Which Linux ?

[marcin 0]

HelloCan you tell me, which Linux will be the best for someone, who starts his adventure with linux? now I was using Aurox 10.1, but it was boring to use it in kde or gnome :/now I want to learn using console (where could I find commands for console)I want to use linux as local server and www serwer (based on apache)wich one distribution will be good for me?my friend is using debian, but I think, that here are people, who konows better. and the last question - where can I find a list of pacages for linux?

Edited August 24, 2005 by microscopic^earthling (see edit history)

[yordan 10]

Notice from Yordan:

Not Debian for a beginner!

If it's your first try, I would say don't use debian ! Debian is very interesting for security reasons, if you want to prevent people from accessing your computer whithout your permission.
If you are a beginner, I would recommend Mandrake. The mandrake distributions are fully functionnal, and easy to install. Download the iso's from the Mandrake official site, burn them using Nero, boot on the first CD. Installation is even easier than installing Windows XP !
And you will have a fully functionnal system, including the KDE deskstop (really useful if you want to configure things) and you will have the Linux standard console, several versions if you want to taste the differences between ascii-like and X11-like consoles.
You can download Mandriva 10, the free version of mandrake 10, here :
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
If you want a really stable version, maybe you would prefer Mandrake 9, the full version is still free and has everything included : the web server, the mysql database, etc...
Hope this helped
Yordan

[hatim 0]

You have to mention that what do you want to use commands for. For daily use you may not need alot of commands . Ie you may just need to configure your system once and learn how to launch your browser. But if you really want to learn commands and manage a system or a network you ll probably be better off getting some Introductry Linux book. I would recomend Linux in a Nutshell.

There are thousands of Linux distros out there (well may be not thousands ..but i meant alot). You may just wana try few big names b4 u settle down with one distro. Each distro has its Pluses and Minuses . See http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ for details. I would recomend Ubuntu or Open Suse.

Learning linux will take time , but if you are stuck with computing ..it will be the best thing ull do.

[yordan 10]

By the way... I first answered your question, how to install Linux and which linux, and dual-boot, and so one. However... If you only want to use a terminal-like window, in order to learn how to run terminal command-line commands, you don't really need to install a full linux distribution. Moreover if you really like Microsoft Windows, you may use a linux environment inside of a Microsoft Windows window. You will find cygwin at : http://www.cygwin.com/ cygwin is a fully compatible Unix environment. People use it at the university in order to show their student the standard Unix shell commands syntax. For instance you can see how the standard commands work :

CONSOLE

# time find . -print |cpio -omBdv >/tmp/mybackupfile.cpio

Moreover, it needs rather few space on your disk (you may keep your F:/ disk and install it in f/cygwin/, it will use only about 100 megs. And telnet and the other standard communication things will work. You will even be able to "DISPLAY=mypc:0.0 ; export DISPLAY; oclock" and have the x-windows o-clock from the remote host displayed on your PC. And there is a way of using your PC like a standard X-windows terminal. So, with cygwin you have a real Unix machine on your terminal, needing very few space and nothing installed (if you don't like it anymore, remove the f:\cygwin filesystem). You will of course be able of using the standard Linux commands, and write down your own Linux scripts, saving them, modifying them and running them, and then correcting your errors. So, I think it's really the first thing to do for you, and after several monthes using cygwin you will be able to really decide if you need a native Linux or if you can continue like that.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

Use SuSE, great for exprienced users and newbs. It has a graphical tool to make server management easy!xboxrulz

[iGuest 3]

I feel that the Suseinux is the best distro the Linux available also try your hands on the Knoppix Distro also since it directly boots up from the Cd.

[koky 0]

try ubuntu linux.Ubuntu Linux is easy to download. You can download a CD image and burn it yourself using a CD writer.