[lug] linux distro for a beginner

[David Morris]

On Thu, Jun 16, 2005 at 10:13:38AM -0600, Tom Tromey wrote:
> >>>>> "Hugh" == Hugh Brown <hugh at math.byu.edu> writes:
> 
> Hugh> Which distribution would you recommend for someone that thinks
> Hugh> MS is vile, doesn't want to support them, but doesn't want to
> Hugh> become a techie?

I recommend Debian (http://www.debian.org).  The setup
(revamped for the Debian 3.1 released June 6) is simple and
easy for the most part.  I prefer debian for its absolute
stability, sane default configurations, and easy/safe
upgrade process.  Debian also does not do hand-holding as
Windows does, which I like though I know some others do not.
If you want your hand held through everything you do go with
Mandrake or SUSE.

No distribution is without its drawbacks.

The main drawback to Debian is the slow release cycle.  This
also leads directly to difficulty using new hardware as
drivers and application updates needed might not be
available in the stable release for a long time.  For me
these are not problems because I do not use the latest
hardware toys (usually), require absolute stability out of
my computers, and on the rare occation I want to use newer
software applications I am willing to compile them myself
(though its rare I do want to).

--David