WIndows XP to either Mandrake or RedHat???

[PRinMD]

Talk about new I am the cherry on the block. Been doing alot of reading lately, a friend of mine lives for linux, I've always used windows. Willing to give it a shot. Placed an order to get mandrake 9 and redhat 8. I would love to keep reading all the forum, but don't enough time in a day to do so. So my question is:
Which would be the easier OS to start out with for a person who has some knowledge of computers, and isn't afraid to ask questions when he screws up???

Is there a mandrake or Redhat for dummies that you might know of???

I'm basically looking for some good guidance to start off in my quest to learn other OS's and try to have an open mind about everything.

ONe last thing any classes out there that can help me out, cause from what I see looks kinda complicated this Linux OS.

Any and all information that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks:confused: :confused:

[guitargeek]

People will say other wise, but I think Mandrake 9.0 is about as eay as linux can get. It's extremely straight forward, and really not that different from Windows (in terms of usability). You still double click to open things, you still have a Control Panel like area, etc. There's all sorts of graphical wizards to help you out, too.

I tried Red Hat, liked it, but it ran a little slow on my hardware, and wasn't quite as foolproof, which is necessary, since I'm sometimes a fool.

As far as the "Mandrake for dummies) forum, that's what we're here for!

[stormbringr]

I like Mandrake however, I have used both. Partial to Mandrake because it was the first distro I ever loaded and it made things easy for me.

There is a Linux for Dummies book my copy came with a copy of RedHat 7.3 - but it was fairly useful for Mandrake as well.

[wapcaplet]

I too would have to suggest Mandrake, though I haven't tried Red Hat since version 5.1. I'm using Mandrake 8.1 and the installation there is straightforward (even more so than with any version of Windows), so I imagine 9.0 has to be pretty darn easy.

And yup, all the tech support you will ever need is right here on linuxnewbie, as well as in the hundreds of other websites out there, the man pages, Mandrake/Redhat documentation, and lots of other sources. There are quite a few books on Linux that might help too - check your local bookstore or bookseller websites. A willingness to read and learn is all you'll need.

Best of luck!

[ShieldWolf]

I'm also going to have to chime in for Mandrake 9.0. About a month ago I converted my kids computer over to Mandrake from XP, showed them how to login(as users, of course), and haven't had to mess with it since. Ages 12-17. Of course they complain about lack of games, but I told them from the start that their computer was for schoolwork and other educational uses. Games are for the Playstation.

To be honest, the last version of Red Hat I used was one of the betas for 8.0. Once Mandrake 9.0 came out, I haven't used much else.

Consider that Mandrake is Red Hat based, but has added tools to make installation and configuration easier, and I think you'll see why I recommend it as a first distro.

[PRinMD]

Well Just want to say so far, think you all are pretty F'ing awsome for taking the time to instead of cuss the newbie out, help him out. Want to thank you all for responding so quick and as soon as I get my MDK this week I'll let you all now how that goes, GOD HELP ME :D

Thanks

[PRinMD]

Well since you all been awsome replying, one more question to throw in there. Which one would be easier to start out with KDE or gnome, not exactly all that sure what they are, haven't gotten much into the NHF files yet but would like your perspective on the matter????:confused:

Thanks

[dcfxq]

Curiousity question for XP users: what did you partition your HD with? Partition Magic or ???????

[Penrich]

Assuming you mean the book Red Hat for Dummies (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764516817/qid=1038342638/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-4888676-3024039?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) which Amazon sell. Search this forum for links to other good linux books (http://www.linuxnewbie.org/forum/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=222259&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending). As to which to start with - I would say which ever arrives first! And start off using the default desktop (Gnome for RH, not sure for MDK, but I think Gnome too). You can always play around later. (Gnome and KDE are the GUI - graphical user interface - the bit that you actually point and click at).

[guitargeek]

Originally posted by PRinMD
Well since you all been awsome replying, one more question to throw in there. Which one would be easier to start out with KDE or gnome, not exactly all that sure what they are, haven't gotten much into the NHF files yet but would like your perspective on the matter????:confused:

Thanks


Gnome is the better of the two. There is no argument. Anyone who uses KDE should be shot.

I all seriousness, I find Gnome easier to use, more appealing to the eye, and faster. I tried KDE, gave it a good chance, but I always came back to Gnome. However, if you like KDE better, GREAT! Just as long as you're using linux, it's all good. Just try them both, it doesn't take up too much hard drive space to have both installed to mess around with.

[Kilumina]

Originally posted by PRinMD
Which one would be easier to start out with KDE or gnome

I would have to say that I like Gnome better. KDE is the more popular one, and there seems to be more a wider variety of themes and/or interfaces available for KDE... But Gnome is just a little more polished... or refined... in my opinion.

Congrats on trying linux... if you like tinkering with things, then you're probably in for the long hall! I have probably spent the majority of my time in linux so far just tinkering with the interface and getting it to look the way I want. There is a steep learning curve... but it's fun too.

And oh yeah -- these boards are a newbies best gift. The board is very active, everyone on here is really friendly, and you usaully get a response to your question/post very quickly.

[Can O' Beans]

I tried both Mandrake 9 & Redhat 8, and found Mandrake to be easier & had less problems(none) during install.

Of course, this depends on personal prefference and problems depend on your hardware setup.

You could always install both ;)

[PRinMD]

Originally posted by dcfxq
Curiousity question for XP users: what did you partition your HD with? Partition Magic or ???????

Have a second Hard drive, 30Gigs set aside for linux.
:D Should I partition this one or should just install one at a time, tinker around with it then, try the other (MDK, RH):confused:

[PerfectBlue]

newbie myself, and found that Mandrake really easy to use and as they said, less problem in installing :)
but RH is pretty nice tho, thinking of trying suse and debian soon ^_^

[Homer119]

Originally posted by dcfxq
Curiousity question for XP users: what did you partition your HD with? Partition Magic or ???????

NOOBISH TALK

I partitioned my drive the EASYIST way possible with my XP setup cd. Pop that baby in there and reboot your computer, it will show you all the partitions you have, just delete all the ones you see, then hit create new partition make it 1/2 you hard drive, (Just divided megabites by 2) The install windows. WHen installing linux, selet install in remaining space. Then install the rest of linux. Then in order to switch between XP and linux on start up you need to input code into your GRUB.Config file and you'll be all set.

Your Welcome.

[dcfxq]

Thanks very much for the steer Homer, shall try it this weekend!

[webvelocity]

I'm a n00b also. 4 weeks into it and running a dual boot RH 8 and MDK 9.
Mandrake 9 gets my vote. Everything runs faster for some reason with it and it's a little easier to use than RH IMO.

specs:
------------
Iwill KK266 plus mobo
T-Bird 1.33
512MB PC133
HP 9510i CDRW
Pioneer DVD - 116
40G W.D. 7200 rpm
128MB GF4 Ti4200

[joesbox]

Originally posted by dcfxq
Curiousity question for XP users: what did you partition your HD with? Partition Magic or ???????

i used partition magic. it was extreemely easy. do not use the wizard though. it will mess with your boot record. learn how to do it manually. (resize your C: an then use the unused space to make a partition) that seems to be the safest way i found to used the program. forsome reason it likes to start moving your c: around on the disk. hope this helps.

[joesbox]

Originally posted by Penrich
Assuming you mean the book Red Hat for Dummies (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764516817/qid=1038342638/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-4888676-3024039?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) which Amazon sell. Search this forum for links to other good linux books (http://www.linuxnewbie.org/forum/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=222259&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending). As to which to start with - I would say which ever arrives first! And start off using the default desktop (Gnome for RH, not sure for MDK, but I think Gnome too). You can always play around later. (Gnome and KDE are the GUI - graphical user interface - the bit that you actually point and click at).
i am sorry but i have to dissagree on this point. gnome is too easy and i found that as a newbie myself that kde was a bit better. with kde i acutally had to learn something about using the OS. i have been working on this for less than 5 months and have enjoyed figuring out the little probs here and there that come with putting linux on computer.

[PRinMD]

Well I like to figure things out in the long run, but being the first time using it all together, I don't want to get to the point of "aww F... it" either. Would like to be able to install and goof around before getting stuck;) But anyway learning will be interesting. :D