I know this question is asked a lot, but I can't find these posts I always see off of Google or on here! Hey send me a Google search if you find it, but I couldn't. The question is, what's a good newbie Linux distro. I'm completely new to Linux and thanks to Christmas I now have 3 computers so I figured I'd might as well play around with Linux on one of them. What do you recommend? http://www.pcmodmania.com

The first thing to do is to download a live-CD version, which lets you try out Linux without installing anything to your hard drive. Knoppix (www.knoppix.org) is the most popular. Most live-CD versions will also let you go ahead and do an install, if you want. My LUG (www.clevelandlug.net) currently suggests SuSe 9.1 Personal for beginners. It can be found at http://www.suse.com/en/private/download/suse_linux/ and there is also a live-DVD version available at that link, to try out. Ubuntu Linux is a new player that's supposed to be very beginner-friendly. ( http://www.ubuntulinux.org/ ) RedHat's Fedora is also good, as is Slackware. Probably stay away from Debian, Gentoo, and any others you hear of. They're good, but more advanced. Make sure you find a local (preferably) Linux User's Group for support!

I'm a linux newb and have had no trouble with xandros 2x and 3x. Both are available by torrent I believe and act much like windows in many ways. I set min up as a file/web/print server with little trouble. Check my website as its running from apache on my xandros server. Also has a small bit about when I upgraded it. Jim

Mandrake is always worth a mention for newbies....