switch to linux?

[andrew22289]

I am a windows me user, and am wondering whether I should switch to Linux. I have heard good things about suse and red hat from linux.com but am not really sure which one to choose. I want something with tweakable utilities and a decent programming enviorment. I think I will eventually choose a beginners version of linux or maybe even good ole' unix. please post your opinions. I have had no experience at all with unix or unix based OSes. all responses will be appreciated. thank you

[starX]

Yes, you should switch to Linux.

If you have some cash to spare, get a distro in a box with a book and phone tech support. If you have a buddy who knows linux, have them stand over your shoulder as you install it the first time.

If neither of these cases applies, keep a functioning windows partition for when you need to go online to get help for those times when you WILL (invariably) screw up. Don't worry, everyone does it, and anyone who says othewise is a dirty liar. Just remember that the best way to get advice is to ask specific questions and you'll do fine.

starX
www.axisoftime.com

[unixOZ]

Yes, switching to Linux is a very wise choice.

You should try Slackware, although a bit hard (for beginers) you will realise that once you learn it, you can use almost any distro (or UNIX clone). I highly recomend it.

[DOlson]

I use Mandrake myself, and the forums at http://www.mandrakeusers.org/ and http://www.club-nihil.net/mub/ are great for help. I also have my own website that I write tutorials for. Link in sig.

[Fredd]

I agree with unixOZ, you should try Slackware, if you start using redhat / mandrake you won't learn anything about the system since it does everthing for you.

[starX]

you should try Slackware, if you start using redhat / mandrake you won't learn anything about the system since it does everthing for you.


Care to ellaborate on that a little?

In any case, if you REALLY want to go the hard way, and learn the ins and outs of your system, you should either be looking at www.linuxfromscratch.org, or BSD. I stand by what I said before though. You'll be wanting to learn how to move around in linux before you start doing anything complicated.

starX
www.axisoftime.com

[damonbrinkley]

Originally posted by Fredd
I agree with unixOZ, you should try Slackware, if you start using redhat / mandrake you won't learn anything about the system since it does everthing for you.

I completely disagree. If you use the configuration tools then it does things for you but otherwise, I have complete control over my system and what it does.

Slackware isn't for beginners just like Debian and Gentoo aren't for beginners. I always advise newbies to start off with Red Hat, Mandrake or Suse and then when they feel comfortable move to something like Slack, Debian, or Gentoo. Starting them off with a harder distro will more than likely scare them off. There are exceptions to that but not everyone wants to config text files all day (even though I do).

[unixOZ]

damonbrinkley is correct im most things, but I disagree that "harder" distributions scare off people (and those how are scared, shouldnt be using linux at all). What happened when easier distros didnt exist? We had to read and learn; and thats much more helpfull than something done for you.

[wickdgin]

I would start off with either Mandrake or Redhat both make starting off fairly easy. However, don't worry too much about the choice of distrobution... try a few - it's usually just a matter of preference.

However, Linux is Linux... when it comes down to it, a distrobution is nothing more than a base to build your system off of. You eventually customize the system to be your own.

[unixOZ]

Every heard the saying "When you learn Redhat you only learn Redhat"???

[damonbrinkley]

Originally posted by unixOZ
Every heard the saying "When you learn Redhat you only learn Redhat"???

That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. What justification do you have for that?

[Fredd]

Starting them off with a harder distro will more than likely scare them off.

i have to disagree with that :)
if you are really serious about starting with linux I don't think you would be scared off by a 'harder' distro, as long as you can get some help ( websites, friends etc ) and i'm pretty convinced one of the hard distros can be good for you, for example you can install SuSE and RH (I have no experince from MD but i think its pretty much the same) without ever touching a console, but if you install Slackware you will be rather efficient working with a console before even starting X ( if you even start x ).

starting off with RedHat might be a good idea for some people, if you feel that you need a soft start ( or you don't feel like learning a new OS but you want to get away from microsofts cr.. ) sure use RH or MD for a start.
personally i think it's better learning the 'hard' way, but it's all a matter of taste.

But what it all comes down to is how much time you have got on your hands or more accuratly how much time you are willing to spend to get a great OS to work.

[JasonLikesJava]

Here's a great article that gives some good reasons to use an alternative to Windows:

http://www.hevanet.com/peace/microsoft.htm

[starX]

Every heard the saying "When you learn Redhat you only learn Redhat"???


No I never heard that one before; I guess it's a good thing to, because after learning with RedHat I've gone on to use BSD, Solaris, and a homegrown (and yes, I still do have a RedHat machine). It's too bad enlightened individuals like you never pointed that out to me early enough, then I might never have mistakenly starting using these other OSs without having to "learn" them.

Here's one I learned from one of my profs though; "It's better to climb down from you high-horse than to get thrown off."

Anyhow, starting with a harder distro is only good if you really want to learn a lot about Linux very quickly: of course this also presumes that you're willing to put a lot of time into it right off the bat. For the casual experimenter; something out of a box that has automatic config options is definitely better. Quite frankly, if it weren't for the "easy" OS that Macs, and to a lesser extent windows, provided early on, we certainly wouldn't have as many people using computers, and discovering the joy of linux today. And my bet is that very few people on this board are rich, or have parents who would have access to mainframes, and that were it not for the wide useage of computers, made possible by easy to use operating systems, most people here probably wouldn't have touched a computer a day in their lives.

Not everyone who wants to switch to Linux was to be a kernel hacker, write their own shell scripts, or even learn how to read a config file; and until the linux community can accept that simple fact, and accept that utilities will need to accomodate these casual switchers, then I doubt that Linux will ever become main stream. Yeah, I can edit my configuration from a text file, but if I don't know how, and want my cdrom, soundcard, X-display etc to work, and there is no "easy" way for me to do this, then I won't be staying with linux very long after installing it.

The rhetoric of the Linux community needs to shift away from OS elitism and develop a more friendly environment that lacks the chest-thumping of those who just want a chance to show off how they are better than everyone else.

I suppose I'll stop ranting now :)

starX
www.axisoftime.com

[damonbrinkley]

Nice post StarX. I couldn't have said it better myself. I completely agree.

[unixOZ]

Well, after looking and trying to remember where I read that cuote I cant backup my hiphothesis. However, IN MY OPINION, I think its best to start off the hard way, because then the rest is simple.

[Fredd]

Here's a great article that gives some good reasons to use an alternative to Windows:
http://www.hevanet.com/peace/microsoft.htm

My school's window computers wouldn't let me load the site, conspiracy? i'm pretty darn sure :)
pretty good site though.

starX makes a very good point though.
it's up to each and every person what distro to use.



The rhetoric of the Linux community needs to shift away from OS elitism and develop a more friendly environment that lacks the chest-thumping of those who just want a chance to show off how they are better than everyone else.

Isnt that more or less what that Lindows distro does?

[JasonLikesJava]

...

[carrja99]

If you're getting started with linux, it's a good idea to go over to www.linuxnewbie.org. It has been a valuable resource as I have learned to use linux efficiently.