Which Linux?

[JuRito]

Hi there, I'm a REAL newbie very interested in trying linux. I tried once like an year ago to install it on my system and it had lots of probs with my hardware so i quitted. Now i got another system and would like to retry with that, but i prefer to post here my hardware configuration to have opinions from expert ppl about which distribution should i get or anything else..

-AK33 motherboard (VIA chipset)
-ATI Rage Fury pro 32 Mb
-SBlive!
-Ericsson HM120dp ADSL modem (USB, dunno why but i got the feeling this will be the prob..)

Thx for reading this.

[2thumbs]

Any distro should work fine with that hardware. The modem SHOULD work. USB modems (analog, ISDN, ADSL, cable) are supposed to stick to the CDC and ACM specs... so they should work using the acm module. Ericsson also states in this (http://www.wii.ericsson.net/xdslterminals/products/hm120d/public_files/HM120dp_le aflet.pdf (http://www.wii.ericsson.net/xdslterminals/products/hm120d/public_files/HM120dp_leaflet.pdf)) document that Linux drivers will be available from them. As for ease of use for a newbie, I'd recommend Mandrake, SuSE, or Libranet. Of course, everyone here will have different opinions as to the distro choice, so all of this is to be taken with a pound of salt :D

[ 23 April 2002: Message edited by: 2thumbs ]

[demian]

Get SuSE.

Why? Because the boxed set comes with an excellent book to get you started.

[2thumbs]

Originally posted by demian:
<STRONG>Get SuSE.

Why? Because the boxed set comes with an excellent book to get you started.</STRONG>

My boxed Mandrake set also came with a book. I'm not sure if newer ones still ship with printed manuals. It was good for general setup help and as a getting started guide, explaining some of the administrative steps. I don't know how in depth the SuSE book is, but I would recommend buying a seperate reference guide, such as Using Linux or Running Linux in any case.

[fatTrav]

If you known nothing about Linux, then I'd suggest getting a book that comes with a distro. I bought Bill Ball's Red Hat 7.2: Linux Unleashed Book and it has been well worth the money I spent. It comes with a copy of rh7.2 and the book has examples and directions based on 7.2 which makes it a lot easier than usine the net to find HOWTO pages and whatnot that are not using your specific distro. It is kinda expensive, about $50, but if you're really wanting to learn linux, this is a good book with which to start, it has helped me.

[Counterstrike]

http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/distros/distronhf.html

[GonzoTheHorrible]

The link above is a definitely a good reference point, if you haven't checked it out yet, by all means do. SuSE is pretty nice , it's what I started on , but Mandrake and RedHat are both pretty nice in the same respect. I'd keep it b/t those three. MHO

[JuRito]

I decided for Mandrake after all. :)

thanks alot for your advices!

[mcmanus69]

Originally posted by demian:
<STRONG>Get SuSE.

Why? Because the boxed set comes with an excellent book to get you started.</STRONG>

Yes, SuSE is known for coming with GREAT documentation (something all distros need, IMO). I still have an old SuSE 7.0 book (based on 2.2 kernel) and that book is still very useful. :)