Originally posted by: Flatline
RedHat, SuSe, and Mandrake are the three I would recommend most for a noob (SuSe if you want to see where things are in "standard" distros instead of the modified layouts of 'Drake & RedHat). If you want to learn the inner workings, pretty much any distro except for something like Lycoris will easily let you do it either through a terminal or runlevel 3.
Why is it that every time some guy asks for some advice on a distro a few people jump down everyone's throat about letting the OS "hold your hand"? Most modern OSes are designed to do just that, and even the most moron-friendly distros will allow you to get under the hood and tinker. Take a deep breath and a couple of valiums and let people learn at their pace; just because you don't want a GUI doesn't mean that no one else should. Personally, I like some of the newer GUIs for linux (KDE 3 is pretty sweet, if a bit bloated), but I always boot into runlevel 3 and I use the command line a lot; doesn't mean I'm better or more knowledgeable than anyone else.
Ok, I dont believe I jumped down anyone's throat this time. But I am definitely guilty of it in the past. My response to your bleeding heart "lets baby these suckers" post can be summed up quite simply: I cant wait to see you answer the same dumb question over and over again in the forum. It will be good to have fresh meat for the
newbies, Im tired of them nibbling on my ankles.
On a less "blood pressure through the roof, why the hell do I do this to myself, yes I know I can ignore the dumb posters but the dog wont let me, why the hell dont they just learn, isnt there a search option here, what ever happened to google, yes I will kill her boy" note, the main reason is what I stated. What do you want to do? Do you want to learn the OS and know what you are doing? Or do you want to be a user? If you want to be a user, your time is better spent other places. If you are intelligent and curious, and want to friggin hack, welcome to linux/bsd/solaris/hp-ux/aix you sick bastard!/whatever. If you know how to use the command line to accomplish what you need to get done, you are better and more knowledgeable than others. That does not speak bad about them, just good about you. They are ignorant, but you took the time to educate yourself. You were curious. You thirsted for something you were not getting anywhere else. And you should *not* think less of yourself or your knowledge because someone else is not on your level. Yes, I am an elitist bastard. You sit there and spend hours upon hours of your life; your time, not your boss' time, but the time you have; learning something. Putting countless hours of time you could be spending with someone special or doing something that isnt looked down at so much by "the cool people" into something that you *ENJOY* and tell me you dont mind someone leeching off your knowledge. Taking that time, effort, and sweat you spent gaining this knowledge, for granted. Tell me that makes you feel good. When someone takes the time to learn the command line in linux, or try something a little tougher, even if it is a dumb idea or they misread something and do something stupid, it shows they are trying. It shows they are putting forth some effort and may deserve a little help, instead of asking for freebies.
Enough of a rant, Im done with these newbie threads.
