Subj : Re: a repeat of July 20 request.
To   : comp.programming
From : Stephen J Rush
Date : Tue Aug 02 2005 10:09 pm

On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:50:10 -0400, Joe Wright wrote:

> If I may ask Richard, which of the numerous Linux distributions do you 
> currently use? Why? I got Slackware off a CD from a book in 1996 and 
> installed it in three tries but within two hours. Not too hard and I 
> 'like' Linux. Then I got hired for Windows. If I were to enter the Linux 
> world again today, how do you suggest I choose among the distributions? 
> Slack, Debian, RedHat, other?

So far, I like Ubuntu.  It's derived from Debian, so you get the benefit
of the Debian package management system.  Installer have improved
considerably since 1996.  With a little experience with Fedora Core and
Knoppix, I found it nearly click-and-walk-away. I haven't tried Slackware
yet, but it has a reputation for being less newbie-friendly than the
Debian family.  Ubuntu installs from a single CD-ROM, then lets you select
optional packages with Synaptic, a more convenient system than Fedora,
which makes you download four CD images plus the rescue disk.  The Ubuntu
project will even mail you a free install CD if you're stuck with dialup.

Once you understand disk partitioning, it's easy to have multiple
operating systems, selecting from them with GRUB (which most modern
distros install by default).  I'm working on a Linux From Scratch
installation in a spare partition.  Slow going, but I should end up with a
small, speedy Linux system and a much better understanding of how Linux
works.

.