for your help! Im sure I'll be back here with another list of questions once I get the .iso burned and installed.

[northcalman]

Hello, as a new user, I would NOT recommend SuSE. I have had nothing but problems with v 8.2 personal, which I bought. The cuystomer service at SuSE is appalling, I have not received any replies to over 10 requests for help! Things will only get worse for them now that they have been taken over by Novell, another company infamous for poor service. I would recommend Red Hat or Mandrake. I hope you haven't spent the time on the download Best of luck!

northcalman