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I recommend Xubuntu, a distro with the core of ubuntu and the lightweight XFCE window manager so it'll run better. But whatever you choose, make sure it dosen't use Gnome, it's a huge ram hog. DSL, like sone others have suggested is a good choice, but the installer is command line, so a LInux newbie might not be able to use it easily. goto http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/ for a short quiz to see if one of their distros will be good. anyway, good luck with it.

just cuz nobody has mentioned it before, i'll say knoppix and i'll tell you why. just burn their live-CD onto a cd and pop it into the cdrom to boot up and you're all set to go to use a linux computer -- no installation necessary.

it'll be a good intro to linux since you'll be able to look around and play w/ the interface w/o having to get frustrated if you cant get the install working.

While I personaly love knoppix, IMHO, it is a bad choice for older systems because the kernel is a very recent one, thus losing support for older systems.Damn small is good for this situation for a live cd, and knoppix is good every other time. or xubuntu.PS. this is not meant to be flaming in any way.

DjDarkman wrote:

dionysos wrote:

slabby wrote:I would say Ubuntu, I struggled with getting used to the other distros that I tried but loved Ubuntu and the support thats out there for it... they have good support in their IRC and forums...

you should really take ubuntu its really userfriendly and a good distro to start with!

I would rather recomend xubuntu ,xfce is faster and smaller than gnome.

I second this suggestion! xubuntu is very easy to load, and installs easier still. Xfce rockets on older PC's. But may i suggest, especially on an older machine, get stuck into code line use. Learn unix/linux syntax. Set up a few local servers, config a few apps. LEARN. If your interested in that shit it, the experience will treat you well in the work force.

s41ted wrote:

DjDarkman wrote:

dionysos wrote:

slabby wrote:I would say Ubuntu, I struggled with getting used to the other distros that I tried but loved Ubuntu and the support thats out there for it... they have good support in their IRC and forums...

you should really take ubuntu its really userfriendly and a good distro to start with!

I would rather recomend xubuntu ,xfce is faster and smaller than gnome.

I second this suggestion! xubuntu is very easy to load, and installs easier still. Xfce rockets on older PC's. But may i suggest, especially on an older machine, get stuck into code line use. Learn unix/linux syntax. Set up a few local servers, config a few apps. LEARN. If your interested in that s*** it, the experience will treat you well in the work force.

Yes, I agree, and you would probably get a better job because you are proficient in linux because there aren't that many linux experts around compared to microsoft ones but companies are turning to linux in droves because it reduces costs by alot. I just find it funny when I am googling around and I find a microsoft argument that their software is cheeper to use and maintain than say solaris...

I'd suggest Ubuntu. I use it myself, and it's not that hard to use, for beginners I guess. You need to install a few packages if you want to get some programs working, but there's an easy command for that installed and so it only takes a minute or two. Ubuntu is based off of Debian, so maybe consider Debian too.

borg wrote:just cuz nobody has mentioned it before, i'll say knoppix and i'll tell you why. just burn their live-CD onto a cd and pop it into the cdrom to boot up and you're all set to go to use a linux computer -- no installation necessary.

it'll be a good intro to linux since you'll be able to look around and play w/ the interface w/o having to get frustrated if you cant get the install working.

Keep in mind that ubuntu also has a pretty good live cd that puts you right into a gnome gui I believe. However, it may not work with older systems.