Deciding on Linux distros....

[Big Gulp]

I could use a little expert help here. I'm pretty much a clueless newb. I just installed Mandrake 8.0 the other day, and everything runs perfectly except for my video card (Voodoo 5). I checked with the XFree86 site and they said that there had been problems with RedHat and Mandrake distributions due to the C++ library included with those distros.

No sweat, I've downloaded the ISO's for Slackware 8.0. I'm holding off on installing it because although I've heard it's a great distro, I've also heard it's pretty newbie unfriendly. My quandry is that Slackware 8.0 already has XFree86 4.1 already to go in it, so it should suit my needs, but I don't know if it'll be over my head. Also, I've heard that it's nice to have a copy of RedHat or Mandrake so you can make use of software that comes out in RPM form, so you don't have to muck about with TAR files.

Hopefully I'm making sense with this gibberish, heh. If any knowledgable souls out there could offer me some advice I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks much.

[inktoast]

slackware is the newbie changing distro, it just throws you into the mix forcing you to learn it or die, basically with slack you sink or swim. many people will say that debain is better than slack and back and forth. try them both and make your own decision. Good luck.

[Rob 'Feztaa' Park]

I'm rather partial to Mandrake, although that's probably because it's the only distro I've actually managed to install. Once I get the hang of this whole linux thing, I might try Slack or Debian... but atm, (almost) everything works and I'm happy with Mandrake :)