Okay I'm a n00b too when it comes to Linux, but I wouldn't go with Mandrake anytime soon. Here's all the Distro's I've tried.
Redhat 6.2/7.0/7.1/7.2/7.3:
- Installs easy, but don't install any other software unless you do it at install and hopefully it's on the CD.
Mandrake 8.0rc2/8.0rc3/8.0:
- Not bad, but same as Redhat. I'll be honest... didn't give it a fair shot because it was very buggy.
Suse 8.0
- Installs easy, but don't install any other software unless you do it at install and hopefully it's on the CD.
Gentoo 1.4rc1:
- Way to hard!!!
Debian 3.0r0:
- Why didn't anyone tell me about this distro earlier.
Debian may take a little longer to install but it is well worth it when you need to update your system or if you want to try out some new software. The only complaint I ever had about any distro was installing software. I would install some RPM and the program wouldn't work. Really frustrating! Gentoo was the first distro to open my eyes that it wasn't that hard on other distro's. I found that the install for Gentoo was for no n00b though! So a co-worker introduced me to Debian. It is easy enough for a n00b like myself to enjoy. The setup takes a little longer (because you download all the latest packages from the internet) but... It's still all automated and it's not too hardcore.
I helped a friend install some cheezy program called "mc" AKA Midnight Commander on his RedHat 7.2 box last night through SSH. For all those who don't know mc is the ultimate n00b program to use through SSH. Anyway installing mc on his box took two hours! Finding dependencies and finally finding the right dependency after two hours is why I stopped using RedHat! On Debian I just typed "apt-get install mc" and answered "y" for Yes to one question and everything worked perfectly! All in under 2 minutes.
So I have a couple questions out there for all the 1337. Are there other disto's out there that do this? I was brainwashed by RedHat for so long I am just now opening my eyes to just how cool Linux can and will be. I read distrowatch plenty to see the reviews of distros but I haven't found any like Gentoo or Debian.
-skeep
