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
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
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> >  Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo! Mail Beta.
> >
> >
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
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> >
>
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