There are many things to factor in. It is great to have choice, but it can be intimiating for someone coming from another environment where there is little choice.
Things to consider: Ease of installation Most Linux distros offer Live disks where you can try the OS out before you install it. This was pioneered by Ubuntu and they still have the lead here due to Wubi which is included, allowing installation from inside Windows (for dual booters without the hassle of partitioning). However, any of the big distros have good installers. Community This is where you will get support after you install. The biggest by far is Ubuntu. Type Uuntu into any Linux search and you will get more info than you can handle. Some communities are known for there friendliness. One that is beoming known for its unfriendliness is PCLOS which has some really annoying people in their forums. Most Linux users are not like this. PCLOS is a great distro, though, especially for newbies. Package Management Programs and libraries are called packages. Different distros use different package managers. The most common and best is Synaptic which runs on Debian based systems, although it can work with RPMs. The two most common systems are Debs and RPMs. Most people find their are fewer problems with dependency issues with Debs. Some RPM based systems can become so broken that they become useless. Do a Google search for RPM Hell. The only RPM disro to use Synaptic is PCLOS. All Debian based distros use it. Wikipedia offers an excellent comparisons of distros. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_Live_Distros Ubuntu has the most packages by far. Debian and Linspire also have a lot. More packages mean more choice and less compiling from source code. Proprietary drivers and codecs Some distros do not offer proprietary drivers or codecs. Others such as Ubuntu do not install them by default but make them available for download in their package list or repositories. A few have no qualms about including them by default. These distros have DVDs play, wmas play, and flash work out of the box. This is easier for newbies, which is why they do it. Distros that do this include: PCLOS, MEPIS and Mint. There is no one overall distro for newbies. Ubuntu has the largest community and most support, but it is not as newbie friendly as MEPIS and PCLOS which have relatively small communities. Mint is an Ubuntu derivative which is more newbie friendly. Fedora is a great distro, but not one to start out with. It is one that people turn to because it is associated with Red Hat, but they soon run into problems. Mandriva 2008 gets top marks for everything working out of the box. Get their free version (One) and then join if you like it and want to support their work. Same with Linspire. Get Freespire over Linspire. This distro was recently purchased by Xandros so I am not sure where it is headed, but it is great for newbies and is made for Windows users. Xandros is similar, but it is one of the few commercial distros. These are my random thoughts. I suggest that you download a few ISOs and burn them to CD and try them out. Then install the one that you like best. BTW, I use Ubuntu, but am currently working in Mandriva. I have PCLOS, MEPIS, Sabayon, Xandros, openSUSE and Ubuntu experimental installed on my computers right now. Like many Linux users I multi-boot. What do I like best? I like them all to some degree. I use Ubuntu most of the time just because it suits my needs. Roy Linux: Fast, friendly, flexible and .... free! Support Open source. <*,)}}+< Only dead fish go with the flow! ----- Original Message ---- From: Joe Takacs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 4:42:30 PM Subject: Re: [LINUX_Newbies] Re: Hello all : ) I have been a forum member since 2003, a lifelong windoze user and cut my teeth back in the DOS days. I am still pretty comfortable with the DOS command line. I have been strongly considering going to Linux for a while, but "testimonials" like this give me second thoughts. While windoze is certainly not without problems, it does "just work" (at least for me). Which is the best Linux distro that "just works" without a lot of hassle? Joe Takacs Gary wrote: > I'm with Roy on this one. My experience with Fedora (7 & 8) was that > the frequent kernel updates (every two-three months) routinely broke > necessary, manually applied module tweaks, and that all too often, > their fixes/patches tended to break something else, which then needed > to be fixed in turn. And then, by the time they get everything worked > out, a year has gone by, they push out a new full-version release, > which starts the whole patch-break- patch process over. More hassle > than it's worth. __________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. 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