linux?

I have an extra older computer sitting in my celler and was thinking of dropping a copy of linux on it to try it out. Any suggestions on which distribution? Remember, I am a beginner at it, in fact i have never even seen it installed on a computer or it's interface even.

I'm partial to Fedora ... I'm fairly certain you can get a DVD ISO (it will be huge) or a 4-5 CD ISO (if you don't have a DVD player, or your computer can't boot from a DVD like my Linux box).

I hear a lot of folks praising Ubuntu, but I don't know much about it.

My very very limited experience with linux says go with ubuntu. They have put a ton of effort into making it super user friendly and easy to install. Most people at my company use it and swear by it.

Red hat kicked my butt...as did SuSe (anything after the initial install was a nightmare) but as I said, VERY limited experience.

In any case, good luck!

t.

I'm in the same boat with Wombat. I played around with Ubuntu and it was very easy. I even had to do some fiddling with the kernal to get my fans to behave properly (you probably won't have this problem, I have PPC) and it wasn't all that bad.

I have heard and read articles about Ubuntu. I am considering putting it on my PS3, I have not had the money to upgrade my hard drive like I want to before I go that direction.

If you are thinking in terms of potential learning for a job, go with Fedora (FC8 is now out), or Centos, as those are closer to Red Hat Enterprise, which is used by more places than the other distros. The difference between the two is that FC tends to turn out a version several times a year and put older releases into EOL state, while Centos is literally a recompiled/relabeled RHEL. I have had extensive experience with both, and found few problems with either.

BTW... check out the latest update to my tornado thread. This thread will interestingly enough tie right into it.

Many of the latest Linux distributions set minimum RAM limits. Be sure you have enough if you consider Ubuntu, Fedora or CentOS. If you don't meet the requirements check out Debian as it has no such limits.