Hi, All I'm realively new linux and just started taking class. And to be honest with so many distributions I'm confused as what or which one is best. I working with VMware which is of the 'Fedora flavor'. which is best for a beginner?



Edouglas

Just take one of the popular ones. I would begin with Ubuntu

I'd go Mephis. Using it know with no problems at all.

Kubuntu
http://www.kubuntu.org/


Mandriva
http://www.mandriva.com/community/mandrivaone


PCLinuxOS .92
http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/dist...glish/preview/
ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/distr...glish/preview/

This is the distro I use and recommend, Why because it works right out of the box. No need to configure Everything, everything just works. It also comes as a 1 CD install that is a live CD that you can install later if you wish.

Mephis
http://www.mepis.org/

I understand it is an overwhelming experience but this thread will almost certainly spiral into peoples reccomendations of the distro they use/prefer.

Whilst this is not necesarily bad, the information can be obtained easier through searching these forums, google and distrowatch.

A good place to start is to look into how a distro handles with your hardware configuration, people often have problems with sound and wireless hardware.

Agree 100%, you'll always get opinions in this thread, but when you see people begin to recommend the same thing over and over, usually you're on to something. Search some of the threads on this topic, and you'll see Ubuntu is one of the more popular distros. Just remember, what *just works* for some, doesn't work well or not at all for others(For instance, I hate PCLinuxOS because of some hardware problems I had, and when I did get it to work, I could read Moby Dick while programs loaded).

http://distrowatch.com - Any of the top 10 would probably be a good place to start.

http://www.ubuntu.com

If you go with Ubuntu, here's a great wiki to keep handy..

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Edgy

IGF

I hope I don't get flamed for this, but I would actually recommend debian.
It is very simple, and has fantastic features.
Plus it has apt-get so it automatically downloads and installs any programs that you might not have. This saves the trouble of compiling and installing programs for someone who hasn't been using Linux for very long!
But when it comes down to it, its up to you.
There isn't a single best distro that you can use, it just depends what you're using it for.
Good Luck ;-)
Luke

Ubuntu
PCLinuxOS
Sabayon

Several of the popular distros use the Debian package system (apt, or Synaptic and/or Adept in the GUI):
Ubuntu, Kubuntu, etc
Mepis
PCLinuxOS

Thanks to the feedback that I have received I'm no longer looking at the "Impossible". I still feel like a "newbie" but now a "Newbie" with a purpose! .

Thanks Again
Edouglas NIT (newbie in training)

all fine advice, but before you choose a distro, I'd make sure the hardware you got works with Linux. Yes, I KNOW, Linux supports more hardware than Windoze, well that's NOT really true in some cases; for example the new Mandriva 2007 will not recognize my vid chip while Kubunto has no problem with it. So make sure your hardware is supported ok?

Just make sure you try out a couple of various live distro's, I am new myself and I tried quite a few till I found the flavour which suited me best. You could always install and run linux in a VM machine too so you can see how it will react upon instalation.

Agreed, VMware as many well known distro's as you can,
Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora Core, Slackware, Mepis etc.
Go for it, if you stuff something up you can always re-install.
Unless you flick the red switch on the back to change the voltage.
I learnt that one the hard way heh.

Being a beginner, you can visit http://linuxgalore.com/distro-review/puppy.php. I think puppy linux should be good for linux beginner. It is lite weight too..try it.