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I've been running windows (I refuse to capitalize!) for a long time and I've been thinking about switching to Linux. I know a lot about building websites and stuff like that, but I know nothing about coding, programming, or any of that stuff. How hard is it to install Linux's Slackware, and if that is too hard, what do you guys suggest?

I've found, and many agree, that Ubuntu is a good distro for beginners. Simple, easy to use and a great community, one of the fastest growing distros and the most searched for on google . If you want a server computer or anything else apart from a normal desktop OS there's a thread on that in the tech forum.

Linuxes aren't as hard as many people think, there is no need to know any programming language and installation is a snap. The desktop environment is much like Windows (I refuse to un-capitalize)[depends on the DE though), and you'll spend 98% of your time in a GUI. The only time you'll need to bring up a console is if you wish to install something, in which case you'll probably need to type a few make commands or something. It is very easy to learn and Linuxes are very intuitive, so there should be no problem learning how to use it. Google has most the answers anyway.

I like to say that Linux is much like Windows, not security- or stability-wise, but the way it looks. The two desktops are very much alike with Windows being more restricted. Anything deeper than the look of it though is completely different, but many Windows users can be shocked to see how similar the two OS's look.

The links for ubuntu are below, ubuntu has gnome as a DE, kubuntu has KDE. No difference as such, it really doesn't matter which one you use. If someone says one of them is better, laugh at their face cos it's at best only a matter of opinion. There is also xubuntu, in case you have a low-spec computer. That has Xfce4 for a DE, which is a lightweight DE suitable for low specs.
Ubuntu also has a LiveCD for you to try out.

http://www.ubuntu.com
http://www.kubuntu.com
http://www.xubuntu.com



As for your original question about Slackware, I dunno
But AFAIK, it is more difficult than Ubuntu.

If you had any interest in programming at all, I'd be recommending Gentoo, but since you specifically said that you do not, I'll second the recommendation of Ubuntu.

this topic was discused over and over.
[quote=DuNw00dy24] ...Linux's Slackware..[/quote]
yes its good distro the best for me but you realy need to read cerfuly some docs about that becouse like Samppa and SlicerSV wrote Slackware its not for beginners..
I`m with slackware and still have some problems but its very stable it have everything you need realy nice distro and it will be very useful for you.

Read this topic too: http://forums.phoenix-hosting.org/viewt ... ght=#19903

Using Linux or Windows is a question of what you are used to. I used Fedora Core 4 for a time and i liked it but i had some problems in KDE (at shutdown sometimes I've got KDE crashes) and some problems wint the XMMS. Maybe using other distributions of linux (or a newer version of Fedora Core) would be better for me but as I said it's a question of what you are used to, and that's why i use Windows most of the time (Sometimes I run Knoppix live on my computer)

For personal use, I would use Mac OS X. It speaks for itself.

SW DZF B

DuNw00dy24 wrote:I've been running windows (I refuse to capitalize!) for a long time and I've been thinking about switching to Linux. I know a lot about building websites and stuff like that, but I know nothing about coding, programming, or any of that stuff. How hard is it to install Linux's Slackware, and if that is too hard, what do you guys suggest?

Try freeBSD. They have a handbook to go long with it that can help a lot. I use OpenBSD myself which is much more secure and stable. For a starter, freeBSD is a good choice as OpenBSD can be tricky to install. there is a book however called Absolute OpenBSD that can help you with it. Basically what I'm saying is, go with any BSD.

The first distro I installed was Slackware. But after a while I realized that it was to complicated for me so I switched to ubuntu. I think ubuntu is one of the best newbie-distro, it have a great comunity, support and software.

DuNw00dy24 wrote:I've been running windows (I refuse to capitalize!) for a long time and I've been thinking about switching to Linux. I know a lot about building websites and stuff like that, but I know nothing about coding, programming, or any of that stuff. How hard is it to install Linux's Slackware, and if that is too hard, what do you guys suggest?

For servers is linux really better than Windows, but Linux have more difficult instalation than Windows.

ENTK wrote:Linux have more difficult instalation than Windows.

Not really, depends of the distro. For example installing Kubuntu is a piece of cake, even easier than installing Windows in my opinion. Ofcourse there are distros with a non-graphical installation that are hard to install for a total newb, but nothing that can't be done really. Installation shouldn't be the problem stopping you from trying out *nix, ofcourse there also are live versions of distros, that allow you to try stuff out without any kind installation.

Yes, you have true, but i think Windows instalation is more friedly.

linux r0x

AERG SD

I using Windows... Linux is not for me, because Windows have more software than Linux.