   Linux
  Okay, this is NOT a debate over which OS is better ( we all know it''s linux anyway ).I am going to eventually be installing linux on my computer, and want to know what is the best flavor to get and why? I have a cable modem and cd burner, so if it can be downloaded free in iso form or something, that is a definate plus.    Drakonite[Insert Witty Signature Here]  
  Mandrake 8.0It''s probably the easiest for newbies. Oh, and FreeBSD 0wnz Linux  ~~~~~~~~~~Martee  ;  They''re probably right about Mandrake being easiest, but Redhat worked fine for me (I''d never used and form of Unix before installing it). All distro''s have their quarks though .quote:Original post by Martee  Oh, and FreeBSD 0wnz Linux    Can''t all of us Open Source people get along ? Heh.    [Resist Windows XP''s Invasive Production Activation Technology!];  Slackware 8.0.  ''Nuff said.    Free Speech, Free SklyarovFight the unconstitutional DMCA.Commander M  ;quote:Original post by pouya  well, when you say you don''t know which distribution does what, that means that you have very little (or nothing at all) experience in linux.  Actually, although I don''t have a huge experiece with Linux, I have used redhat and dragon linux, along with whatever version my school had on one of their computers, I also used Unix during the time I was taking classes at the local university.I have enough knowledge of it to know it''s better... I just don''t know enough of the differences between distros, and people just tend to flame about them anyway.Thanks to all for your help.    Drakonite[Insert Witty Signature Here]  ;  Make sure it is an Up-to-date Red Hat if you do choose it... because the install for RH5 had a fubared partitioning tool and caused my HDDs to become surprisingly blank (and also gave me far too much hassle in being able to repartition them... install win2k.... fubar around with the partitions in that... etc)Anyway... the moral of the story is to eat your vegetables...-Chris Bennett of Dwarfsoft - The future of RPGs  Thanks to all the goblins in the GDCorner niche;quote:Original post by dwarfsoft  Make sure it is an Up-to-date Red Hat if you do choose it... because the install for RH5 had a fubared partitioning tool and caused my HDDs to become surprisingly   Actually I once installed RH5 and it was easy and hassle free.FreeBSD is pretty easy to intall too. It comes with best installation GUI type thing I''ve sever seen. It''s really easy to install. And you can call up opon it to add/remove packages etc.;  Mandrake 8 or Red Hat 7.1 .If you choose Mandrake, I recommend choosing the development option or custom.  For some stupid reason, it doesn''t include the compiler by default (!) and you have to rely completely on RPM (like InstallShield for Linux I guess).Red Hat is nice but don''t even think about using it''s FTP server or BIND.  Get ProFTP and BIND 9.x instead.  ;  I''m surprised that no one mentioned debian. So I will: Debian PS: Check out the great site www.linuxnewbie.org  ;quote:I'm surprised that no one mentioned debian  That's because whenever debian is suggested to a newbie on a linux group, other people start flaming with arguments like "Debian is too hard, it's not for newbies".But apart from that, I totally agree with you, Debian is by far the best choice. No bloated installation of over 1.5 Gigs without even having a compiler like in mandrake. An easy to use package install system (esp. the dependency tree, rpm can't compete with .deb). A full install with X, development tools, web browser, etc. on a 500 MB hard disk :-) (Actually I can get that on a 200 MB disk as well, but we're talking about newbies here :-)And no KDE standard installed, so don't worry about running debian on your P166!Edited by - Tassadar on August 6, 2001 9:39:37 AM  