Maximum PC

I want to get Linux but I am new and don't know anything about the different versions and also have some restrictions here they are.

It needs to be able to dual boot with windows because my dad hates anything that is not windows.

And the more simple it is the better for me but I do want to play with it.

So which one would be good.

Well, you can get a REALLY REALLY simple distro, like Knoppix. But you won't be able to do too much with it. Plus, you don't have to repartition any drives.

But as far as "simple"...well, that is going to invite a flame war about wihch distro is best.

I use Slackware at home. Debian at work. They are generally considered "not so simple" distros. I do not have much experience with any of the other distros. But having learned Slackware, I feel that I can easily and quickly learn how to use other distros.

Also, I prefer the command line, so that makes quite a difference when you refer to "simple".

Others may say Suse, Red Hat, w/e. They probably have nice point and click installs. Which is fine, unless you need fine control. If you need fine control, then the usual interface is some text editor (vim/nano/emacs/etc...) on config files.

My advice, pick a popular distro (since you can get support from the user community), they are all basically the same underneath the hood (maybe some subtle differences, but still essentially the same - except some distros may use a differnt /dev system .... but you can ignore that part for now).


When you finally get a distro installed...here are a few things you should know...

Most of the system configuration files are in /etc
Deleting /tmp is generally not a good idea

also..check out this post...

http://www.maximumpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11584

Ahh, the joys of [url=http://www.maximumpc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=153402&highlight=#153402]self-promotion[/url.

Actually, reading the whole thread would be useful, but I'm linking directly to my own post.

I recommend SimplyMEPIS, for the reasons explained in that post, but it is by no means the only distribution.

You really ought to download (if you have the bandwidth) several LiveCDs of various distributions and see what you like.

Peace,
Jacob

Fixed your url

livecd's are the way to go. you can save config changes to diskettes, and in one case i know of (Yoper) can save directly back to cd any changes you have made

Livecd's are fine, its just that they are much slower than an actual install distro....so it may give a user a false sense of how fast *nix would really be if they installed it.

Also, it doesn't really give you much room to do much other than what's already included in the livecd distro if you're running just in RAM.

-Mark

Ubuntu, MEPIS, and the free Xandros are all installable distros I would reccommend for someone looking for a "simple" desktop OS. The Ubuntu installer will resize XP's NTFS partition for you, just follow these steps.

Unbuntu is 'ok'... but not my personal fave. i like goin' between Kanotix/Kanotix64 (i've got an A64 if yer wonderin') and Overclockix.