How to choose the right Linux Distro?

Hey all,

I have been looking into trying Linux, but have no idea where to start. I've never used it before, and there are so many options its overwhelming. I read a post that said Ubuntu is a good place to start for normal XP users, but didn't know for sure. What are the main differences in all of the distro's, and how should I go about choosing one that would suit me without trying everyone of them first? Thanks for the help guys

 

one thing to keep in mind is that the "community" distributions won't have closed-source plugins, so you'll have to download things like music and video CODECs and possibly proprietary drivers.

Ubuntu is good, popular, etc. I personally had problems getting it installed properly, even though it worked fine as a LiveCD. If you can figure that out. If you do go with Ubuntu, get "Easy Ubuntu" which will basically do all the work of getting all the non-included goodies ready to go. http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

I've been toying with Fedora Core 5, myself. I like it, but I'm going to wait and see if DMA is fixed in gnome-mount in FC6 in a couple days before I switch over or anything. If you go with Fedora, there's no equivalent to Easy Ubuntu as far as I know, but a step-by-step tutorial is available here: http://stanton-finley.net/fedora_core_5_installation_notes.html

 

Ubuntu is probably a good place to start. Chances are it'll give you the least trouble to set up, and it's got the largest user base (I think...). It's also pretty polished.

Differences among distros will be how the kernel is configured, what software installs by default, what tools are included to manage/install software, and what window manager/desktop environment is default. Other differences will be where they hide the configuration files for things.. that sort of thing.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I appreciate it.