I'm a "poke around a bit then jump in" sort. After some early experience with Knoppix (thanks, Kieth) I tried (ca 2002) Debian because Knoppix was Debian based and I figured "go to the source!!". I soon realized that the only way it would work reliably was if I became far more of an expert than I'm interested in being.
If Knoppix had come with an "install now" feature I would have hit the button and been happy. But it didn't, and in trying to find out how to install it permanently I found out that it's totally centered on being a live-on-CD distribution. So I poked around a bit, found out that Ubuntu is Debian with training wheels, and I have yet to learn how to ride without them :-). chris (fool) mccraw wrote: > my 3/4-baked theory is that many people new to linux use what their > friends suggest, or what they first or most compellingly hear about. > that is, they don't do comparative research between available/relevant > distributions and choose logically. > > certainly that was the case for me in the early days and even now i'm > more a "try it and see" type than a heavy researcher when i experiment with > distros i haven't used before. hmm, then again, i know more of what i > want and need from a distro now, and can judge some things instantly > that i would have not understood when i was getting started, so maybe > the past 16 years has been of some use after all =) > > anyway, what is your take on how people choose distributions, and/or > how did you choose your first? i think newbies are an especially > interesting discussion because we are attracting so many to our ranks > these days and i'm curious as to what trends will shape the future of > the landscape; i believe that the distros that see the most users > fare the best in terms of vitality and usually pace/success of > development, commercial or non (though that is a belief open to > debate in itself). > > personally, i started with slackware because i was unaware anything > else existed and my mentor used slackware, though i understood that > slackware was not linux. the second time (in as many weeks) that i > installed it i downloaded it myself from somewhere that had other > distros mirrored too and i noticed their presence but was not > inquisitive for many months (and many reinstalls). it maybe that > nothing else was as mature and generally awesome and in english at the > time (mid-1994), but i certainly can't vouch for that with any > certainty. > > thoughts? > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services Voice: 503-631-7815 Cell: 503-349-8432 http://www.wescottdesign.com _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
