Hi there, just a few suggestions from me as well. I don't know that much Mandriva (never tried it), but I've used Fedora and Suse quite a bit. I definitely recommend Ubuntu for a "first distribution" over those two.

Ubuntu is very user-friendly these days. From what I've seen in the other distros, the community support for newbies in Ubuntu (The Ubuntu Forums) is the best I've seen: www.ubuntuforums.org . Usually questions get replied to very fast by other users, even "dumb" questions get very friendly replies - none of the RTFM talk that used to be all over the Linux forums (and that I've sadly actually seen here too in the past).

I think Ubuntu's popularity among new Linux users is an asset to it: you will find that many people are asking the same, very basic, questions that you will think of too, in the forums. There's plenty of support if you just keep browsing the forums for whatever is on your mind. The forums have nice how-to's and explanation sections as well. For a first step into Linux, I think it's great. (For what it's worth, I started with Red Hat 9 and would've loved to see the type how-to's they have now in the Ubuntu forums back then.)

Wubi was already mentioned here. My recommendation is that you go try it: http://wubi-installer.org/ . It's a Windows program you can install, it will install Ubuntu for you under your Windows as an application and make an entry in your Windows startup menu for starting it. After installing it, you can boot straight into Ubuntu, Windows does not get started. However, it makes no changes to your hard drive partitions and does not touch your Windows data. Wubi is a brilliant piece of software for anyone wanting to try Linux without messing up their Windows. If you don't like Ubuntu, just delete Wubi from your Windows like you would remove any other program.

Live CDs and USB bootups are nice but they don't give you the performance that a hard drive install does (Wubi actually is a bit slower in accessing the disk than a native install due to filesystem issues but still, it's much much faster than a Live CD). So go try it, it's the best way to try Ubuntu. And IMHO, Ubuntu is the easiest way to get to know Linux. Remember to visit the forums, register and search for replies to problems often. (I'm there as well, same user ID).

Anyway, just my few euro cents here. Hope this helps =)

Also, with PuTTy (free-ware) running on your PC you can hook-up wirelessly to your Nokia tablet and get a window on your PC with the Maemo OS running in it. That's how I, for now, get a Linux environment to learn things on as I figure Linux out

Thanks Mara, I'll keep that in mind, I like your avatar by the way. its cute ( I love the tablets and the linux penguin is cool too lol)

I'll keep that distro in mind as well Luca thanks

you got it all coverd Buurmas, i'm a little worried that i might make some big newbie mistake but hopefully i wont...


with all these different "flavors" as they're called i dnt see why the world hasn't jumped on this OS and its vast intuativeness, its like i found a new religion, with nice ppl to help me all along the way, and they give me milk and cookies in the form of helpful hints (loving the milk and cookies guys thanks)

phenominal Batpenguin! i am on it right now thank you so much...


as usual Silvermountain your advise also phenominal, thanks, when i get my tablet ( god please make the mail come faster!) i'll use it as well and let you guys know every step of the way in my road to Linux.

Minor plug here, but my site, Raiden's Realm (www.raiden.net) actually teaches people how to use Linux. It's our primary focus. On a side note, we're also working on a 5 part teaching series that helps introduce people to Linux. We plan to build it, and then give it out to others to use to help introduce Linux and FOSS to others.

But anywho, if you ever need Linux help, feel free to either PM me or stop by my site.

A couple of things to say to someone taking the plunge:
1.) Ignore the distro bickering. They're free, try one for a week and switch. It's difficult to know what feature of which distro will be "it" for you.
2.) Really give yourself time to acclimate.

I strongly recommend "In the Beginning was the Command Line." It's a great introduction to the community.

Funny story actually. My dad needed a Linux machine for doing some scripting work for his job, and he did not want to reboot his computer (I gave him a live cd, and he said "no, I am watching Hulu..."). So I got mad at him and told him if he wanted a Linux machine, he could SSH into my Nokia.

He looked at me and said "Your Nokia runs Linux? Whats the IP address?" Nokia to the rescue!


Oh, and just remember that Wubi, AndLinux, and other emulated linux (VMWare, etc...) are not really the experience. No graphics acceleration, shitty hardware support, etc...

From what I've seen, Ubuntu is by far the most popular Linux distribution. If I remember correctly, Google makes heavy use of it. Some of the Linux netbooks use it (e.g. Dell Inspiron Mini). However, Linux market share (vs. Windows & Mac) is somewhere around 3%. Why? There are many opinions. Here are mine. (Special note to Linux enthusiasts -- when I make this list, please understand that I have people like my dad in mind, people for whom (for example) using the command line is simply not an option. I'm aware that many of these issues have workarounds.)

Advantages:
* It's free! And all the programs are free!
* Almost no viruses target Linux.
* Feature set has developed so much over the years that it does most of what you want.

Disadvantages:
* It takes time for former Windows users to get used to different apps. "Used MS Office? Try OpenOffice.org." There are many web sites that help with this, though.
* Lots of Windows apps that obviously don't run, notably business apps & serious gaming apps.
* Many apps have a "by geeks for geeks" feel, with less-than-intuitive interfaces.
* Hardware support less extensive than Windows (well, XP at least!).
* Many people don't want to solve their computer problems by searching forums -- it's just not an option. They want to be able to call someone. In the Linux world these options are limited.

All that said, my parents are happy with Ubuntu. They are afraid of Windows b/c they are scared of viruses (which often succeed very well in fooling less savvy users). They can do e-mail, YouTube, blogs, read Office files, what more do you need? Just for the Webcam & the printer to work, that's all. ;-)

Re: the various Linux distros, yes, Linux is a world of diversity. Some of that diversity is fragmentation & duplicated efforts. (Can't some of them, like, merge?! ;-) ) But the flexibility allows Linux to be used in amazingly creative ways, including:
* desktops
* servers
* netbooks
* smartphones
* Internet Tablets ;-)
* boot from a CD
* boot from a USB drive
* MP3 players
* breathing new life into a five-year old laptop

and many more.

Wubi is a way to install a dual-boot Ubuntu system. I don't think it has the problems you mention. But I have tried Ubuntu virtual machines and was disappointed for the reasons you mention.

just a quick update: I downloaded the wubi aforementioned by buurmas, it was excellently nice, i can say it will be very fun to feel my way around. just a few snags, but i just joined the ubuntu site that helps newbies and between here and there i will bonce around to find out how to tweak it.

"i havent been able to get the cool cube thing to work yet or succesfully change the LOOK of it to see how it would feel to have the setup like the guy from the youtube video i seen, with a setup similar to the "mac os desktop". I just like the lay out of it since eveything you need is at the little tray at the bottom of the screen with a neat and tidy desktop look i love, i'll keep trying, also i cant watch video's either even after i used the help menu and followed the steps to enable the two things you need for flash."

aside from that the funniest thing was how much i loved it but i felt so naked with out my CHROME... google chrome is my favorite browser but i never realized how much more it does for me until i had to use firefox. i dnt hate firefox but i'm not a huge fan. but for Linux i'll try to make due with what i can.


none the less i really really like what I'm discovering and was thinking... with all these extremly cool effects that linux has just for a desk top look, and to piggy backing off of one of the things in buurmas list.. "mp3 player," i wonder why no one has put the pretty effects on a nice device and won the mass consumer market over like the ipod touch has with its Pretty and easy interfcae to say the least, (pretty being the operative word when refering to the mass cosumer markets take on all things tech) they like it because its pretty, and pretty easy to use, but thats pretty much it.. dnt get me wrong nice device but its not the queen marry lol