<span class="gmail_quote">My bad, I was running Ubuntu 5.10 & just ran a distribution upgrade, so I haven't dealt with the installer much.<br><br>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.
<br><br>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.<br></span><div><span class="sg"><br> -jordan
</span></div><div><span class="e" id="q_10d0df7ec1be64f6_2"><br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote"> On 8/14/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Joey Rockhold</b> <<a href="mailto:joey.rockhold@gmail.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
joey.rockhold@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-bottom: 0; margin-left: 0; margin-left: 0.80ex; border-left-color: #cccccc; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex">
I am not here to start a flame-war over the distribution of choice for<br>Linux. I agree with everything Jordan said about Ubuntu. But I did<br>want to caution that the latest version of Ubuntu (6.06) has a very<br>buggy installer, and many people have a lot of issues with it. I
<br>would go to version 5.10 for now if I was going to try Ubuntu.<br><br>From personal experience, I can say OpenSuSE 10.1, when installed<br>without updates, is a bit unstable, but as long as you get all the<br>current updates, I find it has been running really smooth for me now.
<br><br>Like I said, I am not trying to promote one distro over another, just<br>throught I would throw my 2 cents in.<br><br>- Joey<br><br>On 8/14/06, Jordan Peacock <<a href="mailto:hewhocutsdown@gmail.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
hewhocutsdown@gmail.com </a>> wrote:<br>> My initiation into linux was a little rocky: dialup over in the Middle East,<br>> and I decided to brave the waters and try to install it. The 600+MB .iso<br>> files were a bit daunting over dialup, and so I opted for the smallest .iso:
<br>> Gentoo's stage1 cd.<br>><br>> For the uninformed, this is a minimalist cd that drops you into a command<br>> line and assumes that you can set up networking, etc from there.<br>><br>> A few months after that I tried out Mandrake Linux, and the difference was
<br>> drastic; it was easier to setup than when I had installed Windows XP!<br>><br>> Just a few months ago, my wife used my desktop (currently running Ubuntu<br>> Linux), and decided to switch her laptop over. I personally would highly
<br>> recommend grabbing a Ubuntu CD and installing it for the beginner for 3<br>> reasons:<br>><br>> 1) It works as a Live CD; you don't need to destroy everything on your hard<br>> drive (at first). If you tell your computer to boot from the CD you
<br>> downloaded instead of the hard drive, it'll run Ubuntu without touching any<br>> of your data on the hard drive. When you're done, simply shutdown, eject the<br>> CD, and resume operations on (presumably) Windows XP or similar. This
<br>> applies to all Live CDs.<br>><br>> 2) It's well thought out & easy to navigate: try out the live CD and just<br>> move around a bit; check out home folders, applications, etc. Everything<br>> from the menus to the application divisions is simple and intuitive. My
<br>> wife, with little/no Linux experience, jumped right in. This applies to all<br>> distributions of Linux that utilize GNOME.<br>><br>> For a similar ease but different style, some distributions use KDE (which is
<br>> what I started out with). Mandriva is a good quality distribution that uses<br>> KDE by default. Or, Kubuntu is a KDE-default version of Ubuntu.<br>><br>> 3) It's package-management system is second-to-none. This holds true for all
<br>> Debian-based distributions. The .deb is a standardized package format (you<br>> will also see .rpm or .tar.gz being tossed about). .deb is wonderful in the<br>> sense that if there are conflicts between programs, or dependencies, it will
<br>> sort it out, or at least tell you of the issue. .rpm does<br>> this to some degree,<br>> but personally I have had some negative experiences with<br>> it.<br>> Other people may tell you otherwise. It really, in the end, is up to you.
<br>><br>> 4) Community support. You'll notice that most of the above are available in<br>> other versions of Linux. Red Hat also uses GNOME, Knoppix is a Live CD,<br>> Debian uses .deb files, but despite the calibre of documentation and
<br>> community with some others, I have only seen Ubuntu tied with one other<br>> distribution: Gentoo. I would recommend Gentoo once you've been around the<br>> block a couple times, but it's definately a difficult pill to swallow
<br>> initially.<br>><br>> Between forums, wikis, irc, mailing lists, etc, virtually every question I<br>> have had or trouble spot I have hit has been dealt with, answered, or at<br>> least guided me to the point where I can fix things myself. This is often
<br>> overlooked, but it is as valuable a part of the operating system as any<br>> piece of software.<br>><br>> Books are helpful, as are tutors, but as I'm finding right now (learning the<br>> IBM AS/400 machines/OS atm) there is no comparison to hands-on learning. All
<br>> of us on the list are available for answering questions, and don't feel<br>> pressured to take my advice (regarding Ubuntu) if another distribution has<br>> triggered your curiosity.<br>><br>> All the best, fellow wanderer
<br>><br>> -jordan<br>><br>><br>><br>><br>><br>> On 8/14/06, Tipsy-in_Chicago Tipsy < <a href="mailto:tipsy_in_chicago@yahoo.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
tipsy_in_chicago@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<br> > ><br>><br>> Hello,<br>><br>> I am an absolute newbie to the world of Linux. I am interested in developing<br>> linux administrative skills.<br>><br>> Is self learning the best route? If so, any books that will be helpful?
<br>><br>> I am also open to taking classes.<br>><br>> Kindly, get back to me with the best approach.<br>><br>><br>> Thanks<br>><br>> KT<br>><br>><br>><br>><br>> ________________________________
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