I am a complete noobie. I don't know anything about Linux. Can someone please give me some tutorials?

It depends what, exactly, you'd like tutorials on? Check out our TechTutorials forum for a linux quick reference to commands. Also, a Samba tutorial to link your Linux computer up to your Windows one.

Are you having a problem with something in particular?

no, I am just wondering where to get started

Well, you can start by choosing a distribution. Everyone says Mandrake and RedHat are good for beginners - but RedHat is reaching end-of-life soon so it might not be a good choice. You can download Linux for free so it's not hard to get started.

Once you're up and running, just browse around getting a feel for how it all works. You can use the cd command via a terminal to browse up and down directory structures ... ls to list the files in the current directory. the more command is used to show the contents of a file. Of course, you should become familiar with startx to start the XWindows graphical environment. Be sure to install a desktop environment such as either KDE or Gnome.

Also, the best way to learn is simply to read up on linux forums and the like. Read about problems other people encountered and how they were solved. Then play around yourself.

This site has a bunch of good linux threads. Also check out http://www.justlinux.com - nice site there

There are several ways to go about this.

I can't rcommend Red Hat (now Fedora, for all practical end-user purposes) or Mandrake for beginners, though Mandrake has a live-CD version. A newbie should not be forced to install Linux just to try it out. The best way to start is with a CD-bootable Linux, if you have enough memory (128 MB or more. "More" is better ). That way, you can experiment in a "sandbox" until you feel comfortable enough to install Linux as a dual-boot (or triple-boot) system.

The best known Live Linux-on-CD distributions are Knoppix and an up-and comer, Mepis. These run entirely from CD but can also be used as Linux install discs. They are both based on Debian, one of the leading free distros and KDE, the K Desktop Environment. Lindows and Xandros are both also based on Debian and KDE.

The leading alternate GUI (graphical user interface) under Linux is GNOME, the GNU Object Modeling Environment, which has its own live CD, Gnoppix.

There are a number of Linux portals available for beginners to get information. These include YoLinux, Linux.org, and Linux.com. Once you feel more comfortable with Linux and want to dig deeper, check out the Linux Documentation Project.

Knoppix is my favorite; it's what I used to install Linux on my system once I felt comfortable with it. It includes Mozilla, OpenOffice.org, and much more -- and more can be downloaded easily using the Debian apt-get system. Knoppix.net is a lively forum with users helping users, even total beginners. Since these are all free for download, feel free to experiment. It helps to have broadband :cheesy: .

Other uses for a live Linux CD include as a Windows rescue disc and as a hardware testing disc.

Are there single cd's available for knoppix cd's in the market?
http://www.nondos.com/frames/download_knoppix.html

how can i download knoppix from there manually and then get a cd...u wil notice that the knoppix there is more than 850 mb so which means I better get a floppy but how can I use the blank floppy.

You mean blank CD-R, right? Actually, the ISO image file is about 700 MB, hence my comment about "broadband is good", but there are alternatives: http://www.Knoppix.net has both download links and purchase links. There are Knoppix mirrors all over the world, but you can also buy disks for $5 or even less on-line. You may also be able to buy them locally -- find a local Linux user group (LUG) via GLUE and ask if they will sell you one. Odds on, they will -- they might even give you one free or cheap. I have probably distributed nearly a hundred CDs this way myself to interested newbies.

camelNotation, check out these sites for downloading a distro:
http://linuxiso.org/
http://www.distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=cd

The second site has a bunch of cd or live distros to download. I use both knoppix and slack-live when I am at school and work. Knoppix will fit on 1 cd, and slack-live is even smaller.

These sites should help you get started:
http://frf.hypermart.net/linux-newbie/index.htm
http://dsl.org/cookbook/

Of course if you have a specific question, come back here for some help. There are alot of linux distros and only you will know what is the best. You might have to try a few of them to find the one that you like.

I went into my bios setup for a trip before really installling.It was like:

primary boot location:hdd-0
secondary boot location:floppy
tertiary boot location:cd

now,if i change the primary boot location to a cd rom,should i change the secondary location to hdd-0 ?

If you change your primary boot to a cdrom then your secondary will automatically be changed to hdd0 - theoretically, at least