[Cialug] new to this group, and Linux

[Kevin C. Smith]

On Wed, 2005-06-01 at 17:17 -0500, Michael wrote:
> Hello everyone,
> 
> My name is Michael Davis -- I live in Urbandale and I'm new to this
> list.  I'm on the digest version for now, but I joined this list at
> the suggestion of a friend because I want to install Linux on one of
> my home computers.
> 
> I was (a little bit) into programming on the Commodore 64 when I was a
> kid in the 80s, and want to get back into programming again.  All the
> reading I have done recently indicates that my first step is to be
> working in Linux, so here I am.
> 
> I'm pretty clueless at this stage.  I'm thinking of buying Linux
> instead of downloading it for free, because that way I'd get some
> phone support while I figure out what I'm doing.  Any thoughts?
> 
> Michael
> 

Check out http://distrowatch.com/ for whats out there for Linux
distributions. We all have our favorites on this list.

Which you choose can depend on the type of person you are, and what 
your looking for. 

Mandriva (formally known as Mandrake) is known as a good distro for
newbies and gurus alike.

Fedora is Red Hats community version. 

Ubuntu is the new kid on the block and is based on Debian. It improves
on Debian by providing an easy install and user experience. I use this
one for my desktop and Debian for my production servers.

SUSE is now owned by Novell, and is also a good desktop. 

Xandros is a primarily a commercial distro and is known to be very
beginner friendly. Based on Debian.

This list goes on.

I would start with the free downloads and play. You will loose nothing 
but time.
 
Come to the meeting and use the list. I can help with most Debian,
Ubuntu and general Linux questions. Others here know Mandriva, SUSE,
Fedora and probably a few others.

-- 
Kevin C. Smith