Which Linux to use? (for a complete linux newb)

[RallosZek]

Hi i want to try out linux, i tried SuSE about 5years ago or so and i couldnt really work it but i wanna give linux another shot. Few things first though..

1) What is a good/easy linux to setup/use? (preferably free)
2) I hear there is programs that emulate windows, what are those and are they easy to use?
3) How is performance on said programs vs normal windows?
4) Will just about every windows game work with said program or even natively in linux?
5) Is it better to dual boot Linux and WinXP (play games in XP)? And can this be done on 1 Harddisk (paritioned)
6) Does linux have any other weird compatability issues i need to be aware of?


Sorry for all the questions, but i need the help of a linux guru to help me out with the transition =)..

My system is a 2800+ @ 2250, 512mb PC3200 ram, Radeon 9800se, 60gb Seagate 7200rpm, 120gb seagate 7200.7rpm. and a liteon dvd rom and dvd rw.


Thanks for your time, and don't flame me plz =p

Forgot to add, i think a mate was saying something about an MSN for linux? i use MSN all the time and i really need it, via a windows emulation or a different client for linux.

 

[n0cmonkey]

1. Any one will do. Linux is Linux. Mandrake is generally geared towards newbies, but I don't like it much. I prefer slackware, and recommend it to anyone that wants to learn the system. Debian is also great, although I prefer slackware.
2. WINE, WINEX, cross something or other. They ARE NOT emulators though.
3. Run linux software. There is supposedly some speed degredation, but some Windows software runs faster under WINE than Linux software runs natively (I don't know the differences between the Linux and Windows SETI versions, but the Windows version under WINE is faster than the native Linux version.)
4. Most of the big games are reported to work. I don't use Windows software when I don't have to though.
5. Depends on you and yes.
6. Not that I'm aware of, I know Windows has a bunch though.

 

[Cheetah8799]

Mandrake is nice for new users. version 10 Community has some bugs, but works for the most pat.
Fedora is flaky at best
SUSE 9.0 is great, but you can't download any ISO images...
Redhat 9.0 will not be suppored anymore by Redhat in the near future, so don't go there.
Vector is supposed to be ok from what I hear.

SLAX and Knoppix are really nice live-cd distros that you can use to get started without installing anything on your system.

www.distrowatch.com will have links to many other distros out there.

 

[Megatomic]

Mandrake 10.0 Official will be on the servers for public download soon. I tossed my faulty Mdk 10 Community CDs when I found out that CD1 image was bad. Not a good sign at all...

If you are going to try Mandrake, wait for the official release of 10.0. Knoppix is good, too. I found it to be very useable when I had to run diskless for over a week. I had full PC functionality thanks to it. :beer:

 

[Southerner]

Best advice I can give: buy a $50 book on Linux, read it while playing with your system, then go and be happy.

You've got a couple of options here: go with a distro that doesn't try to be newby friendly (like Debian or Slackware), or go with something that tries to hide as many of the messy details as possible (like Mandrake). In the former case, you'll have a learning curve until you're comfortable. If the latter case, you'll start off comfortable and grow less and less comfortable as time goes on (assuming you want to tinker and learn), because you're stuck using the distro's specific tools and you haven't been watching what's going on underneath...

If you check past postings here and elsewhere, you'll probably find that most new users prefer Xandros, Mandrake, Redhat, and Suse. Most that have been around a while will go for something like Debian, SLackware, Gentoo, or even one of the BSD's. There might be something to learn there...

(Of course, if your goal is to have a distro that just works and you're willing to work within its limitations in order to get work done, something like Mandrake or Suse rocks. I'd probably lean toward Suse.)

 

[txxxx]

Slackware if you want to learn linux ground up - Mandrake if you actually want to do something productive...

I'll get slaughtered for saying that but I mean it.

I simply cannot be bothered nor have the time to do everything by console . Mandrake saves time for me in configuring and maintaining linux. Yes, I still use the command shell, but find a lot of the time, a tightVNC session in KDE can have the job done much quicker, leaving me with other things to do, like editing my PHP script that allows MP3 Streaming, or host my gaming server

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: txxxx
Slackware if you want to learn linux ground up - Mandrake if you actually want to do something productive...



I'll get slaughtered for saying that but I mean it.



I simply cannot be bothered nor have the time to do everything by console . Mandrake saves time for me in configuring and maintaining linux. Yes, I still use the command shell, but find a lot of the time, a tightVNC session in KDE can have the job done much quicker, leaving me with other things to do, like editing my PHP script that allows MP3 Streaming, or host my gaming server

And I find a quick vi session to work better than using X. Different strokes for different folks, but neither is less productive than the other. It just depends on the user.

If there is a KDE application for installing, configuring, and testing mysql for an ACID database; I haven't seen it.

 

[RallosZek]

Thanks for the replies guys =) ill try get mandrake from somewhere, how many CDs is it? i dont want to get a dodgey 1 CD job if its supposed to be more