Well, Ubuntu is a very popular distro for first time users, as it offers a fair amount of features in a package that suits most people.
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Jump straight into Gentoo
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It's what I started with, and it really helped me get familiar with the commands and such.
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ROFL no way! If he tries Gentoo first he will run for the hills screaming! It certainly is a good way to learn the guts of Linux though.
I would go with something easy like Ubuntu, Fedora, or openSUSE.
After that pick up Arch or Gentoo and find out what real Linux is.
Originally Posted by tehmaggot Jump straight into Gentoo
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I would go with something easy like Ubuntu, Fedora, or openSUSE.
After that pick up Arch or Gentoo and find out what real Linux is.
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LOL
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It's possible to start from there, but it can be too much for some.
Originally Posted by binormalkilla ROFL no way! If he tries Gentoo first he will run for the hills screaming! It certainly is a good way to learn the guts of Linux though. I would go with something easy like Ubuntu, Fedora, or openSUSE. After that pick up Arch or Gentoo and find out what real Linux is. |
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I'd suggest not to use Wubi simply because a filesystem within a filesystem is like using two condoms: its just unwise.
Plus its easy to reinstall the windows bootloader if you choose to ditch Linux.
Originally Posted by Gizmo Start with Ubuntu and use the Wubi installer to install Ubuntu within Windows. You'll sacrifice some of the speed, but none of the functionality. Furthermore, if you decide you do not like it, then just uninstall from Windows and you'll be done. No messing with the GRUB (a linux boot menu) sticking around after Linux is gone. |
Plus its easy to reinstall the windows bootloader if you choose to ditch Linux.
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And Gentoo is the same thing, only you compile everything, kernel included.
Originally Posted by binormalkilla Really the main differences between the distros are the package management system/repositories, default installed apps, and other things like PATH env vars and desktop environments. For instance, Arch can be installed via FTP, grabbing the latest packages. You can choose to have an extremely minimal installation, or you can select as much as you want. After that you can choose what desktop environment you want, and so on. With something like Ubuntu you have all of the packages preinstalled and a GNOME desktop environment configured. |
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Yep....I've installed and configured Gentoo. It was not fun! Well I did gain some knowledge in the process though.
Originally Posted by Bluescreen_Of_Death And Gentoo is the same thing, only you compile everything, kernel included. |
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I'm thinking about taking another stab at it. Should be interesting. The big thing that made me give up was getting like 3 kernel panics in a row, and having to wait like 45 min for a new one to compile [dual core lappy].
Originally Posted by binormalkilla Yep....I've installed and configured Gentoo. It was not fun! Well I did gain some knowledge in the process though. |
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Lol, seconded. I've used Fedora since Core 4 and I don't ever plan on trying Gentoo. I have compiled my own kernels, but that and ndiswrapper drove me insane, so I prefer to stick to the precompiled and just make/install whatever yum can't do. Keeps me sane, or at least somewhat less insane.
Try out a live CD of a couple distros and see what you like, although you can't really get a true sense of them until you've used them for a while. Slackware might give you the experience of Linux while not being simplified.
Originally Posted by binormalkilla ROFL no way! If he tries Gentoo first he will run for the hills screaming! It certainly is a good way to learn the guts of Linux though. I would go with something easy like Ubuntu, Fedora, or openSUSE. After that pick up Arch or Gentoo and find out what real Linux is. |
Try out a live CD of a couple distros and see what you like, although you can't really get a true sense of them until you've used them for a while. Slackware might give you the experience of Linux while not being simplified.
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