Getting Started ...

[Nindaven]

I'm wanting to get into linux more but I need some help getting into a solid distro that I can learn and grow with. I'm learning java so naturally I'm curious about opensolaris (feedback on experiences), and I'm also curious about Fedora and Debian. I don't have a lot of experience with linux but I want to learn; however, I don't need to spend so much time loading software to simply make the small things work so a ready at load distro would be great.

[jmadero]

for a new user I'd suggest Ubuntu or Kubuntu

[devils casper]

You can install any package in most of distros. I would suggest you to try LiveCDs of as many distros as you can and decide yourself.
Check this Poll too.

[jayd512]

Since you're wondering about the different ways to install software, I think you should try several LiveCD's. Nothing you install will be saved after re-booting, but it'll give you a chance to look at how the system feels to you.

[Nindaven]

Yeah LiveCDs are kinda where I am now, but honestly much of them feel the same. The only difference I can see is GNOME or KDE. I guess the question really rolls around to: does the distro even matter in the long run? The only one that feels different is OpenSolaris but I noticed that even a good bit of LINUX software doesn't run natively for it and must be run through something called VirtualBox with Linux loaded in it (adobe air for example). And the only thing I have against Ubuntu is that it had to have so many extra packages to start with that I just got sick of having to dig everything out of the repository. Even MP3s didn't play right after it loaded, only .ogg files which wouldn't be a bad thing but my .mp3 player doesn't play .ogg.

I'm going to keep playing around with the LiveCDs but again, if anyone knows a distro that, after loading, can run in a setup and forget about it manner it would really save me a lot of time ... and CDs for that matter.

[reed9]

There are many similarities between distros, yes. Probably for the average user, the most apparent difference is how they handle package management, and the size of their repositories. (Ubuntu and Debian have the largest repos.)

You may want to try Linux Mint, which has flash and a lot of non-free multimedia codecs installed by default, so less post-install configuration is needed.

[Nindaven]

There are many similarities between distros, yes. Probably for the average user, the most apparent difference is how they handle package management, and the size of their repositories. (Ubuntu and Debian have the largest repos.)

You may want to try Linux Mint, which has flash and a lot of non-free multimedia codecs installed by default, so less post-install configuration is needed.

I swear I looked over my shoulder when I read this, I literally just loaded Mint this morning. I tried Fedora LiveCD and ... well it's not for me. It felt, I dunno, easiest way to say it is that me and it just didn't click. So then I tossed in Mint and I have to say, so far, coming from windows, this isn't half bad. I have to set up a file server, webserver, and our first project is very similar to there web based package installer. Going to play with this one for a bit this morning before work and see what happens.

[reed9]

I tried Fedora LiveCD and ... well it's not for me.

I'm with you on this. I don't know why it is, some people absolutely love Fedora, but I just do not click with any of the main rpm based distros, Fedora, Suse, or Mandriva. I'm really looking forward to the next Mint based on Ubuntu 9.04, for ext4 support and the speed improvements. My main criticism of Mint is that it feels very slow to me. Of course, I have Arch, so at best Mint will be dual booted to play with on occasion and test out, but still.

[Nindaven]

I had honestly thought about Arch but after reading some of the online documentation I thought it might get a bit more involved then I would care to be. From what I understand though (reading around other forums and linux sites) Arch, Gentoo, ... well can't think of the third but there were three that are designed with a "build it yourself" attitude. Which sounds great .... until you actually try to build it yourself.

[jmadero]

yeah Gentoo and Arch or more advanced. The problem that I see with you trying live distros is some people get frustrated because live distros can have problems (in particular wireless and graphics). So if you experience these don't give up on the distro because when you install there are fairly basic ways to fix most of these issues. Getting wireless up on live distro when you have a broadcom chipset is pretty difficult, getting nvidia drivers installed is equally hard (not even sure if it's possible as it requires a system restart).

What exactly are you looking for? Distros are known for different things. Check this out:

zegenie Studios Linux Distribution Chooser