Hi, I'm new to the whole open source racket and was wondering what Unix or Linux OS is the easiest to work with. I just need something to get me started until I can learn about open source a little more and learn some programming. I was looking into Ubuntu, it seems like a good choice, but one of my friends said it was kind of glitchy. He didn't use it that much though. Also I was wondering if it is possible to install whatever OS I choose as well as having windows installed and how I would go about doing that. I'm sure it's not too difficult because I know many people who have OSX and Windows, but I'm not sure if Ubuntu will be the same beast. Any advice or guidence will be much appreciated. Thanks!

yeah

its easy to do it with ubuntu

just download the .iso file (you want the newest one - theres usually two listed), and burn it to a cd in a special way (not as a normal file! use the burn iso/ burn disk image function in your burning suite or download the free version of some software called DeepBurner, and choose "Burn ISO")

Once burnt, boot from the disk. If it doesnt load from it automatically when the pc starts up, go into the BIOS by hitting f1, f12, del or whatever it is - and changing the boot order so it looks at the CD drive first before booting from the hard disk.

Ubuntu will now load from the CD. It may be a bit slow as its running entirely from the CD. This gives you an oppertunity to test it before changing anything. If you like it, click the installer on the desktop.

The installer will give you the option to split your hard disk , by shrinking the windows partition. This will allow you to "dual boot" linux and windows (you chose what one to start when you turn the pc on)

Ok thank you for the help. Do I have to use a cd if I split the partition? Also could I use something else like an external hard drive rather than a cd?

?

you only need the cd the first time,to try it out/install it

In my humble opinion Ubuntu isn't way for beginners, because it's very click-like distro. You learn nothing in that kind. My recommendation is Debian 1CD with KDE. Problems with anything are compulsion to be geek.

I had Ubuntu and it realy is not way. Debian is good choice. But 1CD debian is useless. I prefer debian netinstall and if you will have any problems google is good, or you can try slackware, it is conservative distro but it has a lot of comments in configuration files.

i always use netinstall to install only the base system option and then apt-get everything i need.

jbennet, I too, and after compile latest kernel.

i hardly ever compile my own kernel, unless i need a specific feature/driver/patch that isnt available in the generic binary one

A really good starter Linux OS is gOS (http://www.thinkgos.com). Their site is experiencing difficulties, or so it seems to me. It's based on Debian and is the OS for the gPC - the ultra cheap PC that Wal-Mart sold then stopped selling.

Aside from all that, it is an excellent way to break into Linux. Sure, you won't learn Linux internals right away, but if you are a normal user, you don't delve into those things on Windows either.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.