Hello, I have played with Linux some and have decided to get it. I am wondering what version of Linux is best? I know many people use Redhat, but I heard somewhere that Mandrake is best for newbies like me. ? Peter

Don't worry about it. Linux distros are cheap or free, so you can try several before you decide which is your favorite. Mandrake is good -- personally I can't stand the artwork, but that doesn't bother everybody. SuSE is great, but they do make it a pain to purchase their's. On the upside, it comes with about all the software you'll ever need on a single DVD (or a collection of CDs). Try RedHat, too. Just bear in mind that they don't position their desktop for newbies or for the desktop, so it'll be missing some of the polish that some of the other companies have focused in their packaging. It's mostly for servers and experts. If you want to start very small and simple, you can try something like Lycoris. It's a very Windows-user oriented distro, and I'm not sure you'll get a real "Linux" learning experience, but it *is* a generally painless introduction.

I hate the perjorative 'newbie'. Mandrake is oriented to the desktop. It is extremely easy to use and install. I use Mandrake Linux 8.2 Powerpack Edition, and have never used anything BUT the Powerpack. At least with the Powerpack, you don't need to drop to console to un-tar.gz [grin]. I have done software installs in Powerpack, that normally require opening a console or shell and type a long string of arcane commands and options, by merely opening file manager (superuser), right clicking on the file and select the option to unarchive. For RPMs, I simply double click (Mouse setup that way for me) the package and urpmi is invoked and it installs it. Soooo simple! Mandrake is perfect for us non-geeks. Mandrake has the most hardware support. You still have to make sure that your modem, sound and video cards are supported. Those are the usual headaches in getting things running in ANY distro. Go to www.mandrake-linux.com and go through the hardware database and check your hardware against it. If you are planning on dual booting with MS windows, get a second hard disk (minimum of 20 gigs) for linux (no windows partitions getting trashed that way). Charles PS: Near painles learning of linux = Mandrake Linux Mandrake: French Redhat: American (USA) Suse: German Beowulf Linux: American (USA - NASA origin) for Clusters (Super Computers)

And don't forget Windows: Junk!!!

Well if you REALLY want to learn linux I suggest you download slackware and really learn linux. It may not be easy but its the best way to learn a lot in a short time.