Best Version of Linux for Me

[SpankySTD]

i am new to linux and i want the power on my laptop, its a gateway 400SD4, its my baby. what OS should i buy?
and could you list each OS i might want and why maybe?
and im curious about Slackware, any good?
im gonna buy one tonight, so your opinion would make many thanks.


Spanky

[SpankySTD]

im downloading Slackware ISO two files, anyone has an opinion if i should go with this? seems pretty interesting..

[j.drake]

i am new to linux and i want the power on my laptop, its a gateway 400SD4, its my baby. what OS should i buy?
and could you list each OS i might want and why maybe?
and im curious about Slackware, any good?
im gonna buy one tonight, so your opinion would make many thanks.


Spanky

Lordy, you are new if you're buying linux!! You know what most folks here will recommend, and it's free.

[SpankySTD]

hehe im downloading a few now from www.linuxiso.org , very nice site.

i have knoppix and std, bought them because i support the cause and was a way to make a nice donation :-p

but since im new, does anyone disagree with my putting slackware on my lappy? and is slackware like any other linux? theres so many, whats the diff in them!!! help! lol

knoppix is nice to snag stuff from my HD if its passwd'd, but it dosnt catch my eye....

[eco2geek]

Nobody here's going to "disagree" with you putting Slackware on your laptop! Good luck! It's supposed to be a really stable distro, and it's been around a long time.

A lot of it depends on how comfortable you are asking and searching for answers on various Linux forums, on the Web, and on Usenet, really. For some people (including myself), having a book handy beats having to rely on the Net for answers.

FWIW, I encourage new Linux users to play around with Red Hat's Fedora Core, not because I particularly like it or think it's that great, but because you can walk into almost any Barnes & Noble (a bookstore chain in the US) and select from three book-length tutorials about it that come with the distro on CD. You can also select from two "bibles" about it that also come with the distro on CD/DVD. And they're all updated fairly frequently.

(Why does Red Hat/Fedora Core get the "book treatment," when other distros don't? Dunno.)

Then, when you're familiar with Red Hat, you can move on to something more complicated.

Anyway, check out this "The Best Linux Distro for a New User?" thread on Slashdot for a ton of opinions.

[SpankySTD]

dude, that was a great reply to my question, thanks im gonna cheack that out!

[OErjan]

the book UNIX Bible comes with Slackware CD1 and a second with some other stuff.
CD1 is the one needed for install. the second is just kdei and gnome iirc. that is, internationalization files for Kde an the Gnome desktop.
i prefer Icewm but...
there are minor diferences between Debian and Slackware, not insurmountable (Knoppix is a customized Debian).
EDIT hmm, might be an older Slackware version though, my book is not exactly new so... /EDIT

[SpankySTD]

well i just slapped Red Hat 9 Shrike on a dell i boosted... 3ghz, 256mb ram, 40 gb hd, 32mb ati radeon 7500.... works great, playing around with it still but i cant get a connection to my network, if someone could IM me at untouchablemike5 on aim, and maybe give me some hints on what to do, that would be killer, thanks.
and is it possible to copy files from the knoppix and std cd's to my new OS?

[rcook]

I've done Slackware since early Linux releases 1.-- or so. It and Knoppix are my two favorite distrobutions. First installed on a new box.
Slackware is a little different in configuration than redhat, mandrake etc. A theological difference on configuration: BSD type rather than System V or some such. I am not a theologian. Within a run level, most distros have a series of shortcuts to start and stop various services. Slackware doesn't. It is straight forward and understandable, what and how it is done. It uses tgz files for packaging and install scripts. It works well and is basically command line for install and administration. The windows tools are there, but not as robust. I prefer it to Red Hat and have never gotten on well with the rpm packages. If Slackware has a weakness it is in X-windows install. Until version 8.?? or 9.0, I couldn't get it to work easily. It is now much better. You will get a solid exposure to command line tools, install, configuration and sysadmin with Slackware and be able to deal with most other distros without difficulty. KNOPPIX and Slackware are my two favorite distro's and Mandrake one of my least favorite. It does too much and doesn't always to it right. Red Hat is solid but not a favorite. I expect the same with Fedora. I have two copies of Fedora 1 & 2 which I haven't gotten around to installing.

[SpankySTD]

so if im starting out, your sayin go with Slackware since its pretty easy?