Linux Noob

Mepis.

SUSE is pretty good - easy to install.

Which distro to pick is so frequently the start of religious wars that I've seen people be accused of trolling just for asking it.

Having said that, the two guys before me are idiots and deserve to roast in meep.

Just kidding.

SUSE and Mandrake are supposedly pretty good for noobs. All graphical, etc. I've never played with either one myself.

Go check out gentoo.org's domeepentation and forums. Whatever you pick, use the quality of level of those as your watermark. (Gentoo itself is very probably not what you want.) Whatever you go with, the domeepentation should be easy to read, and verbose. Preferably, there's a user community (e.g. forums) that are well-trafficked and helpful. (Gentoo forums rock. Gentoo IRC sucks.)

Me, I'm curious about Ubuntu, which I've heard some say might be good for noobs. Dunno yet.

As for what mistakes to avoid? Read the domeepentation. Read the --help. Read the man page. Search the web. I can't stress that enough. If you're not willing to put in the time to read up what's been written for you, you're going to have a tough time getting help from live humans.

Often I'll be wrestling with a problem for a few days, and will have tried seemingly everything, having scoured the web, and read the docs, and troubleshot the issue from five angles, and then I'll finally drag myself into the appropriate IRC channel to ask for ideas, type up a very descriptive one-liner on my status, setup, and problem, and then hit enter, and JUST THEN it will occur to me what the answer is, once I've publically outed myself as an idiot.

Whatever that is, avoid doing that, too.

i only used linux once, on an old timey, kerosene powered box.

it tends to explode.

(Gentoo forums rock. Gentoo IRC sucks.)

Linkswarm journals rock for questions like this. Linkswarm IRC turns into a FishOS LOL-fest with questions like this :]

heh. I'm so glad I got my hands on a copy of XP pro recently.

Ok so I'm gonna get killed for this, but whats the deal with linux? Is it faster? I only really care about speed and usability. Should I try linux? Remember I am a moron.

If Post_Rate < Tolerable Do_Not_Kill_Poster
Else Cillifuk END IF Bull_meep_Counter ++ Post Rate ++ Return

SFW - no - it's not faster and it's more difficult to use than Windows.

Most Linux rants are about the fact that UNIX (which is what Linux is) is a far more robust operating system that was built from the ground up by scientists and students who were more interested in operability wheras Windows (first DOS) was built as a home hobby system and has since been continually retro-fitted to allow for greater memory and networking capabilities (that UNIX had from the beginning). However, the MAC/Windows battle for commercial viability only caught on in the UNIX world on an academic level, while those commercial systems were catering to the average guy. In the past decade Linux/UNIX developers have tried to catch up to make it more user-friendly by making GUI interfaces that are more MAC/Windows-like and including word processor and spreadhseet "office" programs in the distribution packages.

The end result of all this is that MAC/Windows is pretty easy to use but is less reliable as a server for large enterprise (especially internet-based) systems. And UNIX/Linux is more robust as a server system, but you have to be kind of a geek to figure stuff out. Lately, Windows XP/2003 Server, MAC OS10 and the latest flavors of Linux have begun to merge closer in looks and usability. But their legacies remain. Linux is fun and free, but be warned that it takes some effort to get to know it.

Certainly it's faster than Windows, by almost any benchmark ever.

It's almost much more difficult to learn. The payoff comes at the far end of the curve.

Should you, SFW, learn it?

No.

At least, if you do, forget my email address. :D

Two pieces of advice: 1. Mandrake 2005 LE 2. DON'T log on as root and start opening and closing meep 2.People weren't born knowing Windows. 2. After you've logged in as root and played around with a few things remember #2 2. Download rute's tutorial

i especially agree with kerleturd's point: People weren't born knowing Windows.

you will not be as proficient with linux as you are with windows right away. think of the first time you sat down at a computer and realize this is what you're doing with linux. many of the concepts transfer well, though.

my personal experience? i started out with debian and am now using gentoo. i have ubuntu installed but haven't messed with it too much. from what i see, ubuntu has some pretty good forums. i agree with vas, though: find good resources.

i actually did have mandrake installed at one point, but i was ambivalent about it. it seemed pretty slow and boggy. i once heard something like: if you use mandrake or red hat you learn just that, mandrake or red hat. if you use debian/slackware, you learn linux.

also, i've heard good things about mepis, but i'm in no position to confirm nor deny.

don't let the pritty colors blind your eyes.

i stand corrected - listen to vas... linux may be faster ... unles you're running WINE - ha ha :)

in my mind's eye i see wine users as an obscure subsect that routinely self-flagellates.

This reminds me, fundhra supplied me with puter goods with which I crafted a shiny new linux box. I'm using PcLinux (it rocks) any it comes bundled with everything my noob hart desires.

Now I need to roust up some Guiness merchandise to repay mundhra, but I'm fuking lazy so this wont happen tomorrow.

EL-KAY: awesome, man. i'm glad it's being used and not sitting in my closet taking up space.

(gimme some goodies, meep)

Y'all need to use SuSE Linux. It's probably the best, easiest to use desktop distro ever.

Get your ISO's here: ftp://mirrors.kernel.org/suse/i386/9.3/iso/

LK, you got to drop that PcLinux bullmeep, and powa up.

cracka: expand, please.

I used Red Hat for a while. I started rockin' the Mac about 4+ years ago and haven't looked back.

Pick one that isn't Lindows (too meep) or Slackware (you'd be meeped), that is my advice.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I went with SuSE mostly because, as it was suggested, it seems to have a large noob friendly community. I set up the Linux box thru a KVM switch so I can go back and forth when it gets too frustrating. I'd forgotten how much fun it was beating my head on the desk and wondering just what the meep I'm doing wrong.