My bad, I was running Ubuntu 5.10 & just ran a distribution upgrade, so I haven't dealt with the installer much. And don't worry about a flame-war; Gentoo, Mandrake and Ubuntu are primarily what I'm familiar with, and with Mandrake being what I started on, and Ubuntu what my wife started on, there's the first hand beginner's experience. On the other hand, I've heard great things about Fedora, or ______. Hence the mailing-list; the collective Twin Cities Linux hive-mind. Have fun, all. -jordan On 8/14/06, Joey Rockhold <joey.rockhold at gmail.com> wrote: > > I am not here to start a flame-war over the distribution of choice for > Linux. I agree with everything Jordan said about Ubuntu. But I did > want to caution that the latest version of Ubuntu (6.06) has a very > buggy installer, and many people have a lot of issues with it. I > would go to version 5.10 for now if I was going to try Ubuntu. > > From personal experience, I can say OpenSuSE 10.1, when installed > without updates, is a bit unstable, but as long as you get all the > current updates, I find it has been running really smooth for me now. > > Like I said, I am not trying to promote one distro over another, just > throught I would throw my 2 cents in. > > - Joey > > On 8/14/06, Jordan Peacock <hewhocutsdown at gmail.com > wrote: > > My initiation into linux was a little rocky: dialup over in the Middle > East, > > and I decided to brave the waters and try to install it. The 600+MB .iso > > files were a bit daunting over dialup, and so I opted for the smallest > .iso: > > Gentoo's stage1 cd. > > > > For the uninformed, this is a minimalist cd that drops you into a > command > > line and assumes that you can set up networking, etc from there. > > > > A few months after that I tried out Mandrake Linux, and the difference > was > > drastic; it was easier to setup than when I had installed Windows XP! > > > > Just a few months ago, my wife used my desktop (currently running Ubuntu > > Linux), and decided to switch her laptop over. I personally would highly > > > recommend grabbing a Ubuntu CD and installing it for the beginner for 3 > > reasons: > > > > 1) It works as a Live CD; you don't need to destroy everything on your > hard > > drive (at first). If you tell your computer to boot from the CD you > > downloaded instead of the hard drive, it'll run Ubuntu without touching > any > > of your data on the hard drive. When you're done, simply shutdown, eject > the > > CD, and resume operations on (presumably) Windows XP or similar. This > > applies to all Live CDs. > > > > 2) It's well thought out & easy to navigate: try out the live CD and > just > > move around a bit; check out home folders, applications, etc. Everything > > from the menus to the application divisions is simple and intuitive. My > > wife, with little/no Linux experience, jumped right in. This applies to > all > > distributions of Linux that utilize GNOME. > > > > For a similar ease but different style, some distributions use KDE > (which is > > what I started out with). Mandriva is a good quality distribution that > uses > > KDE by default. Or, Kubuntu is a KDE-default version of Ubuntu. > > > > 3) It's package-management system is second-to-none. This holds true for > all > > Debian-based distributions. The .deb is a standardized package format > (you > > will also see .rpm or .tar.gz being tossed about). .deb is wonderful in > the > > sense that if there are conflicts between programs, or dependencies, it > will > > sort it out, or at least tell you of the issue. .rpm does > > this to some degree, > > but personally I have had some negative experiences with > > it. > > Other people may tell you otherwise. It really, in the end, is up to > you. > > > > 4) Community support. You'll notice that most of the above are available > in > > other versions of Linux. Red Hat also uses GNOME, Knoppix is a Live CD, > > Debian uses .deb files, but despite the calibre of documentation and > > community with some others, I have only seen Ubuntu tied with one other > > distribution: Gentoo. I would recommend Gentoo once you've been around > the > > block a couple times, but it's definately a difficult pill to swallow > > initially. > > > > Between forums, wikis, irc, mailing lists, etc, virtually every question > I > > have had or trouble spot I have hit has been dealt with, answered, or at > > least guided me to the point where I can fix things myself. This is > often > > overlooked, but it is as valuable a part of the operating system as any > > piece of software. > > > > Books are helpful, as are tutors, but as I'm finding right now (learning > the > > IBM AS/400 machines/OS atm) there is no comparison to hands-on learning. > All > > of us on the list are available for answering questions, and don't feel > > pressured to take my advice (regarding Ubuntu) if another distribution > has > > triggered your curiosity. > > > > All the best, fellow wanderer > > > > -jordan > > > > > > > > > > > > On 8/14/06, Tipsy-in_Chicago Tipsy < tipsy_in_chicago at yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > > > > Hello, > > > > I am an absolute newbie to the world of Linux. I am interested in > developing > > linux administrative skills. > > > > Is self learning the best route? If so, any books that will be helpful? > > > > I am also open to taking classes. > > > > Kindly, get back to me with the best approach. > > > > > > Thanks > > > > KT > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo! Mail Beta. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.mn-linux.org/pipermail/tclug-list/attachments/20060814/1d67f1e0/attachment.htm