Which distribution for first time user?

#1 I heard Mandrake was real user friendly for first time users. But almost any Linux distro with a GUI (Gnome, KDE, etc...) will get you up and running quick. Its using Linux at the command line that most people find difficult as you have to learn a whole new set of commands.

#2 For first time use - Mandrake,as Sam points out.You can download it,I think they even have official torrent download.

www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3 - here is a list of ftp servers.

It is very easy to install,but I would reccommend to choose expert option while installing - you do it by hiting F1 when installation starts,and then write expert on the command line.You get few more options to choose from,but it is really user friendly...
You could try Knoppix - that is a live cd -which means no install needed - you just put cd in the cdrom and reboot pc.
Go to www.linuxiso.org/index.php - there you can find a lot linux distros and download what you like ...
(Borken english - I know,Iknow :)
Good luck

#3 Does Mandrake 10 (3 CD ISO version) come with everything I'd need for compiling and running Torque (XFree86, SDL, OpenAL, Mesa3D etc.)?

I can't help wondering why some distributions such as SuSe only need 1 CD, whereas others such as Debian require 7.

Btw, am I right in thinking that even if I download a file using Win98, if I burn it to a CDR it will be readable by Linux (if it's intended for Linux)? CDROM disk formats are readable by any PC O/S, right?

#4 Get involved with a LUG (linux user group)

Knoppix: just looking (it runs from the CD.)

Mandrake: easy to install

RedHat: most common (What I'm using, use 8.0 or above depending on the power of your processor, which you need to mention to help others decide with you)

FreeBSD: commercial server

Gentoo: expert computer user

Oh, a couple of other things:

Dual boot is a pain in the ... from the windows side. I have done it and I don't recommend it. In my neck of the woods its easier to pick up a cheap computer and load it with Linux.

I will get more specific if you want...

#5 I just got rid of my duel boot (win98 and xp) it is a pain, you have to format both drives then you may have to edit the boot.ini (to get rid of the "chose os prompt")

duel boots are eval

#6 Btw, am I right in thinking that even if I download a file using Win98, if I burn it to a CDR it will be readable by Linux (if it's intended for Linux)? CDROM disk formats are readable by any PC O/S, right?

Yes, with distribution exceptions.

The reason that some disro's come with more disks, is, you guessed it, they have more stuff. Is that stuff what you need?

Probably not.

They put most of the good stuff on the first CD.

If your running Win98 you probably have a older machine, answer that question first. I've run Linux on a Pentium 200 Mhz. Anything older then that you had better ask around. Sophisticated graphics on an old machine ain't gonna happen.

#7 The machine I intend to use has an Athlon XP 2000+ (P4 1.6 GHz equivalent) with 512 Mb RAM and an nVidia FX 5200. I'm running Win98 mainly because I don't see any real advantage to "upgrading" to XP when, from what I've heard, many of my favourite (classic) games don't like to run in it.

I'm used to dual boots, as my laptop has Win98 and NT4 on it, and in the past I've also run Win95 with NT4.

I would likely use Acronis OS Selector to set up the partitions and boot sectors, as that can resize partitions without loss of data and/or change the file format.

Putting together a low spec machine to run Linux on wouldn't be that much of a problem to me as I still have parts from previous upgrades, with one exception: a 3D graphics card. The best one that I'm not using is only 8Mb and that isn't enough to run Torque.

Btw, can't you just delete the duplicate posts?

#8 Thanks for your point about editing posts. I'm in and out of various forum's, but I'm novice at posting.

Also I'm a computer generalist. I gave up on tring to be an computer expert as the market evolved.

1984 DRM XP

enough said about Windows

Your final objective is your first consideration.

My final objective is to make some money doing something creative. What is yours?

I'm not familiar with Acronis but I've used System Commander. It allowed 32 odd OS's to be booted. I guess I was trying to collect OS's which turned out to be software overhead. The older OS's quickly lose their relevance and it becomes a house of cards. So much for multi-boots for me, your objective may be different, but I found it all to be a waste of time.

I was using dual-boot but I got tired of ajusting display properties between boots. There were other minor annoyances and I found fdisk/mbr to be a useful DOS command.

I have been using KVM switches on two machines and this works for me and I recommend it.

I have similar hardware to the box you are talking about. Does that FX 5200 support dual monitors? I found the setup for dual monitors to be lacking under RH 8.0, so I still run Win9x.

#9 My final objective is similar to yours, but I wouldn't necessarily be using the computer just for that purpose.

I would be using it to create web pages, test Perl and PHP programs locally, develop a multi-platform game using Torque and to play games. No single O/S is best for all those tasks, which is why I've used a dual boot system of some sort during the last few years.

When I had a Pentium I desktop I had NT4 with Win95, the Pentium II laptop I used NT4 with Win98, now that I'm using a P4 equivalent, I'm thinking that Win98 with Linux might be the way to go.

I found NT4 to be much more stable than Win95/98 and it accepted Unix style paths (using "/" instead of "\"), so it was ideal for setting up Apache, Perl, PHP and MySQL. Unfortunately, fewer games run on it.

I thought that Linux might be a better alternative, as my local setup would then be much closer to that of the Web servers I would be using, and I could also test games on another platform.

Out of the most popular distributions I think I'm leaning towards Debian based upon what is included with the download.

The ISO version of Mandrake doesn't even seem to include Emacs or Vim, SuSe Personal doesn't include any development tools and Gentoo seems to want to install additional packages via the Internet.

As I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get suitable modem drivers, that last point could be a problem.

Fedora seems to be somewhat of an unknown quantity at present, although I have heard good things about RedHat.

#10 Win9x and Linux sounds good. I would say your a multi-boot expert with that history.

WinNT and most Linux disrto's have a boot loader.

Koppix is a tight package.

RedHat is corporate and...

The structure of open source will drive development; but like gravity, will larger bodies (IBM, Adobe, EA, et al) capture smaller bodies (open source) and thier satellites(individuals.)

I see OSS's future in the public domain. Education, science, government. That's why I'm designing for educational gaming.

If its good enough for PIXAR and the Dept. of Defence, its good enough for me.

Just something to think about...

RedHat has the largest market share, so I stick with them--for the time being.

Fedora to Gentoo is my long term path.

#11 I wouldn't say I'm an expert at multiple boots. Win95 with WinNT was very simple to set up as WinNT recognised that 95 was already on there and basically configured itself.

Win98 with NT was a little trickier as neither recognised the other existed, but Acronis OS Selector solved that problem.


From what I could gather from their web site, Koppix is a little too lean for my needs. If I am to use linux to replace NT4 completely, I'll need to set up a local web server and scripting languages. It therefore makes sense to pick a distribution that includes those rather than adding them later (particularly as the machine won't be connected to the 'net).

I considered RedHat, but version 9 is the last non-commercial version, and Fedora is too new to make any firm decisions.

#12 If you have enough parts to put together a second computer, then build it and load Linux. Don't worry about the video card performance (unless it's an ISA card;) your short term objective is to learn Linux and its boot loader. Then load Win9x, WinNt, what ever...Linux is n't limited to four partitions like Windows is. With the knowledge gained you can rebuild your more powerful box at a later date.

Then you can ditch Acronis OS Selector (software overhead is bad!)

If you do not have the parts or the space for a second computer, then be specific about what you don't have and we can reevaluate your situation.

There is an interesting discussion under the thread "what distro do you use." I will ask some pointed questions there.

Everyone has their favorite Linux flavor; my recommendation to you is stick to the center of the "corporate" road on your first install.

#13 Well, I could probably find all the parts to build a Pentium II base system, but I don't have a spare reliable monitor to use with it.

Other than finding the space to set it up and having to switch the monitor back and forth, it wouldn't be capable of running Torque, which would be the main thing I would wish to test.

I haven't come across a partition limit with Windows yet, other than each file system having a maximum size. I had my drive split into about 6 partitions on my NT/95 system, and the one I'm using now is split into about 8.

As for Acronis OS Selector, it doesn't use any more resources than any other boot loader. The disk tools are in a separate program which you start once the O/S has loaded, or from a floppy disk.

As for sticking to the centre of the corporate road, which distributions fall into that category?

The only third party software I would likely install is the Opera browser, and that is available in RedHat, SuSe, Mandrake and Debian versions, as well as a generic package.

I'll be sure to read that other thread.

#14 You could consider a KVM (Keyboard Video Mouse) switch. I use a Dakota mini scout(PS2.) Recommend a USB KVM.

I don't know how 4 partitions under Win9x got into my head, its been a while. It's a moot point, you have Acronis or Linux.

RedHat is the most corporate.

#15 I don't see how Dual Boot, well nto in my case, i simple install windows XP, partition a small 12 meg ntfs on the C:, and a fat and NTFS size according to my needs. I Myself just installed Cobind Desktop 0.2 which is aimed at newbies, one CD, although the YUM updater has some bugs.