when I say noob....

[curtis73]

I mean noob.

Here is the situation. I had tried this once before on another forum about 2 years ago, but the (very knowledgeable) folks there were a bit over my head. Not their fault. It was recommended that I try Ubuntu and/or Knoppix and they walked me through downloading a bootable CD. I did it but didn't do something right because I couldn't boot anything. I also determined that I wasn't really ready for Linux anyway so I scrapped the idea.

So now I just bought a new laptop and I have my desktop as a "spare" since it has decided to get a wonderful virus that slipped past ClamWin and McAfee and I can't seem to get rid of it. Desktop needs to be wiped and start clean. I want to load a Linux platform on it so I can play with it, learn it, and see if its something I can use. I grew up with Apple IIEs and went to college during the DOS years on Unix, so I'm not entirely useless, its just been 20 years since I learned any of it.

I would say that I use a computer for 80% internet and email. The rest is word processing, photo editing, Netflix instant viewing, MP3s, home business accounting, etc. I also do a fair bit of automotive tuning, but I'll have the windows laptop for that. The desktop I would be using has 2gb mem, 250gb HD, P4 processor at 3.0 Ghz, ASUS MB, Audigy 2ZS Pro sound, Nvidia 256mb video.

I guess I need some Linux for dummies. I am not a programmer, hacker, or nerd (ok, well maybe a nerd) and my idea of fixing a problem in Windows is calling my neighbor. I figure I'm not ready for Linux, but I won't ever learn it unless I try, right?

Which distro should I use? (prefer free, but don't mind supporting the businesses)
How do I make a bootable CD?
Do some distros come with GUI?
Is there a good book or link that I should have as a reference?

[oz]

Which distro should I use? (prefer free, but don't mind supporting the businesses)
How do I make a bootable CD?
Do some distros come with GUI?
Is there a good book or link that I should have as a reference?

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Any of the top 4 or 5 distributions listed in the Page Hit Ranking chart over at DistroWatch.com usually work very well for most new Linux users.

Check the following link for instructions on properly downloading the iso file for the distro of your choice, burning it to disk as an image, and then booting your system with it:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ins...ll-cd-dvd.html

Yes, in fact most distros now come with a GUI by default.

Running Linux, Fifth Edition, published by O'Reilly, is a very good reference book but I'd recommend installing Linux and then using it heavily as the best way to actually learn the OS. Installing and using several different distros over time will further increase your knowledge of Linux.

Best of luck to you with your new OS!

[curtis73]

Thanks for the links and advice. I'll be back for more questions after I mess something up

[ramin.honary]

I would definitely recommend Ubuntu for both beginners and experts. Its based on one of the biggest professional Linux distros (Debian), but it is polished and perfect, designed specifically for the average non-expert computer user.

The first thing a non-expert computer user will notice about Ubuntu is that when it comes to figuring out how to use it, Ubuntu is as easy as a Windows or Mac computer. The second thing they will notice is that none of the software they know about exists for Linux, and they will have to learn all new names for each Linux software that do the same things as "Word", "Photoshop", "WinAmp", "Media Player", "PkUnzip", and so on.

Some software does have a Linux version, like Chrome (Chromium on Linux) Firefox, and Thunderbird. The Linux versions run perfectly -- exactly as it would on Windows. Unfortunately, software like this is the exception, not the norm.

But, if you want to know which software does what, just search this forum (or Google), or post a new question here.

[MASONTX]

Welcome to the forum. I agree that ubuntu or Mint would be a great place to start. Distrowatch.com has hundreds of distro's to choose from, plus some good search tools to decide what you want. <Linux> - Google Search is a good place to search for linux relevant questions. If you go with Ubuntu, the Synaptic package manager will list the different programs in the libray for you, broken down by category with a brief description of each. select the program you want, and synaptic will download it and all the dependencies. Have fun!

[ford]

I work in a computer repair shop. For our most unskilled customers, as well as older customers who typically need a lot of help and do not have the money to pay for that help, we install Ubuntu. It truly is that easy. All we normally have to "teach" anyone is where the menu has moved to, where you download programs, and they are typically off to the races after that.

So, for any newcomer who wants to start off slow, I highly recommend Ubuntu. For any newcomer who wants to dive in head first, I recommend (in order): Slackware, Sorcerer/SourceMage, CRUX, Gentoo, LFS.

For anyone who wishes to gain employment with Linux skills, I recommend nothing other than: RHEL, CentOS, Scientific.

[itrush07]

Just in time.. I also needed that link above.. hope to grasp some knowledge and do the same thing with my second desktop. Thanks for the links.

[curtis73]

Ok... here I go. Wish me luck thanks for the help folks

[curtis73]

Ok, My new laptop (win7) came with multiple burning software. I opened windows burning software and didn't find anything about burning images other than actual photos. I played around long enough and got Power2Go opened and it magically gave me "burn disc image." Hope that's right?

[curtis73]

Ok... so I put the disc in the desktop, selected to boot from the CD drive. I instantly got a purple background with two little tiny icons on the bottom; one that was kinda a white rectangle and one that I think was a little man.

Then it went to a blank screen with a fast-blinking cursor.

What did I do wrong?

Edit... second time I tried and i got the select language screen, then selected "try ubuntu without installing" and got the same fast cursor on a blank screen.

Second edit: each successive time I tried, I have to use the arrow keys to get the language menu. If I just let it go I get the fast cursor. If I hit the arrows during that purple screen I get the language menu and then the select menu, but then it goes to the fast cursor. I let it sit for 15 minutes thinking it was "working" but nothing.

I hate being computer stupid.