Which of the following distro’s would be suitable for ...

[DislexiK]

Ok I have a question in which I would like as many people as possible to answer for me.

You basically answer by choosing a Distro above ^^^^
But I would also like input through a post.

People that have selected other please state the other distro as I do not know too many.

A bit of information for you first:

basically I want a distro that is

Basically the core of distros
Universal and compliant with the mainstream stuff
Will help me understand and learn about Linux:


The following can be summed up by: (Quoted from Infra)
"Yes I know what you mean, you want something that's universal and compliant with the mainstream stuff."

Following what I wish to do with Linux/where I wish to be and more general information:

I want to be able to use Linux as a home computer/workstation for my self – not into games that much – but when I am I have windows as well for that

I want to learn Linux, not just have it as a core OS but learn the ins and outs of it.

I want to be able to use/learn from one main distro, but what I learn from this distro be able to go into another distro and know exactly what I am doing or near dam to it – so I wan tot learn using a distro that relates a lot to most or all of the other available distros.

I hate the idea of taking the easy way out, take the other day for example, tehmiller said access the cdrom through the GUI because its basically easier – why take the easy way out - you learn more and feel you have accomplished more if you take the more harder yet more involved route.

I want to learn how to use such an OS in network conditions from a web servers, routers to the full just file server/backup server

If you have any more questions please ask, don’t just guess what I am trying to say because it won’t help someone whom really wants to learn. – Thank you.

So the Question is:

Which of the following distro’s would be suitable for what I am saying and most importantly why.

I am not hoping for you to answer my question hopefully but more for you to all narrow it down to a few, then I can research more about those distros and find out what is best for my situation if you like.

Thank you for your time. I am looking at having all information needed by Tomorrow Afternoon – About 20 hours form now so that I am able to download the desired Distro.

I do appreciate your time in reading this thread and if you have contributed to helping me – that as well.

Regards

DislexiK

[genlee]

Linux is Linux no matter what distro you choose. The only things that vary are package management, bundled packages, filesystem layout, and init scripts . I personally like gentoo because I haven't use any other distro's package management that can come close to portage.

[Dillinger]

I agree, if you wan't to get into the workings of Linux Gentoo is probably the best way to go. I personally think the documentation is written so that even a complete new user can install by following step by step. You said "...what I learn from this distro be able to go into another distro and know exactly what I am doing or near dam to it". I don't think you'll ever want to use anything else but Gentoo once you get going with it, but that's just my opinion. Also the Gentoo forums are always there and any questions you have will be answered very quickly. Good luck with whatever you choose.

[Linux_HH]

I think mandrake is a good distribution!! i've tried SuSE but SuSE is slow, and good for W*N*O*S user, but you don'T learn anything about linux self. Gentoo, i don't know i think its very cruel to use if you don't know much about linux(i've never tried gentoo)!! So if you want to learn linux, look at the config files and try to understand them!

[Hellmasker]

i said mandrake coz its got wizards/graphical setup things for beginners but if u want to learn more abotu it or get special stuff setup all the text based config progs and config files are still there and work just fine.

[spacer]

I use Mandrake 9.2 powerpack.
Over 2 weeks last may, I tried Red Hat, Suse (both pro latest versions, I can't remember what versions, I think Red Hat was 8.2)

I found Mandrake the easiest to install & set up, however, it is a steep learning curve and requires you to learn a lot, like a good book.

Red Hat no longer do distros.

[genlee]

What do you mean redhat doesn't do distros? Redhat discontinued their personal editions but they still release redhat enterprise.