Which Should I Try?


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Well, I've been doing a LOT of reading and a lot of thinking and I have deceided that I want to try Linux.

I am thinking of either Debian 3.0r4 or Mandrake 10.1

From what I have read, it seems that the Debian is a bit easier for a first timer to use. Anybody have some thoughts about my choices??

Just FYI -- I am running a 1.8 Ghz Athalon 2500+ with 512 MG RAM and I have a seperate 80 Gig HD that I will use for the Linux install. I have Windows XP Pro installed on my other HD.

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Well, I've been doing a LOT of reading and a lot of thinking and I have deceided that I want to try Linux.

I am thinking of either Debian 3.0r4 or Mandrake 10.1

From what I have read, it seems that the Debian is a bit easier for a first timer to use. Anybody have some thoughts about my choices??

hmm .. What is hard, Debian uses a non graphical installer like gentoo (with out the compiling) mandrake as a graphical installer.

after install all linux distrobutions are = in my mind as ease of use as they are all the same.. they have diffrent names for packages but in the end its all the same..

for some easy is it detects all of their hardware.. see the indavidual sites for hardware compatability..

but if one distro supports a pice of hardware they all can..

its hard to answer these questions.. if you search this board you will see this question answered every week..

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debian is definately not easy, although the newer debain-sarge-net install is much easy then previous versions of debian.

I have always thought for a first try, a distro with an easy install, like Mandrake, is a good first choice.

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This is EXACTLY the kind of feedback that I wanted.

I would hate to invest a bunch of time and (a little) money and then

be frustrated with the results.

any more input??

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debian is definately not easy, although the newer debain-sarge-net install is much easy then previous versions of debian.

I have always thought for a first try, a distro with an easy install, like Mandrake, is a good first choice.

not easy to install or easy to use..

I thought it was easy to install , but I also thought Gentoo was easy. every things seams easy after Linuxfromscratch..

just an observation on how open ended the term "easy" is.

Edited by iccaros
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This is EXACTLY the kind of feedback that I wanted.

I would hate to invest a bunch of time and (a little) money and then

be frustrated with the results.

any more input??

You will be up and running quickly with Mandrake 10.1, it has excellent hardware detection and a user friendly graphical installer.

You can tweak Mandrake and learn about Linux, it would be a good first choice for an install.

Debian would be more challenging, although I haven't used it. I learned a lot about Linux when I successfully installed Slackware after several failed attempts:-)

Like iccaros said it depends on how you define easy. If you are able to approach the install with the attitude that it will be a good learning experience and you don't get upset if things go boink then try Debian.

It's your call, man!

Welcome to Linux :D

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not easy to install or easy to use..

I thought it was easy to install , but I also thought Gentoo was easy. every things seams easy after Linuxfromscratch..

more about the install. I had an easier time with gentoo's hand holding then with debains installer. I guess gentoos manual install left no room for error, it told you exactly what to do. I remeber doing more guessing while installing debian, not fully sure I was making the correct choices(the first time around)

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actually, the first distro i was EVER introduced to was debian; my cousin (who was studying for his PhD) told me about it....though, he could say its good and fun (for a beginner), but then again, he WAS doing his PhD....

I heard the there are 3 best beginners distros: Mandrake, Fedora, and Suse. Mandrake by far i've heard of as the number 1 best beginners distro; i've yet to prove this true....Basically, if you got some time on your hands, and want a hard challenge, i suggest you go for debian. If you don't have as much time on your hands, want to learn linux from the beginning rather than guessing and googling, go for Mandrake. No matter which one you choose, both are excellent choices, both will get you tons of knowledge in linux/unix...

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UBUNTU! It's debian but for normal people...

http://ubuntu.org/ Try it!

NOTE: I'm a slackware user, so it's oblig that i recommend you try slack some time too :)

Anyone using linux usually does the "distro shuffle" at some point.

I have to agree.. Slackware is easy to use and isntall .. and a great distro.. so good I use it for the base of mine..

shanenin

I follow the Gentoo part and the part about feeling like you were not sure you made the right choices at install.. I think distros should have at leats two diffrent installers.. Gentoo handbook is written wiht the understanding that they need to teach you and show you what to do..

Debian is written with the concept that you know what you are doing..

XP did one thing right in that they use an installer that gives the user no choices (except username,password stuff) and even in the partition part they explain nothing so most people will pick the common setting.. This is also bad for power users and admins as we have ot go back and remove things we do not want..

so the two installers should be

expert

non-expert (or the site back and color version) :blink:

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