1st Time going Linux!!!

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bobsaget

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I am building another computer for our house just to do Internet and other basic stuff...

I need a version of Linux that I can relate to WindowsXP. I was looking at Lindows/Linspire, but it costs money...

Could someone tell me a good free disto of Linux that feels like Windows?



Thank you!
 
Linspire is nothing special, really. Check out fedora core 2(descendant of redhat), suse, and mandrake. Good luck and have fun.
 
I really hate Fedora. I suggest Lycoris or Mandrake. Xandros is nice as well.
 
i vote for mandrake 10 - super easy install, and the base install options include many things you (may) use on a regular basis, even if u don't go in and choose your own packages to install (things like media players, email progs, cd burning, etc).
 
spookykid said:
i vote for mandrake 10 - super easy install, and the base install options include many things you (may) use on a regular basis, even if u don't go in and choose your own packages to install (things like media players, email progs, cd burning, etc).
Click to expand...
seconded. Mandrake10 is truely a 10/10. IMO.
 
I'd vote for Mandrake 10, or maybe Fedora Core 3 Test1, but keep this in mind: the windows interface mostly sucks. and anything that tries to immitate suckage will by default truly suck. so what i'm trying to say is, the default kde/gnome (mandrake verse fedora respectively) interfaces will be understandable but different. Some things will take getting used to, others will take learning. Mandrake and Fedora will feel sorta kinda maybe close to windows as that's their greatest customer/user base, but they are none the less different. Give either one some time and you'll begin to like it a lot. Give either one a lot of time and you'll probably want to dive a bit deeper, customize your computer to be more productive for you. Hence why I use gentoo, but as a beginner, I could never recommend Gentoo to a first time switcher/experimenter.
 
I myself am a fedora fan, with its vast package management and frequent updates its great. But it isnt for a compltly new user as you dont even get Mp3 support on a fresh install, but at the same time i dont recomend lindows/linspire or another really newbie distro to start with, my experience is that once you use that you wont want to try anything more capable as it is harder to use, my live cd of lindows uses a \ instead of a / for all command line stuff, VERY ANNOYING, if its windows that fine but if its linux use the correct /. With my brother i got him a copy of knoppix, showed it to him, let him mess with it then he installed it to a second hard drive of his, he now dual boots windows xp with knoppix. Knoppix is basically debain so installing software with apt-get and the synaptic GUI is a breeze for any new user. Now on fedora you can hook up apt but its a little harder then a debain based distro where it simply comes with it. Just my 2 cents.
 
I have never tried mandrake or fedora, but my last RH was RH9. Many think Mandrake is a nice, easy install. I tried Slackware and it worked great. Log in, startx and KDE is up and running and you have web access galore. I was pretty surprised when I installed Firefox and got a real installer, not slack specific, but still pretty cool.

I don't see why anyone, even starting shouldn't try slackware, it seemed to work just as good as RH to me for a desktop OS.
 
I have only installed Fedora Core 2 but think it is a great started distro and works great for email and internet browsing all the way! Many great tools and packages that make Fedora 2 great
 
I tried to install slackware & really forked it up so I gave up & will reinstall Fedora Core 2 :(
 
Nobody mentioned Debian
Debian has a rap for being a pain to install, but it pays off in the long run since its packaging system makes it really easy to update stuff. I haven't tried it yet, but it would probably be easiest to use one of the net installers and just put a base system down first with networking and apt, then apt-get the rest of your stuff.

... I guess someone mentioned knoppix, that's close, I guess...
 
You can use Libranet, which is fully debian compatible, has a really good admin tool and a slightly easier install than debian. Libranet is current free.

Thier next version will feature a graphical installer and should be even easier to install.
 
nsigma said:
Nobody mentioned Debian
Debian has a rap for being a pain to install, but it pays off in the long run since its packaging system makes it really easy to update stuff. I haven't tried it yet, but it would probably be easiest to use one of the net installers and just put a base system down first with networking and apt, then apt-get the rest of your stuff.

... I guess someone mentioned knoppix, that's close, I guess...
Click to expand...

I like Fedora Core 2 since it easy the easiest thing to install and you can still use apt-get like debian. I find Debian users very unhelpful when asking for help. All you tend to get is NooB or Read FAQ's!!!
 
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