Quick! Tell me what Linux would be best for exploring Linux itself, and for programming languages and gaming?

I am going to put Linux on my computer, but there are like 3,000 different kinds, and I don't make decisions.

What's the recommendation?

It all depends on your user-level. If you've never used Linux before, you need to decide how much patience you have. SuSE or Mandriva = low patience level. Slackware or Gentoo take much more patience, but can be more rewarding. Any Linux distribution will allow you to explore Linux, allow you to program and game. They're almost all identical in that sense.

Well, alright, I'll look those up when I gather my bearings, and then I'll decide how much patience I have.

But what about Debian? How does this community rate it? (that's the only one I've ever actually seen in use)

That's one I forgot to mention. The install is relatively easy, although it will be in text mode (no GUI). Once it's installed, it's very easy to set up, and it runs FAST.

Fast, huh? I like fast... Any particular features that are lacking in other versions?

Dont Use Debian "sarge" 3.1 - Its Too Old

Instead Download Debian "testing" - Codenamed "etch" It Will Be The Current Version In Only A Few Months And Is Much Better. I Have An Etch Install And It Uses Only 64mb Of Ram And 166 Mhz Of Cpu

:eek: That's nice! Especially if you consider that I was planning on running it on V-PC. (Don't worry, I checked, Debian runs on V-PC. I think i have to modify a config file to get the sound to work, but it should work)

other than audio debian runs fine on vpc, for audio you use these instructions (there for ubuntu but work too) https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ho...tVirtualPC2004

Hey, I guess I am a little too out of it to really do this quite yet.

So, how do you install debian 'etch'? I goto the download site and there are so many things that I could download! Can I install this in a windows environment, or would I have to boot from the disc? and why do the downloaded files I get so small, do you think?

Depends on what kind of install you want to do. The first type listed is the latest "release". The first option listed in a NetInstall, which is small because it only contains the base system--all the packages are downloaded as you need them from the Internet. So you should only choose this option if you have Broadband or something fast. For example, when I installed Debian Etch, I used the NetInstall image for i386.

The next option is BusinessCard CD image, which you probably don't want.

If you don't have steady broadband, you will probably want the 3rd option. It's the full CD/DVD set, for almost every architecture. There are also options below that allow you to download it different ways (eg., Bittorent).

The other types are "snapshots" which are basically more updated versions of Etch, but can possibly contain more bugs than the latest Release. You should only use this if you are testing different versions or something similar.